Cotton seeds can be seen sprouting in a photo released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA).  The mission took a variety of seeds to the moon as part of its biosphere experiment and this marks the first time ever that biological material has been cultivated on the lunar surface.  Other biological matter on the Chang'e-4 mission includes cotton, oilseed rape, potato, Arabidopsis, yeast and fruit flies.  More plants are expected to sprout in the next 100 days, the Chinese space agency claims.   Developing the ability to grow plants in space is an important step towards successful long duration space flight to Mars and beyond.

The picture emerged after being released has come from Chongqing University and was published on the university's Weibo account.  It read: 'After experimenting under the moon's high vacuum, large temperature difference, strong radiation and harsh conditions, mankind has grown the first plant sprout, realising man's first moon-based biological growth experiment'.

Images sent back by the probe show the cotton sprout has grown well, but so far none of the other plants on-board have taken, the university said.

Fruit flies - also known as Drosophila - are a model organism widely used throughout science to understand how animals react in different environments.  Their short reproduction time is useful in allowing scientists to understand its genetic impact after several generations of reproduction.

Arabidopsis, a simple plant related to the mustard family, is the plant equivalent of Drosophila and also widely used by scientists.

The studies on these pioneering plants are being done in a specially designed biosphere on the Chang'e-4 lander and not on the mobile rover, Yutu-2.  It has greater temperature regulation and insulation which protects its experiments from the extreme temperatures on the moon.

A lack of atmosphere means the UV rays from the sun reach the surface of the moon unfiltered and unabated.  Temperatures fluctuate between highs of 127°C and frigid lows of -173°C.  The seeds and eggs are kept in a small cylindrical tin and are expected to grow inside the 0.8L container.

The 'lunar mini biosphere' is part of Beijing's biological studies in space as it plans to build a lunar base and eventually put people on the moon by 2036.

Researchers hope the potato and Arabidopsis seeds will grow to blossom on the moon in 100 days, with the process captured on camera and transmitted to Earth, according to a previous reports.

The three kg tin is made from a specially developed aluminium alloy.  It is 18 cm tall, with a diameter of 16 cm and a net volume of 0.8 litres.  As well as seeds, it contains water, a nutrient solution, air and equipment including a small camera and data transmission system.  Researchers from 28 Chinese Universities are behind the project, led by southwest China's Chongqing University.

Astronauts have previously cultivated plants on the International Space Station.  Rice and Arabidopsis were also grown on China's Tiangong-2 space lab.

Professor Christopher Conselice, a professor of astrophysics at the University of Nottingha, told MailOnline: 'China is doing experiments with seeds and worms to see how things form in space and there is relatively little information on this.  That's a new era of space exploration that we can learn about.  This was impossible before Chang'e-4.'

Speaking to Xinhua last year, the chief designer of the 'lunar mini biosphere' Xie Gengxin called the experiment 'significant'.  Xie said it could herald a breakthrough for them to understand how humans might be able to survive on an alien planet.

Zhang Yuanxun, a director from China's Deep-space Exploration Associated Research Centre, said the difficulties of the experiment were to control the temperatures and ensure energy supply for the 'lunar mini biosphere' in the 'complicated' environment on the moon.

To control the temperatures, scientists put insulating layers around the tin and built a mini air-conditioning system inside hoping it could provide a pleasant environment for the plants to grow.

To obtain energy, the tin will be powered by the solar panels on Chang'e-4 during the day and its internal batteries during the night.

Chang'e-4 is also equipped with instruments developed by scientists from Sweden, Germany and China to study the lunar environment, cosmic radiation and the interaction between solar wind and the moon's surface.

China has revealed it wants to be the first country to establish a base on the moon and says it will build it using 3D printing technology.

Officials from the Chinese space agency also said the country will return to the moon by the end of the year with the Chang'e-5 mission.   Three successive missions will further explore the barren surface and the viability of building houses there.

China is swiftly establishing a reputation as one of the forerunners in the renaissance of the space race with its continued investment in both Martian and lunar missions.  After Chang'e-5 returns lunar rocks from the surface the next mission, Chang'e-6 will be the first mission to explore the south pole of the moon.  Chang'e-7 will study the land surface, composition and space environment in a comprehensive mission, it was claimed, while Chang'e-8 will focus on technical surface analysis.  Mission number eight will likely lay the groundwork for a potential lunar base as it strives to verify the technology earmarked for the ambitious project.

China National Space Administration (CNSA) said they also have plans to go to Mars in 2020, a timeline that would likely make them the first to do so, beating out the US, Russia and the plethora of private firms looking to colonise space.

China successfully achieved a global first with its trip to the far side of the moon when it landed in the Von Kármán crater on January 4.  The mission's scientific undertakings are now well underway on board both Yutu-2 and Chang'e-4.

Yutu-2, the Jade Rabbit rover, went into 'nap' mode shortly after landing on the surface of the far side of the moon and woke up after five days.  Since then it has sent back stunning panoramic images of the grey and pockmarked moonscape as well as video and images of both the rover and the lander.  Yutu-2 is designed to study the geology of the rocks in the Von Karman crater in the South Pole-Aitken basin - the largest known impact basin in the solar system.  The crater is believed to be composed of various chemical compounds, including thorium, iron oxide, and titanium dioxide.   It is also hoped that by judging this deep scar on the surface of the moon the scientists could find clues to piece together the origin of the lunar mantle.

China's space agency hopes that by exploring the huge 8-mile deep divot on the surface of the moon, they may be able to shed some light on its history and geology by collecting rocks that have never been seen before.  Researchers hope the huge depth of the crater will allow them to study its mantle, the layer underneath the surface of the moon.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Researchers have found a set of genes they say are linked to our willingness to take risks.  While they say there is no specific 'risk gene, they believe the 124 genetic variants they discovered can make people more prone to risky behavior.

The study, published in the journal Nature Genetics, shows evidence of shared genetic influences across both an overall measure of risk tolerance and many specific risky behaviors.

Abraham Palmer, a co-author of the paper said at University of California San Diego School of Medicine: 'Being willing to take risks is essential to success in the modern world.  But we also know that taking too many risks, or not giving enough weight to the consequences of risky decisions, confers vulnerability to smoking, alcoholism and other forms of drug addiction.'

The researchers say that while no variant on its own affects a particular person's risk tolerance or penchant for making risky decisions — such as drinking, smoking, speeding — and non-genetic factors matter more for risk tolerance than genetic factors.  They say the finds open up new avenues for research into risk taking.  The team hopes to understand the fundamental molecular and cellular processes that shape human behavior, and learn how to prevent and treat drug abuse.

Co-author Murray Stein of UC San Diego School of Medicine said: 'Risk-taking is thought to play a role in many psychiatric disorders.  For example, patients with anxiety disorders may perceive increased risk in certain situations and therefore avoid them unnecessarily.  Understanding the genetic basis for risk tolerance is critical to understanding these disorders and developing better treatments.'

The team measured participants' overall risk tolerance based on self-reports.  They found that genetic variants associated with overall risk tolerance tend to also be associated with more risky behaviors, such as speeding, drinking, tobacco and cannabis consumption, and with riskier investments and sexual behaviors.  They also found shared genetic influences on overall risk tolerance and several personality traits and neuropsychiatric traits, including ADHD, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

The effects of each of the 124 genetic variants on an individual basis are all very small, but the researchers found their combined impact can be significant.

Senior author Jonathan Beauchamp, PhD, assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto said: 'The most important variant explains only 0.02 percent of the variation in overall risk tolerance across individuals.  However, the variants' effects can be combined to account for greater variation in risk tolerance.'

The results also pinpointed the areas of the brain involved in risky behavior.

Beauchamp said: 'Our results point to the role of specific brain regions — notably the prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia and midbrain — that have previously been identified in neuroscientific studies on decision-making.  They conform with the expectation that variation in risk tolerance is influenced by thousands, if not millions, of genetic variants.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

      

Elon Musk has revealed images of his fully-assembled 120-foot tall Starship hopper test rocket.

   

The maverick billionaire entrepreneur unveiled his retro-styled spacecraft which has drawn comparisons to sci-fi films of yesteryear.  Twitter users pointed out the similarities of Musk's creation with the contraption Tintin used in the 1954 adventure 'Explorers on the Moon'.  Others said the sleek design and prominent fins closely resemble spaceships depicted in 1950s/60s films, Wallace and Gromit and even Toy Story.

SpaceX founder Musk shared the first real images of the prototype from its Texas launch site and reassured his followers it is 'not a rendering'.

'This is for suborbital VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) tests.  Orbital version is taller, has thicker skins (won't wrinkle) & a smoothly curving nose section,' Mr Musk explained.  This particular model will be used to test short launches and landings.

Earlier this month, the billionaire said SpaceX was aiming to carry out test flights within four weeks, but admitted it could be as long as eight weeks when unforeseen issues are factored in.

Responding to questions from space enthusiasts, Mr Musk said that the first orbital prototype should be ready by June.  The SpaceX founder also added that the real, finished version would '[obviously]  have windows, etc.'  This work is taking place at both SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and the company's test site in South Texas, near the border city of Brownsville, where the first flights will take place.

After its unveiling on social media the tech tycoon's Starship drew immediate comparisons to fictional rockets.

One user, known as John Drury, pointed out the similarities to the Toy Story rocket which is hope to 'the claw' and, briefly, Buzz and Woody.  He tweeted: 'Lol wow.  Reminds me of the rocket ship in Toy Story'

One twitter user also said: 'I love SpaceX and their people are amazing but it does look like a Wallace and Gromit rocket but I'm sure it will be immense'

The latest images provide a clearer view of the two components previewed by Musk at the end of last month, showing engineers in cherry-pickers at work on the nose cone and another large piece of the system.   A large American flag can be seen plastered on the side of one of the huge metal cylinders.

The progress comes as SpaceX ramps up work on the test hopper ahead of planned flights later this year

Starship – previously known as BFR, Big Falcon Rocket, or the Big F***ing Rocket – is key to Musk's plans to send humans to Mars.  Musk tweeted out the first photo at the end of December, captioning it simply, 'Stainless Steel Starship.'

In a series of tweets that followed, however, the CEO elaborated on the plans for the test vehicle.

The first crewed Red Planet mission for the rocket and 100-passenger Starship could come as early as the mid-2020s if development and testing go well, Musk has said

Just in December 2018, the SpaceX boss doubled down on his earlier claims that he would likely be among the interplanetary travellers who make the trip to Mars, despite there being a 'good chance' that he'll die there.  Tickets on Elon Musk's spaceship to Mars will cost around $200,000 per person.

SpaceX shared new details about the 387ft rocket in September, saying it hopes to begin unmanned launch tests of the spacecraft in late 2019.

In the future, Starship will be able to carry out lunar missions as well as long-distance flights to Mars and beyond.  The firm hopes to stage an uncrewed flight to Mars in 2022, then a manned flight in 2024.  In between those missions, SpaceX has planned for a private mission with a passenger on board in 2023.

'We would like to put large cargo on the surface of the moon by 2022.  And we have our eyes on the prize to send people to Mars in 2024,' SpaceX chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell said recently.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

   

 

China's lunar lander has beamed back stunning images from the far side of the moon.

Chang'e-4's 360° lens captured the Yutu-2 - or Jade Rabbit 2 - rover in front of the grey moonscape and reveals the potholed surface and barren expanse of land inside the mysterious Von Kármán crater at the lunar south pole.

Pictures posted on Chinese social media also reveal Chang'e-4, and its rover, Yutu-2, have taken images of each other.

This celestial photoshoot gives an astonishing look at the tandem of cutting-edge machinery that China is using to explore the previously unknown region.

    

Eternally immortalised tracks left from Yutu-2's maiden voyage away from Chang'e-4 on January 4 can also be seen snaking over the untouched surface.

Jade Rabbit 2 entered 'nap' mode after the initial landing in order to survive the blistering 200°C lunar daytime which lasts for 14 Earth days.  It was stirred from its forced slumber the day before as the brutal temperatures subside ahead of the transition to a 300-hour-long lunar night.

Footage has also emerged of a first-person look at the final approach of Chang'e-4 as it completed its pioneering landing on the tempestuous terrain of the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin, the largest and deepest impact crater in the solar system.

A statement from the Chinese space agency, CNSA, said: 'Researchers have completed the preliminary analysis of the lunar surface topography around the landing site based on the image taken by the landing camera.  Chang'e-4, the Yutu-2 and the Queqiao relay satellite that beams data back to Earth are all 'in a stable condition, and all work was carried out as planned,'

A post from the Yutu-2 rover's social media account on Chinese microblogging website Weibo on January 11 at 11:22 Beijing time read: 'Would you like to take a 360-degree moon walk?  Here is a high-resolution panoramic photo of the moon taken by my fourth sister.  Just now, my fourth sister looked around and captured the environment around us with a ring-shaped topographic camera, which included me, can you see?'

China's communist party has since issued a statement praising the endeavour which marks the first time the secretive government has formally recognised the mission's success.   It was reported by China Central Television Station and read: 'The central committee of the Community Party of China, State Council and Central Military Commission send messages of congratulation to the successful completion of the Chang'e 4 moon-probing project.'

Another Weibo user, a Twitter-like microblogging site used in China, said: 'Your nap is so long.'

Another added: 'If you don't get up now, your turnip will be snatched by the aliens.'

Twitter is blocked by the Chinese government but microblogging site Weibo is popular in the country and the posts from Yutu-2 have been made there.

The social media account followed up the announcement with a flippant tweet explaining why the stars were not visible in the images of Yutu-2 from Chang'e-4.  It read: 'Good evening. These few days I have seen so many stars.  The moon is a place suitable for star-watching. No matter it's day or night, the sky is always pitch black. Without the interruption of an atmosphere, the stars are light spots that don't twinkle.  A day on the moon is more than 600 hours (about 27 earth days).  It takes a star half a day to travel from one side of the horizon to the other.  So I can look at one star continuously for more than 300 hours.  The picture taken by my fourth sister (Chang'e 4), because the light ratio is too high, some details have gone missing.  You cannot see the starry sky that I have seen.  I'll draw it for you.'

Yutu-2's Weibo post explained that during the machine did not actually turn off during the mid-day snooze.  It simply entered a standby mode.  In this form it was charged up via solar panels, added to its 'diary', sent monitoring footage and provided readers with stories about the moon.

The post finished: 'I didn't expect to take a break after working only for one day, but it's an important mission to protect oneself.  Master, remember to wake me up early when the work starts again.'

Zhang Yuhua, deputy chief commander of the mission, told Chinese state media: 'After that, the rover will go to its planned area and start a series of scientific exploration projects in the Von Kármán crater as planned by scientists.'

It is expected that after a few days activity the lander will once again engage 'nap mode' to prepare for the lunar night.  This period of time lasts for 14 days and can see temperatures plummet to a frigid -180°C.

The Yutu-2 - or Jade Rabbit 2 - rover drove off its lander's ramp and onto the exterior of the moon's far side at 10:22pm Beijing time (2:22 pm GMT) on January 3, about 12 hours after the Chinese spacecraft carrying it came to rest.

China's space agency later posted a photo online, revealing the lunar rover several yards away from the spacecraft.  The tracks it makes on the surface of the moon will be forever immortalised and will never be lost as there is no wind on the moon due to its lack of an atmosphere.

By 5pm Beijing time (9am GMT) the three 15-foot long antennaes on Chang'e-4 had also been fully unfurled to enable the low-frequency radio spectrometre to begin work.

Jade Rabbit 2 has six individually powered wheels so it can continue to operate even if one wheel fails.  It can climb a 20-degree hill or an obstacle up to eight 20cm tall and its maximum speed is said to be 200 metres per hour.

The pioneering rover is 1.5 metres long and about one metre wide and tall, with two foldable solar panels and six wheels.

Yutu-2 and its accompanying lander will carry out mineral, biological and radiation tests ahead of a future base that China hopes to build on the moon.  Results of these experiments could lead to new understandings of the challenges faced by settlers who may one day colonise our natural satellite.

'It's a small step for the rover, but one giant leap for the Chinese nation.  This giant leap is a decisive move for our exploration of space and the conquering of the universe,' Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Lunar Exploration Project, told state broadcaster CCTV.

The rover is equipped with a variety of scientific instruments to help it analyse the surface of the moon, including a panoramic and infrared camera, ground-penetrating radar and a low-frequency radio spectrometer.

Professor Crawford added: 'While operational, it will rove around studying the composition of rocks, and the sub-surface using its ground-penetrating radar.  It will just be left on the Moon once it ceases to function, unless one day it is collected and brought back to a museum.'

The rover will use its panoramic camera to identify interesting locations and its Visible and Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (VNIS) will help analyse minerals in the crater.

This includes what scientists call 'ejecta' - rocks that have churned up from deep to the surface from impacts meteors.

Its Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) instrument will take a look down into the depths of the moon with a maximum vertical distance of approximately 100 metres.

Experiments of seeds and plants that were taken to the moon from Earth on-board the Chang'e-4 probe will be done inside the lunar lander itself.

Unlike its predecessor, the Chang'e-3 mission, the latest addition to the moon's surface does not have a robotic arm.

The lander also has a low-frequency radio spectrometer (LFS) which will be part of a scientific experiment to study space without the constant radio interference from Earth.

Being on the far side of the moon shields the equipment from the noise and will allow Chang'e-4 to produce a low-radio wave emission map of the sky.

Dr Matthew Bothwell, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge, told MailOnline that this could be a crucial step in the future of space exploration and compared its importance to that of the first telescope.

'The far side of the moon is the only place in the reachable universe that we are able to do this kind of research.  Putting an object as large as the moon between the Earth's constant beaming of radio waves and the antennaes is a fantastic way of filtering out noise from Earth.  Very long wavelength radiowaves are impossible to study due to their universal beaming of radio waves 24/7 and the emissions from the universe is really faint in comparison.'

Dr Bothwell added that there is no way of knowing what this could reveal and the opportunities for discovery are enormous.

'It will provide a new window to look at the universe and we will likely find unexpected things,' he added.

Dr Bothwell also said that depending on the success of the data gathered by Chang'e-4, it could lead to a ground-based telescope being installed on the far side of the moon.

The far side can't be seen from Earth and is popularly called the 'dark side' because it is relatively unknown, not because it lacks sunlight.  As the landing is happening on the dark side of the moon it required its own satellite to be able to send information back.

To facilitate communication between controllers on Earth and the Chang'e-4 mission, China launched a relay satellite named Queqiao on 20 May and is now stationed in operational orbit about 40,000 miles beyond the moon.  This will be the primary form of communication between Earth and the spacecraft.  The probe and explorer will use Queqiao to get their findings back to China.  Its descent was also aided by the relay satellite, the Queqiao, or Magpie Bridge.  This is positioned at a place in space called L2, a Langraine point.  A Lagrange point is a spot in space where the combined gravitational forces of two large bodies are equivalent to the centrifugal force of another body.  L2 is a million miles beyond Earth in the opposite direction to the sun and for an object to remain stationary there it depends on a fragile equilibrium between the gravitational pull of the moon, Earth and the Sun.

The far side of the moon - colloquially known as the dark side - actually gets as much light as the near side but always faces away from Earth.  This is because the moon is tidally locked to Earth, rotating at the same rate that it orbits our planet, so the far side - or the 'dark side' - is never visible from our planet.  This relatively unexplored region is mountainous and rugged, making a successful landing much harder to achieve.

Beijing is pouring billions into the military-run programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022, and of eventually sending humans to the moon.

The Chang'e-4 lunar probe mission - named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology - launched in December 2018 from the southwestern Xichang launch centre.  It is the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu rover mission in 2013.  China announced that in honour of this success the rover on-board Chang'e-4 has been named Yutu 2.

Previous spacecraft have seen the far side of the moon, but none has landed on it.  The probe entered lunar orbit 'to prepare for the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon', the China National Space Administration said at the time.

The tasks of the Chang'e-4 include astronomical observation, surveying the moon's terrain, landform and mineral composition, and measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to study the environment on the far side of the moon.  Researchers hope the seeds will grow to blossom on the Moon, with the process captured on camera and transmitted to Earth.

China aims to catch up with Russia and the United States to become a major space power by 2030.  It is planning to launch construction of its own manned space station next year and have its own lunar base by 2036.

Dr Bothwell said: 'The success of the landing and of this mission puts china in a very strong position among other nations.  The co-operation between the space agencies is great for science and is a case of humanity working together to understand more about the mysteries and issues of the universe.  Possibly the best thing that could happen is another space race similar to the competition between the US and Russia in the 60s and 70s.  With ESA, Roscosmos and NASA all taking significant steps and the private space race between SpaceX and other firms hotting up, it could bring about a renaissance in space exploration.’

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Shellfish that can smother scallops and oysters have found their way to Britain – and are making themselves at home on our beaches.

The Asian date mussel can be distinguished from its native counterparts by the zig-zag markings on its shell.  First found in China, it has caused significant problems in other areas it has invaded.  It can form dense mats of up to 1,500 mussels per square metre – which can suffocate scallops and oysters and damage seagrass.  The mats form when hundreds of the mussels live side by side.  Each one creates a protective cocoon around itself from short, fine, hair-like threads which can tangle, linking the group together.

First described by William Benson in 1841, he gave them the Latin name Arcuatula senhousia – thought to be a reference to British naval officer Sir Humphrey Fleming Senhouse who died in Hong Kong during the Opium War.

Peter Barfield, a marine scientist at the University of Portsmouth, was the first to publish confirmation that the Asian date mussel has made British waters its home, writing in the Journal of Conchology.  He said there is 'clear evidence' that the mussels are living and feeding on the south coast.  It's listed on invasive species databases as 'one to watch out for', but whether it thrives here or causes problems for British native species depends on a wide range of factors,' he said. 'It would be prudent to keep an eye on it.'

The mussel has settled everywhere from Siberia to Singapore, and has also been found in The Netherlands.  The next few years will be critical to see if it spreads across the British coast.  It has been found living in soft sediment in UK waters, and is known to attach itself to hard surfaces such as other shells both beneath the sea and up to the high water mark.  Until this year, the previous closest known sighting of the mussel was in the Bay of Biscay in 2009.

Mr Barfield said: 'If that population had slowly made its way northwards, it's reasonable to assume it would have been spotted somewhere, by someone.  That no sightings have been recorded does suggest those found in British waters may have been transported here via, for example, shipping.'

Creatures known to prey upon the mussel include sea birds, fish, crustaceans and snails.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

   

Move over, hoverboards.  A new pair of hovershoes unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show could soon replace your scooter, bike and skateboard - just don't try to take them for a spin in the rain.

Called the Motokick hover shoes, the $200 self-balancing skates slip underneath your shoes to propel users at speeds of up to 7 mph and can even play music.  All users have to do to get moving is tilt backwards and forwards, then they're ready to cruise.

They look a bit whacky and can feel awkward when worn for the first time, but it only takes a few tries before wearers will be ready to zoom about at full speed.  Rubber covers the top of the shoes so that users' feet can grip onto the surface and not slide off.

Jetson, the company behind Motokicks, basically took the same technology used in its hoverboards, split the board in half and fit the tech into a pair of platform skates.  Inside the shoes are sensors, a rechargeable lithium ion battery, motors and a motherboard.  A number of sensors power what Jetson calls active balance technology so that it's 'balanced at all times.'

And so far so good.  In a demo for DailyMail.com, a Jetson employee was able to scoot around the CES floor with ease.

'It's self-balancing and it feels very much like skates.  I feel more in control than on a hoverboard because once you get the hang of it, you realize...it's just very simple movements,' Michael Ruskin, vice president of operations at Jetson, told DailyMail.com.

But don't expect to ride a pair of hovershoes to work anytime soon, as they aren't great for riding on carpets or in the rain because they need traction to be stable.

One of the coolest hidden features of the hovershoes is that they turn into a roving boombox.  With the push of a button, music will start playing through the shoes with strobe lights flashing along with the beat.  So if you play some dubstep, the flashing lights will 'bump with the music,' Ruskin said.

What's more, the hovershoes will soon be able to magically transform into a hoverboard and a go-kart.   At CES, Jetson also showed off its 'go-kart for adults,' an electric go-kart that uses a hoverboard as its base and can go up to 10mph.  The hovershoes themselves won't be available for purchase until later this year, according to Jetson.

Motokicks aren't the first hovershoes to hit the market - Segway released its own self-balancing skates, called the Drift W1s, earlier this year.  But Jetson's hovershoes still manage to stand out, with unique features like the flashing LED lights that sync up with music, as well as the fact that they transform into a hoverboard.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

   

Cars are getting smarter - and while many focus on seeing the road ahead, they are also set to begin analyzing drivers and passengers.

This week at CES, the international consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, a host of startup companies are showing off inward facing cameras that watch and analyze drivers, passengers and objects in cars.  Carmakers say they will boost safety - but privacy campaigners warn they could be used to make money by analyzing every movement - even being able to track a passenger's gaze to see what ads they are looking at, and monitor the emotions of people through their facial expressions.  Although the current systems don't listen in on conversation, it is feared this could also be added in future versions.

In-car sensor technology is deemed critical to the full deployment of self-driving cars, which analysts say is still likely years away in the United States.  Right now, self-driving cars are still mainly at the testing stage.

The more sophisticated in-car monitoring also could respond to concerns that technology that automates some - but not all - driving tasks could lead motorists to stop paying attention and not be ready to retake control should the situation demand it.

When self-driving cars gain broad acceptance, the monitoring cameras and the artificial-intelligence software behind them will likely be used to help create a more customized ride for the passengers.  Right now, however, such cameras are being used mainly to enhance safety, not unlike a helpful backseat driver.  Interior-facing cameras inside the car are still a novelty, currently found only in the 2018 Cadillac CT6.  Audi and Tesla Inc have developed systems but they are not currently activated.  Mazda, Subaru and electric vehicle start-up Byton are introducing cars for 2019 whose cameras measure driver inattention.  Startup Nauto's camera and AI-based tech is used by commercial fleets.

Data from the cameras is analyzed with image recognition software to determine whether a driver is looking at his cellphone or the dashboard, turned away, or getting sleepy, to cite a few examples.  Companies such as Israel's Guardian Optical Technologies and eyeSight Technologies, Silicon Valley's Eyeris Technologies Inc, Sweden's Smart Eye AB, Australia's Seeing Machines Ltd , and Vayyar Imaging, another Israeli company using radar instead of vision, are crowding the space.  Many have already signed undisclosed deals for production year 2020 and beyond.

It is not yet clear how consumers in the age of Facebook Inc and virtual assistants like Amazon.com's Alexa will react to the potentially disconcerting idea of being watched - then warned - inside a vehicle, especially as cars become living rooms with the advent of self-driving.

Automakers are paying attention for multiple reasons.

As Guardian Optical CEO Gil Dotan said, 'What automakers want is what either sells cars, or what regulators tell them to do.'

The future of the technology rests in deciphering what a vehicle occupant wants, then fusing that with other technologies in order to create a more personalized ride.

'The more you know about the user, the more you're able to fulfill his or her needs,' said Eric Montague, senior director of strategy for Nuance Automotive. Nuance's connected car platform mixes eye-tracking technology, voice recognition and even emotion analysis, from a company called Affectiva.

Analysis from driver monitoring technology could help turn on the heat, lower the seat or play a certain kind of music when a particular occupant enters the car.  If a passenger looks toward the dashboard, a certain control could light up to help anticipate a need.

Automakers are more excited by the revenue possibilities when vehicle-generated data creates a more customized experience for riders, generating higher premiums, and lucrative tie-ins with third parties, such as retailers.

'The reason (the camera) is going to sweep across the cabin is not because of distraction ... but because of all the side benefits,' said Mike Ramsey, Gartner's automotive research director.  I promise you that companies that are trying to monetize data from the connected car are investigating ways to use eye-tracking technology.'

Potential uses go way beyond mere tracking of a driver's gaze.  Regulators like the technology at its most basic.

Eye tracking can determine if a driver is not paying attention, or worse, is asleep.  That will become essential as cars become more autonomous, for 'Level 3' autonomy where the car handles most driving but returns control to the driver in trickier situations.

European car safety rating program Euro NCAP has proposed that cars with driver monitoring for 2020 should earn higher ratings.  In the wake of a 2016 fatal Tesla crash, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board recommended automakers develop means to better track driver engagement.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Animals living in cities may be more likely to get cancer - just like humans, a study suggests.

Light, chemical and noise pollution, food high in sugars, and viruses have all been found to increase the chances of humans getting cancer.  Now researchers suggest the same factors could be raising the risk of cancers in wild animals living in cities such as birds, squirrels, rats, mice and hedgehogs.

Researchers led by Giradeau Mathieu writing in Proceedings B of the Royal Society said: 'Wild animal populations can be compared to prehistoric human populations, in which fossil data indicate a low prevalence of cancer.  It is clear that the characteristics of a modern lifestyle and the urbanising environment have brought along a change in cancer prevalence in humans, but so far little attention has been given to similar changes in wild animals.  It has only recently been proposed that human activities might increase the cancer rate in wild populations'.

Obesity is linked to 10 per cent of cancers in humans.  Feeding animals such as squirrels food such as bread - which is not a natural part of their diet - is leading to obesity although it will need more research to pinpoint the link, the authors suggest.

The researchers write 'we suggest tourist fed small mammals such as squirrels in urban parks are a good place to start looking for links between anthropogenic food, obesity and cancer in wildlife.'

The authors say that further evidence that city life is bad for animals has been found in gulls and laboratory rats, both of which show more mutations living near major motorways or steel mills.

Pollution at sea is thought to be compromising the immune systems of sea turtles and sea lions making them more susceptible to cancer causing viruses.

Domestic cats living in cities are more likely to suffer the feline equivalent of the HIV infection, weakening their immune systems, and this makes them more likely to get cancer, the researchers state.

Cities can also lead to habitat fragmentation, which leads to greater inbreeding from populations due to barriers such as roads.

Light pollution has been found to increase cancer in humans.  Known as ALAN, artificial light at night, is also likely to trigger cancer in animals. The authors suggest that further research should look at the effects of light on birds - as the increased hormone levels due to higher light exposure have been linked to higher cancer rates.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Toyota has revealed a look at the autonomous backup system that could soon assist drivers to prevent car accidents.

The firm kicked off its CES presentation on January 7 with a visual re-enactment of a recent three-car accident in California that it claims could have been avoided with its Toyota Guardian technology.

According to Toyota, Guardian is designed to ‘amplify human control of the vehicle, not replace it.’  This means it can identify potential incidents and alert the driver – or make its own corrective response when necessary.

Dr. Gill Pratt, TRI CEO and Toyota Motor Corporation Fellow said during the press conference in Las Vegas: ‘We all have a moral obligation to apply automated vehicle technology to save as many lives as possible, as soon as possible.  That’s why TRI’s primary focus over this past year has been to concentrate most of our effort on Toyota Guardian.  The driver is in control of the vehicle at all times, except when it detects an impending incident.’  The system, according to Pratt, ‘combines and coordinates the skills and strengths of the human with the machine.’

Toyota will include Guardian as standard equipment on all Toyota e-Palette platforms for the ‘Mobility as a Service’ (MaaS) market.  The system works much like the collaboration of a pilot and fighter jet, the firm explained.

In the future, however, Toyota is also planning to roll out a fully autonomous system dubbed Chauffer, which will take over for the driver entirely.  Toyota showed off how the self-driving capabilities could work with its Lexus TRI-P4 research vehicle.  But, this technology is still a ways off.

‘Technically, how do we train a machine about the social ballet required to navigate through an ever-changing environment, as well as, or better than, a human driver?  Sociologically, public acceptance of the inevitable crashes, injuries, and deaths that will occur due to fully autonomous Chauffeur systems may take considerable time,’ Pratt said.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Why we choose to 'up the ante' and take risks even in the face of long odds may be hardwired into our brains, new research suggests.  Experts used a simple card game to examine what happens inside our heads when we take a decision to gamble or choose a safer bet.

Scientists monitored participants brain activity and found a 'tug of war' takes place between the right and left side of the brain when we make a risky decision.  Which one wins depends partly on previous experience.  The findings were used to develop a mathematical equation that could accurately predict a participant's future decisions, based on their past wagers.

The research could shed light on how soldiers in high-risk combat situations choose a course of action, experts say.  It could also lead to more effective brain training to 'rewire' long-term behaviours and habits. 

Scientists from John Hopkins University studied patients who had electrodes implanted in their brains to locate the source of seizures.  The same electrodes let researchers analyse brain activity in real time as the group took part in a computerised card game.

Participants were shown two cards on a computer screen, one face up and the other face down.  They had to bet low or high, staking $5 or $20, that their card had a higher value than the computer's hidden one.

Dr Pierre Sacre, who co-led the study, said: 'When your right brain has high-frequency activity and you get a gamble, you're pushed to take more of a risk.  But if the left side has high-frequency activity, it's pulling you away from taking a risk.  We call this a push-pull system.'

The high-rolling right brain pushes us to take a chance while the sensible left urges us to hold back.

A recent spate of successful bets or decisions that pay off in everyday life can create a 'bias' that translates into more risk-taking even in the face of poor odds, the scientists found.  Conversely, a bias in the other direction will cause the 'sensible' brain to dominate and make a person risk-averse.

Lead researcher Professor Sridevi Sarma, also from Johns Hopkins University, added: 'What we learned is that there is a bias that develops over time that may make people view risk differently.'

A mathematical equation developed by the team successfully calculated each patient's bias based on their past wagers.

Professor Sarma said: 'Over time, the players are accumulating all the past card values and all the past outcomes, but with a fading memory.  In other words, what happened most recently weighs on a person more than older events do.  This means that based on the history of a participant's bets, we can predict how that person is feeling as they gamble.'

The findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk