Sony vaio Duo 11

The VAIO Duo 11 is a Windows 8 based Ultrabook that easily transforms in to a tablet by hiding the keyboard. The base device features an Intel i5 dual-core processor, 11.6-inch Full-HD touchscreen, 128GB SSD, 6GB RAM, HD Webcam and backlit keyboard. It weighs in at 1.3kgs and has a battery life of up to 4hours 45 minutes.

The device starts at Rs 89,990. For more information, visit www.sony.co.in

Mobile browsers fail researchers’ safety test

How unsafe are mobile browsers? Unsafe enough that even cyber-security experts are unable to detect when their smartphone browsers have landed on potentially dangerous sites, according to a recent Georgia Tech study.

   Like their counterparts for desktop platforms, mobile browsers incorporate a range of security and cryptographic tools to provide a secure Web-browsing experience. However in one critical area that informs user decisions – the incorporation of tiny graphical indicators in a browser’s URL field – all of the leading mobile browsers fail to meet security guidelines recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for browser safety, leaving even expert users with no way to determine if the Web sites they visit are real or imposter sites phishing for personal data.
   “We found vulnerabilities in all 10 of the mobile browsers we tested,” said Patrick Traynor, assistant professor at Georgia Tech. “The basic question we asked was, ‘Does this browser provide enough information for even an information-security expert to determine security standing?’ With all 10 of the leading browsers on the market today, the answer was no.”
   The graphic icons at issue are called either SSL (“secure sockets layer”) or TLS (“transport layer security”) indicators, and they serve to alert users when their connection to the destination Web site is secure and that the Web site they see is actually the site they intended to visit. The tiny “lock” icon that typically appears in a desktop browser window when users are providing payment information in an online transaction is one example of an SSL indicator. Another is the “https” keyword that appears in the beginning of a browser’s URL field.
   The W3C has issued specific recommendations for how SSL indicators should be built into a browser, and for the most part, Traynor said, desktop browsers do a good job. In mobile browsers, however, the guidelines are followed inconsistently at best. The principal reason for this, is the much smaller screen size with which designers of mobile browsers have to work. Often there simply isn’t room to incorporate SSL indicators in same way as with desktop browsers. However, given that mobile devices are widely predicted to face more frequent attacks from cyber-criminals, the vulnerability is almost sure to lead to increased crime unless addressed.
    “Research has shown that mobile browser users are three times more likely to access phishing sites than users of desktop browsers,” said Chaitrali Amrutkar, principal author of the paper that described the SSL research.

Augmented reality LCD contact lens

Researchers have created a spherical LCD display system that can be embedded in contact lenses. Breakthrough will usher the next generation of wearable displays

The Centre of Microsystems Technology at Ghent University (Belgium), announced today it has developed an innovative spherical curved LCD display, which can be embedded in contact lenses.
The first step toward fully pixelated contact lens displays, this achievement has potential widespread applications in medical and cosmetic domains.

   Unlike LED-based contact lens displays, which are limited to a few small pixels, the innovative LCDbased technology permits the use of the entire display surface.
   By adapting the patterning process of the conductive layer, this technology enables applications with a broad range of pixel number and sizes, such as a one pixel, fully covered contact lens acting as adaptable sunglasses, or a highly pixelated contact lens display.
   The first prototype presented today contains a patterned dollar sign, depicting the many cartoons that feature people or figures with dollars in their eyes. It can only display rudimentary patterns, similar to an electronic pocket calculator. In the future, the researchers envision fully autonomous electronic contact lenses embedded with this display.
   These next-generation solutions could be used for medical purposes, for example to control the light transmission toward the retina in case of a damaged iris, or for cosmetic purposes such as an iris with a tunable color. In the future, the display could also function as a head-up display, superimposing an image onto the user’s normal view.

   However, there are still hurdles to overcome for broader consumer and civilian implementation.
   “Normally, flexible displays using liquid crystal cells are not designed to be formed into a new shape, especially not a spherical one. Thus, the main challenge was to create a very thin, spherically curved substrate with active layers that could withstand the extreme molding processes,” said Jelle De Smet, the main researcher on the project.
   “Moreover, since we had to use very thin polymer films, their influence on the smoothness of the display had to be studied in detail. By using new kinds of conductive polymers and integrating them into a smooth spherical cell, we were able to fabricate a new LCD-based contact lens display.”
   “Now that we have established the basic technology, we can start working towards real applications, possibly available in only a few years time,” commented Herbert De Smet, who is supervising CMST’s display group.

Scientists create pina colada pineapple

Australian researchers are working on a new breed of pineapple – one that is not only sweet and juicy but which has the added tropical taste of coconut.
   In what is thought to be a world first, the Department of Agriculture in Queensland state is in the final stages of developing the new variety of the fruit, to be known as the AusFestival pineapple.

   “Taste tests tell us that AusFestival is a winner – it has this lovely coconut flavour, which you won’t find in any other pineapple in Australia,” horticulturalist Garth Senewski told the ABC in comments aired Wednesday.
    “It’s sweet, low acid, very juicy.”
    Senewski said the researchers did not initially intend to create a pineapple that tasted like coconut.
    “When we’re doing the breeding, we’re not actually looking for a coconut-flavoured pineapple or any other particular flavour,” he told ABC.
    “We’re looking for a nice flavoured pineapple. We’re looking for a variety that is sweet, low acid and aromatic.” The Department of Agriculture confirmed the development but said anyone hoping for a “pina colada” pineapple will have to wait as it will be two years before the first trees are planted commercially.

Fossil find could be oldest dino yet

Fossilised bones unearthed by a British palaeontologist in colonial Tanzania in the 1930s may be those of the oldest dinosaur ever found, researchers reported on Wednesday.

   The bones are either those of the earliest dinosaur or of the closest relative of dinosaurs discovered to date, they said.
   A denizen of the Middle Triassic around 243 million years ago, the creature predates all previous dinosaur finds by 10 to 15 million years, the scientists said. The specimen also points to the possible birthplace of these enigmatic species in amega-continent called Pangaea, they added.
   Dubbed Nyasasaurus, the putative dino was about three feet high, up to 10 feet in length and had a tail up to five feet long, according to their study. It weighed between 20 and 60 kilos.
   “If the newly-named Nyasasaurus parringtoni is not the earliest dinosaur, then it is the closest relative found so far,” said Sterling Nesbitt of the University of Washington.
   Nyasasaurus’ name derives from Lake Nyasa –now called Lake Malawi – and from a University of Cambridge palaeontologist, Rex Parrington. His team excavated the six vertebrae and upper arm bone from sediment in the Ruhuhu Valley of southern Tanzania in the early 1930s.
   That location, said the authors, backs theories that dinosaurs evolved in the southern portion of the supercontinent of Pangaea, where Earth’s land masses were glommed together before the pieces drifted apart to form continents.
   For decades, the Nyasasaurus bones languished and were never formally documented.
   Their true importance has only been made clear today, thanks in part to modern scanning technology which compared Parrington’s specimens in London’s Natural History Museum against two other Nyasasaurus bones at the South African Museum in Cape Town

Smiley tattoo hides new medical sensor

Using a souped up kid’s temporary tattoo, doctors and researchers can now painlessly monitor metabolic problems. It can be made in any shape from Superman to Disney princesses

A medical sensor that attaches to the skin like a temporary tattoo could make it easier for doctors to detect metabolic problems in patients and for coaches to fine-tune athletes’ training routines. And the entire sensor comes in a thin, flexible package shaped like a smiley face.
    “We wanted a design that could conceal the electrodes,” says Vinci Hung, a PhD candidate at University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC), who helped create the new sensor.
    “We also wanted to showcase the variety of designs that can be accomplished with this fabrication technique.”

    The new tattoo-based solid-contact ion-selective electrode (ISE) is made using standard screen printing techniques and commercially available transfer tattoo paper, the same kind of paper that usually carries tattoos of Spiderman or Disney princesses.
    In the case of the smiley face sensor, the “eyes” function as the working and reference electrodes, and the “ears” are contacts to which ameasurement device can connect.
    Hung contributed to the work while in the lab of Joseph Wang, a distinguished professor at the University of California San Diego.
    “It was a wonderful opportunity,” Hung said. She worked directly with Wang, who is well-known for his innovations in the field of nanoengineering and is a pioneer in biosensor technology.
    Kagan Kerman, assistant professor of bioanalytical chemistry and Hung’s PhD supervisor at UTSC, is co-author of an article describing the work which has been accepted for publication in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal, Analyst.
    The sensor Hung helped make can detect changes in the skin’s pH levels in response to metabolic stress from exertion. Similar devices, called ion-selective electrodes (ISEs), are already used by medical researchers and athletic trainers. They can give clues to underlying metabolic diseases such as Addison’s disease, or simply signal whether an athlete is fatigued or dehydrated during training. The devices are also useful in the cosmetics industry for monitoring skin secretions.  
    But existing devices can be bulky, or hard to keep adhered to sweating skin. The new tattoobased sensor stayed in place during tests, and continued to work even when the people wearing them were exercising and sweating extensively. The tattoos were applied in a similar way to regular transfer tattoos, right down to using a paper towel soaked in warm water to remove the base paper.
   To make the sensors, Hung and her colleagues used a standard screen printer to lay down consecutive layers of silver, carbon fibremodified carbon and insulator inks, followed by electropolymerization of aniline to complete the sensing surface.
    By using different sensing materials, the tattoos can also be modified to detect other components of sweat, such as sodium, potassium or magnesium, all of which are of potential interest to researchers in medicine and cosmetology.

New fingerprint lives in your gut

A new study is the first to catalog the genetic variation of microbes that live in the gut, where they extract nutrients from food, synthesise vitamins, protect against infections, and produce compounds that naturally reduce inflammation. The widespread genetic diversity uncovered by the scientists can help them understand how our microbial genes work together with our human genes to keep us healthy or, in some cases, to cause disease.
    The study, by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, appears online in Nature.

    “Surprisingly, each of us can be identified by the collective DNA of our gut microbes,” says corresponding author George Weinstock, of Washington University.
    “That collection is individualised, completely analogous to our human genome. Differences in the way individuals respond to various drugs or the way they use specific nutrients can be traced to the genetic variation in our microbial genes as well as in our human genes.”
    The researchers analysed the microbial DNA in 252 stool samples from 207 individuals living in the United States and Europe. All the subjects had participated in one of two recent high-profile initiatives to catalog the diverse species of microbes that live in and on the body. Neither of those studies – the Human Microbiome Project and the Metagenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract (MetaHIT) project – looked at the genetic variation of the microbial genomes in the body.
   For the new study, the researchers zeroed in on 101 species of microbes commonly found in the intestine, identifying more than 10 million single-letter changes in the collective DNA of those microbes. They also found numerous other DNA alterations, including insertions, deletions and structural changes.
   In 43 subjects for whom the researchers had two stool samples collected at least a month apart (most were collected six months to a year after the initial sample), the researchers found very little variability in the microbial DNA over time, although the species of microbes in the intestine fluctuated.
   “The microbial DNA in the intestine is remarkably stable, like a fingerprint,” Weinstock explains. “Even after a year, we could still distinguish individuals by the genetic signature of their microbial DNA.”
   Babies become colonised with microbes as they pass through the birth canal and into the world. Those microbes come from their mothers and from the environment. Exactly how the microbes shape our lives is not yet known, but in the gut research has suggested that an imbalance of bacteria may contribute to irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s and obesity.
   With this new catalog, the researchers can begin to understand the selective forces that shape the microbiome – the collection of microbes and their genes – in the intestine.
   “The DNA of our microbes is a historical record of the microbial evolution in our bodies,” says coauthor Makendonka Mitreva.
   “Many of these organisms would have colonised us when we were very young and would have grown and evolved with us throughout our lifetimes.” 
   The information gleaned from future studies of the gut microbiome also may help scientists determine how the microbial genes can be manipulated to improve human health and the effectiveness of certain medications, she adds.

Mars rover detects hint of possible life in soil

The Mars rover Curiosity has offered a tantalising taste of evidence that there was once life on the Red Planet, but scientists said it is too soon to make much of the first soil analyses.

   NASA’s Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments have been sending back information as it hunts for compounds such as methane, as well as hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, that are the building blocks of life.

   Researchers were excited to detect simple organic compounds in the soil scooped up from a crusted dune. But they cautioned that the traces of carbon could have come from meteorites or even particles the instruments picked up before launch from Earth.
   They hope to find more evidence of organic compounds as Curiosity makes its way across the barren, windblown sands of Rocknest towards Mount Sharp, searching for a good place to start digging deeper.
    “It’s not unexpected that this sand pile would not be rich in organics. It’s been exposed to the harsh Martian environment,” said Paul Mahaffy, NASA’s principal investigator for Curiosity’s sample analysis. “It’s going to be an exciting hunt to find early environments that might be protected from this harsh surface environment.”
    The instruments captured stunning pictures of the sand scooped up from the drift – which one researcher described as coarser than flour but finer than sugar.
   Curiosity was also able to analyse crystals and other materials found in the sand. By heating the samples, they were able to detect a significant amount of water in the sand, along with some carbon dioxide, oxygen, and sulphur dioxide.
     “The Curiosity rover is kind of like a CSI laboratory on wheels,” Michael Meyer, the lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, told a news conference.
    “These results are an unprecedented look at the chemical diversity of the area that is representative of the rest of the planet.”
    Scientists do not expect Curiosity to find aliens or living creatures but they hope to use it to analyse soil and rocks for signs the building blocks of life are present and may have supported life in the past.
    The USD 2.5 billion Curiosity rover – which landed in Gale Crater on August 6 – also aims to study the Martian environment to prepare for a possible human mission there in the coming years.
    US President Barack Obama has vowed to send humans to the planet by 2030.

Robot buddy to keep Japan astronaut happy

 A small humanoid robot that can talk will be sent into space to provide conversational company for a Japanese astronaut on a six-month mission, according to new plans.

   The miniature robot will arrive at the International Space Station next summer, a few months ahead of astronaut Koichi Wakata, Japan’s Kibo (Hope) Robot Project office said.
   At 34 centimetres (13.4 inches) tall and weighing about one kilogram (2.2 pounds), the little android is programmed to recognise Wakata’s face and to communicate in Japanese, the project office said, adding that it will also take photos during the trip.
   The robot will send information to Earth from the Japanese Kibo laboratory on the space station, where it will spend its time while Wakata is busy carrying out his mission as ISS commander.
   A cartoon sketch of the space buddy was released on Thursday and showed a black-andsilver figure with bright red boots.
   Mission organisers are asking for suggestions from the public for a name for the robot, which will also have a twin brother on Earth doing public relations.
   A team of Tokyo University researchers, leading advertising agency Dentsu and robot creator Tomotaka Takahashi are organising the project.
   The project’s site can be found at: kibo-robo.

Food allergies? Pesticides might be to blame

Food allergies are on the rise and according to a new study published in the December issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, pesticides and tap water could be partially to blame.

    The study reported that high levels of dichlorophenols, a chemical used in pesticides and to chlorinate water, when found in the human body, are associated with food allergies.
    “Our research shows that high levels of dichlorophenol- containing pesticides can possibly weaken food tolerance in some people, causing food allergy,” said allergist Elina Jerschow, lead study author. “This chemical is commonly found in pesticides used by farmers and consumer insect and weed control products, as well as tap water.”
    While opting for bottled water instead of tap water might seem to be a way to reduce the risk for developing an allergy, according to the study such a change may not be successful.
    “Other dichlorophenol sources, such as pesticide-treated fruits and vegetables, may play a greater role in causing food allergy,” said Jerschow. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common food allergens are milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, tree nuts, soy, fish, and shellfish.

The perfect light bulb has no buzz

Say goodbye to that annoying noise emitted by overhead fluorescent light bulbs in your office. Scientists have now developed a flicker-free, shatterproof alternative for large-scale lighting

The lighting, based on field-induced polymer electroluminescent (FIPEL) technology, also gives off soft, white light – not the yellowish glint from fluorescents or bluish tinge from LEDs.

    “People often complain that fluorescent lights bother their eyes, and the hum from the fluorescent tubes irritates anyone sitting at a desk underneath them,” said David Carroll, the scientist leading the development of this technology at Wake Forest.
    “The new lights we have created can cure both of those problems and more.” The team uses a nano-engineered polymer matrix to convert the charge into light. This allows the researchers to create an entirely new light bulb – overcoming one of the major barriers in using plastic lights in commercial buildings and homes.

    The research supporting the technology is described in a study appearing online in advance of publication in the peer-reviewed journal Organic Electronics.
    The device is made of three layers of mouldable white-emitting polymer blended with a small amount of nanomaterials that glow when stimulated to create bright and perfectly white light similar to the sunlight human eyes prefer.
    However, it can be made in any colour and any shape – from 2x4-foot sheets to replace office lighting to a bulb with Edison sockets to fit household lamps and light fixtures.
    This new lighting solution is at least twice as efficient as compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and on par with LEDs, but these bulbs won’t shatter and contaminate a home like CFLs or emit a bluish light like LED counterparts.
    “If you wanted blue lights, discos would still be popular. You want lights that have a spectral content that is appealing to us inside of abuilding,” Carroll said.
    “You want a light that won’t shatter and create a hazmat situation while your children are around.” Carroll’s group is the first to make a large-scale FIPEL that can replace current office lighting and is based on natural white light.
    Beyond office and home lighting, Carroll sees potential uses for large display lighting, from store marquees to signs on busses and subway cars.
    Another plus is that FIPELs also are longlasting; Carroll has one that has worked for about a decade.

Run of the mill

The the Call of Duty series raking wants a piece of the war shooter pie. But there are a few fundamental things that tend to be missed. Medal of Honor, though a great looking game that follows the formula to the T, but fails to innovate. But more on that later, first let's look at the things it does right.
    The game uses the frostbite engine that makes it a great looker. Both the graphics and sound engineering get great props for making some realistic looking scenarios and missions.

     The story, though very generic, is treated well with emotional highs and lows that make you feel for the soldiers you represent. The game has its heart in the right place, but it's the head that needs a reality check.
     The shooting bits seems interesting at first, but it doesn't take long for the game to get into the typical rut of killing mindless soldiers that do little more than head straight for you. You're not really facing much challenge there with your squad and the amount of arsenal at your disposal.
     If you're playing it a single mission at a time, with a day break in between, these things may not bother you. But seeing the five hour campaign and how easy it is bulldoze through it in a single session, I doubt it will give you the satisfaction you're looking for.
    Warfighter is another example why Medal Of Honor needs to change its focus into something more unexplored, rather than looking at what makes other shooters tick and trying to recreate the magic. 

MASTER CHIEF, RISE

The epic shooter returns in its strongest avatar. Xbox 360 owners, rejoice

When Halo 2 had released on the first Xbox, it amazed everyone with the quality of visuals and presentation that it could achieve on a waning console. Halo 4 repeats history in a similar way. Right from the first CG cut-scene to every campaign that follows, Halo 4 manages to blow you away with its photorealism and visual finesse. The characters show human imperfections right from uneven teeth to spots on the nose. There have been many games off the late that seem to really push the console hardware boundaries, but nothing has looked this good.

    Even with Bungie (Halo's original developer) out of the picture, it manages to do full justice to the next chapter of Master Chief's adventure. The deep plot and the sense of purpose spiced with moments of sheer heroism are all present here in ways that only a Halo game can deliver. But at the same time, the game does shift from the 'more of the same' formula with a fresh threat from the Promethean horde along with the familiar Covenant. The best-in-class gun play has a lot of new elements that keep every gunfight interesting. There are new Promethean weapons that pretty much work as supercharged traditional weapons, along with the family UNSC and Covenant arsenal. Among the enemies there are new threats form Knights - infantrymen capable of teleporting, flying machines capable of resurrecting and shielding known as watchers.

    Of course the best part about the Halo series, and the reason it's played for years after its release is the epic multi-player experience. Once again, the new developer 343 doesn't disappoint. Taking a step away from the old series, there is a fresh presentation of the multiplayer traning missions with some amazing Spartan-on-Spartan missions, plus the addition of cut-scenes and a narrative element for multiplayer gives it a sense of purpose that's generally missing from online play.
    No other shooter out there offers this level of finesse to both single player missions and multiplayer. After the conclusion of Halo 3 we were left with doubt about the quality of Master Chief's next offering, and now we just can't wait for the Halo 5. Needless to say, this game is the biggest reason to own an Xbox 360.

3-D printer could make tools from moon rocks

Researchers have created a new technique that will allow future astronauts to print spares and tools directly in space, using only a printer and material available on the moon surface

Imagine landing on the moon or Mars, putting rocks through a 3D printer and making something useful – like a needed wrench or replacement part.
   “It sounds like science fiction, but now it’s really possible,” says Amit Bandyopadhyay, professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University.

   Bandyopadhyay and a group of colleagues recently published a paper in Rapid Prototyping Journal demonstrating how to print parts using materials from the moon.
   Because of the tremendous expense of space travel, researchers strive to limit what space ships have to carry. Establishment of a lunar or Martian outpost would require using the materials that are on hand for construction or repairs. That’s where the 3D fabrication technology might come in.
   Three-dimensional fabrication technology, also known as additive manufacturing, allows researchers to produce complex 3D objects directly from computer-aided design (CAD) models, printing the material layer by layer. In this case, the material is heated using a laser to high temperatures and prints out like melting candle wax to a desired shape.

Simple shapes built
To test the idea, NASA researchers provided Bandyopadhyay and Bose with raw lunar regolith simulant, an imitation moon rock that is used for research purposes.
   The researchers were concerned about how the moon rock material - which is made of silicon, aluminum, calcium, iron and magnesium oxides – would melt. But they found it behaved similarly to silica, and they built a few simple shapes.
   The researchers are the first to demonstrate the ability to fabricate parts using the moonlike material. They sent their pieces to NASA. “It doesn’t look fantastic, but you can make something out of it,” says Bandyopadhyay.

Tailoring composition, Geometry
Using additive manufacturing, the material could also be tailored, the researchers say. If you want a stronger building material, for instance, you could perhaps use some moon rock with earth-based additives.
    “The advantage of additive manufacturing is that you can control the composition as well as the geometry,” says Bose.
    In the future, the researchers hope to show that the lunar material could be used to do remote repairs.
     “It is an exciting science fiction story, but maybe we’ll hear about it in the next few years,” says Bandyopadhyay.
    “As long as you can have additive manufacturing set up, you may be able to scoop up and print whatever you want. It’s not that farfetched,” he added

Musicians’ brains sync up during duets

Music not only brings people closer, it may also sync their brains! The brain waves of two musicians synchronise when they are performing duet even when playing different voices, a new study has found.

   A team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin used electrodes to record the brain waves of 16 pairs of guitarists while they played a sequence from “Sonata in G Major” by Christian Gottlieb Scheidler.
   In 60 trials each, the pairs of musicians showed coordinated brain oscillations – or matching rhythms of neural activity – in regions of the brain associated with social cognition and music production, researchers said.
   “When people coordinate their own actions, small networks between brain regions are formed,” study researcher Johanna Sanger said.
   “But we also observed similar network properties between the brains of the individual players, especially when mutual coordination is very important; for example at the joint onset of a piece of music,” she said.
   The team believes people’s brain waves might also synchronise during other types of actions, such as during sports games. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.

Bodies, not the faces, reveal how people feel

It is a person’s body that gives away what they are thinking, not their expression, a new research has suggested. According to the study, men and women who were given photos of individuals and asked to judge the emotion shown did badly when just given head and shoulders shots, but they did much better with images of the whole person, the Daily Mail reported.
   First the researchers showed volunteers pictures of tennis players including Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal as they experienced the highs and lows of winning and losing points at Wimbledon.
Given the faces alone, they couldn’t tell the winners from the losers.
   But with a face and body, or just the body, they could easily tell who was victorious. The key seemed to be in the players’ hands, with a clenched fist denoting a win and splayed fingers a loss.
   Again the volunteers were shown pictures of people experiencing a range of emotions, from the joy of seeing one’s house after a lavish makeover, to the grief of attending a funeral.
   Here also they were poor judges when simply shown the faces. In fact, they often rated the happy expressions more negatively than the sad ones.
   To further prove that it is the body and not the face that is key in expression emotion, the researchers created fake photos in which a happy face was planted on a sad body and vice versa. Again, it was the body that was the giveaway.

Aakash 2 gets unveiled at the United Nations

UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon has lauded India as a “super-power” in the field of information technology as he unveiled the country’s first indigenously created low-cost Aakash 2 tablet here. The tablet was showcased at the UN headquarters yesterday on the occasion of the India’s current Presidency of the UN Security Council.
   CEO of Datawind, maker of the Aakash tablet, Suneet Singh Tuli, presented the device to the UN chief who voiced appreciation for the tablet for being “small and handy.”
   “India is a critical player on security issues, but you are also a leader on development and technology. Indeed, India is a super-power on the information superhighway. There is a reason places like Hyderabad are called ‘Cyberabad’,” Ban said in his remarks.
   The UN chief said he is aware that ‘Aakash’ means ‘sky’ in Hindi and called on nations to work with the UN to help young people “reach for the sky and meet their dreams.”
   He said technology is not an end in itself but is the key to empower people to make the most of their own potential.
   “Information and communications technologies are engines of economic growth and development and can help transform people’s lives. They are great enablers, helping people communicate across distances, facilitating trade and commerce and providing better access to health care and education,” he said.
   Ban said technology is being used in innumerable ways around the world to improve the lives of people but the challenge is to leverage the power of technology and bridge the digital divide.

Prosthesis fuses man with machine

A new technique allows implanting thought-controlled robotic arms directly to the bones and nerves of amputees. The first volunteers will get their new limbs by 2013

The world’s first implantable robotic arm controlled by thoughts is being developed by Chalmers University researcher Max Ortiz Catalan. The first operations on patients will take place this year.   
  “Our technology helps amputees to control an artificial limb, in much the same way as their own biological hand or arm, via the person’s own nerves and remaining muscles. This is a huge benefit for both the individual and to society”, says Max Ortiz Catalan, industrial doctoral student at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

  Ever since the 1960s, amputees have been able to use prostheses controlled by electrical impulses in the muscles. Unfortunately, however, the technology for controlling these prostheses has not evolved to any great extent since then. For example, very advanced electric hand prostheses are available, but their functionality is limited because they are difficult to control.
  “All movements must by pre-programmed”, says Max Ortiz Catalan. “It’s like having a Ferrari without a steering wheel. Therefore, we have developed a new bidirectional interface with the human body, together with a natural and intuitive control system.”
  Today’s standard socket prostheses, which are attached to the body using a socket tightly fitted on the amputated stump, are so uncomfortable and limiting that only 50 per cent of arm amputees are willing to use one at all.
  This research project is using the world-famous Brånemark titanium implant instead (OPRA Implant System), which anchors the prosthesis directly to the skeleton through what is known as osseointegration.
  “Osseointegration is vital to our success. We are now using the technology to gain permanent access to the electrodes that we will attach directly to nerves and muscles”, says Max Ortiz Catalan.

Controlling by thought
Currently, in order to pick up the electrical signals to control the prosthesis, electrodes are placed over the skin. The problem is that the signals change when the skin moves, since the electrodes are moved to a different position. Additionally, the signals are also affected when we sweat, since the resistance on the interface changes.
   In this project, the researchers are planning to implant the electrodes directly on the nerves and remaining muscles instead. Since the electrodes are closer to the source and the body acts as protection, the bio-electric signals become much more stable. Osseointegration is used to enable the signals inside the body to reach the prostheses. prosthesprosthesis. The electrical impulses from the nerves in the arm stump are captured by a neural interface, which sends them to the prostheses through the titanium implant. These are then decoded by sophisticated algorithms that allow the patient to control the prosthesis using his or her own thoughts.
    “Many of the patients that we work with have been amputees for more than 10 years, and have almost never thought about moving their missing hand during this time”, says Max Ortiz Catalan.    
    “When they arrived here, they got to test our virtual-reality environment or our more advanced prostheses in order to evaluate the decoding algorithms. We placed electrodes on their amputation stumps, and after a few minutes, they were able to control the artificial limbs in ways that they didn’t know they could, most of the times. This made the patients very excited and enthusiastic.”
     If the first operations this winter are successful, we will be the first research group in the world to make ‘thought-controlled prostheses’ a reality for patients to use in their daily activities, and not only inside research labs.

Canine virus may lead to new HIV vaccines

Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that a virus commonly found in dogs may serve as the foundation for the next great breakthrough in human vaccine development.

   Although harmless in humans, parainfluenza virus 5, or PIV5, is thought to contribute to upper respiratory infections in dogs. In a paper published in PLOS ONE, researchers describe how this virus could be used in humans to protect against diseases that have eluded vaccine efforts for decades.
   “We can use this virus as a vector for all kinds of pathogens that are difficult to vaccinate against,” said Biao He, the principal investigator. “We have developed a H5N1 flu vaccine with this technique, but we are also working on vaccines for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.”
   PIV5 does not cause disease in humans, as our immune system is able to recognise and destroy it. By placing antigens from other viruses or parasites inside PIV5, it effectively becomes a delivery vehicle that exposes the immune system to pathogens and allows it to create the antibodies that will protect against future infection.
   This approach not only ensures full exposure to the vaccine but also is much safer because it does not require the use of pathogens. For example, an HIV vaccine would contain only those parts of the virus necessary to create immunity, making it impossible to contract the disease from the vaccine.

More Vitamin D lowers rates of tooth decay

A new review of existing studies points toward a potential role for vitamin D in helping to prevent dental caries, or tooth decay.

  The review, published in the December issue of Nutrition Reviews, encompassed 24 controlled clinical trials, spanning the 1920s to the 1980s, on approximately 3,000 children in several countries. These trials showed that vitamin D was associated with an approximately 50 per cent reduction in the incidence of tooth decay.
  “My main goal was to summarise the clinical trial database so that we could take a fresh look at this vitamin D question,” said Philippe Hujoel of the University of Washington, who conducted the review.
  His research has also covered sugar substitutes, the use of antibiotics in the treatment of periodontal disease, and cleft lip and cleft palate. He has also studied the link between dental disease and systemic disease, as well as trends in disease prevalence. The trials he reviewed increased vitamin D levels in children through the use of supplemental UV radiation or by supplementing the children's diet with codliver oil or other products containing the vitamin.     
  “Whether this is more than just a coincidence is open to debate,” Hujoel said. “In the meantime, pregnant women or young mothers can do little harm by realising that vitamin D is essential to their offspring's health. Vitamin D does lead to teeth and bones that are better mineralised.”