Experts Digitally Unwrap Secrets Of Mummies

The hidden secrets of Egyptian mummies, some up to 3,000 years old, have been virtually unwrapped and reconstructed for the first time using scanning technology in a joint British-Australian exhibition. Three-dimensional images of six mummies aged between 900BC and 140-180AD from ancient Egypt, which have been held at the British Museum but never physically unwrapped, give an insight into what it was like to live along the Nile River thousands of years ago. Researchers are revealing details of all their physical remains as well as the embalming material used by the embalmers like never before. A dual-energy computed tomography scanner at UK’s Royal Brompton Hospital – only a handful are in operation around the world – was used to obtain thousands of slices of images of the mummies, with volumetric software then harnessed to create 3D models. It allows visitors to virtually peel back the layers of history through interactive 3D visualizations of the CT scans. Researchers have been able to image the arteries of the mummies and able to look at whether they are suffering from diseases which many people are suffering from today, such as cardiovascular diseases. They hope to image the soft tissues at the cellular level to look at whether there’s any change or to find evidence, for example, of cardiovascular diseases but also things like cancer. The scans found that one of mummies, Tamut, a priest’s daughter from 900BC, had plaque in her arteries. Three dimensional printing was also used to recreate amulets fond during scans of her mummified remains.

Tequila Plant May Inspire Drought Resistant Crops

Agave – the cactus like plant used to make tequila – can survive the driest of conditions by “breathing” at night, scientist has found. Now, they hope to harness the plant’s reverse “body clock” to engineer drought-resistant crops that can adapt to changing climate. Researchers from Newcastle University found for the first time that the stomata – or “breathing” pores – on the Agave’s leaves remain shutting during the day to minimize water loss. Most plants keep their stomata open during the day so they can take in carbon dioxide and use the sunlight for photosynthesis. Thus, they lose water rapidly through evaporation. In the so-called CAM plants – Crassulacean Acid Metabolism plants like the Agave – several of the genes controlling stomata opening have had their abundance rescheduled or ‘flipped’ from being more abundant during the day to more abundant at night. Storing the carbon from the CO2 taken up overnight, the plants photosynthesis in the day like others but are able to carry out the process without opening their stomata.

Barcodes Help Families Track Elderly Members

A Japanese city has introduced a novel way to keep track of senior citizens with dementia who are prone to getting lost – tagging their fingers and toes with scanable barcodes. A company in Iruma, north of Tokyo, has developed tiny nail stickers, each of which carries a unique identity number to help concerned families find missing loved ones, according to the city’s social welfare office.  The adhesive QR-coded seals for nails – part of a free service launched this month and a first in Japan – measure just one centimeter (0.4 inches) in size. Being able to attach the seals on nails is a great advantage. There are already ID stickers for clothes or shoes but dementia patients are not always wearing those items. If an elderly person becomes disoriented, police will find the local city hall, its telephone number and the wearer’s ID all embedded in the QR code. The chips remain attached for an average of two weeks- even if they get wet – the official said, citing recent trials. Japan is grappling with a rapidly ageing population. Senior citizens expected to make up 40% of the population around 2060. Last month, Japanese police started offering noodle discounts at local restaurants to elderly citizens who agreed to hand in their driving licenses. The offer followed a series of deadly accidents involving elderly drivers – a growing problem in a country where 4.8 million people aged 75 of older hold a license.

Your Child's Toy Could Be A Threat To Privacy

European Union and US consumer watchdogs announced on 6 December they are filing complaints against a clutch of smart toys that can “spy” on children and their homes, for allegedly breaching privacy and data protection laws. The complaints target smart toys My Friend Cayla, i-QUE Intelligent Robot and Hello Barbie, according to the European Consumer Organisation BEUC and US groups like the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC). Complaints are being filed with French and other European authorities as well as the US Federal Trade Commission. Internet-connected Cayla and i-QUE, manufactured by Los Angeles- based Genesis Toys, hook up with a user via a phone or tablet while Hello Barbie links to the internet through Wi-Fi, said the consultancy Bouvet on behalf of the Norwegian Consumer Council. Hello Barbie is not sold in Europe. By purpose and design, these toys record and collect the private conversation of young children without any limitations on collection, use or disclosure of this personal information concerns toys that spy. The toys subject young children to ongoing surveillance and are deployed in homes across the United States without any meaningful data protection standards. They pose an imminent and immediate threat to the safety and security of children in the United States. BEUC, citing the study commissioned by the Norwegian Consumer Council, expressed security concerns. With simple steps, anyone can take control of the toys through a mobile phone. This makes it possible to talk and listen through the toy without having physical access to the toy. It alleged the terms breach the EU Unfair Contract Terms Directive and the EU data protection directive and possibly the toy safety directive. Anything the child tells the doll is transferred to the US-based company Nuance Communications, who specializes in speech recognition technologies. The company reserves the right to share this information with other third parties, and to use speech data for a wide variety of purposes. The toys are embedded with pre-programmed phrases, where they endorse different commercial products.