Category Science & Technology

The saying that friends are the family you choose may be more accurate than you thought. A study shows that people are likely to pick friends who are genetically similar to themselves – so much so that friends tend to be as alike at the genetic level as a person’s fourth cousin (people who have great-great-great grandparents in common).

People were most similar to their friends in olfactory genes, which involve the sense of smell, and least similar in immune system genes. People who like the same smells tend to be drawn to similar environments, where they meet others with the same tendencies. The opposite was true for genes controlling immunity; friends were more likely than strangers to have different genetic defences against various diseases. This may be because it helps to reduce the likelihood of epidemics if friends are resistant to different illnesses.

Researchers suspect that this trait, called ‘functional kinship’, is rooted in human evolution. Early human beings may have formed groups if they were genetically suited to certain environments, or had similar likes and dislikes, e.g., those with a similar susceptibility to the cold may have helped each other build a fire. It may have also been because some genetic attributes only work if you have someone to share it with. The first, most intelligent humans to develop speech would have grouped together with others with the small skill.

Picture Credit : Google

A computer comparable to the human brain would need to be able to perform more than 38 thousand trillion operations per second and hold about 3,584 terabytes of memory! IBM’s BlueGene supercomputers, one of the world’s most powerful, can manage only 92 trillion operations per second and 8 terabytes of storage.

In addition to boosting computer performance, enhanced understanding of the brain will enable people to communicate directly with machines, whether they are robots or mechanized prosthetic limbs. Primates have already proved that such brain-machine interfaces are possible, Miguel Nicolelis, co-director of Duke University Medical Center’s Center for Neuroengineering, said during the conference. The researcher and his colleagues last year successfully implanted electrodes in the brain of a monkey in North Carolina that enabled him to control a robot on a treadmill in Kyoto, Japan.

Nicolelis and his team have developed a microchip they expect will allow human brains to communicate with robots using only brain signals and enables the bots to return messages directly to the brain, without the use of sight or touch. Nicolelis said that he hopes the technology will be sophisticated enough to implant into a human brain by 2012 and enable a completely quadriplegic patient to walk again.

Picture Credit : Google

A strip of “smart” highway with glow-in-the-dark road markings has opened in The Netherlands. About 500 metres of highway have been treated with a special photo-luminizing powder which absorbs light or “charges” during the day and then emits a soft green light at night which lasts for about 10 hours. The goal is to develop a more sustainable method of illuminating roads. Dutch engineers also plan to test other paints that would show symbols when serve weather hits, e.g., displaying snowflakes when it starts to snow so drivers know the roads are slippery.

The concept itself has been developed through several iterations and has been tested for durability and user experience. As such, the Oss pilot should primarily provide information on how well it works on a day-to-day basis in a real-world setting.

There are a number of other concepts under the Smart Highway umbrella yet to be piloted. Dynamic Paint envisages the use of temperature sensitive paint on the roads to provide contextual information. For example, if it were to be very cold, then the usually transparent paint would become visible and display warning messages.

Picture Credit : Google

The DeepFlight Super Falcon, developed by California-based Hawkes Ocean Technologies, is a winged submersible designed to dive below the surface, swim amongst marine animals, navigate through underwater canyons, and even perform aquatic barred rolls. The submarine is 21 feet long with a wingspan of nearly 9 feet, and can dive to a depth of about 394 feet. It dives underwater like a whale, using thrust to generate “downward lift” to help the vehicle descend below the water’s surface. Essentially, it uses ‘lift and drag’ – the principles of regular flight – to “soar” underwater. If the vehicle loses power underwater, it will simply float back to the surface. The Super Falcon currently retails for $1.7 million.

Picture Credit : Google

A new earthworm species developed by the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) can get rid of the wild aquatic plant Jal Kumbhi (Pistia Stratiotes) growing on the banks of river Brahmaputra. The plant is a menace as it spreads its tentacles right up to the river bed and impairs the movement of fisherman besides causing widespread pollution.

Jai Gopal (Perionyx ceylanesis) eats wild vegetation very fast and converts it into organic fertilizer that can be used in farming. It can withstand different temperature variations and survive temperatures ranging from 0 degree Celsius to 43 degree Celsius. The fertilizers produced will be used by tea gardens in the Assam valley. The earthworm will also benefit the sugarcane industry – waste products rich in phosphorous, calcium, potassium and other minerals can be transformed into organic fertilizers once they become fodder for the earthworm.

Picture Credit : Google

A California electrician developed star-shaped cataracts after being shocked by 14,000 volts of electricity. The current passed through his entire body, including the optic nerve that connects the back of the eye to the brain. “The optic nerve is similar to any wire that conducts electricity,” said Dr Bobby Korn, associate professor of clinical ophthalmology, University of California. “The extreme current and voltage that passed through this important natural wire caused damage to the optic nerve itself.” In animal studies, damage to the eye’s lens from electricity first appears as small bubbles called ‘vacuoles’ on the outside of the lens. These then coalesce to form a star-shaped cataract.

Picture Credit : Google