Electronic eye

Researchers at Stanford University’s department of ophthalmology have developed a bionic eye to replace the photoreceptors in patients with degenerative retinal diseases, reports The Daily Telegraph. The eye, a “retinal prosthesis”, consists of a portable wallet-sized computer processor, a battery implanted in the eye, a 3mm (half the size of a grain of rice) light-sensing chip implanted in the retina, and a tiny video camera mounted on special goggles.

Super wiring

Researchers have created the next generation of superconducting wires, which could operate efficiently at the high temperatures needed to make applications such as levitating trains feasible, according to New Scientist. For 20 years, researchers have worked to develop the perfect high-temperature superconducting wires to replace today’s copper-based power grid. But the secret, it now seems, is to build flawed ones. The key may be to position non-conducting nanodots at strategic points within the wire, which virtually negates resistance to the flow of current.