Your DNA Can Tell How Many Kids You'll Have

The age at which you will have your first child and the number of kids you are likely to have may be encoded in your DNA, say scientists who found that genetic data can be used to accurately predict our reproductive behavior. The study, led by researchers at University of Oxford, includes an analysis of 62 datasets with information from 2,38,064 men and women on the age at which they had their first child and 3,30,000 men and women for the number of children. Until now, reproductive behavior was thought to be linked to personal choices or social circumstance. Researchers also found that women with DNA variants for postponing parenthood also have bits of DNA code associated with later onset of menstruation and later menopause. The study shows that DNA variants linked with the age at which people have their firstborn are also associated with characteristics reflecting reproduction and sexual development, such as the age at which girls have their first period, when the voice breaks in boys and at what stage women experience their menopause.

NASA Develops Technology To Prevent Flight Delays

NASA has developed a way to prevent flight delays using a new technology that safely increases the number of airplanes that can land on the same runway at busy airports by more precisely managing the time between each aircraft arrival. Less time in the air also means additional savings in expensive jet fuel and reduces aircraft emissions, and passengers would enjoy an increased chance their flights – connecting or otherwise – will arrive on time. Current air traffic control technology and procedures can predict arrival times to within a minute or so. The Flight Deck Interval Management (FIM) is expected to enable controllers and the airport to count on aircraft arriving within five to ten seconds of a predicted time. The cockpit-based prototype FIM system combines NASA developed software with commercially available hardware and connects the system to the aircraft’s onboard information and navigation systems. FIM allows controllers to deliver the aircraft more precisely and more predictably, which is a huge advantage that helps the airlines and airport operators more efficiently manage air traffic to minimize delays.

Soon, Milk Chocolate With Benefits Of Dark Without The Bitter Taste

Scientists have found a way to give milk chocolate the nutritional benefits of dark chocolate without affecting the taste. Adding chocolate gives it the same antioxidant property of dark chocolate, according to researchers from North Carolina State University. The compounds were made into a sweet edible powder, which was then incorporated into product. A total of 80 people were given samples and normal milk chocolate and results showed they were liked an equal amount. The tests showed that the amount of peanut skin added to the chocolate did not affect the taste enough for people to realize the difference. If applied to commercial products, peanut skin extracts would allow consumers to enjoy mild tasting products and have exposure to compounds that have proven health benefits. As peanut skins are a byproduct of the peanut industry, the author is hoping their work will provide a purpose for an otherwise discarded product.

New Drug Could Let Your Pet Dogs Live Longer

Scientists have identified a drug that may allow dogs to live significantly longer by delaying the onset of heart failure by an average of 15 months. A new study has highlighted the need for a shift in how vets approach the diagnosis and management of mitral valve disease (MVD) – one of the most common heart diseases in dogs. The EPIC (Evaluation of Pimobendan In Cardiomegaly) study has found that the drug pimobendan extends the asymptomatic period by an average of 15 months, and dogs that received it lived significantly longer than those receiving a placebo. The study at Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in the UK was terminated early following an interim analysis as the evidence was considered conclusive, the researchers said. The vast majority of older, small breed dogs with a characteristic heart murmur are likely to have preclinical MVD; many of them will also have cardiomegaly secondary to the disease and may benefit from early treatment. Thanks to the results, vets no longer have to adopt a ‘watch and wait’ approach to suspected preclinical cases of MVD. When a typical mitral valve murmur is detected, vets should now investigate further to look for cardiac enlargement.

Now, An Ice Cream That May Help You Live Longer

A cardiologist and ice cream enthusiast has created a gelato which he says will make you live longer and run faster. Researchers have patented a recipe for ice cream which has antioxidant properties. The exact recipe is secret but contains dark cocoa powder, hazelnut, and green tea extracts. They’re known to have antioxidant properties, which can help to improve heart health and prevent certain diseases. Tests on human subjects at his university showed a marked improvement in the subjects’ performance of those who ate it. Participants had blood tests taken before and after sampling the gelato and were asked to pedal as fast as they could on an exercise bike. A standard chocolate ice cream was used as a placebo on some of the participants. The tests found that vascular function was improved in participants who had eaten the new ice cream, while no changes were observed in those who ate the placebo. The results were published in the scientific journal Nutrition. Low, controlled temperatures are best way to conserve the antioxidant properties of foods, which is why he chose to add them to gelato. There is talk of red berries, pomegranates, goji berries (having antioxidant properties). But researchers found that many foods from farm to our table, they lose their properties. The foods that best preserve these substances are precisely dried fruit, cocoa beans and green tea, especially at low, controlled temperatures. Who says that health foods have to taste bad? If the findings are confirmed, gelato could be added to the pantheon of Italian foods with antioxidant properties. They include red wine, extra virgin oil and tomatoes, which are all thought to contribute to longevity of Italians.

A 3D Printed Microscope Lets Kids 'Play' Microbiology

A playing classic video games like Pac-Man with living single celled microbes thinner than a human hair is now possible thanks to an interactive microscope developed by bioengineers at Stanford University. After several prototypes, the researchers released blue-print earlier this month for a “LudusScope” in the international scientific journal PLOS ONE, offering kids of all ages a playful window into the world of microbiology. It’s a microscope that you can 3D print and builds yourself. After it is assembled, tiny, light-responsive organisms called Euglena swim on a microscope slide surrounded by four LED lights. The lights are controlled by a joystick, allowing users to control the direction in which the microbes move. You turn microscopy from something that is purely observational into something that is interactive. You can select a cell, track it and collect data about it that you can then analyse and discuss. You can really do simple research in educational settings.

If Diamond Are Forever, Your Data Could Be Too

If you wear a diamond on your finger, it likely has flaws, even if you can’t see them. Don’t blame your partners for your flawed engagement rings, thank them. You could be flaunting the future of data storage on your digits. A paper published on 26 October in Science Advances shows how diamonds can be harnessed to store data for the long term. Right now, a tiny diamond – about half as long as a grain of rice and thinner than a sheet of paper – can hold a hundred times more data than a DVD. In the future, physicists could access a diamond with storage capacity a million times greater than that of a DVD. Groups all over the world are scrambling to find a place to cram all the data we’re generating taking selfies and swiping credit cards. They’ve proposed DNA, holograms, old fashioned magnetic tape and other ideas. Diamonds aren’t new to the memory game, either. They’ve been proposed for quantum data storage, which is kind of like teleportation. It’s basic storage 101 – 010101 (and so on). A diamond has a tiny, atomic sized imperfection known as nitrogen vacancy centre. These flaws occur when a stray nitrogen atom – or a few of them – sneaks in among its carbon structure. Deleting a carbon atom near the nitrogen leaves an empty space for stashing data. For the research, the team of physicists from City University of US used industrial fabricated diamond, which costs $150 – the cheapest thing in the experiment. They used laser to encode and read data on these spaces, which they treated like magnets that could repel or absorb an electron. To encode simple grayscale images like a smiley face, Albert Einstein and Erwin Schrodinger they added an electron by shining a green laser and took one away with a red laser. They read their data like a computer reads 0s and 1s, but instead of digits there was light, which indicated the presence of absence of electrons. While both use light to read data, the concept is a little different from DVD storage. A DVD is like a 2D puzzle, and this diamond technique is like a 3D model. Unlike the DVD, which has only one surface, a diamond can store data in multiple layers. This storage would also work differently than a magnetic hard drive, because diamonds, as they say, are forever. Every time you access or rewrite your hard drive, the material it’s made of degrades, and after five or 10 years, it’s dead. But defects in the diamonds don’t change, and if you do nothing, yur data could last as long as your diamond. It will sit there forever.