Bill and Melinda Gates may not be active in the PC business anymore but they are certainly funding scores of new technology projects that are changing lifestyles everywhere. The one that recently caught my eye is contraceptive implants.

I first heard about this when I attended a tech meetup for investors a while ago and then I read about it again in Engadget, so I thought it was time to share with my readers. We will never be able to take advantage of this, but your grandchildren or their children will be able to use contraceptive implants that are wirelessly controlled.

The Gates Foundation is funding a Massachusetts biotech company, MicroCHIPS, that is working feverishly to develop a wirelessly controlled implant which slowly pumps out drugs. That means that women will be able to control their fertility the way we use a wireless device to change TV stations. Apparently, contraceptive implants have been around even though I never heard of them. Then again, that is not my area of focus these days. (Ha, ha).

The big news from MicroCHIPS is that their implant will only have to be changed every 16 years. Engadget reports, “The current progestogen-releasing implants have to be replaced every three years.” They also can be removed if you want to get pregnant.

Read more about it here.

Photos from Engadget and The Gates Foundation.