Developments to Watch
Edited by Paul Raeburn
An Eye in the Sky to Help Snuff Fires
Firefighters who are battling wildfires across the western U.S. have a lofty new tool to help plan their attack. A sensor package on NASA's recently launched Terra satellite is the first dedicated to picking up fire outbreaks. By providing data to help the U.S. Forest Service's 25,000-plus firefighters and their equipment, the system should aid fire managers in extinguishing fires more effectively, says Tom Bobbe, a manager of the Forest Service's Remote Sensing Applications Center in Salt Lake City.
Previously, fires were tracked by airplanes and weather satellites. But planes work only for local, detailed fire-imaging--they can't cover a state-size area. And weather satellites are designed to show cloud images, not ground details. The new MODIS system--short for Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer--was developed by NASA to be especially sensitive to the thermal, infrared energy given off by wildfires.
NASA scientists and geographers at the University of Maryland developed the software that translates MODIS data into accurate maps. The resulting images are refreshed every night, and twice-daily updates aren't far off. If you want to keep track yourself, the maps are available online at www.nifc.gov/firemaps.html.
By Adam Aston
Battling "Bad" Cholesterol with a New Test
Nearly half of all adults in the U.S. have abnormally high cholesterol, putting them at risk for the nation's No. 1 killer, heart disease. Quantimetrix Corp., a Redondo Beach (Calif.) maker of diagnostic tools, has developed a lab test that can identify levels of particular forms of cholesterol more quickly than traditional tests--enabling doctors to tailor treatments to individuals. The test, called the Lipoprint System, is the first Federal Drug Administration-approved product that measures cholesterol in each of seven categories of LDL, or "bad" cholesterol.
The test can also be used to select the best treatment for patients with high cholesterol, because some drugs are more effective than others at targeting small, dense LDL.
Still, Lipoprint won't be an easy sell. There are no official guidelines for devising therapies based on levels of small, dense LDL. "There is a growing interest in this," says cardiologist Sidney Smith, chief scientific officer for the American Heart Assn., "but we need more studies."
By Arlene Weintraub
Cozier Formations for Jets
When the military's precision flying teams put on a demonstration, pilots often nestle their fighter jets within two or three feet of each other as they roar by in formation. Engineers at the University of California at Los Angeles think they can do better. Much better.
After years of work with NASA, researchers at UCLA's School of Engineering & Applied Science have developed a computerized gadget that should allow aircraft to safely fly just inches apart. The device, carried on each plane, takes readings of the planes, measuring velocity and attitude as well as data from the global positioning system. Blending the information, the computer then calculates where each aircraft will be and adjusts courses accordingly to keep the planes in tight formation. In a July test on a solo F-18 fighter--using computer simulations of other aircraft--the equipment was found to be accurate to within 2 in.
Why the focus on such cozy flying? By traveling in a snug V-formation, planes encounter less resistance, because the trailing aircraft can "hide" behind the leader as they speed through the air. And that means they burn up to 20% less fuel, which could mean big savings for air-cargo haulers. The trick, however, is to fit the trailing aircraft in the center of the lead plane's tiny vortex, which the UCLA engineers have found is about the size of a basketball. The team next plans to test its invention on a pair of F-18s flying together.
By Michael Arndt
Toward a Pain-Free Mammogram?
Every year, 45 million women have a mammogram. Any one of them would tell you that the procedure is painful. Add to that anxiety over the amount of radiation used in the procedure, and it's easy to see why some choose to skip the test.
Now that could change. Louis E. Rivelli, CEO of Denver-based Fischer Imaging Corp., says the company has developed a system that offers higher resolution while working faster, reducing pain, applying less pressure to the breast, and using just 60% of the radiation of conventional film-based methods. And by eliminating costly film and developing chemicals, Fischer's SenoScan digital system would be cheaper to operate. One drawback is that each machine costs about $475,000, more than twice the price of traditional devices.
The SenoScan isn't the only digital system to make such claims. A similar device hit the market last November. But Fischer says its SenoScan offers better resolution and clearer images.
Cancer experts aren't ready to endorse the new system yet. "While it's desirable that women go through lesser pain and radiation, there isn't enough body of work to determine the benefits of the new digital systems," says Joanne Schellenbach, spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society.
Company officials say that the Food & Drug Administration is only weeks away from final approval.
By Pallavi Gogoi
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Copyright 2001 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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