The practical uses for unmanned aerial vehicles are proving limitless. Once used for espionage and photography, these airborne spy bots just fell victim to a role reversal: they’ve gone from spy to medic. Well, while they don’t exactly heal wounds out on the battlefield, they do provide air transport for supplies needed in dire situations. Think of them as carrier bots.

The South African National Health Laboratory Service has been testing prototype UAVs designed to transport testing materials and medical supplies to communities that are too much of a burden for ground delivery.  These robotic carrier pigeons are pre-programmed using GPS and microelectronic gyroscopes to guide them to their destination and can even handle themselves in windy conditions. After all, a little turbulence never hurt any blood mid-transit.

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We have non-stick glue, non-stick pan, today we have non-stick toilets, thanks to the Japanese material scientists at Matsushita (Panasonic/National). The secret is that they’re using resin-based materials instead of the usual clay. During an interview with Mr Sakai from Matsushita, we learned that their team had spent more than a year to research on resin modification, in order to have it strong enough to withstand the sheer force of having us cough-potatoes sit on top.

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The good thing about using electric hair trimmers over traditional scissors would be speed, the problem is the edge is usually unnaturally smooth, giving you the Gwen Stefani mushroom-look. So most people, invariably would need a combination of both: a pair of convex-edged scissors as well as the electrical shaver. Matsushita (National branded) has ended this hassle today with their new electric hair trimmer (or personal groomer, as they call it), what it does is that the blade randomly selects the fine threads of hair to cut, and leaving some untouched, simulating how the barber clutch a bit of your hair and cut it with the convex-edged scissors. The trimmer is also waterproof, so you can flush it under the tap. There’s also a style-guide that comes with the kit, should you pick it up in Japan in March, for $80. — Sam Chan

Matsushita National ER5209 hair groomer [Impress]

A lot of people have the habit of keeping their own bloodpressure measurer at home, and it is quite common that these meters are inaccurate. Since they have been out in the market for so long, and even hospitals use automatic bloodpressure meters more than mercury sphygnomanometers nowadays, it tells us that their accuracy has indeed improved throughout the years, at least, good enough for medical purposes. The problem with measuring bloodpressure at home is that you don’t always (or know how to) align the cuff to your artery properly, some people might even use the muscles when the meter is running. Matsushita’s (Panasonic) National brand has announced the new bloodpressure meter that has sensor that detects misalignment and movement of the meter, it will beep at you (politely, hopefully) and ask you to remeasure if it finds you naughty. This might reduce the artifacts and make the product more reliable. The new meter will start selling in Japan in February, and it should cost about 100USD each. — Sam Chan

EW3039P bloodpressure meter [National Japan]