Knowledge Update

​London, July 13 (IANS) Researchers have found that an extinct specie of primates who walked thousands of years ago had indistinguishable footprints similar to those of a modern day human.

In the study, an international team of scientists examined a set of 1.5-million-year-old footprints of Homo erectus, discovered at a site near the town of Ileret in Kenya in 2009. 

Continued work, since the initial discovery by scientists has revealed an unprecedented set of trace fossils of hominin, including a total of 97 tracks created by at least 20 different presumed Homo erectus individuals from five distinct sites.

The footprints revealed new insight on how they moved and interacted.

Habitual bipedal locomotion is a defining feature of modern humans compared to other primates, the researchers said.

Using an experimental approach, the researchers have found that the shapes of their footprints are indistinguishable from those of modern habitually barefoot people, most likely reflecting similar foot anatomies and foot mechanics.

"Our analyses of these footprints provide some of the only direct evidence to support the common assumption that at least one of our fossil relatives at 1.5 million years ago walked in as much the same way as we do today," said Kevin Hatala, Paleoanthropologist at Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Germany.

Further, there is evidence of several adult males at each of the sites, suggesting these groups had developed tolerance and may be even cooperation.

"It isn't shocking that we find evidence of mutual tolerance and perhaps cooperation between males in a hominin that lived 1.5 million years ago, especially Homo erectus, but this is our first chance to see what appears to be a direct glimpse of this behavioural dynamic in deep time," Hatala added.

​New York, July 13 (IANS) Small shoebox-sized satellites, flying in formation around the Earth, could estimate the planet's reflected energy with twice the accuracy of traditional monolith satellites, according to a new study led by an Indian-origin professor.

If done right, such satellite swarms could also be cheaper to build, launch and maintain.

Sreeja Nag, a former graduate student in Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) department of aeronautics and astronautics, simulated the performance of a single large, orbiting satellite with nine sensors and compared it with a cluster of three to eight small, single-sensor satellites flying together around the Earth. 

The team found that clusters of four or more small satellites were able to look at a single location on Earth from multiple angles and measure that location's total reflectance with an error that is half that of single satellites in operation today. 

According to Nag, such a correction in estimation error could significantly improve scientists' climate projections.

“If we can estimate the reflectance of different surface type, globally and more accurately which a cluster of satellites would let you do, then at least you've solved one part of the climate puzzle,” said Nag in a paper published online in the journal Acta Astronautica. 

Today, satellites that measure the amount of light reflected from the Earth do so with multiple cameras arranged on a single satellite. 

For example, NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on the Terra satellite houses nine cameras that take images of the Earth from a fan-like arrangement of angles. 

According to Nag, the drawback of this design is that the cameras have a limited view, as they are not designed to change angles and can only observe within a single plane.

Instead, the team proposes a cluster of small satellites that travel around the Earth in a loose formation.

"Over time, the cluster would cover the whole Earth, and you'd have a multiangular, 3-D view of the entire planet from space which has not been done before with multiple satellites," Nag noted

There's another big advantage to monitoring the Earth with small satellites: less risk.

“You can launch three such units and start operating and then put three more up

​New York, July 12 (IANS) Smartphones are the most used gaming device for people globally -- and across 12 countries, 47 per cent of all smartphone players are now women, a Facebook study has revealed, adding that gaming on mobile devices is increasingly becoming popular among women. Facebook's data analysis and storytelling team Facebook IQ commissioned market research company TNS to survey people ages 18-plus spanning 12 countries representing North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle-East and Asia on their use of mobile as a gaming device. The survey found that on average, smartphones are the top gaming device for users -- at 71 per cent -- followed by computers at 64 per cent, tablets at 34 per cent and video game consoles at 26 per cent, adweek.com reported on Tuesday. The survey also analysed the habits of mobile game spenders -- users who play games on mobile and pay for games on at least a monthly basis -- and found that these spending players were 2.7 times more likely to stay in-game for a "sense of community and belonging" than mobile non-spenders. These spenders were also found to be 2.3 times more likely to stop playing games than non-spenders if community members stop playing. "On average across the 12 markets, 68 per cent of mobile game spenders said they discover games via social networking platforms. Other popular discovery sources were photo and video services at 57 per cent and chat apps at 54 per cent," the report said. Thirty-four per cent of mobile game spenders said they discover games by word of mouth.​

​New York, July 11 (IANS) Discounts tied to buying virtual goods have little impact on profitability and do not increase the number of customers making purchases, say economists from the University of Chicago. In an experiment that involved more than 14 million app players of mobile games by King Digital Entertainment -- maker of Candy Crush Saga -- the researchers designed a series of quantity discounts which were offered to different groups of customers for a three-month period. The team including researchers Steven Levitt, the William B. Ogden Professor of Economics, and John List, the Homer J. Livingston Professor of Economics and King conducted the field experiment together. In the most extreme intervention, players were offered a more than 60 per cent discount for intermediate-size purchases and a more than 70 per cent discount for large-size purchases. Analysis of players' responses to the discounts show that quantity discounts had virtually no effect on the share of players making a purchase. "Customers who made small and infrequent purchases tended to spend more when offered the largest quantity discounts, while customers who were already large buyers tended to spend less. The net result was no impact on revenues or profit," the study noted. Data suggests some consumers who would have made small purchases were discouraged from doing so when faced with large quantity discounts. The researchers said their findings challenge traditional theoretical thinking on quantity discounts, particularly that such practices increase company profitability. “This project was an example of using experimental methods to test a much more radical shift in strategy," Levitt noted. King's games for smartphones, tablets and other devices are free to users.

​New York, July 10 (IANS) Certain personality types are more likely to rebel rather than comply when seeing the colour red, suggests a study led by an Indian-origin researcher. The study was inspired by a problem faced by a Dutch child helpline that offered free counselling to children aged 8 to 18. The Dutch child helpline that ran the counselling service were frustrated because of the high percentage of prank calls they received who had no interest in genuine counselling. Researchers launched an experiment that showed three different colours on the chat screen while callers were on hold for a counsellor. They expected that red would reduce the number of prank chats. "To our surprise, the prank chatting was higher with the red colour background than the white or blue. Prank chatting occurred about 22 per cent of the time with the red background, compared to 15 per cent for the white or blue," said Ravi Mehta, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois. The researchers realised that the colour red can increase non-compliant behaviour in people with sensation seeking personality types. To test whether personality type influenced the response to red, the researchers conducted another study. In this experiment, college students completed an online questionnaire to assess their level of sensation seeking. They answered questions to evaluate their attitude toward compliant behaviour and the questions were presented on either a red or white screen. People high in sensation seeking who viewed the red background preferred statements that were resistant to compliant behaviour. This did not happen when they saw a white background. The findings suggest that the assumptions about the colour red may not apply to everyone and this could have implications for things like anti-smoking and safe sex campaigns. "Using red to promote these preventative health measures might not work for people who are high in sensation seeking, and it might even backfire," added Mehta. Red could help some people comply with health eating recommendations, but for high sensation seeking personality types, this may not be the colour of choice, suggested the study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.​

London, July 13 (IANS) Cycling, often marked as a recreational activity, can significantly reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes (T2D), if used as a means of transport to work daily, suggests a research.

The findings showed that people who took up habitual cycling were at 20 per cent lower risk for T2D than non-cyclists.

"Because cycling can be included in everyday activities, it may be appealing to a large part of the population. This includes people who due to lack of time, would not otherwise have the resources to engage in physical activity," said Martin Rasmussen from the University of Southern Denmark.

Further, cycling can lower the risk of various chronic diseases not only in young people but also people who are in their middle age or are entering old age, the researcher said.

"We find it especially interesting that those who started cycling had a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, given that the study population were men and women of middle and old age," Rasmussen added.

In addition, the risk of developing T2D appeared to decrease with the time spent in cycling per week.

For the study, the team included 24,623 men and 27,890 women from Denmark, between the ages of 50 and 65, and compared the association between self-reported recreational and commuter cycling habits with T2D incidence measured in the Danish National Diabetes Registry.

It seems beneficial to encourage adults of middle and old age to engage in commuter and recreational cycling to prevent the development of T2D in late adulthood, said the paper published in the journal PLOS Medicine.

​New York, July 12 (IANS) Water can be the potential secret weapon in the fight against the ever-burgeoning waistline, finds a study.

According to researchers, drinking water which contains no carbohydrates, fat or protein -- key factors for obesity -- may help avoid overeating and thus lead to a healthier weight.

"Staying hydrated is good for you no matter what, and our study suggests it may also be linked to maintaining a healthy weight," said lead author Tammy Chang, Assistant Professor at University of Michigan, in the US.

"Our findings suggest that hydration may deserve more attention when thinking about addressing obesity on a population level," Chang added.

The findings showed that people who are obese and have a higher body mass index (BMI) are more likely to be inadequately hydrated.

On the other, people with inadequately water content are also likely to be obese and have a higher BMI.

Staying hydrated by drinking water and eating more water-loaded fruits and vegetables can help with weight management, specially in obese individuals.

However, "the link between hydration and weight is not clear. Our study further explains this relationship on a population level using an objective measure of hydration," Chang noted.

In addition, people with higher BMIs, who are expected to have higher water needs might also demonstrate behaviours that lead to inadequate hydration, the researchers said.

For the study, published in Annals of Family Medicine journal, the team looked at a nationally representative sample of 9,528 adults. Roughly a third of the adults, who spanned ages 18 to 64, were inadequately hydrated.​

​July 12 (IANS) Pomegranates are found with a potential to boost muscle strength and help to counteract the ageing, say researchers.

The findings showed that when we drink the pomegranate juice, our body produces Urolithin A -- a molecule.

When this molecule gets transformed by microbes in the gut, it enables the muscle cells to protect themselves against ageing and also increases the muscle mass.

As we age, our cells increasingly struggle to recycle the mitochondria -- the powerhouse of the cells -- and are no longer able to carry out their vital function and thus gets accumulated in the cell.

This degradation affects the health of many tissues, including muscles, which gradually weaken over the years and leads to age-related various diseases.

Urolithin A has been found to re-establish the cell's ability to recycle the components of the defective mitochondria.

"It's the only known molecule that can relaunch the mitochondrial clean-up process, otherwise known as mitophagy," said Patrick Aebischer, President, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne -- a research institute in Switzerland.

"It's a completely natural substance, and its effect is powerful and measurable," Aebischer added.

For the study, the team tested their hypothesis on the nematode C.elegans - roundworm - which is considered elderly, after just 8-10 days.

The lifespan of worms exposed to urolithin A increased by more than 45 per cent compared with the control group.

In the rodent studies, older mice, around two years of age, exposed to urolithin A showed 42 per cent better endurance while running than equally old mice in the control group.

However, pomegranate itself doesn't contain the miracle molecule, but rather its precursor, the researchers said.

Depending on the species of animal and the flora present in the gut microbiome, the amount of urolithin A produced can vary widely.

For those without the right microbes in their guts, urolithin A are not produced, they noted.

"For urolithin A to be produced in our intestines, the bacteria must be able to break down what we're eating. When, via digestion, a substance is produced that is of benefit to us, natural selection favours both the bacteria involved and their host," explained Chris Rinsch, CEO of Amazentis -- a life sciences company in Switzerland.

Rinsch also said precursors to urolithin A are found not only in pomegranates, but also in smaller amounts in many nuts and berries.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, are under trail in humans.​

​London, July 11 (IANS) Apart from reducing the risk of cancer and heart attacks, consuming up to eight portions of more fruit and vegetables a day can substantially increase people's happiness levels in life, finds a new study.

"Eating fruit and vegetables apparently boosts our happiness far more quickly than it improves human health,” said Andrew Oswald, professor at the University of Warwick in London.

The findings showed that happiness increased incrementally for each extra daily portion of fruit and vegetables up to eight portions per day.

People who changed from almost no fruit and vegetables to eight portions of a day showed an increase in life satisfaction.

Usually people's motivation to eat healthy food is weakened by the fact that these were predictive of alterations in happiness and satisfaction later in life.

“However, well-being improvements from increased consumption of fruit and vegetables are closer to immediate," Oswald added.

Large positive psychological benefits were found within two years of an improved diet consisting of more fruit and vegetables, the researchers said.

"There is a psychological payoff now from fruit and vegetables -- not just a lower health risk decades later," noted Redzo Mujcic, researcher at University of Queensland in Australia.

The results could be used by health professionals to persuade people to consume more fruit and vegetables, particularly in the developed world where the typical citizen eats an unhealthy diet, said the paper to be published in the American Journal of Public Health.

For the study, the team followed food diaries of 12,385 randomly selected people.

The authors adjusted the effects on incident changes in happiness and life satisfaction for people's changing incomes and personal circumstances.

​London, July 7 (IANS) Grouping young tennis players according to their physical maturity rather than their chronological age could help us develop future tennis champions, suggests new research.

Boys and girls can vastly vary in their rates of growth and maturity during adolescence.

Those who mature early are taller, quicker, bigger and stronger, giving them a significant advantage over their late maturing peers. 

"Tennis is a sport that favours youth who are taller and mature earlier than their peers. Our data show that this selection bias impacts girls from the age of 10 and boys from the age of 12,” said Sean Cumming, Senior Lecturer in Health at University of Bath in England.

"Every extra inch in height of a player increases the velocity of their serve by five per cent. At the elite level, it is quite common to find junior players, especially adolescent boys, who are six foot or greater in height," Cumming noted.

This means that later maturing players are often overlooked in the elite tennis selection process.

"While early maturing boys and girls have initial advantages, the pressure to win can lead them to play to their physical strengths at the expense of their technical development,” Cumming said.

"In contrast, talented, yet late maturing players might be excluded or overlooked by talent spotters on the basis of physical characteristics that are not fully realised until adulthood," Cumming explained.

The research team, which includes mathematicians from Bath's Institute for Mathematical Innovation, is developing new statistical methods to allow practitioners to better assess and account for individual differences in biological maturity and help ensure players are evaluated on the basis of their physical development, and not just their chronological age.

The team published its research in the journal Pediatric Exercise Science.

"The challenge for those working with young tennis players is to look beyond differences in maturity, and recognise those players who may have the greatest potential for success as an adult,” Cumming said.

Now the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the governing body for the game of tennis in Great Britain, is collaborating with scientists at the University of Bath to use statistics to avoid selection bias towards early maturing players, a university statement said.

Gill Myburgh, a Strength and Conditioning coach at the LTA also sees potential benefits in periodically matching players by maturity status, rather than age, in training and competition.​