Knowledge Update

New York, July 28 (IANS) Scientists have developed a new space boot with built-in sensors and tiny "haptic" motors whose vibrations can help astronauts avoid the risk of tripping over obstacles.

Falls in space can jeopardise astronauts' missions and even their lives. 

If an astronaut trips over moon rocks, getting to his or her feet in a bulky, pressurised spacesuit can consume time and precious oxygen reserves. Falls also increase the risk that the suit will be punctured. 

Since most falls happen because spacesuits limit astronauts' ability to both see and feel the terrain around them, reseachers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) developed the boot with built-in sensors to guide the wearer around or over obstacles.

"A lot of students in my lab are looking at this question of how you map wearable-sensor information to a visual display, or a tactile display, or an auditory display, in a way that can be understood by a nonexpert in sensor technologies," said Leia Stirling from MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science.

"This initial pilot study allowed Alison [Gibson, a graduate student in AeroAstro and first author on the paper] to learn about how she could create a language for that mapping," Stirling added.

The team presented a prototype of the boot recently at the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in Toronto, Canada.

The work could also have applications in the design of navigation systems for the visually impaired. The development of such systems has been hampered by a lack of efficient and reliable means of communicating spatial information to users.​

London, July 28 (IANS) The “screen-and-treat” initiative for hepatitis B may reduce deadly complications of the virus, according to a new study.

The study, published in the journal The Lancet Global Health, suggested that the programme is cost effective and may be able to prevent complications of the disease.

To track hepatitis infection, the researchers ran a pilot study testing people for the virus in communities in Gambia, West Africa.

In the “screen and treat” programme, the researchers used a cheap instant test to screen around 6,000 people for the virus in the Gambian community and referred infected individuals for further liver tests and treatment. 

They also screened around 6000 blood samples from blood banks where some donor's blood was infected with hepatitis B. If an infected sample was detected, the researchers contacted the donor and referred them for tests and treatment.

“Hepatitis B is the leading cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis in Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet most patients do not realise they are infected until they develop severe symptoms,” said Maud Lemoine, researcher at the Imperial College London.

The new study found 9 per cent of individuals and 13 per cent of potential blood donors tested positive for the hepatitis B virus. However, of those screened only 4 per cent of the individuals tested were deemed to have infection severe enough to require treatment with antivirals.

The initiative also had a good screening coverage of 70 per cent, and the patients who required the antivirals kept to their medication schedule over the next year, suggested the study.

“Our study shows that screen-and-treat programmes targeting the general population are a feasible -- and successful -- intervention in Sub-Saharan Africa, and should be implemented in other areas in the continent," added Lemoine.

The hepatitis B virus infects around 250 million people worldwide and is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids. However the virus causes no immediate symptoms, and can remain silent in the body for decades until triggering severe complications such as liver damage (cirrhosis) and cancer.​

​New Delhi, July 26 (IANS) Chinese internet and technology conglomerate LeEco has launched a new video membership brand targeted at young consumers at the San Diego International Comic-Con (SDCC) held between July 21 and 24 at the San Diego Convention Centre in the US. The "Letv membership for Z-Generation" was launched on July 22 at an event hosted by famous talk show comedian Joe Wong. It aims to bring a wide range of online, offline and online-to-offline membership privileges and benefits, including free movie tickets, priority to buy movie and TV show merchandise, fan events, birthday package, production site visits, offline parties, movie previews, and participation in cast selection and crowdfunding. LeEco has entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with American film production/distribution studio Lionsgate to license content from its Comic-Con HQ streaming service, under which "Letv membership for Z-Generation subscribers" can view hours of exclusive content.​

Beijing, July 26 (IANS) Chinese smartphone manufacturer Gionee on Tuesday unveiled its much-awaited flagship smartphones M6 and M6 Plus. M6 is equipped with a front fingerprint scanner, privacy protection and malware destruction although it lacks the hardware encryption feature. While M6 is packed with 5000mAh battery, M6 Plus houses 6020mAh battery unit. M6 features a 5.5-inch full HD AMOLED display, 4GB RAM, 64GB in-built memory that can be expanded up to 128GB and runs on Amigo 3.2 operating system on top of Android 6.0. M6 sports 13MP rear camera and a 8MP front camera. "Gionee M6 has outstanding performance via the breakthrough software and hardware which will make every consumer smile from their heart," said William Lu, President, Gionee, in a statement.​

​Beijing, July 26 (IANS) Chinese smartphone maker Oppo is now the leader in the home smartphone market with 23 per cent market share, followed by Huawei with 17.4 per cent and Vivo with 12 per cent, a media report said on Tuesday. Oppo's market share right now is also more than both Apple and Samsung combined in China. Apple's share in China has shrunk to 2014 levels at nine per cent and Xiaomi is at a three-year low with 6.8 per cent. Back in 2014, Oppo was responsible for less than two per cent of the smartphones sold in China. By June 2015, Oppo's share has grown up to 6.1 per cent and now in June this year, its up to a historic high at 22.9 per cent, tech website GSMArena reported. Prior to this, Huawei and Xiaomi were leading the way. In fact, Xiaomi appears to only make 6.8 per cent of China’s smartphones, down from 15.1 per cent in the previous year. Oppo R9, sold elsewhere as Oppo F1 Plus, is the best-selling device in June with five per cent market share. Oppo will be launching its next selfie-focused smartphone, the Oppo F1s, a successor to the popular Oppo F1 device, on August 3. Billed as a "selfie expert," the device can have some improvements in the camera compared to that of its predecessor but it's still not confirmed exactly what will be better this time around.​

​Beijing, July 26 (IANS) Riding on smartphone sales like its flagship H1 device, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has posted a 40 per cent half-yearly profit.

"We are confident that Huawei will maintain its current momentum, and round out the full year in a positive financial position backed by sound ongoing operations,"

​Washington, July 26 (IANS) India has discovered large, highly enriched accumulations of natural gas hydrates in the Bay of Bengal that has the potential to be tapped, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), which participated in the discovery efforts.

​New York, July 26 (IANS) Making official the $4.8 billion acquisition of Yahoo's core internet business by US wireless company Verizon, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said on Tuesday that the deal "presents exciting opportunities to accelerate Yahoo's transformation" and that she plans to stay to "see Yahoo into its next chapter".

​New York, July 26 (IANS) If you are tired of wearing those goofy glasses for a 3D movie experience, here comes some good news. Scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science have developed a display that lets you watch 3D films in a theatre without eyewear.

New York, July 27 (IANS) Although it added three million users -- one million more that what analysts had expected -- the not-so-promising second quarter earnings results led to the shares of micro-blogging website Twitter tumbling on Tuesday which wiped out nearly 10 per cent from its share price in after-market trading.