Tree to Book to Tree – The Book You Can Plant!

Living in a world where technology rules, it's becoming more and more apparent how important it is to teach children about books. Lots of kids, for example, don't know where books come from, how they are made, or what happens to them once they get thrown away. Perhaps we could take a leaf out of Pequeño Editor's book (pun intended), and do something assertive and different to teach the kids of today a thing or two about books and the rainforests. And what better way to do that than create a book that a child can plant after reading, which will grow into a magnificent tree. Around 150 acres of rainforest is destroyed every minute, and it's surprising that a lot of people aren't aware of this. Pequeño Editor wanted to do something about it, and so, decided to make some changes to a book they'd already had out on the market for a couple of years. Mi Papá Estuvo en la Selva, which translates to My Dad was in the Jungle, is aimed at children between the ages of eight and 12. It tells the tale of Theo's dad, who took a trip through the rainforest in Ecuador, as told by Theo. As part of the company's Tree Book Tree project, the book has been remade to be entirely eco-friendly, hand-stitched with ecological ink and acid-free pages. This means that the book is completely biodegradable, and won't harm the environment in any way. The story covers a range of topics about the rainforest, including the cultural diversity that can be found there and the destruction of the natural environment. It also reinforces that we should respect all living things. The tale is even based on the real adventures of author Gusti, in the very same jungle. Gusti is one of the world's more renowned and award-winning children's illustrators, though the artwork in Mi Papá Estuvo en la Selva can't be credited to him. This came down do the talented French illustrator Anne Decis, who has provided the art for hundreds of children's books. But we haven't even got to the exciting part yet! Embedded in the paper-pulp of the books' covers are seeds for the jacaranda, a tree native to Argentina. Once the book has been read, you don't have to worry about selling or giving it away, or even throwing it out. Instead, the book can be planted in the ground, and as it breaks down, the seeds in the cover will grow into a jacaranda tree. A tree made the book and the book goes on to make a tree. Visitors to one of the bookstores in Argentina are able to see the project in action, with one of the books planted in soil in a glass tank on display, already sprouting. Hopefully, other publishing firms will follow this initiative and realise how important it is for children to know about books. Perhaps Tree Book Tree will encourage them to come up with their own novel ways of giving back to the environment! Image source: Pequeño Editor

Scanning Smartphone for Detecting Blood Parasites

Treating diseases in Africa is difficult enough without having to worry that the treatment itself is going to prove fatal for the patient. But this is often the case for treatment of river blindness and elephantiasis. The best medication to treat these tropical diseases in Ivermectin, but with people with high levels of Loa loa worm, the drug can do the opposite to the desired effect. Obviously, this means that patients need to be screened for the blood parasite before the medication can be administered for either of the two diseases. The problem with screening these patients is that it is such a long, drawn-out process. First off, a sample of the patient's blood is drawn, and sent to the lab. Here, healthcare workers need to be skilled at analysing the blood by eye, to see if there are any moving parasites in the sample. They then have to determine how many parasites are in the blood. Testing is both time-consuming and requires laboratory equipment that might not be readily available. And, unfortunately, the risks of the treatment are so high, it's been suspended. This is where the good news comes in, with an international team of researchers. The team hails from the US' University of California Berkeley and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, alongside the University of Montpellier in France and Cameroon's University of Yaoundé. The team have devised a system using a smartphone that will allow it to automatically detect parasites inside blood samples. The system is called CellScope and analyses a sample of the patient's blood in a box attached to a smartphone. The phone loads up when the box is loaded and then automatically starts analysing the sample for any movement that would indicate the presence of the Loa loa worm. The system then predicts the number of parasites in the patient's blood and relays it back to the user. If the number is low enough, the patient is eligible for treatment and they are able to receive the medication. The software has been tested in small trials in Cameroon, and the team has published their results in Science Translational Medicine, with further trials planned for 40,000 more people. "With one touch of the screen, the device moves the sample, captures video, and automatically analyses the images," described Professor Daniel Fletcher, senior author of the paper. Professor Fletcher explained that he was excited about this new approach to dealing with what he called "low-tech problems". He said that although there are drugs to treat many tropical diseases, there wasn't the technology to identify the people who could receive these treatments. And now there is!   Image source: UC Berkeley

Sri Lanka: First Nation to Protect Mangroves

Mangrove forests are one of the most at-risk habitats in the world, with more than half of it being either lost or destroyed over the last century. The trees are evergreens that can be found in tropical and subtropical regions, able to grow in saltwater and in conditions that other trees would struggle in. Although there are lots of benefits to be had from looking after the world's mangrove forests, there surprisingly hadn't been any protection programmes installed. Until, of course, now. Sri Lanka has become the first nation to put something in place to ensure the protection of its mangrove forests - a scheme that is hoped to be picked up by the rest of the world. The plans are being backed by the Sri Lankan government, and will involve a variety of different projects designed to ensure the safety of the trees. For example, there will be alternative job training and replanting projects in mangrove nurseries. Alongside a combination of laws that will also be put into effect, there will also microloans. In return for these, 15,000 women will be expected to guard the trees close to their homes and stop using them for firewood. Their job will entail making sure no one from their community, or people from outside it, can cut down the trees. If people do try to get to the trees, and the women are unable to persuade these people to leave, the authorities can be called in, thanks to the new laws. Overall, the government believes the women involved will hugely benefit the living standards in their local communities. So, apart from all of the standard reasons for wanting to protect trees, what makes mangrove forests so special? For a start, they retain carbon in the few top metres of soil. They're also not susceptible to forest fires because of their surrounding habitat and the lack of readily available fuel. But they also serve as nurseries for many of the fish species that go on to populate coral reefs. These fish populations have provided the livelihood and food for millions of families for generations, which has allowed the coastal communities to sustain themselves after all this time. It should also be noted that without the protection of the mangrove forests, lots of the villages in Sri Lanka that survived the 2004 tsunami would have been wiped out completely. Alongside the Sri Lankan government, joint partners of the programme include Sudeesa, which is based in Sri Lanka, and Seacology, which is a global non-government organisation. Each of these companies will be overseeing the new measures, and hope that other countries with mangrove forests will start their own protection schemes. "It's the responsibility and the necessity of all [various types of institutions] and civil community to be united to protect the mangrove ecosystem," declared Maithreepala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka. So, well done to Sri Lanka on becoming the first to protect these amazing and globally-beneficial habitats, and let's hope that other nations follow the same initiative in the near future.

Life Expectancy Increasing – Men Catching Up!

Back in 1981, the average life expectancy for men in England and Wales was six years behind women. Since then, a variety of factors has improved the average life expectancy of both men and women, with men reaping the most benefits. They've caught up and there is only a two-year gap between the two groups of people. Of course, on matters such as this, there are official surveys and estimates to try and determine what we might expect around 15 years in the future. This is normally carried out by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), but a team from the Imperial College London thought that the results were too general and national, as well as being surprisingly despondent. For example, the ONS survey examines England and Wales together as one big area, whereas the Imperial College team decided to collate the death rates from individual local authorities across the two countries. Also, where the ONS survey made quite pessimistic assumptions about the future, the team concentrated on lifespan improvements that have occurred over the past few years. The team explained that statistics varied widely from place to place. Because of this, it would make far more sense for local authorities to have more health and social care responsibility for their own areas. People living in London had the longest life expectancy, for both the observations and predicted average life expectancies for men and women. What's more, this is expected to increase by around seven years by 2030. Men in Blackpool and women in Manchester were seen to fare the worst, with the lowest life expectancies at 75.3 and 80.2 respectively. However, by 2030, the lowest average for men, while still in Blackpool, will be about 81.4, and women will be around 84.5. The study was published in The Lancet, and from the results, the team interpreted that current life expectancy forecasts have been vastly underestimated, particularly for men. Because of this, the team feels that there is a need to provide better health care, social services, and pensions for elderly people in England and Wales. However, a representative for the ONS said there was no general agreement about the likely speed of any future improvements in life expectancy. The spokesperson said that future projections are uncertain, which is why the ONS publishes variant projections to illustrate some of that uncertainty and help planning public services in the process. Brian Beach from the International Longevity Centre said that where people live, as well as other social factors, can influence life expectancy. He added that while one hundred years ago, a 60-year-old would probably have been considered old and frail. He pointed out that in this day and age, someone of that age could be considered happy, healthy, and middle-aged. Of course, we have no way of knowing what the life expectancy is actually going to be 15 years into the future. But it can't be a bad thing to be optimistic about - that we'll all be living happily and healthily into our 90s.

Yahoo Tests Ear-Print Scanners for Smartphones

Many of us use PINs to unlock our phones, and some of the more tech-savvy among us might even use a fingerprint scanner. But what about scanning another part of your body instead, say, your knuckles, your palm, or even your ear? That's what Yahoo Labs is proposing and currently testing with their new Bodyprint system. Fingerprint scanners are becoming all the rage, but smartphones with the technology can be on the expensive end. If you think about it, a fingerprint isn't very big. The minute details of the grooves would need a scanner with a high input resolution, which is what makes it all so costly. But ears, palms and knuckles are all bigger than a fingertip, meaning that a smartphone's touchscreen could be used to scan them, in spite of the lower input resolution. All the user would have to do is press the body part against the screen, and wait for the scanner to do its job, which is a relatively quick process. The team has put the new system through a small initial trial of 12 participants, and it's proven surprisingly effective. Bodyprint was able to recognise specific users with a 99.5% accuracy rate, and, excitingly, a 99.98% success rate when identifying which body part was used to scan. And according to the team, scanning ears achieved 99.8% success rate! According to experts, one of the benefits of using an ear scanner is that it offers greater privacy than some other biometric identification systems. For example, fingerprint scanners in the latest iPhones have proven vulnerable to hackers, and this is obviously something we all want to avoid. One interesting aspect of the system is that multiple users can have their prints stored on a device, and documents can be locked, needing the prints of many users to open it. However, there is a catch with the system, too. The algorithm errs on the side of caution, turning the right person away frequently. An average false rejection rate of almost 27% could be seen across all of the possible body parts, meaning that when even the right person was using the device, they were turned away. Scanning the ear proved to be the most efficient method, rejecting users only 7.8% of the time. Of course, the obvious fear with a system like this is that it won't be accurate enough. But the rejection rate isn't really something to worry about now because this new take on biometrics is still in its early days. And fingerprint scanners were actually around for quite a long time before they become good enough to use as they are now. We don't yet know about any commercial applications planned for the system, but the team is working on improving the recognition algorithm. "Unlocking your smartphone is something you do 150 times per day," said Yahoo Labs research scientist Christian Holz. "You want to make unlocking it convenient but also secure." To check out the system in action, take a look at the video below: [video width="600" height="275" id="JrK1wQjh980" type="youtube"]

How Pets Can Make Your Home Even Happier

Having a pet can be great for all the family, and even help with children's development. So, if you're on the fence about buying your child his or her first pet, maybe this article can help! First things first, keeping pets could help your child to grow into the kind and caring adult you hope them to be. Children who have grown up around animals have been found to be more emotionally intelligent and compassionate. According to The Waltham Book of Human-Animal Interaction, having pets in the house can teach children how to care for a dependent animal from a young age. This could be because parents and children often share in the responsibility and caring involved. From as young as three years old, kids can be taught to stroke an animal carefully and gently, and even be able to take a bowl of food and set it on the floor for the pet. Spending a lot of time playing with pets, as well as talking to them and sometimes reading to them, can help children with their cognitive development. This helps them to grasp language and enhance their verbal skills. Looking after pets is also a great way of helping your child to understand the life cycle, which can greatly benefit them later in life. Birth and death - and everything in between - can be difficult subjects to teach children, and while it can be confusing and painful, they can also be great learning experiences. The way in which parents and other adults around children deal with these situations will influence how children cope with them in general throughout their lives. And it's important for these adults to show kids that it's alright to have feelings about the events, as well as helping them to cope with whatever feelings they might have. As the child grows older, giving them tasks to look after their pets, such as walking or feeding them, can help build their self-esteem. It will also give them a sense of accomplishment, and help them to feel independent and competent. And did you know that pets can offer children social support? According to research from Cambridge University, children are more likely to confide in their pet than their siblings or friends, especially if they're going through a tough time. Matt Cassels, who analysed the research, said that it might be because they feel their pets aren't judging them. Girls were seen to especially benefit from having pet dogs, with them helping to encourage social behaviour. "These children not only turn to their pets for support when faced with adversity, they do so even more than they turn to their siblings," Mr Cassels explained. "This is even though they know their pets don't actually understand what they're saying." Mr Cassels said that too little attention has been paid to the relationship between children and animals, but that it hadn't occurred to him to investigate this relationship sooner. There has also been an overall lack of evaluation on how important our pets to us, even though most people consider their pets as part of their family. Recent research from Japan's University of Tokyo and Duke University in the US has found that people love their pet as much, and in the same ways as, their children. Duke senior researcher Dr Evan MacLean explained that it's only been in the last couple of thousand years that dogs have been kept as pets. In that time, they have become attuned to our social cues the same way young children are. "Our relationships with dogs are very much like parent-child relationships," he added. "We respond to our dogs quite like human children." On top of all this, owning pets has been shown to make people generally more happy and comfortable. So, if there was any doubt when you started reading this, perhaps now you know the whole range of benefits that having a pet can do for your children and yourself. Even if you're worried about allergies, why not try out fish, or maybe a tortoise? What about a parrot? The possibilities are endless, as are the rewards.

US Diet Pepsi to Drop Aspartame

If you happen to be one of those people dubious about the safety of the artificial sweetener aspartame, but love Diet Pepsi, then we have some great news for you! Due to popular demand, PepsiCo is replacing the sweetener it uses in its Diet Pepsi drinks. There is a downside though, which would be that it's only happening in the US, with the recipe remaining unchanged in the rest of the world. "Why is this happening?" you might ask. Well, despite there being numerous studies on the matter proving otherwise, there have been concerns about the potential side effects of aspartame since it was first approved for use back in the 1980s. The sweetener has been linked with (but not proven to cause) MS, mental health problems and tumours, to name but a few, and concern about the use of aspartame has escalated in recent years. Last year, sales of both Diet Pepsi and Diet Coke - both of which contain aspartame - fell by more than 5% and 6% respectively. And it's all thought to be down to customers worrying about the ingredients. "Aspartame is the number one reason consumers are dropping diet soda," explained Pepsi Vice-President Seth Kaufman. So, here's what you should know about aspartame. For a start, it's about 200 times sweeter than sugar, meaning only a tiny amount is needed and, therefore, contains very few calories. Breakfast cereals, sugar-free gum, and thousands of other foods and drinks around the world contain the sweetener. And because it has been linked with so many health problems, including those we mentioned earlier, it is one of the most analysed food additives out there. However, it's possible that these health problems arise from extremely high doses of some of its components, such as aspartic acid or methanol. But take a moment to think about avocado and asparagus, which both contain high levels of aspartic acid; tomatoes, wine and beer can hold high doses of methanol. And yet, we still continue to consume these things. In fact, experts tout that aspartame is safe for everyone except for those with a rare genetic disorder called phenylketonuria (PKU). Those with this condition are unable to break down some of the components of aspartame, and to consume it would make them very ill. While the US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) asserts the safety of aspartame, citing more than 100 studies supporting this, they agree that there should be a limit to how much of it people consume. In the UK, the recommended daily limit is about 40mg per kg of body weight, which is roughly 12 cans of Diet Pepsi in a day. PepsiCo said it is just responding to its customer preferences and insist that the decision is purely a commercial one. According to a spokesperson for the company, UK consumers and those in the rest of the world still love the product as it is. Because of this, the change will only be affecting those in the US, with the launch of the aspartame-free drink happening in August. The aspartame is being replaced with another sweetener called sucralose (Splenda is a good example of a sucralose-based sweetener). Sucralose is three times sweeter than aspartame, so less can be used in the making of Pepsi's diet soft drinks. The daily limit of sucralose is also lower than that of aspartame, and although its use has been linked to migraines, the conclusion has been reached that it is safe to use, just like aspartame. Sucralose is thought to offer a better taste than some other artificial sweeteners, and it's also more stable, especially when heated. However, although the taste of Diet Pepsi shouldn't change, the new version might leave a different feeling in the drinker's mouth. The recipe change will only be integrated into Diet Pepsi varieties, such as Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi, but won't be affecting other diet drinks owned by the company, like Diet Mountain Dew. What consumers have to remember is that PepsiCo's decision to move away from aspartame in the US isn't anything to do with some startling new scientific revelation about the sweetener - there isn't one. It is completely down to allaying the fears of their customers, and finding an alternative so that people can start enjoying their drinks again without any worry. "Diet cola drinkers in the US told us they wanted aspartame-free Diet Pepsi," the company pointed out in a statement, "and we're delivering."

Windows Open to Android and iOS for Apps

As you might expect, there is a lot of hype surrounding the release of Windows 10 and what this version could have to offer. And why wouldn't there be when Microsoft are billing this version the operating system for software developers. As a consumer, one of the most annoying factors of using a Windows phone, instead of an iOS or Android device, is the limited app variety. Consumers tend to prefer Android and iPhones simply because of how much more they have to offer. But Microsoft is releasing development tools with Windows 10 that will enable developers to run Apple and Android apps more easily on Windows devices, just by making a couple of small changes. In fact, many of the Android apps should be able to run without any changes being made to the code at all. To integrate these changes properly, Microsoft has unveiled two initiatives, Project Islandwood for iOS and Project Astoria for Android. Project Islandwood has led to the creation of a software interpreter that works with the development tools that iOS coders typically use. When the code is run through the interpreter, some of it is changed to allow the apps to run on Window 10. It also allows for iOS developers to take their apps and build them on Windows. This has already proven successful and is what King.com has done with the immensely popular game, Candy Crush Saga. King developers only had to change a tiny portion of the code in order for it to be fully ported for use on Windows Phones. Project Astoria, on the other hand, is aimed at Android apps. It involves the code being built directly into Windows and makes it able to spot when an Android app is running, before providing it with the expected response. This means that many Android apps would be able to run on Windows devices with no changes being made to the code. While many apps are already available in the Windows Store, there are some popular ones that are noticeably absent, such as Pinterest and Plants vs Zombies 2. By adding the software development tools to Windows 10, Microsoft is hoping the OS will become more accessible for users across the board, especially app developers. "The decision to embrace Android and iOS applications is an imperfect solution to an undesirable problem," said Geoff Blaber, an analyst from CCS Insight. "Nonetheless, it's a necessary move to attract developers otherwise lost to Apple and Google."  

Picasso and Giacometti Smash Auction Records

Picasso is one of the most famous artists ever to have lived, and a recent auction of one of his paintings has gone on to prove that. Les Femmes d'Alger (left in the cover photo) is Picasso's 15-piece interpretation of Eugène Delcrois's Women in Algiers, titled Versions A through O. The final piece in the collection, Version O, has become the most expensive painting to sell at auction, wiping out the recording previously set. This was held by Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucian Freud, which we told you about back in December 2013. The vibrant oil painting was being sold at Christie's Rockefeller Centre in New York. It was estimated to sell for $140 million (£89 million), which would have put it very close to Bacon's record of $142 million (£90.7 million). Bidding for Les Femmes d'Alger lasted about 11 minutes, breaking down to telephone bidders for the last few hair-raising minutes. When the final bid was placed, there were cheers, gasps and applause as the hammer came down at $160 million (£102 million). After the fees have been incorporated, this amounts to a whopping $179 million (£114 million)! Picasso started the Les Femmes d'Alger shortly after the death of his friend, fellow artist Henri Matisse. Matisse specialised in paintings of exotic Turkish harems, and so Picasso took on this mantle in honour of his friend. It also enabled him to bring together many of the influences that informed his own work. Philip Hoffman, Fine Art Fund Group CEO, describes the painting as one of the most exciting that has been on the market in the last decade. "Yes, there are one or two that could smash that record, but it had a huge wall presence - it is a big show-off picture," he added. "For anybody that wants to have a major Picasso, this is it." But Picasso wasn't the only artist to break a record at this particular auction. Alberto Giacometti's Pointing Man (right in the cover photo), a life-size sculpture, became the most expensive sculpture to have been sold at auction, going for $141 million (£90 million). The winning bidder of the Pointing Man, like that of Les Femmes d’Alger Version O, wishes to remain anonymous. Mr Hoffman and other art experts believe that the hike in both interest and prices of art is just going to keep on rising, because so much of it is so much in demand. All in all, though, he is excited about the Picasso sale. "I don't think we have ever seen a sale as important as this in Christie's and Sotheby's [auction houses] in my 25 years of working in the art world," he said. Brett Gorvy is the International Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art at Christies and who placed the winning bid on behalf of the unnamed bidder, and agreed. "The most important thing when you are dealing with an incredible masterpiece is to remind the [bidder] that they are not going to see these paintings come up again," he said. "This is once in a lifetime."   Image source: Christie's website

Vibrating Pen to Help Parkinson’s Patients Write

When someone develops Parkinson’s disease, it affects their physical movement, slowing their movements, stiffening their muscles, and tremors. Another possible symptom is something called Micrographia. This condition is characterised by the patient’s handwriting becoming smaller and smaller, as well as more cramped, as they write, to the point where the writing is no longer legible. And because of the thinness of a regular ballpoint pen, just holding the writing implement can be difficult and painful. As you can imagine, the tremors won’t make it easy for a Parkinson’s patient to write either. Suffering from Parkinson’s isn’t something a person can really imagine. A team of students from the Royal College of Art and the Imperial College London wanted to create something that would show people without the condition what it was like trying to write with the condition. They developed a special pen, called the Arc Pen, which had motors inside that caused the pen to vibrate at different frequencies. “We heard stories of how frustrating it was for people who were still working,” said team leader and project designer Lucy Jung. “Or who wanted to write a card, sign documents - anything that had to do with writing.” The team, called Dopa Solution, were also looking into possible ways of combating the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. So, when it was found that the pen helped people write larger and clearer, they knew they were onto something. When the vibrations in the pen were set to a specific frequency, the vibrations would stimulate key muscles in the hand, which was behind the increased legibility of handwriting. After testing out the pen on 14 people with Parkinson’s and Micrographia, the pen was found to improve 86% of their writing. Even after the pen was no longer vibrating, the study participants’ writing stayed larger and clearer than it had been before using the Arc Pen. At the moment, it isn’t known how long this effect lasts, but more tests are being carried out to find out. The pen is still in the testing stages, with Dopa Solution hoping to get sponsorship to help further its development. The team is also looking into working the technology in other tools for Parkinson’s patients, such as computer mice and makeup brushes. With conditions like Parkinson’s disease, if can be a struggle for patients to have to give up their independence. But products like the Arc Pen, and whatever Dopa Solution has to offer in the future, are helping to give a little bit of it back.

43 Dinosaur Eggs Discovered in China

The Cretaceous period was a great time for the dinosaurs. 89 million years ago, the climate was hotter than it is now, and, unsurprisingly, dinosaurs dominated the planet. In what we now know as Asia, huge “duck-billed” dinosaurs were particularly common, as evidenced by a large collection of dinosaur eggs in China. This isn’t just any collection of eggs, though, this is the largest collection of dinosaur eggs in the world, as noted on the Guinness World Records' website since back in 2004. But they don’t have just a few hundred eggs, there are 10,008 in total. And now there will be a few extra eggs to add to the collection, after a recent discovery in the Chinese city of Heyuan, the self-professed "Home of Dinosaurs". All of the dinosaur eggs held at Heyuan Museum come from the Cretaceous period and duck-billed dinosaurs as we mentioned earlier. But none have ever been found in busy city areas, until now. The latest eggs were discovered during major road works being carried out in the city centre. When the eggs were uncovered, the work ground to a halt. Researchers were called in, and aided by the construction workers, they uncovered a total of 43 eggs. Of these, 19 had remained intact. “The eggs were found in the rock strata of red sandstone,” explained Du Yanli, Heyuan Museum Curator, “an environment in which other dinosaur eggs fossils have also previously be found.” After an initial examination of the eggs, it’s not yet known what species of dinosaur they belong to, but the largest is about seven inches in diameter (almost 18cm). The eggs have now be sent to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, where researchers will continue with their examination of the eggs to find out which species they’re from. The first fossilised dinosaur eggs to be found in the city were those discovered by a group of children in 1996. The schoolboys had been playing on a construction site when they found what they thought were some unusual stones. Later, these were identified as eggs by local dinosaur expert Huang Dong. Since then, more than 17,000 eggs have been discovered in Heyuan, with the intact ones making up the museum’s esteemed collection.

Continuous Capture – The Self-Powered Camera

Renewable energy is growing, with us spotting more and more house sporting solar panels on their roofs to supplement their energy supply. But we are still yet to create the elusive perpetual motion, the hypothetical machine that can run indefinitely without using an outside power source. Of course, scientists don't stop trying to create something because they are told it might be impossible. And they certainly strive to create devices that require as little battery power as possible to run. Which brings us to the Self-Powered Camera, presented to the International Conference on Computational Photography (ICCP) in Texas, on 24 April. Scientists from New York's Columbia University in the US have created a prototype of a video camera that is powered by the light it uses to take a picture. The Self-Powered Camera converts the light that falls on its sensor into electricity, which generates enough energy to take a photo, the light from which is converted into electricity, and... you get the idea. In theory, the device could keep taking pictures forever, or at least until its components corrode! Professor Shree Nayar is the Director of the University's Computer Vision Laboratory, where the camera was invented. He said that we are in the middle of what he calls a "digital image revolution", and there's still much more to come from digital imaging. "[It] is expected to enable many emerging fields," he said. "A camera that can function as an untethered device forever, without any external power supply, would be incredibly useful." Professor Nayar stumbled upon the idea when he realised that solar panels and digital cameras use almost the same component to handle light, something called a photodiode. In solar panels, the photodiodes act like a dam with water, set to "photovoltaic mode". It means they stop the charge of a battery to store up power - like a dam stores up water. Photodiodes in cameras are in "photoconductive mode", so instead of storing power, they pass it along to another part of the camera, like an open dam. By creating a prototype in which the photodiodes alternate between both the capture and the charge mode continuously, the camera sensor can continually take pictures or videos without having any kind of additional power source. The camera is housed in a 3D-printed shell, making it look pretty old-school (left, in the cover photo). However, is is able to take a picture each second and the team was even able to shoot a very short video to demonstrate the camera's abilities. At the moment, the prototype sensor grid is only 30 by 40 pixels in size, with each pixel only using two semiconductors, and the camera is capable of taking very grainy black and white images. Despite that, this is a greatly advanced first step, that could mean a lot for renewable energy and technology design in the future. Professor Nayar explained that there have been different designs in the past for similar image sensors able to harvest energy, but the Self-Powered Camera is the first of its kind. The team's next step is to make a solid-state image sensor with many more pixels, working in the same self-powering way as this prototype. If they are able to accomplish that, then they could potentially produce a standalone camera with a multitude of uses. They claim that the process could even be used to produce power for other devices, such as phones or tablets, when the camera isn't specifically set to capture images. It could function as an inbuilt power generator. However, in its present form, the device isn't yet capable of performing in this manner. There is great potential for this technology to evolve and be adapted for so many things, so let's hope that it catches on quickly! And here's that video we told you about: [video width="600" height="275" id="gDtwn-evLkk" type="youtube"]

Skin Creams Could Hold Key to MS Recovery

A team of scientists from Ohio in the US have found that two common, over-the-counter medications could help treat people with multiple sclerosis (MS) by rebuilding myelin in their bodies. Surprisingly, these drugs come in the form of miconazole, an antifungal cream for athlete's foot, and a steroid cream called clobetasol that treats eczema. Myelin is the fatty protein that protects nerves. In people with MS, the immune system mistakes myelin for a foreign body and attacks it. But when myelin becomes damaged, the nerves are exposed, and signalling problems can occur between the brain and the muscles. This can lead to loss of vision, fatigue, numbness, and paralysis, and can occasionally be fatal. Current medications for MS can slow or prevent the attack on the myelin, and there have been great advances in recent years in producing new drugs that can block the immune system and halt the disease's progression. Unfortunately, when the myelin is already damaged, there isn't a known way of repairing or replacing it. Until, maybe, now. Dr Paul Taser and his team from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine may have found an answer. Dr Taser explained that throughout the adult central nervous system, there are stem cells capable of repairing the damage caused by MS. "But until now," he added, "we had no way of directing them to act." The plan was for the team to screen a library of more than 700 existing medications to see if there were any capable of catalysing the body's own stem cells into replacing the lost myelin cells. From those 700 drugs, the team found two that are currently on the market, and early studies indicate that they can encourage new growth of myelin to coat and protect the nerves. The findings have been published in Nature. In the drugs' current form, they are applied as creams to the skin to alleviate athlete's foot and eczema. Their formulation would have to change to make them better target the nervous system, where MS strikes. But this is very much a "don't try this at home" scenario. Although the results are promising, experts have warned people away from self-medicating their MS because it could increase other health concerns instead. However, Dr Tesar said the team was working their hardest and fastest to get a safe and effective drug out there, on the market, for clinical use. Dr Robert Miller is one of the other authors of the study and explained that the results represent a fundamental change in the approach to treating MS and restoring life back to patients. "The drugs that we identified," he said, "are able to enhance the regenerative capacity of stem cells in the adult nervous system." MS Society Research Communications Manager Dr Sorrel Bickley explained that with more than 100,000 people living with MS in the UK, there is a huge unmet need for therapies capable of repairing myelin damage. "While this is an early study, it is exciting to think that there is now a growing list of potential myelin repair therapies," she said. "The next step will be to test these treatments in clinical trials," she added, "to establish whether they can bring benefits in slow or stopping the progression of MS."

WWII Lost Silver Recovered From Ocean Floor

Deep Ocean Search, or DOS, is a British company specialising in ultra-deep water recovery, and recently announced the recovery of a treasure trove that has lain on the seafloor since late 1942. On 6 November, 1942, the SS City of Cairo was travelling from Bombay to the UK, via Cape Town and Brazil. The steamship was carrying silver that had been called to London, to help with the war effort during World War II. Around 480 miles (770km) south of St Helena, the ship, which had been carrying 311 people, was struck by a torpedo, shot from a German U-boat. The people aboard the ship scrambled to escape, with most of them making it away in lifeboats. Ten minutes after the first strike though, a second, fatal hit shook the City of Cairo, killing six people. Weeks later, after everyone who could have been rescued had been, there were only 207 people left who had been on board the ship when it had been torpedoed. The silver the ship had been transporting sank into the waters, presumably never to be seen again. By 2011, the ship and its cargo still hadn't been found and thought lost forever. Under contract with the UK government, DOS had been working for several weeks, searching an expanse of seafloor twice the size of London, located in the South Atlantic. During this search, using sonar and other pioneering technologies, the team spotted an unnatural object buried deep in the seabed, almost completely covered. The ship and its cargo was still presumed lost until 2011, when the DOS team, led by John Kingston, located an unnatural object. Under contract with the UK government, DOS had been working for several weeks, searching an expanse of sea floor twice the size of London, located in the South Atlantic. "We weren't convinced at first," explained Mr Kingston, "but you have to give your team their head if they say they have found something, so we looked." What the team had found was the ship, broken in two, along with the coins, and a propeller from one of the torpedoes. A spokesperson for DOS explained that it was a difficult search. "The water depth would exceed 5,000km [16,400ft]," he said, explaining that this was even deeper than Titanic had sunken, and would put this recovery into the record books. There were also the added complications of the weather and currents, that were known to be challenging in the area, as well as being around 1,000 miles (1610km) from the nearest land. Because of all of these conditions, which resulted in multiple systems breaking down, and because of the large amount of treasure the team was trying to recover, they seriously struggled with hauling it to the surface. In the end, though, the team was able to recover a good percentage of the silver, around 100 tonnes, that belonged to HM Treasury. It saw the light of day for the first time in almost 70 years in September 2013 The lost silver was brought to the surface in September 2013, almost 70 years after it sunk. Before leaving the wreckage for the final time, the team honoured those who lost their lives that night, with a plaque, "We came here with respect." DOS have only just been permitted to announce the finding, but since then, the coins have been brought back to the UK, melted down and sold on. As the silver belonged to the Treasury in the first place, the money was split between the finance ministry and DOS, which gets a percentage of the sale of items they recover. "It was a special salvage," explained Mr Kingston. "It was an emotive case, where over a hundred people were lost... It meant a lot to our team to find this ship and remember it."   Image source: http://bit.ly/1E1Elrw

Ancient Coin Suggests Earlier Bristol Channel Trading

A coin has recently been revealed to the public that suggest maritime activity along the Bristol Channel in Britain began a lot earlier than originally thought. The little lump of metal doesn't look like much, but this isn't just any old coin. It is 2,300 years old, which makes it older than the Roman Empire and even the Great Wall of China! Made from copper and smaller than a penny at only 20mm in diameter, the coin was found after flooding along the River Avon in November 2012. The person who found it wishes to remain anonymous and kept the details of the find private. Until now. The British Museum has examined the coin and believes it to have been minted around 2,300 years ago, near Sardinia, making it a Carthaginian coin. Dr Sam Moorhead, who carried out the verification, said the coin could have been made at one of the several mints in the region at the time, around 300-264BC. It might be difficult to tell from the pictures, but on one side of the coin (left) is the image of Tanit, a Punic and Phoenician goddess worshipped in some ancient middle-eastern civilisations. The Roman Carthage later adopted her as the moon-goddess Caelestis, whose name you might be more familiar with. On the other side (right) is the head of a horse, a creature of great importance, often used in war or for hunting. During the Bronze Age, coins weren't yet used in Britain. Money did, however, appear in the East, but the health risks of bronze and copper from a region where arsenic is commonly found quickly became apparent. Tin was found to be a great substitute, but it was hard to find, and so a trade network was built to link distant tin sources with Bronze Age markets. Dr Moorhead explained that the main commodity that Britain had to offer more than 2,000 years ago was tin, which would have been found in Cornwall and Devon. This suggests that travellers came from the East in search of the tin, and the coin was dropped somewhere along the way. Experts believe there may have been a ford in the area where the coin was discovered that was the only place for people to cross the River Avon at the time. After all, this ancient coin is not the only one to have been found in Britain, though it might be the oldest. "It has been argued for a long time that these coins reflect trade with the Mediterranean," Dr Moorhead pointed out. But whatever the real story behind the coin is, "it is certainly one of the oldest coins found in Britain". The owner of the coin has allowed for it to be used as part of the History of Saltford project from the Saltford Environmental Group (SEG). Phil Harding, SEG Chairperson and project organiser, explained that the eight coins to have been found in Britain have all been discovered along ancient trade routes, which reinforces the suggestion of maritime trading. "We can't believe it," he said. "We thought we would be writing the History of Saltford from the Roman times to now. But we have to go back to the Iron Age - it's absolutely fantastic!"

Google Overhauls Mobile Search Rankings

We have come to a time when more people are using the internet on their mobile devices than on a computer. So wouldn't it make more send to make mobile-friendly websites more prominent in search results? That was Google's thinking, which they put into practice from 21 April. Some people are excited, some are calling it Mobilegeddon. While it might sound like a bit of an exaggeration, changing the search rankings is certainly a huge upheaval, but could make life a lot easier for people using smartphones. For a while now, Google has been advocation mobile-friendly websites, and their new search algorithm is just the next step in that. And it isn't as if this change has been suddenly sprung on everyone - Google originally announced their intentions back in February. This advanced notice was to make sure companies had enough warning to update their websites in time for the shift. "We will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal," Google said in a blog post. The change will also affect searches in all languages and will have a significant impact on search results, they said. But what exactly is "mobile-friendliness"? Well, first off, websites should be designed so that they load quickly on a phone. If you've ever visited a site that seems to have a lot on it, that takes a long time to load, the likelihood is that it has been designed with PC users in mind. More complex graphics can take longer to load on mobile devices, and the content doesn't fit well on smaller screens. So, content must be easily accessible by scrolling up and down, without having to swipe left or right to read it all. Any buttons on the page should be prominent and easy to click, links should be well spaced, and text should be large enough to read easily. Although the new algorithm won't be affecting PCs, laptops, or larger handheld devices like tablet, it's likely to have a huge impact on how and where people spend their money. If you take into consideration that more and more people are using their smartphones to compare products in a store, or to find the perfect restaurant to spend their evening. If the websites for these places aren't mobile-friendly, they will appear lower in the search rankings. Lower search rankings mean that users will be less likely to visit the websites, and, in turn, the store or restaurant in reality. In a statement, Google explained that there are actually many factors used by the search engine giant to rank results. Mobile-friendliness is just one of these factors, but could have the largest impact. "Users will find it easier to get relevant, high-quality search results," the statement said, "that are optimised for their devices." If you'd like to check if your website is mobile-friendly, you can use Google's tool for doing so, here. And if your website isn't quite up to scratch, or you're just not sure, Google is also offering developer tools to help make websites more mobile-friendy - you can check that out here.

First New Pylons in 90 Years

Pylons are those great steel structures dotted around the country, supporting the overhead cables that carry high voltages of electricity. They make up the UK's electricity transmission network and started when the first ever pylon was built new Edinburgh in 1928. Since then, around 88,000 pylons have been built, but a new design hasn't been constructed in all of that time. With more focus being placed on alternative, non-conventional energy sources, it makes more sense to construct a new type of pylon than try to update those currently in existence. And this is where the T-Pylon comes in, so-named because of their two-armed shape. In 2011, an international competition was held by the National Grid, which is responsible for the construction and maintenance of pylons and the electricity network. The winners of the competition would be those who came up with the best new and modern design of pylon. Danish engineering company Bystrup emerged triumphant with their T-Pylon design. "Our aim was to minimise visual impact and create a design that could adapt well to the English landscape," said Bystrup's project manager, Brian Endahl. He explained that pylons of a similar design to the T-Pylon have already been constructed in Denmark, and they were found to work particularly well in hilly areas. The first T-Pylons have been build in the National Grid's training centre in Nottinghamshire. At the moment, they are only being used for testing and training, and so haven't been hooked up to the main grid yet. To begin with, the new pylons are being used to train staff and contractors. There are certain factors of the new pylons that are very different to the steel pylons, such as the technique used for stringing the cables, or conductors as they are properly called. You might be thinking that the new towers will make the existing giants become obsolete, but they will, in fact, be working alongside one another. T-Pylons will mainly be used when constructing new power lines in England and Wales, and connecting the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point to the UK's electricity network. The main purpose of the T-Pylon will be transferring energy from sources of wind, solar and nuclear power. The main differences between the century-old pylons and the T-Pylons are their height and shape. While the steel pylons stand at a towering 165ft (50m), the T-Pylon is only 120ft (36m) tall - quite short by comparison. National Grid CEO Nick Winser believes the new tower design to be a great improvement on the old pylons. He explained that because the T-Pylon is shorter and lighter, as well as the design being so simple, it would fit into the UK's landscape more easily. "The design of the electrical components is genuinely innovative and exciting!" he added. The T-Pylons may not be as tall, but they are still capable of operating at 400,000 volts - the same amount as steel lattice towers - because of the way the conductors are held in place. Instead of them being attached to six arms on a standard pylon, a diamond hangs from each of the T-Pylon's two arms, which can carry the cables off in a much smaller space. The arms need to be strong, with the ability to carry 60 tonnes, including additional weight that could accumulate from ice on the cables. With only eight main structural components (plus bolts), the new pylons only take a day to build instead of a week like their predecessors. And despite their lighter build, they can withstand wind gusts of more than 80mph (130kph). Maintenance will also be easier and safer for operators as they will not have to climb the towers to work on them. Instead, they will be able to work from elevated platforms that are positioned alongside the pylon. On top of all this, the T-Pylon will also be more difficult to vandalise because of its smooth and impenetrable surface. "We developed the new style of pylon so that we could have a 21st-century design to offer as we plan new transmission routes," said National Grid Director of Electricity Transmission David Wright in a press release. He concluded by confirming the new pylon wouldn't be replacing the existing structures. "It's a new option," he said. "In some landscapes, its shorter height and sleeker appearance can offer real advantages."

Violence Against Children at Lowest in Annual Survey

That's right folks - it's that time again when we learn the results of Cardiff University's annual violence report for England and Wales. For the seventh consecutive year, the figures have improved from the year before. Violence-related injuries are now at their lowest levels since the study began in 2001. The violence research group examines data collected from almost 120 hospital units across England and Wales, including A&Es, NHS walk-in centres, and minor injury units from 2014. The results showed that 10% fewer people visited those places for violence injuries than in 2013. And this is a similar story to last year, which saw a fall of 12% from the year before. Unlike last year, where the biggest reduction in such hospital visits were seen in the 18-to-30 male bracket, youngsters saw the highest reductions. The two groups, children up to ten and young people between the ages of 11 and 17, were both down by almost 20% since last year's report. It is thought that there are various factors contributing to these numbers. For example, a change in children's activities over the last couple of years has seen less of them gathering in the streets. There are also better detection and reporting practices in place, as well as wider public awareness of violence against children and what to look out for. "It seems likely that work at all levels to improve child safeguarding... is at the root of this welcome trend," the report read. A spokesperson for the NSPCC also welcomed the news but said that there is "still a long way to go to ensure that children are protected from harm". Children and adolescents are not the only ones to have seen improvements, and the team has again attributed their findings to a reduction in binge drinking. However, there is some concern that if alcohol prices were to become cheaper, the figures might flip around and start to rise. "As we emerge from the economic downturn, we must ensure that the affordability of alcohol does not increase," declared Professor John Shepherd, who leads the study. Cardiff and Vale University Board Clinical Board Director Dr Richard Evans agreed, adding that the health board had been working closely with the police and "night time economy". "We have been very fortunate that violence-related injuries have been relatively infrequent in Cardiff in recent years," he said. But the reduction in binge drinking isn't the only factor thought to have played a role in the study results. Professor Shepherd explained that better street lighting and the use of plastic cups instead of glasses in pubs would also have contributed to less violence. There have also been specific crime-reduction initiatives, and more scientific, data-driven policing, which has seen shared information on community violence between police, the NHS, and local governments. Apart from a 7% rise in 2008, there have been decreases in violence across England and Wales every year since 2001, and Professor Shepherd pointed out a decline of 30% alone since 2010. He added that child and adolescent attacks being down by a fifth was the most encouraging result from the survey. We could thank the rise in alcohol prices, better detection methods, street lighting, and crime-prevention units. Whatever the cause of this continuous fall in violent crimes, let's hope it's a trend that keeps going until they are eradicated.