As reported in the journal “Ecology and Evolution” , researchers from the University of Minnesota are working on developing a new approach for studying effects of using genetically engineered (GE) insects. GE insects are aspired to be used for purposes of managing pests and insect-borne human diseases. Researchers including David Andow, Aaron David, Joe Kaser, Amy Morey and Alex Roth are working on designing a standardized ecological risk assessment (ERA) for using such an approach. “Our project is trying to get it a little bit further into a standardization —…
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Pars Will Be The New Lifeguard
An innovative invention in the field of robotics has been recently tested successfully. RTS lab, earlier this year disclosed its big idea named Pars a flying robot with the aim of rescuing drowning people at sea by dropping the life saver. This idea was backed by an Iran based company which provided the required funds for the testing of the first working model in the open Caspian sea where a number of drowning cases get reported time and again.
Read MoreControlling Robots Via An Intuitive Command System
Eye contact and face engagement are the two most important elements that plays major role in interaction among humans. And this main thing was missing when interacting with robots but now bots too would react according to the given set of instruction(s) that they’d decipher as per the eye and face recognition. Researchers at IROS made it a reality. They showed how an individual robot obeyed – within a group of bots – an instruction. This breakthrough went ahead in controlling bots in a more natural way. The bots were…
Read MoreWhy Men Posses Bigger Nose Than Women: A Study
When compared to women it is always men who has bigger nose. A recent study has revealed the scientific reason concluding why European men has bigger noses than their female counterparts. The interesting study done by lead researcher Nathan Holten, assistant professor in the University of Iowa College of Dentistry, found that men posses more lean muscle than in the females and stand in need for more oxygen for maintaining a healthy tissue growth and development. Thus bigger nose help inhaling more oxygen to meet the lean muscle demand in…
Read MoreMars Has Granitic Rocks: A Research
Every time one reads a philosophical novel, one finds a new motif running parallelly across the main theme and the numbers of motifs keep on increasing with the number of times the book is re-read. Expedition on Mars is quite similar to such an experience or a discovery at least I think so. Until now, researchers advocated that Mars is much simpler geologically with respect to Earth and that the planet’s surface consists of only basalt, dark-colored volcanic rocks. However, a recent discovery by the Curiosity rover has surfaced more…
Read MoreMolding Your Old Television into Decorative Tiles
Today everyone keeps discussing about protecting our mother nature, our planet from different wastes like chemical waste, radioactive waste, bio-degradable waste or non-degradable waste to name just a few. With the advancement of science and technology one more type of waste is posing a serious threat to the environment. Almost in every house there are television sets (one per family if not one in every room) and desktop. Do you remember your old heavy box type television set (with the Cathod Ray Tube Technology) which was latter replaced with the…
Read MoreSensory Integration Dysfunction: The Dysrhythmia Within (3)
In continuation of the Sensory Integration series of articles, today I will be discussing the third element of practice pertaining to Ayres’s sensory integration theory; which is her suggested treatment approach, referred to as sensory integration therapy. Ayres’s therapy techniques provide the child with various sensory experiences through play. One of the basic assumptions over which Ayres’s work was constructed was that the central nervous system is plastic. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change or be modified. Based on this assumption, sensory integration therapy is hypothesized to cause…
Read MoreMicrobes Help In Hyenas Communication
We have seen animals like dogs, cats and others squatting to mark their territorial borders and to pass other messages. Researchers have been trying to unravel the amount of messages these signs flash to other animals. A similar study lead by postdoctoral researcher Kevin Theis of Michigan State University, has revealed some important information about hyenas squatting also known as pasting. The study mainly focused on two species of hyenas namely the spotted hyenas and the striped hyenas.
Read MoreLin28a Gene Found Effective In Tissue Repair In Mouse
Whenever I see a salamander or a lizard it makes me think how wonderful it could have been if we had the same capacity to re-grow an amputated limb or any scar so effectively and so easily. In humans, tissue repair mechanism is most vigorous during the gestation period and this decline with the advancement of age. That is why infant tissues tend to heal faster than an older individual. Interdependence between the tissue and tender age is the matter to exploration. What is that in juveniles that help in…
Read MoreAnts Relying On Experience For Decision Making: A Study
We humans are not the only one who depends on past experiences for making competent decisions, ants too have been known living successfully on the same paradigm and they have been residing on earth for some 110-130 million years ago.
Read MoreSensory Integration Dysfunction: The Dysrhythmia Within (2)
As discussed in my previous article, sensory integration dysfunction could seriously affect a child’s life if not diagnosed and targeted properly, thus, accurate diagnosis is of utmost importance. Sensory integration dysfunction could be a tricky disorder, as symptoms may look similar to other disorders. One example of such disorders is Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, popularly known as ADHD. In both disorders, a child might present as hyperactive, or may face difficulty paying attention in class. Sensory integration dysfunction has also been often misdiagnosed as autistic spectrum disorder due to some…
Read MoreSensory Integration Dysfunction: The Dysrhythmia Within (1)
This is the story of Jenny, a 4-year old gorgeous girl. Jenny presents herself as a very articulate child, with a charming personality that is easy to capture attention when in a gathering. And although everyone seems to think of Jenny as a very pleasant child, her mother happens to describe her as a “difficult girl”. At home, jenny seems to throw temper tantrums for the simplest things. She always complains about clothes tags being too itchy, noises coming out of the computer fan being too loud, and describes bright…
Read MoreChimpanzees Show Interest in Robota: A Study
Chimpanzees are our closed relatives in behavioral terms and as well as in appearance because we share 98.8 percent of the DNA pool. This striking similarity made the researchers inquisitive about how a chimpanzee would reciprocate to a robot. Robot fascinates humans, but the topic of research was whether the robot can lure chimpanzees’ interest too. Like humans do the chimpanzees understand that the robots are not living and do they attempt to communicate or make any bond with the bot? Researchers from the University of Portsmouth’s Centre for Comparative…
Read MoreDendrites Effectively Act As Mini Neural Computers
Researchers have lately discovered an additional role of dendrites the branching extensions of neurons. Before the study, dendrites were considered as the receptive parts of a neuron, meaning, responsible for transmitting information from sense organs and carrying impulses to different muscles in the body. It is because of this tendency, they are also termed as electrical transmitters of the body. However, the recent research postulates dendrites additional ability to process information, hence increasing the brain’s computing power. This insinuates brain has a huge processing power relatively. Period. Dendrite’s Study The…
Read MoreBeware of Hepatitis C, A Silent And Inconspicuous Attacker
Recent researchers have discovered that Hepatitis C can remain inconspicuous for years (as long as 30 years as found in some cases) before its symptoms can be recognized, as hepatitis C may appear with narrow or no symptoms. What is Hepatitis C? Hepatitis means liver infection, which causes irreparable damage to the tissues and can be induced because of excessive intake of alcohol, industrial chemicals, certain drugs and different viruses. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the one causing hepatitis C ailment in humans and chimpanzees. During initial phase that may…
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