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Electronic servant makes debut Sharks see their world in black and white Sony launches PlayStation smartphone
Blocking ‘rogue gene’ may stop cancer spread Study shows way to help save orangutans American students do poorly in science Climate science must move on THIS UNIVERSE |
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Electronic servant makes debut
CASERO is not the sort of robot that appears in science fiction movies. It has no arms, legs, or face and cannot speak. But in two or three years the electronic helper, about the size of a shopping trolley, could become a popular colleague of care workers in homes for the elderly. A response to Germany’s ageing population, Casero is the brainchild of a Duisburg University research team backed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Casero orients itself with the help of several cameras, rolling up and down the corridors independently and carrying loads of up to 100 kilograms. It has a flaw, though. “Casero is as expensive as a full-time worker” or midsize automobile, said Volker Bessler, a care worker at the Stuttgart home for the elderly where the service robots were first tested. Nevertheless, the investment could pay off, noted Diego Compagna, a sociologist at Duisburg University. “Care workers could spend time with the home’s residents that they’d otherwise be using to transport objects,” he said. Transport robots have been around for almost 40 years. What is new about Casero, according to Compagna, is that it guides itself and steers clear of obstacles—and is small and manoeuvrable, too. Experts term Casero a “self-guiding transport system”. Using a number of sensors and cameras, this robo-mule can negotiate corridors without bumping into walls or people. Casero can even take a lift, summoning it via a wireless Internet connection and riding by itself to a different floor. While Casero is already well developed, its brother, Care-O-Bot 3, is still in robot infancy. A very polite geriatric nurse, Care-O-Bot 3 first introduces itself upon entering a room. When it hands a drink on a tray to the senior citizens, it amiably asks them to empty the glass. Not every home resident was pleased with the service during the robot’s test run last spring, however. One is said to have remarked that he would not take anything brought by a robot. Other residents were delighted with the electronic servant, which, after all, was specially designed to meet their needs. When the Duisburg researchers observed the care workers’ daily routines and tasks, they soon noticed that there was seldom enough time to exchange a few kind words with patients. Staff shortages were everywhere. While the robots run errands and allow games to be played on their displays, care workers could devote more of their time to caring for the elderly. In contrast to its often-underpaid flesh-and-blood colleagues, Care-O-Bot 3, with its innards of circuit boards and wiring, costs nearly a quarter of a million euros ($322,000). A big reason for the high price is the sophisticated technology in the robot’s head. Thanks to colour cameras that survey their surroundings in a way similar to human eyes and an infrared 3D scanner, it can even recognise faces. When a person’s photograph is fed into its electronic memory, Care-O-Bot 3 can distinguish it from a multitude of other people’s. No decision has yet been made on when the one-armed geriatric nurse can go into production. Financing for the project has been secured until 2013.
— DPA |
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Sharks see their world in black and white SWIMMERS afraid of sharks might be best off in swimming costumes that camouflage their bodies rather than in ones with bright, solid colours that emphasise their outline, Australian researchers said. Sharks, like dolphins, seals and whales, are most likely colour blind and see things most clearly if they are mostly light or mostly dark, researchers from the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the University of Queensland found. “It’s the high contrast against the water rather than the colour itself which is probably attractive to sharks,” UWA associate professor Nathan Hart told national broadcaster ABC in Perth. “So you should wear perhaps more muted colours or colours that match the background in the water better.” Even better would be a wetsuit with zebra stripes or a leopard print pattern. The researchers examined the eyes of dead sharks and found they had only one type of photoreceptor in the retina, indicating they could only see in monochrome. Humans, and most other fish, have several types, allowing them to distinguish between colours. Hart said the US Navy had conducted tests that suggested sharks were able to see yellow most clearly. The tests had been to see what would be the best colour for the lifejackets that pilots wear in case they have to eject and splash down in the ocean. Hart said it was more the high contrast of yellow, not the colour itself, that would increase the visibility for sharks. “It may be possible to design swimming attire and surf craft that have a lower visual contrast to sharks and are therefore less attractive to them,” Hart said. Lindy Woodrow, a Sydney resident and keen ocean swimmer, said far more people drowned than were attacked by sharks and that although camouflaged costumes might mitigate against shark attacks, the primary concern for most would always be visibility in the water. “What’s most important for me is that people can see me so I can get rescued if I get into trouble,” she said. “I always wear a bright costume and a fluorescent swimming cap.” The research paper is to be published in the German nature journal Naturwissenschaften — the Science of Nature.
— DPA |
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Sony launches PlayStation smartphone Japanese
electronics giant Sony Corp on Thursday presented a game-savvy smartphone, enabling Playstation games to be played on Android smartphones in a bid to win back market share in the gaming sector. The hybrid, dubbed Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, comes with a slide keyboard and a 10-centimetre screen, according to first reviews by website Endgadget.com. Information about the product had been leaked earlier. Sony Entertainment also presented Next Generation Portable (NGP), the latest version of its Playstation Portable gaming console. The NGP sports a larger screen, touchpads, motion sensors and cameras on both sides. Two new analogue steering buttons have also been added. Games can be directly loaded due to an improved-capacity memory chip. The console, which can connect to 3G and Wifi networks, is to be launched later in the year.
— DPA |
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Blocking ‘rogue gene’ may stop cancer spread
LONDON: British scientists have discovered a "rogue gene" which helps cancer spread around the body and say blocking it with the right kind of drugs could stop many types of the disease in their tracks. Researchers from the University of East Anglia said their findings could lead within a decade to the development of new medicines to halt a critical late stage of the disease known as metastasis, when cancer cells spread to other parts of the body.
Study shows way to help save orangutans
WASHINGTON: Orangutans are notoriously slow and gentle, and a study of their DNA shows they have evolved in a similar way, researchers reported recently. The findings, published in the journal Nature, could help conservationists do a better job of saving the endangered great apes and might provide insights into human health.
American students do poorly in science
WASHINGTON: American students scored poorly on a national test of science proficiency, a new report said, suggesting a tough road ahead for President Barack Obama's goal of educating a workforce to compete in the global economy. The results of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or the Nation's Report Card, showed that only 21 per cent of high school seniors were performing at or above the proficient level in science.
Climate science must move on
LONDON: Reviews last year of a scandal over scientists' leaked emails correctly ruled out data manipulation and showed it was time for climate science to move on, a panel of UK lawmakers said. It is the fourth British review of a scandal dubbed "climategate" which had partly involved the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit, based in eastern England. Leaked emails had appeared to show scientists sniping at climate change sceptics and trying to block publication of certain articles, and drew much media attention in the run-up to a major U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen in December 2009.
— Reuters |
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THIS UNIVERSE Can we call synthetic material like PVC dead? What are the differences between a dead animal or plant (wood) and a synthetic material? I would definitely not classify PVC amongst living things. It does not have a metabolism. It does not have needs of food and air. It is not a self-replicating system. It does not make babies. Besides, it does not think, plan or plot. And it does not ask difficult questions through email. It does not have a personality. A plant is definitely a living thing. It can grow. It does have metabolism. It uses materials and it produces new forms. It does have a personality. And it can die. Any thing living must have a lifetime and it must die. Having said all this, I have to warn you that I am no expert on these questions. When we remove fat or cream from milk, it becomes heavier than water. Why? Skimmed milk is slightly heavier than the whole milk. This is because cream or fat that form a lighter component has been removed. There is another class of milk called fortified skimmed milk that is heavier than ordinary skimmed milk. This is because some other nutrients are added to it. Incidentally, we must remember that milk is about 70 per cent water. |
