Hydros Bottle: what is social entrepreneurship? [VIDEO]

Hydros Bottle, a University City-based startup that develops a cost-effective reusable water bottle with a portable filtration system to increase access to potable water internationally.

The company donates portions of its profits to potable water programs in developing countries.

Below, watch the Empowerment Group speak to co-founders Aakash Mathur and Jay Parekh.

The startup is a member of the Sustainable Business Network of Philadelphia. It recently filed $550,000 in funding.

MyHeartMap Challenge aims to crowdsource locations of all defribrillators in Philadelphia

From the Wired Epicenter blog:

This September, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine will launch the MyHeartMap Challenge, a contest to track down hundreds of automated external defibrillators (AED’s) throughout the city. These lifesaving devices automatically diagnose a person having a heart attack, and if necessary, deliver an electric shock to get the heart beating normally again. AED’s are all over the place: the local gym, gas station, or hotel. But most people don’t know exactly where they are.

And the article goes on:

The idea is to “create the first comprehensive log of AEDs all over Philly,” according to the Penn Medicine news blog. That map would then be available in an emergency – if you called 911 they could tell you exactly where to find the nearest device, or you could look it up immediately on your cell phone.

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Temple University physicist can thin human blood with a magnetic field to fight heart attacks

Rongjia Tao

Powerful news from Temple University that could help prevent heart attacks:

If a person’s blood becomes too thick it can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attacks. But a Temple University physicist has discovered that he can thin the human blood by subjecting it to a magnetic field. Rongjia Tao, professor and chair of physics at Temple University, has pioneered the use of electric or magnetic fields to decrease the viscosity of oil in engines and pipelines. Now, he is using the same magnetic fields to thin human blood in the circulation system.

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In 2008, Tao developed a mechanism that uses an electrical field to boost fuel efficiency, which has begun drawing licensing fees.

‘Data is essential to care for at-risk populations’ says Francine Axler of Public Health Management Corporation

Public Health Management Corporation isn’t a technology company. In truth, it isn’t really a data company, but Senior Research Associate Francine Axler says they do a lot of the latter and are increasingly relevant to the former.

“We collect the largest local health survey in the country,” says Axler, who is the Director of the Center City-based nonprofit’s Community Health Database. And data, of course, tells stories, increasingly with technology.

The analysis of the latest of these surveys just landed in recent weeks, finding trends in health insurance coverage and the effects of calorie labeling.

“This data is essential. It’s the baseline information that over 400 small, medium and large organization use to target their work for at-risk populations,” she says. “It’s really at the center of outreach work in this region.”

Public health institute PHMC has a lot of different interests, from managing 250 programs and 11 subsidiaries in case management, rehabilitation and related services. The data is meant to inform that work.

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TNT: Randy Schmidt on losing weight with Lose It or Lose It

The failure of some business plans are more productive than others.

If an online service that Web developer Randy Schmidt launched last week has enough success in helping people lose weight, Lose It or Lose It might be remembered as among the most productive failures to come out of the IndyHall co-working scene.

“It’s basically just a friend that keeps track of you and your weight loss for 10 weeks,” says Schmidt, of iSepta fame. “You sign up and put up dollars per pound and set a goal of pounds to lose per week. If you meet your goals, it costs you nothing.”

That’s the kind of pressure that Schmidt says he needs himself.

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