The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest university news from around the world, on 21 August 2013
US: Medical students using Google Glass to simulate examinations
The residency program director for obstetrics and gynecology at East Tennessee State University’s College of Medicine, Martin Olson, is getting his students to use Google Glass in class to simulate a patient’s-eye view during a medical exam, reports Inside Higher Education. They use it together with an “anatomically correct surgical simulator” called Surgical Chloe. Olson said: “It’s really helpful for [students] to get a patient’s-eye view, since they can evaluate their professionalism… Rather than me saying, ‘Stop chewing gum,’ it’s a chance for them to see themselves chewing gum from a patient’s perspective.”
Sweden: Astronomers say ‘rogue planets’ may not need a parent star
Scientists at Sweden's Chalmers University of Technology and Stockholm University, together with colleagues in Finland, have discovered tiny dark clouds in space that could form a planet without a parent star, reports Space Daily. This goes against speculation by other astronomers that ‘rogue planets’ – without a star to orbit – have probably been “ejected from existing planetary systems”. Project leader Gosta Gahm of Stockholm University said: "We found that the globulettes [the tiny dark clouds] are very dense and compact [which] tells us that many of them will collapse under their own weight and form free-floating planets."
Germany: Researchers say EU should adopt old traffic light symbol
Researchers at Bremen University say that the former East Germany’s traffic light symbol gets a faster reaction time, reports The Independent, and therefore should be installed throughout the European Union. The symbol is of a little man with a flat hat, who stands frontward with outstretched arms when he’s red, and is seen in profile with his left arm swinging forward when he’s green. The research has found that pedestrians press “stop” and “go” more quickly with the Amplemännchen or “little traffic light man” than with the more basic western version.
UK: Universities and energy company researching offshore cost reduction
Three reputable UK universities have teamed up with an energy company called DONG to research ways to reduce energy production costs from offshore wind turbines, reports Renewable Energy Focus. The University of Oxford, Imperial College London and University College Dublin will aid DONG in determining how to design the turbine foundations more efficiently. The senior vice president of DONG Energy Wind Power, Bent Christensen, said: “We believe a significant contribution can come from this area towards our efforts of reducing the price of offshore wind power by 35-40% by 2020."