Makani Science is developing a wearable respiration monitor using a popular children’s toy. The Irvine-based medtech startup’s product is a bandage-sized patch made from plastic sheets that shrink when heated. The company says the product provides continuous monitoring to help detect disruptions in someone’s breathing. ... Makani is an accumulation of over 10 years of research done by University of California, Irvine biomedical engineering professor Michelle Khine.

University of California, Irvine, engineering professor Amir AghaKouchak, who was born and educated in Iran before immigrating to California, said both regions have suffered extensive droughts in the past. The difference comes when human demands exceed available, renewable water. “If the same drought occurs in the future,” he said, “it will have even more severe impacts.”