'SMART CONTACT LENSES: "Smart" contact lenses that measure pressure within the eye and dispense medication accordingly could be made possible using a new material developed by UC Davis biomedical engineers.

Assistant Professor Tingrui Pan and postdoctoral researcher Hailin Cong started with a material called polydimethylsiloxane, or PDMS. They developed a method for placing powdered silver on the PDMS in a precise pattern, to create conductive wires.

The researchers shaped the PDMS-silver into a contact-lens shape, and showed that it could function as a simple pressure sensor.

Glaucoma, a build-up of pressure in the eye, is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. A contact lens that could continuously measure pressure within the eye and relay the data to a computer would allow doctors to learn more about glaucoma and improve patient treatment.

The researchers are seeking approval to begin trials in people, Pan said.

He and Cong are collaborating with Professor James Brandt of the Department of Ophthalmology in the School of Medicine.

A paper describing the fabrication technique was published in the July issue of the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

Pan's Web site: mems.bme.ucdavis.edu.

-- Andy Fell

LIZARDS PUT ON A SHOW TO MARK THEIR TERRITORY: Male Jamaican anole lizards begin and end the day with displays of reptilian strength -- push-ups, head bobs and extensions of a colorful neck flap, or dewlap -- to defend their territory, according to a new study.

"Anoles are highly visual species, so in that sense it is not surprising that they would use visual displays to mark territory," said Terry J. Ord, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis and at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology.

The lizards are the first animals known to mark dawn and dusk through visual displays, rather than the much better known chirping, tweeting and other sounding off by birds, frogs, geckos and primates.

The journal American Naturalist presented Ord's findings online.

-- Andy Fell