Knowledge Update

​London, March 16 (IANS) SITA, a Switzerland-based IT and telecommunication company, on Wednesday unveiled "Smart Path" -- a single biometric token that can be used at the airports for hassle-free entry and exit movement. The new technology, unveiled during the world's largest airport exhibition "Passenger Terminal EXPO" being held in Germany from March 15-17, allows passengers to move through the airport and board the aircraft simply by presenting themselves for a biometric check. Once verified, there is no need for the passenger to present a boarding pass, a passport or travel documents again. "We have built on this unique expertise to create SITA 'Smart Path' -- a single, secure, self-service process using existing common-use infrastructure that simplifies secure, passenger processing for everyone - airlines, airports and border authorities," Matthys Serfontein, vice president, airport solutions at SITA, said in a statement. With "Smart Path", the passenger's biometric details are captured through a facial scan at the first touch point in the journey. The record is checked against the passenger's travel documents, typically the passport, and a secure single token is created. Then, at each step of the journey - from check-in, to aircraft boarding or border control - passengers gain access simply with a facial scan and without having to show their passport or boarding pass. SITA is currently working with a number of major airlines and airports to integrate biometrics into the passenger journey and expects that by 2020, passengers using biometrics will be the norm at airports across the world.​

​New Delhi, March 15 (IANS) A holiday is meant to relax you, but the endless planning, long flights, and jet lag leave you restless -- no wonder then that many people feel they need a holiday to recover from a holiday! Carrying less and taking care of alcohol limits can make the journey smooth for you. Global travel search company Skyscanner conducted interview with cabin crew across airlines and asked them a bunch of questions on how to make your travel experiences better and the answers may surprise you. * What is the simplest way to get upgraded?: While all airlines have their own policies regarding upgrades, the best chance to get upgraded is by not being a total douche at the check-in counter. That completely eliminates all odds of an upgrade. The sure shot way though is to enrol yourself into a frequent flyer programme -- especially if you tend to have a preference for a particular airline. Most airlines will upgrade their frequent flyers. * How to avoid paying for overweight baggage?: Carry less is the solution. Apparently the trick is to balance out the weight between your check-in and hand baggage. Always pick a backpack over a trolley bag (as hand baggage) since the former is unlikely to be suspected for being too heavy. * What is the alcohol limit on international and domestic flights?: Despite whatever you’ve read, this highly depends on two factors -- your behaviour, and the cabin crew’s mood. Since everyone has a different capacity, flight attendants constantly monitor signs of passengers being too high (like suddenly breaking into a jig), and if you are, consider it your last drink! In general, every subsequent drink reduces your chances of the next one. * How to calm down a constantly crying infant?: Every child is different, but in general, taking them to the galley brings out the curiosity in them and keeps them busy for a bit. Distractions always work since they are usually crying out of sheer boredom. Never give them sugar since the temporary rush makes them even more irritable. Moreover, many infants cry due to pressure in the ears and feeding during take-off and landing helps since the jaw movement keeps their ears open. * What does it cost to cargo your pet?: This is highly dependent on the airline and its individual policies along with the size of your pet. Also there are restrictions on how many animals are permitted on board so you need to book much in advance to ensure a place. Certain breeds are not allowed at all since their genetic traits make them unsuitable for air travel. * How to ensure that your baggage arrives first?: The simplest way is to request for it to be marked as ‘priority baggage’. If you’re a frequent flyer, this request will always be processed but even if you’re not, nicely asking for it will help you get a tag. Also marking your bag as fragile helps. * How to beat jet lag?: Pop a melatonin pill before the flight. This works like a charm for many people. Also, if you reach a place in the morning and it's night time in your home country, do anything but keep yourself awake till it’s night wherever you are. This resets your body clock and helps you adjust to the time difference easily.​

New York, March 16 (IANS) If you want to eat less, pull out your earbuds, stop the music system and switch off the television before heading to the dining table, and tune into the sweet sound of your food while it is being chewed.
Researchers have found that the noise your food makes while you are eating can have a significant effect on how much food you eat.
Therefore, watching loud TV or listening to loud music while eating can mask eating sounds that keep you in check.
"If people are more focused on the sound the food makes, it could reduce consumption," said one of the researchers Ryan Elder, assistant professor of marketing at Brigham Young University in Utah, US.
The study was published in the journal Food Quality and Preference.
The researchers carried out three separate experiments on the effect of that "food sound salience".

In one of the experiments, the researchers discovered that people eat less when the sound of the food is more intense. 

In that study, the researchers compared how much participants ate while listening to loud music to those who were not disturbed by music while eating their snacks. 

They found that the louder noise masked the sound of chewing and that group ate more -- four pretzels compared to 2.75 pretzels for the "quiet" group.

"When you mask the sound of consumption, like when you watch TV while eating, you take away one of those senses and it may cause you to eat more than you would normally," Elder said. 

"The effects many not seem huge -- one less pretzel -- but over the course of a week, month, or year, it could really add up," Elder explained.

The findings suggest that being more mindful of not just the taste and physical appearance of food, but also of the sound it makes can help in "nudge" consumers to eat less.​

Tokyo, March 16 (IANS) To understand the effects of microgravity on crystal growth, a team of Japanese researchers has measured the growth of crystals in a specially-designed chamber on board the International Space Station (ISS).
The researchers monitored the very slow growth and dissolution rate -- approximately one centimetre per second of the crystals by a method called laser interferometry.

This was the first time the technique had been used onboard the orbiting international laboratory to measure the growth rate of the crystals at various temperatures.

“We are interested in the growth mechanisms of a space-grown protein crystal -- a lysozyme crystal -- as a model crystal to understand why space-grown crystals sometimes do show better quality than the Earth-grown crystals," explained Tomoya Yamazaki, PhD student in Katsuo Tsukamoto's lab in Tohoku University's department of earth and planetary science in Sendai, Japan.

To observe this, Yamazaki and his colleagues developed unique growth cells suitable for long-term projects for about six months.

For the researchers studying protein crystal growth, that distance was 250 miles up -- the altitude at which the ISS orbits the Earth.

The experimental process, known as NanoStep, was performed in the Japanese Experimental Module (KIBO) of the ISS.

Tsukamoto and his colleagues had previously measured the growth rates of protein crystals under simulated microgravity by using a Russian recoverable satellite and aircraft in parabolic flights.

The researchers took precise measurements of the growth rate of the lysozyme crystals versus their driving force and supersaturation. This also yielded crucial information about the growth mechanism.

Tsukamoto and his colleagues detailed the growth method in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments.

While the researchers expected growth rates of the crystal solution to be slower because of the suppression of solution convection, the results instead showed an increased growth rate.

Extended projects for the researchers using the same apparatus to test the growth of different crystals, such as glucose isomerase crystals, are currently in preparation.​

​New York, March 17 (IANS) Poor and unhealthy diet coupled with lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle may accelerate the ageing process in humans, warn US researchers.​
A type of cells called senescent cells contribute to diseases and conditions associated with age. 

The researchers found that exercise prevents premature senescent cell accumulation and protects against the damaging effects of an unhealthy diet, including deficiencies in physical, heart and metabolic function.

"We think that at both biological and clinical level, poor nutrition choices and inactive lifestyles do accelerate ageing," said senior author Nathan LeBrasseur from Mayo Clinic in the US.

In the study, researchers introduced mice to either a normal, healthy diet or a diet that they termed a "fast food diet" -- one that was high in saturated fat and cholesterol along with a sugar-sweetened beverage. 

Mice on the fast food diet showed harmful changes in health parameters, including body weight and composition, increasing their fat mass by nearly 300 percent over the course of about four months. 

Half the mice, including mice on both the healthy and unhealthy diets, were given exercise wheels.

The findings showed mice that had been exposed to the fast food diet but exercised showed suppression in body weight gain and fat mass accumulation and were protected against the accumulation of senescent cells. 

"It doesn't mean that we need to be marathon runners but we need to find ways to increase our habitual activity levels to stay healthy and prevent processes that drive ageing and ageing-related diseases," LeBrasseur noted.​

​New York, March 15 (IANS) Forget the toxic material lithium as researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have come up with an alternative system for generating electricity which harnesses heat and uses no metals or toxic materials for powering smartphones or cars, even deep space missions.

The new approach is based on a discovery announced in 2010 by Michael Strano, the Carbon P. Dubbs professor in chemical engineering at the MIT, and his co-workers.

A wire made from tiny cylinders of carbon known as carbon nanotubes can produce an electrical current when it is progressively heated from one end to the other, for example, by coating it with a combustible material and then lighting one end to let it burn like a fuse.

Now, Strano and his team have increased the efficiency of the process more than a thousandfold and have produced devices that can put out power that can be produced by today's best batteries. 

The researchers, however, caution that it could take some years to develop the concept into a commercialisable product.

“It's actually remarkable that this [phenomenon] hasn't been studied before. The latest experiments show good agreement between theory and experimental results, providing strong confirmation of the underlying mechanism,” said Strano in a paper published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science.

Already, the device is powerful enough to show that it can power simple electronic devices such as an LED light. 

Unlike batteries that can gradually lose power if they are stored for long periods, the new system should have a virtually indefinite shelf life. 

That could make it suitable for uses such as a deep-space probe that remains dormant for many years as it travels to a distant planet and then needs a quick burst of power to send back data when it reaches its destination.

Basically, the effect arises as a pulse of heat pushes electrons through the bundle of carbon nanotubes, carrying the electrons with it like a bunch of surfers riding a wave.

The improvements in efficiency, Strano says, "brings [the technology] from a laboratory curiosity to being within striking distance of other portable energy technologies," such as lithium-ion batteries or fuel cells. 

In their latest version, the device is more than one percent efficient in converting heat energy to electrical energy, the team reports, which is "orders of magnitude more efficient than what's been reported before." 

In fact, the energy efficiency is about 10,000 times greater than that reported in the original discovery paper.

“It took lithium-ion technology 25 years to get where they are” in terms of efficiency, Strano pointed out, whereas this technology has had only about a fifth of that development time. ​

​New York, March 17 (IANS) Researchers have developed a high-tech, food-tracking necklace that will alert you about the unique sounds that foods make as you bite, grind and swallow them.

Each food as it's chewed has its own unique sound and the device can help people suffering from diabetes, obesity, bowel disorders and other ailments by enabling them to better monitor their food intake and improve how they manage their conditions.

“There is no shortage of wearable devices that tell us how many calories we burn but creating a device that reliably measures caloric intake isn't so easy,” said Wenyao Xu, assistant professor of computer science at University at Buffalo.

Xu is creating a library that catalogues the unique sounds that foods make as we eat.

The library is part of a software package that supports “AutoDietary”, a necklace being developed by Xu and researchers at Northeastern University in China.

“AutoDietary” is like Fitbit and other wearable devices. Only instead of tracking burned calories, it monitors caloric intake - in other words, what we eat - at the neck.

AutoDietary wraps around the back of the neck like a choker necklace.

A tiny high-fidelity microphone -- about the size of a zipper pull -- records the sounds made during mastication and as the food is swallowed.

That data is sent to a smartphone via Bluetooth where food types are recognised.

The study, published in the IEEE Sensors Journal, describes how 12 participants ages 13 to 49 were given water and six types of food: apples, carrots, potato chips, cookies, peanuts and walnuts.

“AutoDietary” was able to accurately identify the correct food and drink 85 percent of the time.

Xu plans future studies to build upon his library by testing different foods and recording the sounds they make.

He also plans to refine the algorithms used to differentiate the foods to improve AutoDietary's ability to recognise what's being eaten.

While promising, a wearable necklace that measures sound has limitations when used alone. For example, it cannot differentiate similar foods such as frosted corn flakes and regular corn flakes. It also can't distinguish the ingredients of complex foods such as soup or chili.

To address these limitations, Xu is planning a biomonitoring device which would complement AutoDietary.

The device is under development but it would be activated once the necklace recognises that the user is eating a general category of food.​

London, March 15 (IANS) Researchers have presented a new model for what dark matter might be, a discovery that can lead scientists to invisible dark matter that is all around us yet no one has ever seen it and no one knows what it really is.

Physical calculations state that approximately 27 percent of the universe is dark matter. Only five percent is the matter of which all known materials consist: from the smallest ant to the largest galaxy.

For decades, researchers have tried to detect this invisible dark matter.

“Maybe it's because we have looked after dark particles in a way that will never be able to reveal them. Maybe dark matter is of a different character and needs to be looked for in a different way,” explained Martin Sloth, associate professor at University of Southern Denmark.

For decades, physicists have been working on the theory that dark matter is light and therefore interacts weakly with ordinary matter.

This means that the particles are capable of being produced in colliders.

This theory's dark particles are called weakly-interacting massive particles (WIMPs), and they are theorised to have been created in an inconceivably large number shortly after the birth of the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

“But since no experiments have ever seen even a trace of a WIMP, it could be that we should look for a heavier dark particle that interacts only by gravity and thus would be impossible to detect directly,” said Sloth.

Sloth and his colleagues call their version of such a heavy particle a PIDM (Planckian Interacting Dark Matter) particle.

Together with postdoc McCullen Sandora from CP3-Origins and postdoc Mathias Garny from CERN, Sloth now presents a new model for what dark matter might be in a paper published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
In their new model, they calculated how the required number of PIDM particles could have been created in the early universe.

“It was possible, if it was extremely hot. To be more precise the temperatures in the early universe must have been the highest possible in the Big Bang theory,” added Sloth.

“If the universe indeed was as hot as calculated in our model, several gravitational waves from the very early childhood of the universe would have been created. We might be able to find out in the near future,” he pointed out.

With this, Sloth refers to a number of planned experiments around the world that will be able to detect signals from very early gravitational waves.

“If these experiments do not detect such signals, then our model will be falsified. Thus gravitational waves can be used to test our model,” he added.

More than 10 different experiments are planned.

The team aims to measure the polarisation of the cosmic background radiation, either from the ground or with instruments sent up in a balloon or satellite to avoid atmospheric disturbances.​

London, March 17 (IANS) Adults between 40 and 69 years of age can draw significant health benefits by using public transport, walking and cycling to work as these are linked to reductions in Body Mass Index (BMI) and percentage body fat compared with those who commute by car, say researchers.

"We found that, compared with commuting by car, public transport, walking and cycling or a mix of all three are associated with reductions in body mass and body fat percentage even when accounting for demographic and socio-economic factors," said study author Ellen Flint from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.Many people live too far from their workplace for walking or cycling to be feasible, but even the incidental physical activity involved in public transport can have an important effect.
The study, published in the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, looked at data from over 150,000 individuals from Britian's Biobank data set -- an observational study of 500,000 individuals aged between 40 and 69 in Britain.
The researchers saw the strongest associations for adults who commuted via bicycle compared to those who commute via car. For the average man in the sample (age 53 years; height 176.7cm; weight 85.9kg), cycling to work rather than driving was associated with a weight difference of 5kg. 
For the average woman in the sample (age 52 years; height 163.6cm; weight 70.6kg), the weight difference was 4.4kg.After cycling, walking to work was associated with the greatest reduction in BMI and percentage body fat, compared to car users. For both cycling and walking, greater travelling distances were associated with greater reductions in BMI and percentage body fat.

The link between active commuting and BMI was independent of other factors such as income, area deprivation, urban or rural residence, education, alcohol intake, smoking, general physical activity and overall health and disability.​