Salt-Powered Lamp to Light Developing World

As you may know, around 80% of the world has access to electricity. But what of the remaining 20%? There are some places where main lines electricity just isn't feasible. Take the Philippines, for example, which is made up of more than 7,000 islands. Combined with their tropical maritime climate making it hot and humid, the area is prone to extreme weather and, therefore, natural disaster - you may remember hearing about Typhoon Haiyan in 2014. As you can probably imagine, these factors combined mean that some parts of the Philippines don't have electricity. When the sun goes down, the kerosene lamps, candles, and battery-powered lanterns come out. Unfortunately, these light sources are a fire risk, and batteries can be expensive - especially if they are providing your only light throughout the night. So engineers have been looking into alternatives, and in the process might have developed something that could cut down on electricity usage around the world. Aisa Mijeno is an engineer at De La Salle University in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, a member of Greenpeace Philippines, and co-founder with Raphael Mijeno of SALt, Sustainable Alternative Lighting. Aisa has developed a lamp that can run on salt water, both from the ocean and made up from tapwater with added salt. The lamp can stay lit for up to eight hours, fueled by only a single glass of salt water! There is a whole load of benefits for using the Salt Lamp: no fire risk, only needs to be filled once a night, replaces the traditional cost of lighting... And if a natural disaster were to hit, the resources to provide lighting would be a lot easier to get ahold of. The only downside is that the electrodes inside the lamp would have to be replaced after only six months, but this is only if the lamp is used for eight hours every single day, and it's a small price to pay in comparison. Although the aim is to sell the Salt Lamp commercially in the future, at the moment they are being given out to nonprofit organisations to pass on to those in need. The team is now working on a newer version of the Salt Lamp which would also have the capability of charging small handheld devices, such as mobile phones, which could also prove invaluable in the event of a natural disaster. Better for the environment and better for the wallet: with innovation like this, it probably won't be long before the Salt Lamp is being sought the world over!

The World’s First Bionic Eye has Been Implanted

Bionic eyes might sound like something in your favourite sci-fi show, but surgeons in Manchester in the UK have made them a reality. The recipient was one Mr Ray Flynn, an 80-year-old with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which causes most sight loss cases in the developed world. AMD is so common that it's thought that half a million people are living with some degree of the condition in the UK alone. And there currently isn't any treatment for it. Mr Flynn had been struggling with his central vision for almost a decade, and it had deteriorated to the point that he was relying solely on his peripheral vision. "I am unable to put the numbers in for my card when paying in the shop or at the bank," he explained. He added that he used to love gardening, but it got to the point where he couldn't tell the weeds from the flowers. US company Second Sight manufactures retinal prosthetics, such as an implant called the Argus II. This implant was designed to restore some of the functional vision for people suffering from blindness caused by something called retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited, degenerative disease. But for the first time, the Argus II would be implanted in a patient with AMD. Last month, Professor Paulo Stanga led a medical team at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital in an operation on Mr Flynn that would take four hours to complete. Professor Stanga, of ophthalmology and retinal regeneration at the University of Manchester, is also a consultant ophthalmologist and vitreoretinal surgeon at the hospital. They implanted the Argus II, which receives its visual information from a mini camera mounted on Mr Flynn's glasses. The images the implant receives are converted into electrical pulses and transmitted to electrodes attached to the retina in the eye. The remaining cells in the retina are stimulated into sending the information to the brain. Two weeks after the operation, Mr Flynn underwent some tests to check out how his bionic eyes were doing. During these tests, white lines crossed a computer screen and Mr Flynn had to tell which direction they were travelling in. Of course, because the information received from the camera on his glasses, Mr Flynn had his eyes closed during the tests. And he proved that he was now able to see which way the lines were going, something he wouldn't have been able to do at all before his operation. Professor Stanga described Mr Flynn's progress and truly remarkable, explaining that the information his brain is receiving is new and so his brain needs to get used to interpreting it. Although the implant can't replace the standard of vision Mr Flynn once enjoyed, he's delighted with the results. He hopes it won't be long before he can get back to the things he loves doing, like watching football and gardening. He's even looking forward to the little day-to-day tasks like shopping. And all this is thanks to him becoming the first person in the world with combine natural and artificial vision - the first person in the world with bionic eyes. "He has not given up on losing his central vision; he is a motivated patient and that is crucial," explained Professor Stanga. "I think this could be the beginning of a new era for patients with sight loss."

Fossil Shows Snakes Evolved From Having Four Legs!

Did snakes evolve on land or from marine reptiles? This is a hotly debated topic, and one that might finally have a definitive answer. In the past, several fossils have been found of snakes with hind limbs - back legs - but scientists have now found an 113-million-year-old fossil that is the first four-legged snake they have ever seen. The creature is thought to be a direct ancestor of the modern snake. However, its arms and legs would more have been used for maintaining a grip on its prey instead of walking, and it would have slithered along much as snakes do now. The fossil originated in Brazil but was discovered in a German museum in Solnhofen, labelled as an unknown fossil. Dr Dave Matill - who would later become one of the authors of a paper written about the fossils - stumbled upon them quite by chance while leading a student field trip to the museum. "It was clear that no one had appreciated its importance," said Dr Matill, from the University of Portsmouth. "But when I saw it, I knew it was an incredibly significant specimen." Some scientists think that snakes evolved from marine reptiles, the fossils simply don't back that theory. For example, the snake's face has a long trunk and short snout, which is consistent in a burrowing animal. The fossils also show no evidence of fins or a paddle-shaped tail, which would aid a marine reptile in swimming. Dr Nick Longrich is from the University of Bath and another author of the paper published in Science. He explained that they undeniably belong to a member of the snake family. For example, as well as hooked teeth and snake-like scales, the fossils show a flexible jaw and spine. The skeleton of the creature also shows a long body and not a long tail, something else that categorises it as a snake. "This is the most primitive fossil snake known," Dr Longrich added, "and it is pretty clearly not aquatic." On top of all this, the remnants of animal carcasses in the four-legged snakes' stomachs showed that snakes were carnivorous a lot earlier in their evolutionary history than was previously thought. The creature's limbs might seem small and relatively useless, but they were actually highly specialised. At the end of long skinny fingers and toes were the little claws that would help them hold onto their prey in a sort of embrace. Dr Bruno Simoes is a research assistant in the Vertebrate Division at the Natural History Museum in London and has been studying the evolution of snakes. Suitably impressed with the latest findings, Dr Simoes emphasised how amazing it is that the four-legged snakes' limbs were both so well developed and preserved. He explained that the fossils give us a good idea of what the ancestral snake was actually like. "A four-legged snake seemed fantastic and, as an evolutionary biologist, too good to be true," he said. "All [the findings] suggest that the ancestor of all snakes was a terrestrial animal, which lived partially underground."

World’s Oldest (Probably) Koran Fragments Found at Birmingham Uni

Koran fragments have been found in a library at the University of Birmingham in the UK, and they could be the oldest to have been discovered in the world, ever. The Koran, or Qur'an, is the Muslim holy text, and records the various revelations that the Prophet Muhammad received in the 22 years leading up to his death in 632. The recently discovered pages - two leaves - had been sat in the university library for almost a century, kept amongst a compilation of Middle Eastern books and documents called the Mingana Collection. The collection has over 3,000 manuscripts in more than 20 languages, so it's understandable how the parchment could have been missed for all this time! PhD researcher Dr Alba Fedeli decided to look more closely at the pages and thought it would be a good idea to test them to see just how old they were. The pages were carried out by the Oxford University Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, which found that the fragments were written on goat or sheep skin. They also discovered that it dated back to between 568 and 645, with a probability of more than 95%. This would make the manuscript around 1,370 years old! Professor David Thomas of Christianity and Islam said that even the latest date puts the fragments within a mere few years of the actual founding of Islam. "The person who actually wrote it could well have known the Prophet Muhammad," he explained. "He may have known him personally, and that really is quite a thought to conjure with." Professor Thomas added that it is thought the original text has undergone little to no alteration over the decades, and the fragments support that theory. Susan Worrall is the university's Director of Special Collections, and she said that no one could have thought the manuscript would be as old as it was. "Finding out we had one of the oldest fragments of the Koran in the whole world has been fantastically exciting," she exclaimed. The local Muslim community is also thrilled with the news. "When I saw these pages, I was very moved," said Birmingham Central Mosque chairperson Muhammad Afzal. "There were tears of joy and emotion in my eyes."   Image Source: University of Birmingham

Are Music Preferences and Thinking Styles Linked?

According to research published in PLoS One by a team at the University of Cambridge, a person's taste in music might offer insight into the way they think. The study was working on the empathising-systemising theory, which is based on the idea that there are two thinking styles, empathising and systemising. Many people hear the opening of a song and just know if they are going to love or hate it - they make a snap decision. Of course, there are those songs which are "growers", but either way, it's unclear what drives these music preferences, especially when they can differ so vastly. The aim of the study was to investigate the role of empathy in musical preferences. More than 4,000 participants, recruited through a Facebook psychology questionnaire, were split into four sample groups and administered musical stimuli from across a variety of different music genres. The questions were designed to assess whether the participants were "systemisers" or "empathisers". For example, they were asked if they were interested in the construction or design of something. They were separately asked whether they thought they were good at judging how people were feeling. After these results had been analysed, the study participants were subjected to 50 short pieces of music spanning 26 styles. They were then asked to rate each of these pieces between one and 10. Empathisers are those who have the ability to identify, understand, and respond appropriately to the thoughts and feelings of other people. The study participants who scored highly on empathy were more likely to be drawn to soft rock, folk music, and R&B. On the other end of the scale are systemisers, who seek to analyse patterns in the world. These people were more likely to enjoy punk music, heavy metal, and more complex music overall, like jazz. Perhaps even more interestingly, the differences weren't contained within each sample group. The research team found that even within given genre, there were varying preferences regarding intensity and music styles. Cambridge University doctoral student David Greenburg explained that companies like Spotify and Apple Music spend a lot of money creating algorithms to help choose the music a user might want to listen to. These music industry companies could employ these latest findings and make such a task both easier and cheaper. "By knowing an individual's thinking style," he explained, "such services might in future be able to fine tune their music recommendations."

Iran and World Powers Reach Nuclear Deal

After almost a decade of negotiations, world powers have finally reached a deal with Iran concerning its nuclear activity. The negotiations, starting way back in 2006, involve Iran and six world powers that have come to be known as P5+1: The US and UK, Russia, Germany, France, and China. Ultimately, what the deal means is that Iran's nuclear activity will be limited in return for the lifting of international economic sanctions that have prevented economic growth in the country for several years. The world powers wanted ran to scale back its sensitive nuclear activities to ensure that it wouldn't be able to build a nuclear weapon. But in exchange, Iran wanted the sanctions lift, having always insisted that its nuclear work was peaceful. The sanctions will be relieved gradually, with embargos on arms and missiles remaining in place for five and eight years respectively. (An embargo means Iran is unable to trade in these things with other countries.) US President Barack Obama is firmly backing the deal, believing that it cuts off every pathway to a nuclear weapon and insisting that it would make the world a safer and more secure place. In fact, President Obama has said that he will veto any attempts to block the deal from going through - which are a possibility as the US Congress still has 60 days in which to consider the deal. He explained that the deal would oblige Iran to remove two-thirds of its installed centrifuges and store them under international supervision. This country also needs to get rid of 98% of its enriched uranium. On top of this, Iran would have to accept that the sanctions being listed could just as easily be snapped back into place if the deal is violated in any way. The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will also have permanent access "where necessary, when necessary". Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is also pleased with the arrangement, welcoming the deal as a fresh start for the country's relations with the rest of the world. "The sanctions regime was never successful, but at the same time, it affected people's lives," he pointed out. Once certain sanctions have been lifted, the country could potentially double its oil exports, and expand the economy between 7% and 8% every year. "I believe this is a historic moment," declared Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister. "Today could have been the end of hope, but now we are starting a new chapter of hope."

Date While You Wait: Helping Commuters in Rush Hour

Is there anyone out there who seriously enjoys the rush and tedium of the daily commute? Especially somewhere like New York, where time is money and things rarely stand still. Enter: Thomas Knox. Thomas is trying to bring fun to commuters in Manhattan with his pop-up initiative Date While You Wait. It's probably exactly as you imagine: Thomas say on a fold-up chair, at a fold-up table, graced with a single flower in a coke bottle. The sign reads "Date while you wait" and is covered in hearts. But also on the table is a game of Connect Four, ready to go, and even though Thomas is single, he isn't there to look for love. He simply wants to save commuters from the daily grind bringing them down. "I wanted to do something positive," he said. "So I was like, 'You know what? I'm just going to set up a table, and you know, sit down, and have a conversation with people.'" Thomas aims to be sat at his fold-out table at least once a week. When he sets up, it's at a secret location at one of the Manhattan subway stations that only becomes known to the public when he announces it on Twitter. With two photographers in tow, Thomas documents his "dates" on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you're one of the lucky ones to get a seat at Thomas' table, he wants you to talk about yourself and your day. It's just the kind of small talk you might expect from a random first date on a subway platform. They're then invited to share their experience over social media with the hashtag #DateWhileYouWait. Word of Thomas' project is spreading at an impressive rate, and the term "gone viral" has been bandied about. On his Facebook page, Thomas has even been able to state that one of his many highlights was having a "date" with Howard Wexler, who actually created Connect Four. The initiative has become so popular that Thomas announce a tour of subway stations in five New York boroughs, which he kicked off only a couple of days ago. This means that commuters in Brooklyn, the Bronx, New York City, Queens, and Staten Island will all get the chance to while away their time on their platform. The idea is obviously a fun and unique one, with worldwide coverage. It's become so popular that Thomas has been invited to set up Date While You Wait booths in other parts of the US, Canada, and even as far as the UK. After a long, busy day, and in the middle of rush hour, if something can make you smile, your whole day can turn around. And that's what Thomas' plan is. "Everyone kept asking me if I was doing it for money or looking for love," Thomas said on the project's Facebook page. "Not at all. I just wanted to do something that would bring smiles to people's faces and enjoy the moment."