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1.Innovation

Cancer-Fighting Army? Magnetic Robot Swarms Could Combat Disease

By Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor | February 15, 2017 02:36pm ET

Magnetically controlled swarms of microscopic robots might one day help fight cancer inside the body,
new research suggests.

Over the past decade, scientists have shown they can manipulate magnetic forces to guide medical
devices within the human body, as these fields can apply forces to remotely control objects. For instance,
prior work used magnetic fields to maneuver a catheter inside the heart and steer video capsules in the
gut.

Previous research also used magnetic fields to simultaneously control swarms of tiny magnets. In
principle, these objects could work together on large problems such as fighting cancers. However,
individually guiding members of a team of microscopic devices so that each moves in its own direction
and at its own speed remains a challenge. This is because identical magnetic items under the control of
the same magnetic field usually behave identically to each other

Now, scientists have developed a way to magnetically control each member of a swarm of magnetic
devices to perform specific, unique tasks, researchers in the new study said.

"Our method may enable complex manipulations inside the human body," said study lead author Jrgen
Rahmer, a physicist at Philips Innovative Technologies in Hamburg, Germany.

First, the scientists created a number of tiny identical magnetic screws. The researchers next used a
strong, uniform magnetic field to freeze groups of these magnetic screws in place. In small, weak spots
within this powerful magnetic field, the microscopic screws are free to move. Superimposing a relatively
weak rotating magnetic field could make these free screws spin, the researchers said.

In experiments, the researchers could make several magnetic screws whirl in different directions at the
same time with pinpoint accuracy. In principle, the scientists noted, they could manipulate hundreds of
microscopic robots at once.First, the scientists created a number of tiny identical magnetic screws. The
researchers next used a strong, uniform magnetic field to freeze groups of these magnetic screws in
place. In small, weak spots within this powerfulmagnetic field, the microscopic screws are free to move.
Superimposing a relatively weak rotating magnetic field could make these free screws spin, the
researchers said.

"One could think of screw-driven mechanisms that perform tasks inside the human body without the need
for batteries or motors," Rahmer told Live Science.

A Lego robot performs jumping jacks with limbs connected to magnetic screws that can each move
independently without influencing surrounding magnets.

One application for these magnetic swarms could involve magnetic screws embedded within injectable
microscopic pills. Doctors could use magnetic fields to make certain screws spin to open the pills, the
researchers said. This could help doctors make sure that cancer-killing radioactive "seeds" within the pills
target and damage only tumors rather than healthy tissues, cutting down on harmful side effects, the
researchers said. Once the pills deliver a therapeutic dose of radiation, physicians could then use
magnets to essentially switch the pills off. (The pills would be made of metallic material that would
otherwise keep radiation from leaking out.)

Another potential application could be medical implants that change over time, the researchers said. For
instance, as people heal, magnetic fields could help alter the shape of implants to better adjust to the
bodies of patients, Rahmer said.

In the future, researchers could develop compact and magnetic field applicators to control tiny magnetic
robots, and use imaging technologies such as X-ray machines or ultrasound scanners to show where
those devices are located in the body, Rahmer suggested.

2.Patent

Nokia's latest patent filings reveal a foldable phone in the making

Now that Nokia has entered the Android market, it seems to be suiting up for an all-out war. Latest reports
reveal the company may be working on a foldable smartphone that has a "flexible display part (which) is
configured to bend in response to a closing movement of the housing parts".

So far, Samsung is the only company said to ready to launch a foldable smartphone by Q3 this year.The
patent filed by Nokia claims the device has a chassis to that can take an "an open configuration and a
closed configuration". Now it's not just outer casing that might be foldable, but also the display, hinting at
a smartphone -- convertible of sorts -- that will have a bigger display once opened like a small display put
outside for notifications. Imagine folding your smartphone like a wallet.

Folding the phone will "cause retraction of the display assembly inside the space defined by the housing
parts" allowing for a smaller form factor of the device, about half the usual phones we use today. The two
parts of the chassis would be connected using a hinge.Nokia has been working with foldable displays for
quite some time now. A report appeared in 2005 that first hinted the company is thinking to make the
display foldable. The company had recently filed for a patent for flexible, 'ribbon-like' battery and for a
foldable device back in 2013, two years after confirmed reports appeared that Samsung is working on a
foldable device.

ike always, patent filings don't necessarily mean that a device of such kind will make it to the market in
flesh and blood. In fact most of the patents are serious research work that doesn't find a practical way to
make it to the product phase, or if it does, its price may not make good sense.

3.Price Discrimination

a pricing strategy that occurs when a business or seller charges a different price to various
customers for the same product or service. A company can enhance its profits by charging each
customer the maximum amount he is willing to pay, eliminating consumer surplus, but it is often a
challenge to determine what that exact price is for every buyer.
For price discrimination to succeed, businesses must understand their customer base and its
needs, and there must be familiarity with the various types of price discrimination used in
economics.
The purpose of price discrimination is to capture the market's consumer surplus and generate the
most revenue possible for a good.

The most common types of price discrimination:

1. 1st Degree Price Discrimination

- This type of discrimination, also known as perfect price discrimination, essentially states the
company charges the consumer the maximum price that individual is willing to pay for that
product.

2. 2nd Degree Price Discrimination

- In this type of discrimination the companies are actually not able to differentiate between the
different types of consumers. This practice creates a schedule of declining prices for different
quantities. Using this strategy the company can extract some of the consumer surplus without
knowing much about the individual consumer.

3. 3rd Degree Price Discrimination

-This type of price discimination, is based around the idea that the firm sets prices that will
accomodate the consumer.

4. Monopoly
a market structure in which there is only one producer/seller for a product.
Entry into such a market is restricted due to high costs or other impediments, which may be
economic, social or political.
a monopoly may also form when a company has a copyright or patent that prevents others
from entering the market.
Some companies become monopolies through vertical integration----they control the
entire supply chain, from production to retail. Others use horizontal integration---they buy
up competitors until they are the only ones

Economic effects of Monopoly

1. Leads to creation of inferior products
2. Restrict free trade, preventing the market from setting the prices.
3. Monopolies lose any incentive to innovate. They have no need to provide "new and improved"
products.
4. Monopolies create inflation. Since they can set any price they want, they will raise costs to
consumers. It's called cost-push inflation.