Way to control swarms of drones by thought found

Scientists have discovered how to control multiple robotic drones using the human brain, an advance that help develop swarms of search and rescue drones that are controlled just by thought. A controller wears a skull cap outfitted with 128 electrodes wired to a computer. The device records electrical brain activity. If the controller moves a hand or thinks of something, certain areas light up. “I can see that activity from outside. Our goal is to decode that activity to control variables for the robot,” said Panagiotis Artemiadis, from the Arizona State University in the US. If the user is thinking about spreading the drones out, we know what part of the brain controls that thought, Artemiadis said. A wireless system sends the thought to the robots.

IIT-Patna organised First International Symposium on 5G

         

The Indian Institute of Technology Patna (IIT-P) organized the First International Symposium on Fifth Generation (5G) technology. The symposium commenced on 29 March 2016 and will conclude on 31 March 2016 in Patna. The Patna 5G summit is co-sponsored by IEEE Communication Society, Center for Tele-Infrastructure, Aalborg University (CTIF), Global ICT Standardization Forum for India (GISFI) and IEEE Kolkata Section. The aim of the symposium is to bring academia, industry, government organizations etc. to participate and share their research intuition and view over the possible 5G technologies, standardization aspects, heterogeneous networks, architectural designs, wireless techniques and new hardware designs. During the symposium, Union Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad announced that IIT-P along with IIT Bombay, IIT Madras and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore will be a part of innovation and research for 5G technology in India. Besides, the Union Government also allocated 36 crore rupees for innovation and research in 5G.

China launched 22nd BeiDou navigation satellite

               

                On 30 March 2016, China launched its 22^nd satellite for its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS). The satellite launched aboard a Long March-3A carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The BeiDou system will be completed in 2020 and will comprise over 30 satellites. It was the 225^th launch of the Long March carrier rocket.

                BeiDou currently provides navigation services within China and the neighboring regions. After entering its designated work orbit and finishing in-orbit testing, it will join other available in the orbit. After completion, the project would become an equivalent of the US Global Positioning System, Russia’s Glonass, and Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites.

Soon, Smartphones can tell if your medicine is fake

               

Concerned that the pill you are popping is fake, but didn’t know who to ask? A solution could be on the way. Strips of commonly-used medicines such as Combiflam, Disprin and Crocin are likely to soon carry a unique barcode. Scan the barcode with your Smartphone, and your web browser will take you to a central database which would tell you if the medicine in your hand had in fact been shipped by the company.

                In a bid to create an ecosystem for online sales of medicines in India, the government is working on a detailed plan on bar-coding of drugs. The initiative also aims to counter spurious drugs. India already has bar-coding system for drugs that are meant for exports. This was launched in October last year.

However, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the apex drug regulation body under drug controller general of India (DCGI) GN Singh, plans to make bar-coding mandatory for all the drugs sold at retail in India. “Layout has been made and submitted for the final approvals. I am confident that the bar-coding would be made mandatory in the next six months to ensure patient safety and curb flow of flake drugs into the market,” GN Singh, told.

In 2012, the government introduced a plan to check genuine medicines by a way of texting unique number. However, the scheme failed to take off in volumes as many companies did not adhere.