5 Things: Smart Watches to Replace Smart Phones?

1. Special Election Sept. 17: Meet the candidates running for Ward 8 State Rep in a special election, primary is Sept. 17 to see which Democrat will be on the ballot for the November election, against Republican Peter Silva.

2. Heartbeat as Secret Password? I can't help feeling like we're getting closer to the Jetsons every day. Now there's this Nymi Wristband that can identify the wearer by his or her heartbeat and uses that as an alternative to passwords or PIN codes. The wristband can securely communicate with multiple devices and can be used to unlock a smartphone or a car.

3.  Is it Time to Beam Me Up, Scotty?: The future of technology could be on your wrist instead of in your pocket. Samsung and Qualcomm introduced  snazzy "smartwatches" Sept. 4 that can take photos, make calls and scan the Web. Sony's SmartWatch 2 is due this month, and Apple and Google are expected to follow. Read more here.

4. CMC: Investigating Whether Patient Has Fatal Brain Disease: Unsettling news from a Manchester hospital, investigating whether other patients were exposed to sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a fatal disorder – which is not the same as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, aka Mad Cow Disease. Read more here.

5. When Parents are Potheads: This government study says drug use among America's youth is dropping, but it's booming among people over 50. While the rate of drug use among children and teens 12 to 17  dropped to 9.5 percent, down from 11.6 percent a decade earlier, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) latest national survey,  illicit drug use among adults 50 to 64 years old has has more than doubled since 2002, reaching 7.2 percent last year. Read more here.