My Science School

Nearly 80% of the frogs in the country are on the verge of extinction and some of the species have already vanished due to their shrinking habitat caused by human incursions, says amphibian scientist Dr SD Biju. He added that the shrinking rate of frogs worldwide is 74%, but in India it is more than 80.

Amphibian frogs are one of the most endangered; common species like the fungoid frog (Rana Malabarica) are rarely seen in some of its best habitats in the country. The Indian Purple Frog, an endangered species found in the Western Ghats, is also facing extinction.

"Amphibians are an important part of our ecosystem. They are environmental indicators because of their sensitivity towards small changes in the environment. They help us to predict the quality of our water systems and the surrounding environment," Dr Biju said, adding that they consume millions of pests thus helping farmers. Amphibians are also an important link in the food chain and are known as the conveyor belt of the ecosystem.

"Every year the country faces thousands of mosquito bite-related deaths. Many are talking about introducing fish that eat mosquito larva but we conveniently forget about the best pest killer, frogs," he said.

Picture Credit : Google

A user-friendly and low-cost humanoid robot that translates speech into sign language, Aslan was designed "to reduce the communication barrier between the hearing and the deaf community".

Designed by three engineering students at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, the robotic arm with articulated fingers is controlled by dedicated software. When the user types text into the software, the hand translates the text into sign language.

Since the parts are all 3D-printed, Aslan can be manufactured and assembled in over 140 countries that have access to the technology. "The use of 3D-printing technology makes it possible to cut production costs, as well as carry out modifications or repairs when necessary," say the students.

The team is not aiming to automate the profession of sign language interpretation, but to offer an accessible solution in cases where no translator is available.

The team is now working on creating a second robotic arm to work with the first, an expressive face to help convey meaning, and are exploring the possibilities of connecting a webcam so users can teach the Asian new signs.

Picture Credit : Google

A study by the University of Wisconsin Madison (USA), shows that smiles meant to convey dominance are associated with "a spike in stress hormones" in their targets. Smiles intended as a reward, to reinforce behaviour, appear to physically buffer recipients against stress.

Researchers established three major types of smiles- the first meant to convey status, the second to show affiliation (communicate a bond and show you're not a threat), and the third- reward (a beaming, toothy smile you would give someone to let them know they are making you happy).

For the study, the team stressed out male college students by giving them a series of imprompt speaking assignments judged by a fellow student.  The speakers heart rates and levels of cortisol (a hormone associated with stress) were measured. If they received dominance smiles, which they would interpret as negative and critical, they felt more stress, and their cortisol went up and stayed up longer after their speech. If they received reward smiles, they reacted to that as approval, and it kept them from feeling as much stress and producing as much cortisol.

"Subtle differences in the way you make facial expressions while someone is talking to you can fundamentally change their experience, their body, and the way they feel you are evaluating them," said researchers.

Picture Credit : Google

Want your photos to look stunning in your social media feed? Enlight Photofox handles everything from quick tweaks to creating a double-exposure masterpiece. Make a photo look like a watercolour, oil painting, street art or sketch. Its Photo Mixer lets you add layers, superimpose images, create photo montages and seamlessly merge photos with various blending modes. Its Heal tool allows for removal of defects while its crop options allow for straightening crooked photos. Turn your photos into black and white using darkroom techniques or reproduce the style of classic cameras and vintage film. Free for iOS.

Photofox includes sophisticated painterly and collage capabilities designed to transform your images into works of art. Technically, Photofox is an update of the original Enlight app, but it looks and feels more like a related standalone app targeting a pro level audience. It’s similar to its predecessor and is available alongside it on the App Store

Photofox is primarily a photo editing tool, but it kicks the software’s capabilities up a notch, emphasizing creative compositing with a new focus on layering, blending images, and special effects.

Unlike the original app, Photofox works with raw files and allows multiple layers instead of just two. An interface overhaul keeps the app fairly simple, but using Photofox to its best advantage requires a more imaginative vision of composited images coupled with a sleight of hand. The less-cramped iPad version is slightly easier to use, because in addition to the extra screen space, you can use the app in landscape mode, while Photofox’s iPhone app only operates in portrait orientation.

Credit : Macworld 

Picture Credit : Google

Dots & Co is the third game from the maker of the addictive Two Dots and Dots. The game play is simple connect dots of the same colour to make them disappear. Each level has an objective to be accomplished in limited moves. New to Dots & Co are companions who provide valuable power-ups that help you reach your goals. One of the least stressful puzzle games out there, Dots & Co has colourful graphics and a cool soundtrack. Free for iOS and Android.

The most noticeable change is the new "companions" that help you in each level. Fortunately, these helpers are very subtle. You'll see them at the top of your screen as you play through a level -- a big penguin or eskimo smiling down on you as you play through the level. Throughout the playing field are companion dots; clearing those helps fill up an energy bar at the top of the screen. When it's full, your companion drops a special move in the screen to help you progress.

Probably the other biggest change is to the game's economy. Instead of starting with five lives that slowly regenerate after you've lost them, you use "energy" to start a level. Your meter goes to 15, and each level drops your level three points. Finishing a level regenerates energy -- but you'll only get all three energy points back if you "ace" the level and get three stars. So even if you keep successfully finishing levels, you'll run out of energy unless you consistently get three stars, something that could be tough as the difficulty ramps up.

Crucially, Dots & Co. retails the excellent, unique atmosphere and mood of the previous game. It's one of the least stressful puzzle games out there, with gorgeous graphics and an extremely chill soundtrack. It looks unique and feels like it's been put together with more care and love than just about any other mobile game out there.

Credit :  Engadget 

Picture Credit : Google

The moon will get its first mobile phone network next year, enabling high definition streaming from the lunar surface back to earth. Together with Berlin-based PTScientists, Vodafone Germany, Nokia and Audi are working on the project, Mission to the Moon, 50 years after the first NASA astronauts walked on the moon.

Vodafone will use its network technology to enable 4G coverage that will connect two Audi Quattro lunar rovers to a base station while Nokia is making space-grade networking gear that will weigh less than 1 kg. The launch is scheduled for 2019 from Cape Canaveral (Florida) on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

“This project involves a radically innovative approach to the development of mobile network infrastructure,” Vodafone Germany Chief Executive Hannes Ametsreiter said.

One executive involved said the decision to build a 4G network rather a state-of-the-art 5G network was taken because the next generation networks remain in the testing and trial stage and are not stable enough to ensure they would work from the lunar surface.

Picture Credit : Google

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of online retail giant Amazon, has become the first $100 billion businessman to top Forbes magazine's annual rankings of the world's richest people. Bezos' worth stood at $112 billion (roughly Rs 7.27 lakh crores); after the Forbes announcement, it rocketed to $127 billion in line with a spike in Amazon stock, widening the gap between him and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ($90 billion). Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg ($71 billion) was fifth on the list.

When Bezos had the idea for his e-commerce company, his well-intentioned boss tried to talk him out of quitting his stable job with D. E. Shaw & Co. Yet Bezos, raised by his teen mom and later his Cuban immigrant stepfather, always dreamed of creating something different, once telling his schoolteachers that “the future of mankind is not on this planet.”

Bezos even has a website, BezosExpeditions.com, that provides a rundown of more than 30 of his major investments, projects, and philanthropic endeavors. The name “expeditions” is appropriate since Bezos’ investments are not concentrated in just one or two industries or even market sectors; rather, they represent a far-flung exploration of many different business areas and ideas, including cloud computing, robotics, biotechnology, and even home-blown glass.

Picture Credit : Google

The AVA Byte is the first indoor smart garden to combine hydroponics (growing plants without soil) with artificial intelligence. It comes with five soil-free, transplantable and compostable pre-seeded plant pods. Simply place your pods into the unit and fill the reservoir with water, then sync with your smart device. The Byte depends on LED lights that emit a mixture of red, white and blue light to encourage growth, fruiting and flowering regardless of your home environment. Using technology inspired by NASA's growing systems, Ava Byte automatically adjusts lighting and self-waters your plants making them grow upto three times faster. Its companion iOS and Android app helps you monitor water and light levels, optimize plant growth and set alerts for refilling the reservoir and harvesting the plants. The Byte is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and other connected home devices. An HD camera allows users to make time-lapse videos of their plants.

The indoor garden comes with ready-to-grow compostable pods that are soil-free and totally self-sufficient. With seeds, plant food, and plant-based spongy growing material all in one neat little package, this is probably the least work gardening has ever been. Each garden comes with a five-pack of pods.

“Growing your own food is a vote against the way the food system is today. Being food-lovers, we wanted to start a food revolution,” said Valerie Song, co-founder and CEO of AVA Technologies. “Unfortunately, unlike houses with large backyards, a condo-dweller like myself is restricted by lack of space and access to sunlight.” But that obviously isn’t a problem with the Byte.

Available in white, space grey, or a carbon black finish, the garden ought to complement any decor, and can also be mounted to the wall, creating a vertical farm. The Byte is also compatible with Alexa, Google Home, and other connected home devices.

“The world is undergoing a massive transition into a new future of food and agricultural systems” added Mike Nasseri, Urban Futurist, AVA Technologies. “AVA Byte will help push the awareness curve that is required to advance the adoption curve of the new technologies being used at scale to address our current issues in agricultural production and consumption.”

Credit : Digital Trends 

Picture Credit : Google

A smart umbrella

Of course, it's boring to hear the weather forecast on the news. What you need is an umbrella that can do it for you. The Ambient Umbrella is a battery-powered piece of technology with a wireless receiver. It connects with a weather forecast website to alert you with pulsing blue lights if the weather is going to take a turn for the worse.

Say 'No' to uphill pedalling!

Want to cheat yourself out of a little exercise? Get the Copenhagen Wheel, better known as the self pedalling bicycle! It looks like a normal bicycle, but a motor and battery pack transforms it into an electric vehicle. The wheel captures all the excess energy when you go downhill and powers your vehicle right through when you go uphill. The wheel is of course much smarter than that. It connects to the internet to record your speed and distance travelled. And if that wasn't enough, it also helps you find friends in your city and inspects air quality.

Dustbin with a difference

Are you too lazy to write down a grocery list every  time? Let your dustbin do it for you. Smartphones are out, smart dustbins are in! This smart dustbin is equipped with a tiny camera that scans the barcode of everything that you throw into it and sends the information to an online store to order them again for you. A new prototype that is being designed will supposedly make comments on your eating habits and choice of grocery picks. So, watch out!

Tackling a boring chore

Folding clothes is never fun, considering there's to really help you get it done. But wait! Foldimate might be the answer. This device, about the photocopier machine, helps you fold clothes. But there's a catch you can't snuggle up on the sofa V while it does the job. You'll be sitting by it, feeding one garment after another into it. If even that's too much work, no worries - Laundroid is exactly the machine of your dreams. Dump the clothes inside and the machine washes, dries and folds them. Voila! Priced at $16,000, it's up to you to decide if you'd rather grit your teeth and fold them yourself.

Who's watching what you eat?

Take eating to the next level with the special Hapifork. This $100 fork is an impressive new pal for anyone who has serious plans to lose weight. The fork vibrates gently if you eat too quickly. The fork picks up data about the time taken to complete a meal, amount of servings taken per minute and time between servings and uploads it all so that you may review and improve your eating habits. One can only hope that the fork won't jab your hand if you reach out for a snack!

Picture Credit : Google

Jethro the lobster has been delighting visitors to the Huntsman Marine Science Centre in New Brunswick (Canada) with his unusual colouring. Jethro is a 'half-and-half' lobster whose colouring is perfectly split down his body - one half blackish-brown, one half bright orange-attributed to a genetic abnormality.

It is not known how many half and-halfs are out there, but Jethro is "one in a few million at least". The colourful crustacean, which was caught by a fisherman, will live out his days - which could be decades in a tank at the Centre with other lobsters.

Picture Credit : Google

Plastic has been found throughout the world's seas, with pieces showing up everywhere from Arctic sea ice to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Often its harmful effects are obvious, marine creatures from fish to seabirds and from turtles to seals perish by mistakenly ingesting large quantities of plastic rubbish or getting entangled in larger pieces of plastic-like discarded fishing nets.

But now researchers have found that microplastics can even affect an animal's ability to protect itself from a predator. The common periwinkle (Littorina littorea) is a main food source for crabs. Usually the snails evade predator crabs by withdrawing into their shells or hiding under rocks. But in water saturated with tiny plastic pellets, the snails failed to pick up vital chemical signals drifting their way in the water from crabs. They were slow to withdraw into their shells and didn't wait as long as they should have before re-emerging.

Picture Credit : Google

Researchers have developed medical nanorobots that can swim through the eyeball's dense tissue. The propeller-shaped bots are designed to deliver medicine to precise locations in the eye. Developed at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart, Germany, the Planck bots are the first to be designed specifically for the human eyeball. At about 500 nanometres wide, the eyebots are around 200 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.

To keep the bots from getting entangled in the eyeball's mesh of biological molecules, the Planck team applied a liquid layer found in the carnivorous pitcher plant, which has a slippery surface to catch insects. For movement, the eyebots' propeller-shaped elements are seeded with tiny metal particles which respond to an external magnetic field, controlled by the doctor, which ultimately guides the robot to the desired location in the eye.

The idea is to deploy a eyebot 'swarm to deliver treatments within the eye without the need for surgery or other invasive techniques.

Picture Credit : Google

Lasso "makes it easy for anyone to create and share short videos with fun effects" and is Facebook's latest bid to win over teens. Users can create short-form, entertaining videos from dancing to comedy to beauty to fitness. Make use of the app's "massive music library" to add more to your videos. Scroll through short videos that autoplay as you pass by them, or filter content using the hashtags at the bottom. Use the in-app camera to create your own spin on a video hashtag that's trending, with special effects, music text on video and editing tools to modify your videos. Lasso videos can be shared as Facebook Stories, with the feature to share them as Instagram Stories to come later. User profiles remain public. Free for iOS and Android.

As of February, Lasso was available in Colombia, Mexico, the U.S., Argentina, Chile, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Ecuador and Uruguay, research firm Sensor Tower told TechCrunch.

Lasso added support for Hindi language earlier this year, prompting speculation that Facebook may eventually bring the new app to India, the American tech firm’s biggest market by user accounts.

Lasso’s demise comes ahead of the launch of Instagram Reels — the new horse Facebook is counting on to steal TikTok’s lunch, said Josh Constine, who first spotted Lasso’s announcement.

Credit : Tech Crunch

Picture Credit : Google

Smishing is short for 'SMS phishing', a type of attack in which mobile phone users receive text / Multimedia (MMS) messages containing a website hyperlink, which if clicked will download a Trojan horse (malicious computer program) or other malware onto the device. Don't click on links you receive on your phone unless you know the person they're coming from. Even if you get a text message with a link from a friend, consider verifying they meant to send the link before clicking on it. Never install apps from text messages. Any apps you install on your device should come straight from the official app store.

With a text message, the hackers might try to accomplish many different things. This includes stealing personal details from you by posing as a representative from your bank. They could try to get you to click on a link in the text message to connect to your bank’s webpage and verify a recent suspicious charge. They may ask you to call their customer service number, conveniently included within the text message, to talk to them about a recent suspicious charge or a compromised account.

Hackers also attempt to use sympathetic measures to gather sensitive information. An example includes messages regarding hurricane relief where the threat actor asks you for a charitable donation. The hacker asks you to click the included link and enter your credit card information, address, and often, your social insurance number. Once the hacker obtains your credit card number, the criminal can even charge your credit card on a monthly basis to avoid alarming you.

Credit : Trend Micro 

Picture Credit : Google

Instagram's 'Close Friends' feature makes it easier to restrict your Stories to a select group of people, for when you don't want all your followers to see them. Go to your profile and tap on 'Close Friends' in the side menu o create a list of people you'd like to share Stories with. Your list of close friends can be viewed only by you. When you create a Story you'll see an option to share it with just your 'Close Friends' who will see a green ring ard re never notified that you added them to or removed them from your list. your story at the top of the feed.friends are never notified that you added them to or removed them from your list .

You can also prevent people from sharing your story:

• Go to that same page (“Settings” > “Privacy” > “Story”). Scroll down to the bottom where there’s a section labeled “Sharing.”
• You’ll see an option that says “Allow Sharing.” Turning this off will prevent people from messaging your stories to others.
• You can also turn off “Allow Resharing to Stories” to prevent people from adding your posts to their stories.
• To stop your stories from being shared to Facebook, disable “Share Your Story to Facebook.” This means they’ll only post to Instagram.

Finally, you can use Instagram’s Close Friends feature to limit the reach of your stories to specific people.

• To set who’s in that group of people, go to “Settings” > “Privacy” > “Story”
• Tap under Close Friends and start adding people. People won’t be notified when they’re added (or removed) from this group.

Credit : The Verge

Picture Credit : Google