Midwife Abortion; Delivering Falafel; Eye See All; Treadmill Legs; and Window Filter

Abortion

Christian midwife must perform abortions or lose job, Swedish court rules washingtontimes

Ellinor Grimmark was blacklisted by the medical community because of her pro-life convictions, despite longstanding Swedish law protecting the conscience rights of medical professionals.

The midwife is now considering whether to appeal the Swedish court’s decision to the European Court of Human Rights echr.coe.int, her lawyers said. A decision there would have major implications for conscience rights across the continent.

Robots

The Crazy-Hard Technical Challenges of Robots Delivering Falafel wired v

It's the most San Francisco scene in San Francisco. A dude with a guitar and a dude with a scooter stand at a Mission District bus stop. Next to them, someone has laid out fishing rods for sale. Behind them, a white semi-autonomous delivery robot, looking not unlike a rolling dishwasher, hesitates behind the crowd before powering through and nearly running over a dog.

Robots could share information as they move around, conducting surveillance as a single entity with many eyes scienceblog

Cornell University cornell.edu researchers are developing a system to enable teams of robots to share information as they move around, and if necessary, interpret what they see. This would allow the robots to conduct surveillance as a single entity with many eyes. Beyond surveillance, the new technology could enable teams of robots to relieve humans of dangerous jobs such as disposing of landmines, cleaning up after a nuclear meltdown or surveying the damage after a flood or hurricane.

Robotics

Toyota shows robotic leg brace to help paralyzed people walk apnews

The Welwalk WW-1000 toyota.co.jp system is made up of a motorized mechanical frame that fits on a person's leg from the knee down. The patients can practice walking wearing the robotic device on a special treadmill that can support their weight.

Research

New Window Screens Filter Pollution from Air scientificamerican

New window screens with pollutant-trapping nanofibers may allow residents of smog-choked cities to breathe easier. The fibers are made of nitrogen-containing polymers and are sprayed onto screens in a technique called blow-spinning, in which a stream of air stretches out droplets of polymer solution in midspray to form an extremely thin layer of nanofibers.