I’ll be interested to see how these “bionic” contact lenses end up being used. Clearly they’ll be used as a heads-up display and for augmented reality, but it will be amazing to see other uses that arise. I’m also interested in how the engineers working on this will overcome several technical challenges. In my mind, these include the following:

1. Power. The article states that the devices will be power by a combination of RF power and solar cells. In my mind, that’s certainly easier said than done. Would be nice if somehow you could “recharge” them by moving your eyes, or power them through the body’s liquids (such as tears) in some way.
2. Communications. How do you transfer data wirelessly to/from the lenses? Beats me
3. Heat. How do you keep the lenses from heating up and impacting the wearer’s eyeball?
4. Interface. How do you control what is displayed? Clearly you would ideally have some sort of mind control, but that’s a ways off. A multi-modal input using voice and gesture recognition would is probably most likely.

“Inflammatory factors predict virtually all bad outcomes in humans,” says Russell Tracy, a professor of pathology and biochemistry at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, whose pioneering research helped demonstrate the role of inflammation in heart disease. “It predicts having heart attacks, having heart failure, becoming diabetic; predicts becoming fragile in old age; predicts cognitive function decline, even cancer to a certain extent.”

And this:

So why should our own immune system rely on such an apparently dangerous mechanism? The answer lies in the fact that infectious disease has historically been the number one killer of human beings, and responding to this threat has profoundly shaped our biology. Possessing a fierce and ferocious immune response primed to keep us alive long enough to reproduce was an evolutionary no-brainer.

My takeaway from the article is this: the less you get sick, the less inflammation, and the longer you might live. Just another reason to eat healthy and exercise regularly, in particular to keep inflammation from occurring in your body

Here are some tips to use to protect your body at all times:

• Always use perfect form in whatever activity you do, whether lifting weights, running, standing up, etc. You’ll save yourself a lot of potential pain later
• Understand generally how the body works. You can make much better performance, fitness, and nutrition decisions if you understand how the inputs affect your outputs
• When lifting weights, stay well below the maximum weight you think you can do. Always better to be safe, and you really don’t need to use maximum weight to improve yourself
• Never run on concrete, as it destroys the knees and hips. Make sure you run on soft ground, always
• Always warm up well, and then stretch before physical activity. You significantly reduce your chances of hurting yourself if you do this.
• Eat 5-6 smaller meals a day, and don’t skip meals. Helps greatly with keeping your energy level up all day, and keep you from putting on weight
• Don’t put trash food into your body. I have found the saying “you are what you eat
  to absolutely be true. If you eat trash, you’ll feel like trash and perform like trash. Always be cognizant of the value of the food that you’re eating

These are just some of the things I have learned throughout my athletic career. I’ll post more as they come to mind.