“PUMPING” data around a wireless network of sensors - just as blood is pumped around the human circulatory system - could allow the sensors’ batteries to last four times as long.

Sensor networks like the ones used for environmental monitoring are usually “tree-like”. Their branching structure means information gets from A to B quickly, but means devices have to be turned on permanently to co-ordinate the data traffic.

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How stressed are we? A sensor vest will soon be able to tell us. From sports training to computer games, the garment registers the electrical excitation of the muscles at any given time and determines the level of physical stress.

Stressed out? Time to take a break? It will not be long before our clothing gives us the answer. In the EU’s CONTEXT project, companies and research institutes are developing a comfortable vest that will read muscle tension and deduce stress levels at any given time. At the core of the vest is “wearable electronics”. This consists of sensors woven into the fabric that register the electrical excitation of the muscle fibers, and thin conducting metallic fibers that pass the signals to an electronic analysis system.

More info here.