Who’s following you? 3-D printing, PTSD drug, wonders of coffee

It’s hard to keep up with all the technological advances, some good, some bad. But we are going to try and bring you info about some of the newest gadgets with uses for law enforcement or the officers on the job.

Data on your searches tells a lot
We’ve all become used to turning to the internet to look up the answer to almost any question, from sports trivia to current events to math problems. Analyzing this search data can reveal some surprising things about us – for example, Amazon.com has recently announced that they believe their algorithms are so good that they can start shipping some items before we even order them. (I guess the the stuff you never ordered will be delivered on those unmanned drones they were bragging about a couple of months ago!) A more useful result of this data mining is that doctors may be able to track disease outbreaks before patients even go to the doctor, simply based on the symptoms and diseases people are searching for. This is useful not only in standard outbreaks like influenza, but could also be applicable in detecting more unusual outbreaks or even bioterrorism.

What’s up with 3D printing?
3D printing is all the rage these days, with printers becoming more and more affordable and even available for home use. It sounds great at first, but there is one problem: these printers allow criminals to “print” all kinds of illegal or counterfeit items. You may have already heard about people making plastic guns with these printers, but as the technology advances, it’s possible that people could create elaborate counterfeits by essentially “photocopying” an original, but with 3D technology instead of 2D technology. The piracy faced by the music and film industries might be small potatoes in comparison.

PTSD – new drugs may help
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is something we are hearing more and more about, in part because of the ongoing war in the Middle East, and in part because doctors are realizing that it is not uncommon in people who experience all kinds of traumatic events. As many people in the law enforcement profession know, PTSD can be very difficult to treat, so new types of treatments are welcomed by the medical community. Research is showing that there are certain drugs that may be able to weaken the traumatic memories that cause PTSD. It is still in early stages, but with luck this could give doctors a whole new way to treat these patients.

New on the scene: skullcap with electrodes
Scientists are developing a way to diagnose epilepsy using only a smartphone and a skullcap with electrodes embedded in it. The idea is for doctors in third-world countries to be able to travel with the equipment to remote locations which have little access to high-tech medical care. After the kinks have been worked out, this type of technology will no doubt be of great use to clinics even in first-world countries – imagine the cost savings if we could replace expensive, specialized medical equipment with smartphones!

Coffee good for memory
A study at the University of California, Irvine has shown that, in addition to caffeine’s ability to wake us up in the morning and make us feel more alert, it may play a role in helping us to remember things. Volunteers consumed either a placebo pill or a caffeine pill before being tested, and the caffeine consumers did significantly better at the more difficult portions of the test. The key is that you need to have the caffeine while you’re learning and memorizing the material – so drink a cup of coffee before you study for an exam or memorize some talking points.