Fujitsu says smartphones can take your pulse
Global Post -- Mar 18
A smartphone that can take the pulse of a user just by looking at his or her face was unveiled in Japan on Monday.
Technology giant Fujitsu plans to put the invention to practical use within a year, enabling people at work or at home to track their health and collect data for analysis without wearing special devices.
The smartphone works by measuring variations in the brightness of a person's face caused by the flow of blood.
Researchers say countless tiny blood vessels run through the face, enabling monitoring of haemoglobin which absorbs green light. Haemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells that contains iron and transports oxygen.
Simply pointing a camera at a person's face for as little as five seconds will enable pulse-taking, while the technology automatically filters out the effect of head movements or changes caused by standing up quickly.
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May 18
| Strong 6.1 earthquake strikes off Japan |
|  A strong 6.1 earthquake has struck off the northern coast of Japan's main Honshu island, seismologists say, but no tsunami warning was issued and there are no immediate reports of damage. (news.com.au  ) |
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May 18
| Yahoo Japan suspects 22 million user IDs leaked |
|  Yahoo Japan Corp said on Friday night it suspected that up to 22 million of its user IDs may have been "leaked" and it detected an unauthorized attempt to access the administrative system of its web portal Yahoo Japan, the Kyodo news agency reported. (Reuters ) |
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May 18
| Abe sets out growth strategy |
|  Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has unveiled more details of his economic growth strategies using "winning the global market" as the key phrase. (NHK ) |
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May 18
| Japan to begin developing new rocket |
|  A government space panel has determined that Japan should begin developing its next-generation mainstay rocket for satellite launches in fiscal 2014. (NHK ) |
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May 19
| Japan's child kidnapping problem |
|  Dozens of American children are abducted to Japan every year-not by strangers, but by parents after messy divorces. (thedailybeast.com ) |
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May 18
| China cracks down on over-the-top anti-Japan dramas |
|  China's television regulator has ordered a crackdown on dramas about the country's battles with Japan during and before World War Two and demanded they be more serious, state media said on Friday, following viewer complaints about ludicrous storylines. (Reuters ) |
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May 17
| Man kills 3 family members, then himself |
|  Police said Friday they have found four dead bodies in an apartment in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in what is believed to have been a family murder-suicide. (Japan Today ) |
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May 17
| Chinese tourists a bane for Japanese hookers |
|  Shukan Post (May 24) conveys the difficulties experienced by other parts of the adult-entertainment biz in servicing customers from the communist nation.
A deri heru (“delivery health”) call-girl tells the tabloid that she is often requested to arrive at major hotels in the Shinjuku and Ikebukuro entertainment areas of Tokyo by Chinese visitors. (Tokyo Reporter) |
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May 17
| 6 dead in freighter fire at Wakkanai |
|  Six sailors were found dead after a fire on a foreign freighter docked at a port in Hokkaido, northern Japan.
The sailors are presumed to be Russians. (NHK ) |
North Korea launched three short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan on Saturday, the South Korean Defense Ministry said. (Kyodo 
A 5-year-old boy sustained an injury at a shopping mall in Nagoya on Friday after his hand became trapped in an escalator. (Japan Today 
A 24-year-old woman was in a serious condition Friday after being stabbed by a man whom she reported to police for stalking her in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. (Japan Today 
A 70-year-old woman has been rescued from a toilet in which she had been waiting for help for three days, Hiroshima police said Friday. (Japan Today 
A traditional dance was performed on Friday at an ancient temple in Nikko City, northeast of Tokyo. (NHK 
A bear was shot dead after it wandered into a school in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday. (Japan Today 