PILOTS SLEPT ON DUTY WHILE PLANE WAS IN MID-AIR.

The pilots of an Airbus A330 dozed off in the cockpit while it cruised at 30,000 feet en route to Britain.
Meanwhile, the aircraft operated on autopilot. It, however, arrived at its destination safely.

UK aviation authorities disclosed the incident to CNN. Virgin Atlantic has acknowledged that its airliner was the plane named in the UK report.

Source: CNN.

FORMER NOKIA BOSS MAY NOT GET $25.4 MILLION PAY-OFF.

Nokia’s chairman, Risto Siilasmaa, has admitted that he gave misleading information about former chief executive Stephen Elop’s pay-off.

Mr Elop’s $25.4 million pay-off sparked angry reaction in Finland, including one from the nation’s economy minister.

Mr Elop became the first non-Finn to run Nokia, in September 2010, when he left Microsoft.

Source: BBC.

CHINA UNBLOCKS FACEBOOK.

China will soon unblock Facebook, twitter and the New York times, though, only in a small area of one of its cities--- a free-trade zone of Shanghai.

According to a report, a Chinese government official explained that the relaxation of the censorship laws is to make foreign visitors feel more at home. It also noted that the free zone will be launched at the end of this month.

The government blamed social networks for the July 2009 Urumqi riots, in which about 197 people were killed, and have since then locked these sites.

Retrieved from: BBC.

How To Pick Up New Languages Within a Short Period.

You may have wondered how some people could speak multiple languages fluently or picked up new ones effortlessly. Of course, there are some techniques one can use to speed up the process of learning a new language.

The Pimsleur Approach.

This method seems to be the most popular. Pimsleur approach is an audio-based language learning method developed by Paul Pimsleur. Studies have shown that native speakers of any language use about 2,500 distinct words and phrases on daily bases. Hence, this technique aims at teaching its user those words and phrases; and how to use them. The learner repeats words and phrases given by native speakers and makes new phrases by inference. As new phrases are introduced and at increasing intervals, the user is prompted to recall the old ones. The providers of this method believe that it can help a learner speak a new language in a matter of weeks.

The Michel Thomas Method.

The Michel Thomas method, however, does not require memorisation. It is also an audio-based method and of a “virtual classroom” in which the user can learn from the mistakes of the students in a recording. This method works by breaking the new language down into its component parts, thereby enabling the leaner to reconstruct the language on his own.

The Rosetta Stone Method.

It is an image recall-cum-audio based technique. This method requires the learner to look at images and hear the native word for the images at the same time, and thus develop a mental association between the images and their description in the new language.

Group Interaction.

This involves interacting with natives of the new language or communicating with people that are well versed in it.

(Retrieved from: Pimsleur Approach, Omnigot, Wikipedia.)

IT RAINS DIAMONDS IN URANUS.

In future, space expeditions may include mining diamonds in Uranus and Neptune.

The two planets contain a high proportion of methane, which researchers at University of California believe will turn into diamond at high temperature and pressure found inside these planets. The diamonds will then fall back to the planet like raindrops or hailstones.

The scientists simulated this process inside a diamond anvil cell. They compressed liquid methane to several hundred thousand times atmospheric pressure, on heating the pressurized liquid, by passing a laser beam through it, diamond was formed.

(Retrieved from SpaceDaily.)

Related Article:  HOW DIAMONDS ARE FORMED ON EARTH.

HOW DIAMONDS ARE FORMED ON EARTH.

Photo by Rebecca Barray

Diamonds found on earth can be natural, synthetic or diamond simulants.

 Natural Diamonds.

Most natural diamonds are formed at high temperatures (900^oC – 1300^oC) and pressures (4.5GPa – 6GPa) deep inside the Earth’s mantle over periods of 1 billion to 3.3 billion years. Carbon used in this process are obtained from carbon-containing minerals present in the mantle. These diamonds are brought up to the Earth’s surface by volcanic eruptions.

Some diamonds are formed at the site of a meteorite strike, which met the conditions of high temperature and pressure; and containing carbon-bearing mineral. Sometimes, interstellar meteorites, that contain diamonds, deposit these precious stones through impact on Earth.

Synthetic Diamonds.

Synthetic diamonds are formed by either high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) or chemical vapour deposition (CVD) crystal formation methods. HPHT method involves conversion of carbon, like graphite, at high temperature and pressure into diamond. On the other hand, CVD method involves mixing varying amounts of carbon-containing gases in a chamber and energizing them, for instance by means of a laser beam, to form diamonds. The growth diamond by CVD method typically occurs at pressure ranges of 1kPa to 27kPa.

Diamond Simulants.

Diamond simulants are not actual diamonds. They are gemstones that resemble diamonds in appearance and many other characteristics. Cubic Zirconia and Silicon Carbide are examples of diamond simulants.

(Retrived from Wikipedia.)

Related Article: IT RAINS DIAMONDS IN URANUS.

MARIJUANA CUTS CANCER IN HALF.

Researchers at Harvard University have shown that delta-Tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the active ingredient of marijuana, cuts tumor growth in ordinary lung cancer in half and significantly reduces the ability of the cancer to spread. They noted that delta-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) inhibits EGF-induced growth, and migration in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Meanwhile, lung cancer has been associated with overactivity of EGFR.

Read more about EGF and EGFR.

Firstly, the researchers demonstrated that THC inhibited the growth and spread of cells from two different lung cancer cell lines and from patient lung tumors  Then, they injected THC into mice that had been implanted with human lung cancer cells. Three weeks later, they examined the mice and discovered that the tumors shrank by about 50% compared with tumor in untreated mice.

THC targets and activates two specific cannabinoid receptors, CB₁ and CB₂, in a fashion similar to endocannabinoid produced naturally in a human body. Endocannabinoid stimulates appetite and controls pain and inflammation. Hence, THC, by this way, impedes the inflammatory action of lung cancer cells; thereby, inhibits the growth and spread of the cancer.

Read more about CB₁ and CB₂.

Nevertheless, if you plan on smoking that tumor away, note that, apart from the risk of addiction and a litany of other problems, studies have shown that marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke.

Retrieved from webMD, ScienceDaily and Wikipedia.

Scientists Send Brain Signals Through The Internet.

Two scientists from the University of Washington claim to be the first to demonstrate brain-to-brain communication. Rajesh Rao sent his brain signal to the brain of Andrea Stocco through the internet, causing him to move his hand.

In my previous post, I wrote about  headphones that can read minds using a built-in electroencephalography-enabled sensor. However, in the case of a brain-to-brain communication, an EEG device captures the brain signal, and by the help of a brain-computer interface this signal is transmitted to another brain.

A press release on University of Washington website described the demonstration as follows:

"The team had a Skype connection set up so the two labs could coordinate, though neither Rao nor Stocco could see the Skype screens. Rao looked at a computer screen and played a simple video game with his mind. When he was supposed to fire a cannon at a target, he imagined moving his right hand (being careful not to actually move his hand), causing a cursor to hit the "fire" button. Almost instantaneously, Stocco, who wore noise-canceling earbuds and wasn't looking at a computer screen, involuntarily moved his right index finger to push the space bar on the keyboard in front of him, as if firing the cannon. Stocco compared the feeling of his hand moving involuntarily to that of a nervous tic.”

Actually, this cybernetic telepathy was not all that easy. Rao had to spend a lot of time training his mind with feedback from the computer to emit the brainwave for moving the right hand so that it could be detected by the brain by means of the brain-computer interface. The software detects the right signal and sends it via the internet to a computer that is connected to a transcranial magnetic stimulation device, which is positioned on the exact spot of the brain that controls the right hand. When there is a change in the magnetic field, the stimulation device induces an electrical current that is similar to the brain’s electrical signal. This signal is then sent through the cortex of the brain and excites the neurons, thereby simulating a natural-like response from the body of the receiver.

(Retrieved from CNET). #cybernetics #noninvasive_human-to-human_brain_interface #telepathy).

This Pair of Headphones Can Read Your Mind.

Mico headphones, produced by Neurowears, can scan your brainwave and select songs that match your mood.

Mico Headphones.

Neurowears, a Japanese company, is developing a pair of headphones with an electroencephalography-enabled sensor. The sensor measures and deciphers the user’s brainwaves, then connects to the mico database through an iPhone application and selects the song, which best fits the user’s mood, from a collection of neuro-tagged tunes. (Retrieved from Oddity Central).

Electroencephalography is a technique for studying the electrical currents within the brain. Whenever you have a thought or a feeling, your brain produces weak but distinct electrical signals corresponding to that thought or feeling. (Retrieved from eMedicineHealth and The Huffington Post).

With Mico headphones you may not need to scroll through your playlist and if you feel like changing a song, all you have to do is shake the phone to clear the collected data and the sensor scans your brain again in order to select a new song for you. However, the gadget can only sense three moods --- focused, drowsy and moody. The sides of each earpiece also light up, by means of built-in LED indicators, to display symbols that indicate the mood of the listener.There are limitations to the use of this gadget: Since all the neural input comes from a sensor pressed to the forehead, it can be disrupted by fast walking, running, jogging or even a stray hair.(Retrieved from Oddity Central).

Meanwhile, the Mico headphones are still in their prototype stage but Neurowear hopes to develop a market-ready product in the near future.