Technology

Human-to-dolphin translator reports first successful interaction

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Researchers testing a real-life human-to- dolphin translator have reported the first successful use of their technology with a bottlenose dolphin.

It was able to point out a piece of nearby seaweed to a scientist in the water, the Independent reported.

Known as the Cetacean Hearing and Telemetry device (Chat), the translator uses a pair of hydrophones (underwater microphones) to capture the range of clicks and whistles made by dolphins.

Apple’s part suppliers to begin mass production of large iPhone screen displays

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The iPhone maker’s parts suppliers are reportedly preparing to begin mass production of displays for a larger iPhone next month.

The news comes amid reports of Apple planning the launch of two larger iPhones have surfaced.

According to the Verge, multiple news outlets have previously reported that Apple is planning to launch two larger iPhones this year, one with around a 4.7-inch display and one with around a 5.5-inch display .

Meanwhile, the mass production on the larger of the two iPhone screens may be delayed over production issues, the report added. (ANI)

More US elderly writing ‘living wills’ ahead of death

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In a new trend, more elderly people in the US are completing ‘living wills’ to guide end-of-life medical treatments – up from 47 percent in 2000 to 72 percent in 2010, shows research.

“However, even with nearly double the number of people completing advance wills, there was little difference in hospitalisation rates or deaths in the hospital,” said researchers from University of Michigan and the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System.

An app to test your eyes anywhere on earth

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In a ground-breaking innovation that could help prevent blindness in millions across the world, scientists have developed an app that allows eye tests anywhere.

Aptly named ‘pocket optician’, the app allows a person without any training to carry out eye tests.

All that one needs to do is download the Portable Eye Examination Kit (Peek), developed by scientists at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on your smart phone.

To test the vision, the app shows letters of decreasing size.

It also shines light into the eye and takes pictures of the retina.

Moon may not have much water

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The amount of water present in the Moon may have been overestimated by scientists studying the lunar rock samples, a new study has claimed.

Researchers led by Jeremy Boyce from the University of California – Los Angeles created a computer model to accurately predict how mineral apatite would have crystallised from cooling bodies of lunar magma early in the Moon’s history.

Their simulations showed that the unusually hydrogen-rich apatite crystals observed in many lunar rock samples may not have formed within a water-rich environment, as was originally expected.

Pigeons may be smarter than thought

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Researchers have found that pigeons have the human-like ability to place everyday things in categories.

According to researchers at the University of Iowa, pigeons can place everyday things in categories and, like people, they can hone in on visual information that is new or important and dismiss what is not.

Happy birthday! Gmail turns 10

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Your favourite webmail service Gmail has turned 10. Launched April 1, 2004, Google’s simple, user-friendly inbox today is an undisputed leader in email and related services.

In 2004, Gmail arrived as an invitation-only product on beta platform.

After several design changes, it finally dropped the beta label in 2009.

In Gmail, Microsoft offered a spam-free inbox with integrated search tool and loads of storage capacity that was enough to beat the rivals.

It was Gmail that gave webmail a slick snappiness more akin to a desktop application.

Are you happily disgusted or sadly angry? Find out

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What if your computer can distinguish even expressions for complex or seemingly contradictory emotions such as ‘happily disgusted’ or ‘sadly angry’?

Researchers at Ohio State University have found a way for computers to recognise 21 distinct facial expressions.

“We have gone beyond facial expressions for simple emotions like happy or sad. We found a strong consistency in how people move their facial muscles to express 21 categories of emotions,” said Aleix Martinez, a cognitive scientist and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State.

Tiny robot surgeon to get inside astronauts’ gut

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Researchers have developed a fist-sized robot surgeon that slides into the body through an incision in the belly button and can help perform surgery on astronauts in deep space.

After the robot enters the abdominal cavity – which has been filled with inert gas to make room for it to work – the robot can remove an ailing appendix, cut pieces from a diseased colon or perforate a gastric ulcer.

The robot, developed by Virtual Incision in Lincoln, Nebraska, will have its first zero-gravity test – in an aircraft flying in parabolic arcs – in the next few months, ‘New Scientist’ reported.

When multiple sex prevents male extinction!

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Promiscuous female fruit flies with high sex drives are key to preventing extinction of its male species, a study shows.

Flies in the northern parts of the US are more inclined to have multiple partners in order to reduce the occurrence of an X chromosome which causes the production of only female offspring.

With a view to replicating itself, SGE (selfish genetic element) genes, found in large numbers in many organisms, kill the sperm that carry the Y chromosome and the males with SGE produce fewer sperm.

Sorry, not much water on moon!

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Overturning a long-held assumption, a team of researchers has discovered that the amount of water present on the moon’s surface may have been overestimated by scientists studying lunar rock samples.

Led by Jeremy Boyce of the University of California, Los Angeles’ department of earth, planetary and space sciences, the study revealed that the unusually hydrogen-rich apatite crystals observed in many lunar rock samples may not have formed within a water-rich environment as was originally expected.

New image-processing technology determines pedestrian behavior

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An auto supplier company has developed image-processing technology that detects pedestrian behavior .

Automotive equipment supplier Denso’s technology can determine what type of pedestrians are in front of a car and a computer can easily distinguish and predict pedestrians, Cnet reported.

Denso engineers Ikuro Sato and Hidek Nihara have outlined how their image-processing software could examine the frames of a camera feed and extrapolate.

Development economist laments India’s poor economic growth

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Development economist Jean Dreze Tuesday expressed concern over India’s tardy economic growth, which lagged behind neighbours like Nepal and Bangladesh in vital sectors.

Dreze was delivering the ninth I.G. Khan Memorial Lecture on “Hunger and the Indian Enigma” at the Kennedy Auditorium of Aligarh Muslim University.

Referring to the economic growth in south Asia, he said India lagged behind its neighbours “in education, health and food and availability of medicine to the people despite the country’s economic viability in terms of GDP growth”.

Aligarh students extract bio-diesel from used mustard oil

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A group of engineering students from Aligarh Muslim University have succeeded in extracting bio-diesel from refined and used mustard oil, university officials said Tuesday.

Third-year students of the Diploma in Engineering at the AMU Polytechnic designed a bio-diesel extraction plant as part of the recently developed Alternative Fuel and Combustion Engineering Lab, said M. Yunus Khan, assistant professor of mechanical engineering.

E.coli superbug just one gene away from becoming untreatable

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Researchers have suggested that a superbug that causes bladder and blood infections could evolve and become untreatable.

Queensland researchers have discovered an E. coli strain was just one gene away from becoming resistant to almost all drugs, News.com.au reported.

The bacteria had evolved and spread rapidly worldwide over the past five years.

Study co-author Dr Nouri Ben Zakour said the spread of the multi-drug resistant ST131 strain may lead to a spike in urinary tract and blood infections.

New leaked images of iPhone 6 show thinner, rounder design

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The French site Nowwhereelse.fr has reportedly featured leaked images of iPhone 6 on its website, showing rounded edges and a slimmer profile.

If the leaked images are to be believed, the iPhone 6, which is rumoured to be named the iPhone Air, will have a thinner, rounder design, similar to HTC one.

According to News.com.au, while the phone hasn’t been announced yet, the images match up well with a leaked image previously released on the Mac Rumors website.

Another notable feature of the supposed iPhone 6 is the phone’s screen, which finally reaches the edges of its body.

X-class solar flare could cause ‘radio blackout’ for GPS, communications

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The sun emitted a X1 solar flare on Saturday which NASA believes could hurt communications systems on Earth on Wednesday.

According to the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center, the X1 solar flare could affect satellites and cause GPS errors, PC World reported.

They also said that electrical power lines may be hit by extra current, and high frequency communications could be blocked when the radiation hits Earth.

Astronauts’ hearts become more spherical in outer space

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A new study has found that astronauts’ hearts become more spherical when exposed to long periods of microgravity in space in space.

The study has represented an important step toward understanding how a spaceflight of 18 months or more could affect astronauts’ heart health.

The results showed that the heart in space becomes more spherical by a factor of 9.4 percent, a transformation similar to what scientists had predicted with sophisticated mathematical models developed for the project.

When male fish turn female!

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In what can be termed as a perfect case of gender-bender among fish, biologists have found evidence of “feminisation” of male fish in the estuaries in the Basque coast of Spain.

Pollutants acting as oestrogens are responsible for this phenomenon which, among other changes, is causing ovocytes — immature ova — to appear in male fish, biologists claimed.

The acquisition of feminine features by male fish has been detected, to a greater or lesser extent in all the estuaries — not only in the characteristics of the gonads of the specimens analysed but also in various molecular markers.

Voila! Self-healing muscle grown in living animal

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Imagine lab-grown living muscle that contracts, integrates and has the ability to heal itself both inside the laboratory and inside an animal.

In a first, researchers have engineered such strong skeletal muscle that heals itself after animal implantation.

The study conducted at Duke University tested the bioengineered muscle by literally watching it through a window on the back of living mouse.

The novel technique allowed for real-time monitoring of the muscle’s integration and maturation inside a living, walking animal.

Now, a computer that tracks 21 distinct facial expressions

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Researchers have found a way for a computer to maps 21 distinct facial expressions.

The researchers at The Ohio State University have revealed that they were able to more than triple the number of documented facial expressions that can now be used for cognitive analysis.

Aleix Martinez, a cognitive scientist and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State said that they have gone beyond facial expressions for simple emotions like ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ and they have found that these 21 emotions are expressed in the same way by nearly everyone.

Google releases Pokemon augmented reality game for April Fools

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Google has reportedly come up with an interesting prank for this year’s April fool’s day, where it tempts Google Map users to play a Pokemon augmented reality game, making them wish it were real.

Google has partnered with Nintendo to give Pokemon fans a chance to catch 150 Pokemons placed across the globe and be the best trainer.

According to Tech Hive, in a characteristically stylish video, Google shows off how incredible it would be to wander around the world, hold one’s phone out, and see Pokemon appear.

Facebook denies scrapping bold designs in wake of bad ad revenues

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A Facebook director has reportedly refuted claims that the company scrapped last year’s bold redesign as it was bad for ad revenues.

The claims were made by the owner of the publishing platform Svbtle Dustin Curtis, who is also a UX designer and writer.

According to the Verge, Curtis cited several sources in his blog post, saying Facebook found that testers of the redesigned News Feed were spending less time in user profiles and event pages.

Mice cured of rare liver disorder using new gene-editing system

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MIT researchers have cured mice of a rare liver disorder caused by a single genetic mutation by using a new gene-editing system based on bacterial proteins.

The findings offer the first evidence that this gene-editing technique, known as CRISPR, can reverse disease symptoms in living animals. CRISPR, which offers an easy way to snip out mutated DNA and replace it with the correct sequence, holds potential for treating many genetic disorders, according to the research team.

Apple files app patent for making phones transparent for ‘clumsy’ iPhone users

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Tech giant Apple has reportedly filed a patent to create transparent phones, which would help clumsy iPhone users to see where they are going while working on their phones.

Apple has reportedly come up with a new technology for tech-dependent users, who can no longer put their device away, which would modify an app’s background to project live video images from the rear camera onto the screen.

According to the Independent, iPhone users would be able to see any obstacle looming up on them while they are walking and doing some work on their smartphone at the same time.