Futuristic sci-fi gadgets, available today

• By: John Brandon
  
• From: http://www.digitaltrends.com/
  

From engines powered by garbage to a ray gun that zaps fat, these futuristic gadgets from movies, TV and novels were once purely the realm of science fiction, but now you can get the real thing.

Far future predictions of tech gadgets rarely work out. Not many of us ride a jetpack to work or step into a transporter to beam over to France on a whim, and the flying car is still a figment of the imagination (if not downright impossible). Even the light saber in Star Wars, which would be really handy as a hand-to-hand combat weapon, has never materialized. (Of course, it also defies the laws of physics.) Why can’t book authors and moviemakers ever get it right?

Well, it turns out that a few “far future” gadgets actually do exist, and you can order them on Amazon. Here’s a quick rundown of the best products and where you’ve seen them.

GE VScan

In the Star Trek movies, a tricorder provided a quick and painless diagnosis. This GE medical scanner uses the same technology. It works almost exactly like an ultrasound, but it can find critical issues such as fluid around the heart without any invasive surgery

. The pocket device, about the size of a smartphone, weighs about one pound. Scans take about two minutes.

Cyclone Power Technologies

In the Back to the Future movies, a DeLorean runs on garbage. Cyclone Power has a steam engine that runs on fuel made from corn husks, orange peels, or just about any biodegradable agent. The engine requires no fossil fuel oils at all, so it’s safe for the environment. Yet, the engine is no slouch: it has enough power for a large farm tractor.

StayHealthy Body Fat Analyzer

In the Doctor Who series, a body fat analyzer could convert your extra fat into an alien creature. This body fat analyzer doesn’t go that far. It sends a “mild” electrical current through your body and measures the amount of fat. That way, you can get a much clearer picture of exactly how much weight loss you really need, as opposed to just the bottom line.

Zeltiq fat burner

Matt Groening’s Futurama presents goofy science-fiction ideas as well-known facts. In several episodes, characters zap fat with a ray gun. Yet, the Zeltiq fat burner does just that, by freezing fat cells so they eventually deteriorate. The product is already in use as a cosmetic surgery aid but will eventually become a home appliance that anyone can use.

Geo-fencing

Arthur C. Clarke famously predicted we’d be using GPS tracking in his many novels, and even nailed the part about triangulation. He wrote about how objects and vehicles would be “geo-located” by revolving satellites. Yet, things are getting out of control: your location can be shared from your cell phone at all times and you can create a constant stream of your whereabouts, using tools such as Loopt and Google Latitude. Next year, your car will also stream its exact location (OnStar service does this already). Eventually, real estate agents will feed listings to you as you walk by a new home for sale. And what’s next? GPS will link more closely to credit card transactions – your Burger King stops will be much faster.

Ionator

In Philip K. Dick’s Zap Gun novel from 1967, he predicted that – in 2004 — we’d still be fighting a cold war with Russia, but our weapons would be consumerized into household aids. The Ionator, from a small Minnesota company, looks like something from the book. It zaps germs by spraying a chemical that separates grime from counter-tops. The hand-held gun is futuristic enough that, when you use one, you feel like you should be wearing a Star Trek uniform.

Rare ailment makes girl, 13, look like she’s 50

Zara Hartshorn has lipodystrophy, which makes her look old before her time

By Michael Inbar

TODAYshow.com contributor

TODAY

On the inside, Zara Hartshorn is just like any 13-year-old girl — but on the outside she looks middle-aged due to lipodystrophy, a rare condition she inherited from her mother.

For some folks, turning 50 can trigger a midlife crisis. But due to a cruel blow of nature, Zara Hartshorn is forced to deal with it at the tender age of 13.

Though barely a teen, Zara has the appearance of a 50-year-old, something that saps her confidence just when most young people are striving for self-esteem. The Rotherham, England, teen suffers from lipodystrophy, a syndrome that causes the supporting fatty tissue under the skin to crumble even while the skin continues to grow, often at an alarming rate.

The hereditary condition is extremely rare — only about 2,000 people around the world have it — and for Zara, it has devastating social effects.

Zara’s story, profiled on TODAY Monday, revealed a young girl struggling to find a place in the world despite the teasing and taunts of her peers. Because of her condition, Zara resembled a full-grown woman before she turned 10; now, as a teen, she looks older than many of her peers’ parents.

“[They] call me Grandma,” Zara told NBC News.

A family disease
Sadly, lipodystrophy is a family affair for the Hartshorns: Zara’s mother, Tracey, suffers from the same genetic disorder, as do two of Zara’s siblings. But the affects of lipodystrophy are especially pronounced in Zara; at 13, she looks older than her 21-year-old sister Jolene and 16-year-old brother Tommy, though both also have the disease.

Tracey Hartshorn told The Mirror U.K. newspaper that she realized Zara had the disorder when she was barely home from the hospital.

“I’d seen it all before with my other children — the loose skin, the hollow face and the wrinkles around her chin,” Tracey said. “But I’d never seen a case so severe on a baby so young — my heart sank. I felt so guilty, because when she was a baby I knew the pain she would go through later in life, and I knew I had passed the disorder on.”

Even as a toddler, Zara Hartshorn showed the effects of lipodystrophy.

Zara told NBC News she tries to put on a brave front, but in the face of schoolyard taunts, she finds it hard to even get out of bed four days a week. Bus drivers refuse to believe she is 13 and charge her an adult fare; the same happens when she tries to purchase a children’s ticket at a movie theater.

She told the Mirror she does her best to stand up to bullies at school, but fears for her safety.

“If I can run and hide, I answer back, then run away. But most of the time I just have to take it,” she said. “Otherwise, I’m scared they’ll beat me up.”

Zara’s mother also has lipodystrophy, making her appear older than her 40 years.

Fearing the future
Still, Zara has her dreams of what life will be like as an adult. “I want a job; a part-time job in teaching and a part-time job in beauty therapy,” she told NBC.

Mom Tracey, who at 40 also looks older than her years, told NBC her life has been racked with insecurity as a result of her own lipodystrophy. She’s had a string of bad relationships, and her children are the product of several fathers. Zara’s own father plays no part in her life, she said.

It leaves her fearing all the more for Zara’s future.

“I don’t think there’s any way to protect her,” she told NBC. “She’s always going to have somebody somewhere that will be willing to pick fun, ridicule her.”

While there is no cure for lipdystrophy, cosmetic surgery can mitigate some of the effects — but that option is likely too costly for a family that lives on public assistance.

But Zara still hopes that someday she can receive help and live a more normal life. “I feel if I have my face done, it will give me some more confidence,” she said.

URL: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/35180427/

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Swedish girl 'grows back face' after reaction to Paracetamol

A Swedish teenager has grown back her entire face after an allergic reaction to a single Paracetamol pill caused it to turn black and fall off.

By Bruno Waterfield

Eva Uhlin has finally recovered her looks. Photo: Caters

 

Eva in hospital. Photo: Caters

Eva Uhlin, aged 19, has recovered her looks after suffering a once-in-a-million allergic reaction to the commonly used household pain killer purchased over the counter.
The deadly condition, known as Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, attacked her body causing her skin to blister, burn and to scab.

 

During her illness parts of her chest, arms, back and stomach fell off. At one point the damage to Miss Uhlin's face was so bad that her lips grew together.

"It felt like something was crawling around under my skin, I was in total shock – it was like something out of a horror film," she said.

"I couldn't believe what was happening. I had taken Paracetamol many times before."
Miss Uhlin's nightmare began in September 2005 when she became ill with a fever on holiday.
Then aged 15, she was told to take a couple of Paracetamol tablets to relieve her symptoms but the combination of her virus and the drug created a freak reaction.

The teenager, now working as a waitress, woke up the next day to find blisters covering her face and spreading all over the rest of her body.

"It was terrifying, because at the time they didn't know what was wrong with me or what would happen to me," she said.

"When I looked in the mirror for the first time after it happened I didn't recognise myself."

Eva in hospital. Photo: Caters

After years of treatment at Sweden's University Hospital of Linkoping, Miss Uhlin has finally tried to return to the normal life of teenage girl. But even today she still has to take eye drops twice a day and is sensitive to bright sunlight.

"I've always been a positive person, and I didn't let myself think about the chance that my skin would never be normal again," she said.

"As well as the pain, the affect that the reaction had on my confidence for that time was pretty terrible. I was so ashamed of the way I looked. I hated anybody to see me."

Professor Folke Sjoeberg, one of the doctors who treated Miss Uhlin, said that she had been lucky to recover from the rare condition.

"The condition is very uncommon and it strikes only one in a million people. With this condition you have to just let it run its course because there is no way to stop it," he said. "I'm very glad that Eva has done so well after all that happened." 

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, also known Lyell's syndrome, kills 40 per cent of sufferers.

Rebecca Freeman, a spokesman for the British Association of Dermatologists, said anybody could be struck down by the disease.

"It is a very rare and severe skin condition," she said. "It can occur in all age groups, although prognosis is worse in the elderly and it is more frequent in females."

A dozen bizarre devices from medicine's dark past

Guaranteed to bring tears to the eyes of at least half our readers, this device was intended as a treatment for "nocturnal incontinence" and to prevent masturbation. It was designed to deter nighttime emissions by causing enough pain to waken the sleeper if an erection threatened.

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