Remote Control Birth Control

The fingernail-size microchip implant holds enough 30-microgram daily doses of levonorgestrel — a hormone already used in several contraceptives — to last for 16 years. Women who received the implant under the skin of buttocks, upper arm or abdomen would also get a remote control that allows them to halt or restart the implant whenever they like.

“When mommy was a girl, we had something called a pill”: MicroCHIPS, an MIT startup funded in part by the Bill Gates Foundation, has “a possible market debut in 2018.” [IEEE Spectrum]