A Robotic Hand Almost As Good As Real

Scientists have developed a robotic hand that can be controlled with the mind, allowing people with certain types of spinal injuries to perform everyday tasks, such as using a fork or drinking from a cup. The low-cost device was tested in Spain on six people with quadriplegia that affects one’s ability to grasp or manipulate objects. By wearing a cap that measures electric brain activity and eye movement, the users were able to send signals to a computer that controlled the glove like device attached to their hand. Participants were able to perform daily activities better with the robotic hand than without it, according to results published on 6 December in the journal Science Robotics. The principle of using brain-controlled robotic aids to assist people with quadriplegia isn’t new. But many existing systems require implants, which can cause health problems, or use wet gel to transmit signals from the scalp to the electrodes. The gel needs to be washed out of the user’s hair afterwards, making it impractical in daily life. The participants, who had previously expressed difficulty in performing everyday tasks without assistance, rater the system as reliable and practical, and did not indicate any discomfort during or after use. It took the participants just 10 minutes to learn how to use the system before they were able to carry out tasks such as picking up chips or signing a document. There were some limitations to the system though. Users had to have sufficient function in their shoulder and arm to reach out with the robotic hand. And mounting the system required another person’s help.

China Fires 'Mist Cannon' To Fight Air Pollution

As smog continued to blanket Beijing and many cities in China, engineers pressed in pollution-fighting artillery called “mist canon”, a large machine mounted on a truck that sprays water to dilute the haze. The machines were initially used at construction sites and mines to reduce dust. Now engineers have improved the machines to make them release tinier droplets of mist for combating fine airborne particles, said Xu Yuexin, an engineer with Beijing Capital Group Boom sound Environment Science & Technology Co Ltd. the truck works by nebulising water into tiny particles, with diameter in microns, the same as PM 2.5 and PM 10 and spraying them into the air. Then they combine with dust and fine particles to fall to the ground. Experts have found the mist canons have their limits. They are the only one of the measures being taken. In October, China deployed the world’s largest outdoor air purifier designed by a Dutch engineer in Beijing to combat smog. The capital issued its second-highest warning against air pollution, an orange alert, on 1 December. The mist cannon trucks are being used to spray in the mornings, and do so more frequently, some three to five times, during smoggy days. Authorities also spray special chemicals on the roads through regular watering vehicles once a week. The spray absorbs and consolidates the dust and pollutants from vehicle exhaust.

Soon, Choco With 40% Less Sugar

Nestle SA said that it has found a way to reduce the amount of sugar in chocolate by as much as 40%, a discovery that may give the Kit-Kat maker an edge as food producers face increasing pressure from governments, health advocates and shoppers to make products healthier. The world’s largest food company has developed a process to alter the structure of sugar that makes it taste sweeter in smaller amounts, according to chief technology officer Stefan Catsicas. Nestle will start selling products made using the new process in 2018 and will gradually reduce their sugar content. The move comes as the UK, Mexico and some US cities have levied sugar taxes to help fight childhood obesity and diabetes, which affects four times as many people now than in 1980. The World Health Organisation has said increasing the price of sugary drinks by 20% would reduce consumption by a fifth. “We want people to get used to a different taste, a taste that would be more natural,” Catsicas said. Nestle is seeking to patent the sugar-reduction process, which Catsics likened to making sugar crystals that are “hollow.” The crystals dissolve more quickly, stimulating the taste buds faster, he said. Unprocessed food has complex structures, which Nestle is trying to mimic by distributing the sugar in a less uniform way.

Apple Is Working On Autonomous Vehicles

Apple has revealed it is investing heavily in autonomous vehicles in a letter asking the US government to make it easier to develop self driving cars. The company is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation. Apple looks forward to collaborating with NHTSA and other stakeholders so that the significant societal benefits or automated vehicles can be realized responsibly, and expeditiously. Apple issued the letter because it is “investing heavily in machine learning and autonomous systems. Rumors about Apple’s ambitions in the sector have circulated for years. The company has a separate organization called ‘Project Titan’ that is developing automotive projects. However, in early September, The New York Times reported that the group had narrowed its ambitions. Instead of designing and producing a complete self-driving car, the group will now concentrate on developing underlying technologies for autonomous vehicles. In its letter, Apple urges the NHTSA no to penalize new participants in the sector by restricting the testing of cars under development on public roads, for which established automakers generally have exemptions. Most major auto manufacturers and many tech groups are currently developing autonomous vehicles, considered to be the future of the automobile, along with electric power, with first production models promised for around 2020.

Self Flying Ambulance Test Succeeds

An autonomous flying ambulance has successfully completed its first solo test flight, offering a potential solution for challenging search and rescue missions. Completing such missions in rough terrain or combat zones can be tricky, with helicopters currently offering the best transportation option in most cases. However, these vehicles need clear areas to land, and in the case of war zones, helicopters tend to attract enemy fire. The autonomous flying vehicle, dubbed the Cormorant, has been tested by an Israeli company and could one day go where helicopters can’t. The vehicle is designed to eventually carry people or equipment without a human pilot on board. Rather than using propellers or rotors to fly, the Cormorant uses ducted fans that are effectively shielded rotors, which means the aircraft does not need to worry about bumping into a wall and damaging the rotors. Another set of fans propels the vehicle forward. The vehicle is effectively a decision making system that can figure out what to do if there is a problem in the inputs from the sensors, the company, Urban Aeronautics, said.

Indian Discovered Bug To Bypass iPad Lock

An Indian security researcher has discovered a bug that allows one to bypass Apple’s activation lock in its iOS 10.1 version, according to a media report. Hemanth Joseph, resident of Kerala, succeeded in bypassing the activation lock of an iPad he had bough online by exploiting a weakness in the iOS device setup process. When Joseph was asked to select a Wi-Fi network, he chose ‘other network’ and selected WPA2-enterprise as  the type of network to connect to, that gave him three input fields to fill – name, username and password. Upon testing he came to know that there is no character restriction in those fields and he typed thousands of characters than what iOS could handle. This caused the iPad to freeze, following which he locked the device by closing Apple’s magnetic Smart Cover over the screen. After opening the cover, the device was at the same screen, but as few seconds passed by, it crashed to iOS home screen. This made Joseph bypass the activation lock and to have full access to the iPad. The bug discovered by Joseph was reportedly fixed in an iOS update last month. Researchers at a US-based lab had earlier discovered another bug that allowed one to break the Apple lock.

Oz Boys Make Expensive HIV Drug For A Dime

A group of Australian school children working on a shoestring budget have recreated the HIV drug whose price was controversially jacked up 5000% by a former hedge fund manager. US company Turning Pharmaceuticals’ former chief Martin Shkreli became a global figure of hate after buying the rights to Daraprim and then raising the price in the US from $13.50 a tablet to $750. Youngsters at a Sydney school decided to draw attention to the scandal and went to work creating pyrimethamine, the active ingredient for Daraprim, an anti-parasitic used to treat people with low immunity, such as those with HIV, chemotherapy patients and pregnant women. Student James Wood said he and his friends had started off with just $20 of the drug, and in one reaction had produced thousands of dollars’ worth. University of Sydney research chemist Alice Williamson helped the boys synthesize the medicine using an online platform Open source Malaria. The pupils “shared the outrage of the general public”. Turning Pharmaceuticals continues to sell the only FDA approved form of the drug in the US, but reportedly cut the price in half for hospitals after the outcry. Daraprim, which figures on the WHO list of essential medicines, is cheap in most countries, with 50 tablets selling in Australia for $10.