Beat It

Researchers at the University of Sussex in England are developing “smart” pacemakers. Cardiologist Richard Vincent says that over time, pacemakers will “become more and more intelligent, more adaptive to a patient’s lifestyle” and adjust their pacing parameters according to the users’ needs. In addition, he says, the devices could be made with voice recognition features so, for instance, a heart patient could say aloud, “I’m going to walk up stairs” and the heart rate could adjust immediately. (Reuters) ...Great, until users forget themselves and yell at someone to “Drop Dead!”