Knowledge Update

New York, Jan 29 (IANS) A group of researchers has invented new ways to interact with smartwatches that not only eases the user-device communication but also gives users better control over the gadget.

Georgia Institute of Technology researchers developed enhancements using LG and Sony smartwatches that allow a user to scroll through apps by running fingers along the watch band, and let him/her launch eight smartwatch apps by tapping key points on the watch case (or bezel) and reject phone calls by blowing on the screen or tapping the side of the watch.

The new enhancements, recently presented at the 2016 ACM International Conference on Interactive Surfaces and Spaces, also let a user to edit dictated text message errors by breathing on the screen, transfer on-screen information from the watch to a phone with breaths and select numbers by tapping the back of the hand.

Ph.D. student Cheng Zhang oversaw WatchOut -- an interaction technique that uses taps and scrolling gestures on the case and watchband. The tapping and scrolling on the smartwatch band was possible because of the watch's gyroscope and accelerometer sensors.

"We wanted to create a technique that allows the user to tap the watch to accept or deny phone calls. Hitting the right side answers the call; the left side ignores it," Zhang said in a statement.

"Other techniques that improve control of smartwatches have included 3D gestures above the screen, bigger screens or adding an extra armband. We wanted to show it could be done with existing technology already common on today's devices," Zhang added.

​Seoul, Jan 28 (IANS) The number of people in South Korea who used the popular augmented reality game "Pokemon Go" in a single day has surpassed 4.2 million just three days after its official launch in the country, according to a survey.

​Helsinki, Jan 28 (IANS) Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia has created a customised digital assistant "MIKA" that will improve telecom operators' efficiency by providing engineers faster access to critical information.

New York, Jan 28 (IANS) The US Patent and Trademark Office has published an application that shows Apple has filed a patent for a vapouriser technology -- an apparatus that can regulate temperature to release heat from a substance within a canister.

​Tokyo, Jan 28 (IANS) Japan-based Kyocera has introduced a new "rafre" washable smartphone that features resistance to hot water and a touchscreen that be can be used even when the user's hands are wet or when wearing gloves. The product will be available from March 2017 in Japan and will be offered in three colours -- pale pink, clear white and light blue. "The smartphone is a successor to the orignal DIGNO rafre, which launched in December 2015 as the world's first hand-soap-washable smartphone. In addition to resistance against foaming hand soap, the second-generation model possesses resistance to foaming body soap," the company said in a post on Friday. Furthermore, the new handset is equipped with a special cooking app which allows users to scroll through recipes, set timers and answer calls through hand gestures without having to touch the display. Equipped with phase detection auto-focus and auto HDR, the device sports 13MP rear camera, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory, 3,000mAh battery and runs on Android 7.0 Nougat operating system.

​Beijing, Jan 28 (IANS) China witnessed a surge in tourist numbers on Friday, the first day of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, official data showed on Saturday.

The number of tourists jumped 10.4 per cent year on year to 50.5 million, Xinhua news agency said. 

Tourist-generated income climbed to 59 billion yuan (around 8.67 billion US dollars), up 13.3 per cent from one year earlier, according to data from the China National Tourism Administration.

In Beijing alone, 294,000 tourists visited the city's 160 key scenic spots on Friday.

China's northwestern Gansu Province received 860,500 travellers, up 22.1 per cent year on year. The province reaped tourist revenues of 520 million yuan, up 25.9 per cent year on year.

In terms of outbound tourism, Phuket and Bangkok in Thailand, Nha Trang in Vietnam, Bali in Indonesia and Singapore were among the most popular destinations.

It is estimated that over six million Chinese people will travel abroad during the holiday. 

Washington, Jan 28 (IANS) NASA scientists in an unprecedented study have found that space travel may alter gene expression.

The study involved astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a year in space and his identical twin Mark who stayed on Earth. 

From the lengths of the twins' chromosomes to the microbiomes in their guts, "almost everyone is reporting that we see differences", Christopher Mason, a geneticist at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, was quoted as saying to scientificamerican.com. 

The changes that are likely attributable to Scott's time in orbit include alterations to gene expression, DNA methylation -- the reversible addition of a chemical marker that can affect gene expression -- and other biological markers. 

DNA methylation decreased in Scott during flight and increased in Mark over the same period. 

Levels for both men returned close to pre-flight levels after Scott came back to Earth, according to the preliminary results published in the journal Nature. 

"What this means isn't yet clear," said Andrew Feinberg, a geneticist at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, US.

The researchers also reported changes in gene-expression signatures between the twins. Such changes happen in earthbound people all the time, associated with environmental shifts such as changes in diet and sleep habits. 

However, the changes in Scott seemed to be larger than normal - perhaps due to the stress of eating frozen food and trying to sleep while floating in space, Mason said.

But, because the Kelly twins are just two people, the results may not be generalised, the study said.

Scott spent 340 days in space during 2015-2016, giving him a lifetime total of 520 days, while Mark, also an astronaut, had previously flown in space for a total of 54 days over four space-shuttle missions between 2001 and 2011.

New York, Jan 28 (IANS) If you are a creative person, chances are you may face more trouble in getting good quality sleep although you may sleep more often, researchers say.

In the study, the researchers sought to understand how two types of creativity -- visual and verbal -- influence objective aspects of sleep such as duration and timing and subjective aspects -- sleep quality.

The findings showed that both have different sleep patterns. Visual creativity is activated by different cerebral mechanisms than verbal creativity.

"Visually creative people reported disturbed sleep leading to difficulties in daytime functioning," whereas, "in the case of verbally creative people, the study found that they sleep more hours, go to sleep late and get up later," Neta Ram-Vlasov, doctoral student at University of Haifa in Israel, said in a statement.

"This strengthens the hypothesis that the processing and expression of visual creativity involves different psychobiological mechanisms to those found in verbal creativity," Ram-Vlasov added.

One possible explanations for the differences can be the that a 'surplus' of visual creativity makes the individual more alert which could lead to sleep disturbances.

"On the other hand, it is possible that it is protracted sleep among verbally creativity individuals facilitating processes that support the creative process while they are awake," Ram-Vlasov said.

​New York, Jan 27 (IANS) To protect users from potential viruses, tech giant Google has announced to restrict Gmail users from sending Javascript files from February 13.

"Gmail currently restricts certain file attachments (e.g. .exe, .msc, and .bat) for security reasons and similar to other restricted file attachments, you will not be able to attach a

​New York, Jan 27 (IANS) To minimise data breach, Facebook has added a new login option with 'security keys' that requires a user to enter a special security code from their phone in addition to the password when they login from a new browser.