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The Wrap: 9 April

Straight to the heart

The video of a new creation by professors John Rogers and Igor Efimov makes compelling viewing. It shows their mesh-like device keeping a rabbit heart pumping outside the body.

The device is a new form of heart implant that could take over from traditional defibrillators and pacemakers. Heart scans are used as the basis for a 3D-printed design of the mesh, which when put on the heart detects arrhythmias and delivers shocks. The creation also opens the way for the gathered data to be viewed via smartphone and used for more accurate treatment.

In a flash

You may well remember US startup Spritz, whose technology is designed to help people become speed readers. The tech has yet to be released as an app, but the good news for people with a need for reading at speed is the company has opened its software kit to developers under the PoweredbySpritz programme. That means we should start seeing Spritz functionality crop up as part of other apps and websites.

Mob mentality

Fitmob may have an answer to the growing worldwide obesity epidemic, starting in America. The venture connects communities that want to get fit with trainers in their area who can give them workouts. The theory is people will be more inclined to get exercising if they don’t have to go to the local gym, but can get together with ‘like-minded mobbers’ in a park or area rec centre. Now it’s offering the most needy American workplaces a free office workout. It’s a clever way to continue the strategy of bringing fitness options to people instead of asking them to make a trek, but it would be handy if the office wasn’t all open plan.

Growing reach

Globality, the US-based network that provides tools and resources for entrepreneurs, has released a new platform for ideas people to quantify and analyse the reach of their social networks. “We believe that an entrepreneur’s most valuable asset is her or his network and these tools allow entrepreneurs to see the current global reach of their social networks and forge new serendipitous and borderless connections,” the company says in a blog post.

The tool maps a businessperson’s connections on Linkedin and Facebook and identifies network leaders based on their degree, quantity and quality of connectedness, Globality says. It also has a scoring algorithm that analyses and evaluates reach and strength. The higher the score, the better an entrepreneur’s chance of earning free trials of Globality’s toolbox resources and comparing their network with other entrepreneurs internationally. 

Image: Globality/Twitter.com

Amanda Sachtleben is an Auckland writer and social media type, who's also Idealog's former tech editor and business journalist.

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