That warm fuzzy feeling of giving a loved one a treasured gift at Christmas really is better than being bought presents, according to new research.

A study suggests the happiness we feel after an event or activity reduces each time we experience it - this is known as 'hedonic adaptation'.  But giving to others might be an exception to this rule, according to the research.  Results from two American studies found people's happiness did not decline - or declined much slower - if they kept giving presents to others, compared with when they repeatedly received the same gifts.

Dr Ed O'Brien, of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said: 'If you want to sustain happiness over time, past research tells us that we need to take a break from what we're currently consuming and experience something new.  Our research reveals that the kind of thing may matter more than assumed - repeated giving, even in identical ways to identical others, may continue to feel relatively fresh and relatively pleasurable the more that we do it.'

In one experiment, 96 university students received $5 every day for five days which they had to spend on the same thing each time.  Some were told to treat themselves with the money while others had to spend it on somebody else - such as leaving money in a tip jar at the same cafe or donating to the same charity online every day.

Researchers asked the students - who started off with similar levels of happiness - to reflect on their happiness levels and a clear pattern emerged.  Those who spent money on themselves said their happiness gradually went down over a five-day period.  Whereas those who gave their money to somebody else said the feel good factor did not seem to fade away - the joy of giving for the fifth time in a row was just as strong as it was at the start.

A second experiment allowed researchers to keep tasks consistent, where 502 people played ten rounds of a word puzzle game and described how happy and elated they felt from winning.  They won 5c per round which they either kept or donated it to a charity of their choice.  Those who gave their winnings away said their happiness declined far slower than those who kept the cash for themselves.

Samantha Kassirer, a researcher from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, United States, said: 'We considered many such possibilities, and measured over a dozen of them.  None of them could explain our results - there were very few incidental differences between 'get' and 'give' conditions and the key difference in happiness remained unchanged when controlling for these other variables in the analyses.  Adaptation to happiness-inducing experiences can be functional to the extent that it motivates us to pursue and acquire new resources - why doesn't this also happen with the happiness we feel when we give?'

The researchers noted when people focus on an outcome, such as getting paid, they can easily compare them which lowers their sensitivity to each experience.  But when focusing on an action, such as donating to charity, people may focus less on comparison and instead experience each act of giving as a 'unique happiness-inducing event.'

The researcher added: 'We may also be slower to adapt to happiness generated by giving because giving to others helps us maintain our prosocial reputation, reinforcing our sense of social connection and belonging.'

She said the findings raise interesting questions for future research such as whether the results would still stand up if people were giving or receiving larger amounts of money or giving to friends versus strangers.

The team is also considering the effects of giving and receiving non-monetary gifts.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

It was the ultimate speed battle between man and nature as Felipe Massa took on a peregrine falcon, the fastest animal on planet Earth.

Former F1 driver Massa, who has switched to the electric Formula E series for the coming season, attempted to outrun the bird of prey in Saudi Arabia.

The peregrine falcon is capable of speeds of up to 217mph while diving for prey, making it the fastest creature in the world.

In the race, Massa drove the electric racing car through the desert with a lure attached, attempting to evade the claws of the falcon.  It is the second time an FE car has raced a notoriously quick predator - last year, reigning champion Jean-Eric Vergne took on a cheetah in South Africa, and narrowly won.

Fans demanded a rematch against a different creature, and after social media feedback, the peregrine falcon was chosen to compete against the former Ferrari racer.  However man once again triumphed, as Massa managed to shake off the bird, and complete the course with the lure unscathed.

The Brazilian, who will race for the Leonardo Di Caprio-owned Venturi team in FE this season, said: 'It was an incredible experience for me to race against the fastest member of the animal kingdom - it's not something I will forget in a hurry.'

The 2018-19 FE season starts on Saturday December 15 with the Ad Diriyah ePrix n Saudi Arabia, with Massa involved for the first time after ending his F1 career with Williams.  He said: 'I'm looking forward to returning to Ad Diriyah and to start racing. It'll be my first race in Formula E and I'm eager to get behind the wheel again. I've missed racing and this series has shown to be one of the most competitive out there.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

A bandage that generates a gentle electrical current could help wounds heal four times faster, research suggests.

The electronic device, which has yet to be named, was wrapped around the chests of rats that had a cut on their backs.  Every time the rodents took a breath, an electrical pulse was generated, which was found to speed up their healing process.  This caused skin-healing cells, known as fibroblasts, to flock to the injured area, which encouraged the production of collagen and new skin cells.

The study was carried out by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and led by recent graduate Yin Long.

Diabetic foot, leg ulcers and surgical wounds are among the skin injuries that often don't heal.  They affect more than 6.5 million people every year in the US, the authors wrote in the journal ACS Nano.  It is unclear how common they are in the UK.

Electrical stimulation to promote wound healing was first recognised in the 1960s to reduce swelling, boost blood flow and stimulate the growth of new tissue.  But it typically requires 'clumsy electrical systems' that can only be used in hospitals, the authors wrote.

After creating the self-powered e-band, the researchers tested it on groups of rats with a 1 cm cut on their backs.  Other rodents wore the same band but the electrical current was 'turned off' - these acted as the controls.  After two days, the rats who wore the 'turned on' device had almost completely healed, while the control animals still had their wounds intact.

The researchers then repeated the experiment on wounds that took up the width of the animals' backs.  They found the e-band led to 'complete closure' of the wound within three days, while 46 per cent of the controls' injuries were still 'open'.  It took between 10 and 12 days for the control wounds to heal to the same extent, according to the researchers.

The band also appeared to be safe, with the rodents suffering no side effects.  The low level of electricity that was generated also meant the animals showed no signs of being in pain or uncomfortable.  The researchers hope a similar device could one day be used to improve the appearance of chickenpox scars, acne and rosacea.  They argue existing methods of promoting healing, such as bandages, dressing and oxygen therapy, are limited in their effectiveness.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Four pin-sized insects that lived 130 million years ago and were killed by tree resin immediately after hatching have been found in a chunk of Lebanese amber.   The discovery marks the first ever fossilised evidence of the short-lived tool the bugs used to break free from their shell, known as 'egg bursters'.  Scientists aren't sure exactly how the creatures died but their rapid entrapment sheds new light on the evolutionary history of ancient bugs.

Many modern-day insects still employ 'egg bursters' to break free of their shell but they rapidly disappear once the animal has exited.  Scientists have said that finding prehistoric evidence of these features is unprecedented.

'The structures that make hatching possible tend to disappear quickly once egg-laying animals hatch, so obtaining fossil evidence of them is truly exceptional,' said study author Dr Michael Engel, a scientist from the University of Kansas.

The amber was found in Lebanon and all four specimens were found in the same piece.  Pieces of eggshell were also found next to the animals which are roughly the size of a pinhead and ancestors of today's green lacewing.  Scientists believe that the onset of the resin likely happened very quickly due the fact some of the unfortunate insects were still clutching their shell.

Similarities with the green lacewing and the first fossilised evidence of the short-lived hatching tools indicated to the researchers that egg bursters has remained integral to insect life for millions of years.

'Egg bursters are diverse in shape and location.  Modern green lacewing hatchlings split the egg with a 'mask' bearing a jagged blade.  Once used, this 'mask' is shed and left attached to the empty egg shell, which is exactly what we found in the amber together with the newborns,' said study lead author Dr Ricardo Pérez-de la Fuente, a scientist at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The study was published in the journal Palaeontology.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

It is a picture perfect Christmas card image from another planet.  The European Space Agency's Mars Express has returned an incredible new series of images showing a giant crater on the red planet.

It shows the Korolev crater, a 50 mile (82 km) wide feature in the northern lowlands of Mars.  Just south of a large patch of dune-filled terrain that encircles part of the planet's northern polar cap (known as Olympia Undae), ESA says it is 'an especially well-preserved example of a martian crater.'  It is filled not by snow but ice, with its center hosting a mound of water ice some 1.8 kilometres thick all year round.  This domed deposit forms a glacier comprising around 528 cubic miles of non-polar ice on Mars.

Smaller amounts of water ice are distributed on and around the crater edge in the form of thin layers of frost.  This ever-icy presence is due to a phenomenon known as a 'cold trap' caused by the crater's floor lying two kilometres vertically beneath its rim.  The very deepest parts of Korolev crater, those containing ice, act as a natural cold trap: the air moving over the deposit of ice cools down and sinks, creating a layer of cold air that sits directly above the ice itself.  Acting as a shield, this layer helps the ice remain stable and stops it from heating up and disappearing.  Air is a poor conductor of heat, exacerbating this effect and keeping Korolev crater permanently icy.

Taken by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), this view of Korolev crater comprises five different 'strips' that have been combined to form a single image, with each strip gathered over a different orbit.  The crater is also shown in perspective, context, and topographic views, all of which offer a more complete view of the terrain in and around the crater.  The crater is named after chief rocket engineer and spacecraft designer Sergei Korolev, dubbed the father of Soviet space technology.

Korolev worked on a number of well-known missions including the Sputnik program – the first artificial satellites ever sent into orbit around the Earth, in 1957 and the years following, the Vostok and Vokshod programs of human space exploration (Vostok being the spacecraft that carried the first ever human, Yuri Gagarin, into space in 1961) as well as the first interplanetary missions to the Moon, Mars, and Venus.  He also worked on a number of rockets that were the precursors to the successful Soyuz launcher – still the workhorses of the Russian space programme, and used for both crewed and robotic flights.

The region of Mars has also been of interest to other missions, including ESA's ExoMars programme, which aims to establish if life ever existed on Mars.

The Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) instrument aboard the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which began operating at Mars on 28 April 2018, also snapped a beautiful view of part of Korolev crater – this was one of the very first images the spacecraft sent back to Earth after arriving at our neighbouring planet.

CaSSIS imaged a 40-kilometre-long chunk of the crater's northern rim, neatly showcasing its intriguing shape and structure, and its bright icy deposits.  Scientists combined three pictures of the Korolev Crater taken from an altitude of 400 kilometers (249 miles) on April 15.

Lead researcher Nicolas Thomas said the colors in the resulting image were also adjusted to best resemble those visible to the human eye.

The camera used is one of four instruments on board the orbiter, which is designed to look for gases such as methane that could indicate biological or geological activity on Mars.  Thomas said the camera will allow scientists to inspect areas where gases are found, monitor Mars for signs of change and help scout the planet for future landing sites.

The spacecraft arrived in a near-circular 400 km altitude orbit a few weeks ago ahead of its primary goal to seek out gases that may be linked to active geological or biological activity on Mars.  The orbiter's Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System, CaSSIS, took this stunning image, which features part of an impact crater, during the instrument's test period.  The camera was activated on 20 March and was tested for the start of its main mission on 28 April.

'We transmitted new software to the instrument at the start of the test phase and after a couple of minor issues, the instrument is in good health and ready to work,' says the camera's principal investigator, Nicolas Thomas from the University of Bern in Switzerland.

The image captures a 40 km-long segment of Korolev Crater located high in the northern hemisphere.  The bright material on the rim of the crater is ice.

Antoine Pommerol, a member of the CaSSIS science team working on the calibration of the data says: 'We were really pleased to see how good this picture was given the lighting conditions.  It shows that CaSSIS can make a major contribution to studies of the carbon dioxide and water cycles on Mars.'

The image is assembled from three images in different colours that were taken almost simultaneously on 15 April.

'We aim to fully automate the image production process.  Once we achieve this, we can distribute the data quickly to the science community for analysis,' says Nick.  The team also plans to make regular public releases.

The orbiter's camera is one of four instruments on the Trace Gas Orbiter, or TGO, which also hosts two spectrometer suites and a neutron detector.  The spectrometers began their science mission on 21 April with the spacecraft taking its first 'sniff' of the atmosphere.  In reality, the sniffing is the spectrometers looking at how molecules in the atmosphere absorb sunlight: each has a unique fingerprint that reveals its chemical composition.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Ancient cylinders which have baffled experts for more than a hundred years since they were discovered were used for measuring, archaeologists have claimed.  The unique 4,000-year-old Folkton drums date from the Neolithic period and were found in a child's grave in 1889.

Since their discovery, the pots - which are covered in intricate carvings - have been studied by generations of experts who struggled to find what they were used for.  Now researchers claim that were used as a 'standard measurement' to plan out the stone circles built by our Stone Age ancestors around 5,000 years ago.

Professor Mike Parker Pearson, from University College London, and Professor Andrew Chamberlain, from Manchester University, calculated the pots' circumference.  When they came to think about the different perimeters of the cylinders, they found that by wrapping string around each pot, the results all came roughly to a multiple of 0.322 metres - just over one foot.

Professor Chamberlain claims that this distance is a Stone Age measurement standard, which he has dubbed a 'long foot'.  They say that our ancient ancestors could have used the method to create the concentric circles at Stonehenge.

The patterned pots were found buried in an infant's grave, dating back to between 2600 and 2000 BC, by an archaeologist 130 years ago.  Generations of experts have studied the drums and its carvings and motifs to try and understand what they were used for, most presuming they were decorative.  They were unlike any other artefacts found in Britain until the recent discovery of an undecorated chalk 'drum' in a pit in Lavant, Sussex, England.

However, Professors Chamberlain and Pearson claimed they were astonished to find that if you wrap a string around all of the cylinders a number of times they got the measurement of 3.22 metres long.  For the largest cylinder, they found that if you wrap cord around it seven times, the measurement was ten long foot (3.22m).  If you wrap it eight times around the medium-sized one it or ten times around the smallest and it is still ten long foot (3.22m).

The pot found later in Lavant, which was presumably made by a different craftsman, also fitted the relation.

Professor Chamberlain believes that the drums were used as a portable means of defining length, by wrapping string around the cylinders or perhaps by rolling them.  He said that although their findings won't be accepted by all archaeologists, he believes that the conclusion is much more likely than what is currently thought; that they built the stone lintels without the use of measuring tools.

Professor Chamberlain said: 'Think about the stones used in Stonehenge. Some came from far away.   I don't think they were stupid enough to bring those stones all the way to the site, try them, and find they were too short.'

The findings are reported in the British Journal for the History of Mathematics.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Artificial Intelligence is now able to create lifelike human faces from scratch.  Can you tell who is real and who is not?

Can you tell which are real persons and which are  fake persons?  The pictures on the right are AI generated

Researchers at NVIDIA have been working on creating realistic looking human faces from only a few source photos for years.  For many people it's difficult to tell the difference between one of the faces generated below and an actual human face, can you spot which is which?

The team at NVIDIA, released a paper on the subject, and explained they used Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN), to customise the realistic looking faces.  The fake faces can be easily customised by using a method known as 'style transfer' that blends the characteristics of one image with another.  The generator thinks of the image as a collection of three styles, known as coarse styles (pose, hair, face shape), middle styles (facial features and eyes) and fine styles (colour scheme).  Animals, such as cats, and objects such as a bedroom can also be generated, using the same method.

The researchers created a grid to show the extent to which they could alter people's facial characteristics using only one source image.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this is GAN has only be around for four years.  But, is it not yet perfect, there are giveaways that can indicate that you are looking at an AI image.  For example the hair is very difficult to replicate, and as such, can often looked painted on, or slightly peculiar.

The advances in this technology also pose interesting ethical questions.  Can people really trust pictorial evidence?  What are the implications for governments or repressive regimes being able to use this technology for propaganda or to spread misinformation?

Earlier this year we revealed how Nvidia software uses AI and deep-learning algorithms to predict what a missing portion of a picture should look like and recreate it with incredible accuracy.  All users need to do is click and drag over the area to be filled in and the image is instantly updated.

As well as restoring old physical photos that have been damaged, the technique could also be used to fix corrupted pixels or bad edits made to digital files.  Graphics specialist Nvidia, based in Santa Clara, California trained its neural network using a variety of irregular shaped holes in images.  The system then determined what was missing from each and filled in the gaps.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Facebook has made it nearly impossible for users to avoid having their location tracked.  A new report has found that even if users turn off location tracking on Facebook, the firm will still use their IP address, as well as other information like their check-ins and the city listed on their profile to discern where they are and generated targeted ads, according to Gizmodo.  This experienced was recounted by Aleksandra Korolova, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California, who examined how Facebook tracks a user's location.

Korolova explained: 'When it comes to one of the most privacy-sensitive types of data, location, Facebook does not provide meaningful controls and is misleading in its statements to users and advertisers.  Taken together, Facebook creates an illusion of control rather than gives actual control over location-related ad targeting, which can lead to real harms.'

Korolova turned off location tracking on Facebook, doesn't check into places and doesn't list a city on her profile, yet she continued to see location-specific ads on Facebook.  For example, when she visited Glacier National Park, she saw an advertisement for things to do in Montana, Gizmodo noted.

She discovered that this is because the firm looks at a user's IP address and may use that to show targeted advertisements on their feed.  A user's IP address gives internet firms a rough idea of where they live, including their state, city or zip code, according to Gizmodo.  This information is then utilized by many brands so they can show users advertisements relevant to their location, interests, age, gender and other demographic information.

Users can avoid being tracked by deleting the Facebook app on their phone, using a virtual private network or deleting their Facebook altogether, Gizmodo noted.

Facebook maintains that this is a common practice and that internet users should already be aware of it.  A Facebook spokesperson told Gizmodo: 'Facebook does not use WiFi data to determine your location for ads if you have Location Services turned off.  We do use IP and other information such as check-ins and current city from your profile.  We explain this to people, including in our Privacy Basics site and on the About Facebook Ads site.'

So while users can do things like turn off location services and opt out of location tracking on Facebook, they can never keep their location entirely private.

A Facebook spokesperson told Gizmodo 'There is no way for people to opt out of using location for ads entirely.  We use city and zip level location which we collect from IP addresses and other information such as check-ins and current city from your profile to ensure we are providing people with a good service - from ensuring they see Facebook in the right language, to making sure that they are shown nearby events and ads for businesses that are local to them.'

The move presents a shift in policy for Facebook, which said in a blog post in 2014 that 'people have control over the recent location information they share with Facebook and will only see ads based on their recent location if location services are enabled on their phone.'

Facebook's change of heart is likely to spark the ire of privacy advocates who say users should be given greater controls over their information and how they're tracked.

And while Facebook isn't the only one who looks at a user's IP address, Kolokava believes Facebook should be held to a higher standard.  Kolokava wrote: 'The locations that persons visit and live in reveal a great deal about them.  Their surreptitious collection and use in ad targeting can pave way to ads that are harmful, target people when they are vulnerable, or enable harassment and discrimination.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk 

Large dust particles from the Sahara Desert have been found up to 3,500 km away in the Caribbean.  Stunned researchers say the find means that global climate models may have to be rethought.  The particles were nearly 50 times bigger than scientists thought was possible to be transported such a distance via global winds.

'These dust particles are whipped up from the Sahara Desert and carried between continents, and most people know them best when they end up settling on our cars or cause the kind of eerie orange skies we saw a year ago,' said Professor Giles Harrison, Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Reading, and a co-author of the study.  He called for climate models to be overhauled in light of the finding

'However, existing ideas do not allow for such massive particles travelling in the atmosphere for such vast distances, suggesting that there is some as-yet-unknown atmospheric process or combination of processes keeping them airborne.  Charging of the particles and associated electric forces is one avenue being explored.  This evidence of dust and ash being carried so far is significant because these particles influence radiation transfer around the Earth and carbon cycles in the oceans.'

The research, led by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), is published today in Science Advances.

Winds carry dust particles from the Sahara west over the Atlantic Ocean.  The researchers collected desert dust in floating buoys and underwater sediment traps in five locations in the Atlantic Ocean between 2013 and 2016.

It was previously thought the size of the particles in this cloud ranged from 0.01-0.02 mm in diameter, but scientists found particles measuring 0.45 mm in samples in the Caribbean.

The scientists argue this means the role of large dust particles, especially quartz, in both cloud formation and the carbon cycle in the oceans has been underestimated.  The role of the particles is largely neglected in computer models used to explain and predict climate change because they have not been thought to persist in the atmosphere.

The research also suggests the amount of dust removed from the atmosphere by rain, rather than gravity, is greater than previously assumed. This has implications for the oceans, because droplets formed by dust particles are highly acidic and because the large particles sink faster, carrying the nutrients to deeper parts of the ocean.  Both these factors impact algae growth and therefore affect food chains and the ocean carbon cycle.

Michele van der Does, a Ph.D. researcher at NIOZ and lead author of the study, said: 'The fact that larger particles of dust keep floating in the atmosphere for a long time is considered to be in conflict with the physical laws of gravity.  We show that through a combination of forces and movements in the atmosphere the large dust pellets can indeed stay in the atmosphere for a longer time and have their influence there.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Scientists have identified a specific gene which is involved in determining the sex of a child.  The crucial gene is found on the Y-chromosome and is involved in the development of the testes.  If this is faulty, scientists claim it can lead to sexual development disorders and improper development of the testicles.   The presence of either an X or a Y chromosome is pivotal in the determination of gender but this Y-located gene is integral to ensuring proper development, scientists say.

Sex chromosomes called 'XX' and 'XY' are separated, with girls carrying the former and boys the latter.  A baby will be a girl if it carries an X chromosome and the embryo will be male if the fertilising sperm has a Y chromosome.

Ms Croft, a PhD student at Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, said: 'The sex of a baby is determined by its chromosome make-up at conception.  An embryo with two X chromosomes will become a girl, while an embryo with an X-Y combination results in a boy.'

However, the Australian team found this dynamic has an added complication.   They discovered a 'regulator' that controls the activity of some genes which impacts if a child will be male or female.

SRY is a gene found on the male chromosome (Y) and this directly impacts a protein called SOX9.

Professor Sinclair, a paediatrician at the University of Melbourne, said the SOX9 gene is regulated by enhancers - and sex development disorders are triggered by damage to them.  If there is some disruption to the expression of SOX9 it can stunt the development of the testicles, according to the paper published in the Nature Communications.

Developmental biologist Brittany Croft said: 'The Y chromosome carries a critical gene, called SRY, which acts on another gene called SOX9 to start the development of testes in the embryo.  High levels of the SOX9 gene are needed for normal testis development. However, if there is some disruption to SOX9 activity and only low levels are present, a testis will not develop resulting in a baby with a disorder of sex development.'

Four patients with sexual development disorders were studied and could shed new light on the genetic causes behind sex development disorders.

Lead author Professor Andrew Sinclair explained: 'These regulatory segments of DNA are called enhancers.  If these enhancers that control testis genes are disrupted it may lead to a baby being born with a disorder of sex development.  We discovered three enhancers that together ensure the SOX9 gene is turned on to a high level in an XY embryo - leading to normal testis and male development.  Importantly, we identified XX patients who would normally have ovaries and be female but carried extra copies of these enhancers - high levels of SOX9 - and instead developed testes.  In addition, we found XY patients who had lost these SOX9 enhancers - low levels of SOX9 - and developed ovaries instead of testes.'

The trio of enhancers are required for normal testes and male development.  Professor Sinclair said across the human genome there were about one million enhancers controlling about 22,000 genes.  He added: 'These enhancers lie on the DNA but outside genes, in regions previously referred to as junk DNA or dark matter.  The key to diagnosing many disorders may be found in these enhancers which hide in the poorly understood dark matter of our DNA.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk