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Touching the VR world with gloves on

The world of virtual reality is becoming more real each day. Most recently, researchers from Cornell University have created a glove that makes touching through VR a reality.

Technological developments in 2020 are firing on all cylinders. There is something new coming up each day, but nobody thought that virtual reality could get any more real than it already is.

Researchers disagree. They are making VR more immersive.

With new developments in VR, you could actually pick up an object and feel it in your hands. Thanks to Cornell University researchers who have designed a sensor that tracks the movement of your hands. The primary purpose of this development is to make virtual reality more tactical and immersive as users can slide on this glove, and feel the objects.

Fibre-optic sensors on Cornell Researchers’ Glove

Many scientists and researchers have been trying to add a physical experience to a somewhat robotic world. All of their experiments included either haptic sensors or mechanical wires. This one particular creation of Cornell researchers has stretchable fibre optic sensors that sit on top of your hand like a spider web.

Silica-based distributed fibre-optic sensor (DFOS) systems are a renowned tool for sensing stress, pressure, vibration, warmth, and moisture. This glove has a stretchable fibre-optic sensor that extends to the length of your fingers, with tips lit up with LED lights. The current framework is pretty simple with bands wrapped around fingers, a battery attached on the wrist, Bluetooth and some basic circuits.

Sensors on these gloves bend with the movement of fingers, making the whole experience as closer to reality as it can get. It may sound impressive, but this feature is not the hero of the show. It is the fibre optics that allow the user to feel the force, pressure, and stress caused by the movements.

“Right now, sensing is done mostly by vision. We hardly ever measure touch in real life. This skin is a way to allow ourselves and machines to measure tactile interactions in a way that we currently use the cameras in our phones. It’s using vision to measure touch. This is the most convenient and practical way to do it in a scalable way.” Lead researcher Rob Shepherd said.

A VR glove may sound fun, but it can serve a much essential purpose. Researchers believe that fibre optic glove will make soft robots more efficient. Machines and robots can contribute more than ever to the advancement of the world through VR.

The creators are currently developing the product further and analyzing how it can help in the world of medicine, physical therapy, and sports.

Live longer. Eat Chilies.

The proverb “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” is famous for all the right reasons. It is common knowledge that food is excellent for health. But while we focus on apples and bananas, we overlook a fruit that may help us live longer. Research has shown that chilies reduce health risks. 

 

Diet sits at the heart of discussions regarding health and fitness. No amount of workout will be sufficient unless food intake is healthy and hygienic. Among foods that nurture our bodies, chilies have to be the most overlooked one as these fiery looking fruits are incredibly beneficial for overall health, according to research. 

 

About 80% of adults over the age of 65 die due to natural diseases such as cancer, heart diseases, diabetes, and stroke. Doctors advise to steer clear of oily foods and sugars, but it appears that chilies might help people live longer. 

 

A review showed that those who add chili peppers to their food for 20 years had lower chances of death by 13% compared to those who didn’t.

 

Here’s how it works; the peppers don’t magically make you younger. The chili peppers work on minor and various areas of your body, reducing health risks. For instance, chili peppers can help you lose weight. A significant cause of death and poor lifestyle among food lovers is obesity. Chili pepper speeds up your metabolism, allowing you to remain fit and healthy. 

 

Red chili peppers are also efficient body boosters. Oranges are famous for their Vitamin C provision. However, research shows that Chili peppers beat oranges in Vitamin provision. The fiery peppers are packed with Vitamin C, A, B, and E. These vitamins help protect cells in the body and prevent inflammation. 

 

However, there are not enough papers to back up the research; Chili peppers have also shown to fight cancer cells. The fiery pepper can kill up to 40 types of cancers such as lung cancer, liver cancer, colon and pancreatic cancer. The chemicals in peppers can stop the growth of cancer cells, according to the American Association for Cancer Research. 

Capsaicin in chili peppers is the “life saver”

 

The benefits of chili pepper are numerous because of a compound called capsaicin. 

 

Capsaicin in chili peppers has anti-microbial properties and plays a crucial role in heating up your body, and in turn preventing the fat from accumulating. 

 

Apart from this main compound, chili peppers are rich in potassium that plays a pivotal role in preventing heart diseases, especially when combined with folate. Both the acids help balance your blood flow, keeping your vessels relaxed. 

 

However, excess of everything is bad. Doctors recommend a balanced use of chili pepper as excessive intake can cause stomach problems. 

Neurotoxin Might Have Caused the Death of Elephants in Botswana

Botswana has the world’s biggest population of elephants, so when 70% of them collapsed and died at the same time, the world was shocked. While there were several possible explanations such as anthrax or poisoning, nothing could be proved. The recent discovery by researchers has put an end to endless speculations behind the unfortunate event.

“We have a number of hypotheses we are working on. Elephants are the only animals drinking below the surface of the water and sucking the silt, which is where toxins reside,” said Mmadi Reuben, a veterinary officer in the Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

The elephants were found dead near the water canals lined with a large number of cyanobacteria. It’s a type of blue-green algae that is single-celled. They are known for their ability to stick together in large clumps of green color on wet surfaces and areas. Evidently, these clumps of green algae are incredibly deadly and toxic to both humans and animals. Cyanobacteria on aquatic surfaces mostly attack the nervous system, liver, and skin that is exposed to it.

According to research, green algae makes food through photosynthesis, which means that they are on the peak during the summer season. Due to the changing weather conditions and global warming, the heat waves are increasing, ultimately impacting the growth of green algae.

The researchers involved in the investigation found samples of green algae in water which led them to conclude that it may have caused the death of elephants. They further said that the growth of green algae in watering holes could be attributed to the drought last year. The adverse weather condition was followed by heavy rain.

“When the water holes dried at the end of June, the disease also ended, the important thing is that investigations continue into why this happened so that going forward, we can stop this from happening again in time,” Mmadi said.

As mentioned before, Botswana has a huge number of animals which many locals believe is too many, with people complaining that these animals eat the crops and their presence in a village is generally not safe. However, the animals in Botswana are what makes it unique as a key tourist attraction that garners earnings of $2 Billion per year.

Despite the water samples, the researchers are refraining people from drawing conclusions until the investigation has been completed.

“Just because cyanobacteria were found in the water, does not prove that the elephants died from exposure to those toxins. Without good samples from dead elephants, all hypotheses are just that: hypotheses.”  McCann said.

However, it’s safe to say that investigations are going in the correct directions. Cyanobacteria is renowned for causing the death of animals in the past. The green algae has previously killed fish, birds, and various other animals according to a report by Global Change Biology.

Space Life Underground

Just a few years ago we used to wonder what was inside the core of the Earth that kept spinning and rotating around the axis. What was it that the Earth was made from? Through expeditions, research, and more it was found that it was lava. Similarly now, scientists have said that they can find out what is beneath the surface of the moon and even Mars. However, it will be very technically challenging.

Scientists from Harvard have claimed that they have found a way to see whether or not there is life living underground on Mars. They believe that drilling down to the center would be worth the effort if they were to find proof of life.

The teams of scientists at the Astrophysics department believe that only finding water on the surface of the plant is not enough, there needs to be more thorough research done. This drilling expedition will help with that, and the human race may finally be able to find evidence of life on another planet.

They believe that the climate on the surface of Mars and the moon could indicate life or pre-existing life that can only be found through drilling and digging deep within. Even though these searches will be challenging and will require a lot more progress in technological, they still cannot be ruled out as impossible.

Scientists claim that for a liquid to exist on a surface or within a planet, there is a certain atmosphere that is required and that a finite pressure is maintained. If this were to not happen, there would be no existence of liquid on that surface. This is why they believe that there could be sub-surface lakes in Mars as the upper layer can exert the right amount of pressure leading to the existence of liquid.

Life could be thriving beneath the surface even though the exterior of the planet does not seem provide livable conditions. By digging where higher temperatures could be found and drilling through geological material, they may be able to figure out the existence of life.

The team is so enthusiastic that they believe that within the decade there could be some work done on this and the process can at least begin. They believe robots and other AI will be digging deep in space to find the concept of life on another planet.

Mushroom Clothing

Most of us like the idea of going environmentally friendly. However, clothing is never one of our focal points. We keep focus on food, shelter, and even water, but never on what we wear. Going green is not an easy job especially when it comes to your clothing and still being able to dress the way you want. This is because there are not many options available on the market and those are can be overpriced.

There is now a new collaboration between Adidas and Lululemon and they have begun to acquire suitable and environmentally friendly fabric that will not only look chic and modern, but also help save the world at the same time. A start-up called Bolt fabrics has begun to create a special kind of fiber which is made up of mycelium, which is a threadlike root of a mushroom which creates a sort of faux leather or vegan leather material.

Some of the most well-known and most followed brands all over the world have decided to partner with Bolt for their fabric. The two names included in this list are Adidas and Lululemon. They have invested a lot of money in the company just to create hundreds of millions of square yards of the sustainable fabric. The first few products that are made from this material are due to go on sale sometime next year.

To create the fabric, the creators grow mushrooms over a bed of sawdust for approximately 10 days. The results of that are that the mushroom root can be dyed, colored, and shaped just like real leather. The process is also much faster than obtaining real leather and is much easier too.

They believe that this fabric has the same supple and warmth that a natural leather does. Through this natural feeling, the company aims to get more and more famous brands involved. This is because using leather was always questioned. People always believed that using leather was cruel to animals and many even protested against it. However, the look that leather could achieve was incomparable, until now.

With brands like Adidas trying to be as environmentally friendly, for example, creating sneakers from seaweed, this fabric created from mushrooms will help boost their message as well as help them attain sales due to the appearance of the fabric.

If big brands like Lululemon and Adidas come forth and sign with the company, chances are that many other brands that are smaller in size or larger in nature will also be interested. This is because all these brands like to compete with one another and being environmentally friendly has now become a trend most brands want to follow as it sells.

Artery Evolution

Recently, it has been found that, due to evolution, children are now being born with larger heads, with more babies now being delivered through C-section. Similarly, it has been discovered that humans are now evolving a new artery.

When a child is in the womb there is an artery called the median artery which is continuously transporting blood from the heart to the hands of the child. However after birth, usually this artery is replaced by two other arteries and this one disappears.

Now, by comparing ourselves to humans in the 18th century, there are more people today that still retain their media artery. This could be a way of saying that evolution is still taking place within the human body.

The author of this discovery, Maciej Henneberg, a specialist in anatomy at the University of Adelaide, says that this is an indicator that biological evolution is still ongoing within humans. If we were to quantify this, the researchers found, through cadavers and other means, that in the 1800s only around 10 percent of the total population retained the artery. However, when they studied people from the late 20th century, they found that around 30 percent of the people retained the artery. Through these numbers, researchers have concluded that this is the fastest way the human race has ever evolved in the past 250 years.

They also believe that if the trend were to continue, which generally should considering the principles of evolution, then the median artery which is right now an exception will become a norm and those with no median artery will become an exception. Even though this is a fascinating concept, it could have painful consequences as those with a median artery are more likely to get carpal tunnel syndrome, which can be extremely painful.

The researchers think that change has been genetic due to maternal health issues or possibly due to the mutation of genes within humans. They think that by the year 2100 the median artery should become a norm rather than the exception that it is today.

Whether this would be a positive change or a negative change it cannot be said, however, this does show us proof of how fast human evolution has been taking place and how amazing the concept of evolution truly is.