SCIENCE BOND

Posts

The aircraft manufacturer developed a self-cleaning restroom for planes

The aircraft manufacturer says it's developed a self-cleaning restroom for planes. The bathrooms are designed so that they can be bathed in an ultraviolet (UV) light for just three seconds, killing 99.99% of germs. The lights are "positioned throughout the lavatory to flood the touch surfaces like the toilet seat, sink and countertops with the UV light once a person exits the lavatory. This sanitizing even helps eliminate odors," said Jeanne Yu, Boeing's director of environmental performance.The company said in a press release that the process uses "Far UV" light, which is distinct from the UV lights that can cause skin cancer and not harmful to people."It's for use while you're in the air, to disinfect between those deeper cleanings," company spokesperson Bret Jensen said. He added that the technology is still in the testing phases, but it can potentially be installed in lavatories on existing planes. Boeing's new bathroom d...

More Sumatran orangutans in the wild than previously thought, according to a new survey

The latest estimate puts the population at about 14,600 - more than twice the previous figure, based on a survey of nests where the apes sleep. Ecologists say the rise is not due to population growth but because some apes were missed in past surveys. The species remains at serious threat from poaching and loss of forests, they report in Science Advances. Orangutans are the world's largest tree-climbing mammal - and Asia's only great ape. They were once found across South East Asia, but today are confined to two islands, Borneo and Sumatra. Their forest habitat is rapidly disappearing, putting their future in jeopardy.Until now, the total Sumatran orangutan population was put at 6,600 individuals, based on data from 2004. In the new survey in 2015, orangutans were found in unexpected places, including at higher altitudes in the mountains, forests recovering from logging and areas west of the Toba Lake that had not been previously examined. A...

Scientists say ghost-like octopod discovered in ocean depths near Hawaii

It was found by a submersible vehicle at a depth of around 2.5 miles (4km) off Necker Island. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it was a depth record for an octopod without fins. The creature has already been nicknamed "Casper" after the cartoon ghost. The octopod lacked pigment cells, giving it its light-coloured appearance. "It is almost certainly an undescribed species" Michael Vecchione of the NOAA said, calling it a "remarkable little octopod". Deep-sea octopods fall into two categories - cirrate, or 'Dumbo', octopods with fins, or incirrate octopods, without fins, which look more akin to shallow-water octopus. The sighting of Casper represents the deepest ever observed sighting of an incirrate octopod, Mr Vecchione said.

Apple releases a good computer

In an interview, Palmer Luckey said currently no single Apple computer met the minimum specifications for the Rift. The problem lay in the fact that Apple did not prioritise powerful graphics hardware, he added. By contrast, HTC said its headset would work with Apple machines at launch. Questioned at a Microsoft Xbox press event, Mr Luckey said support for the Oculus Rift headset on Macs depended on the way Apple built its machines. "If they ever release a good computer, we will do it," he said. "It just boils down to the fact that Apple doesn't prioritise high-end GPUs," he told the Shack News site. The Rift, and other headsets, typically require the computer to which they are connected to possess a powerful graphics card or GPU. Buying or building a machine to support the Rift has been estimated to cost about £1,000 ($1,500). Some research suggests that fewer than 1% of the world's PCs are running hardware that can support VR headsets. ...

The paralysed Darek learns to cycle again

In 2014, surgeons in Poland announced they had reversed Darek Fidyka's paralysis using cells taken from his nose to repair his spinal cord. The former fireman says he has noticed a gradual return of feeling and muscle control below his injury. The surgical team are now launching a search for two more paralysed patients who they will try to help walk again. Mr Fidyka told me: "I can tell that sensation is coming back and I am getting stronger. A year ago I would not have been able to ride a tricycle. Now I can feel each muscle and each press of the foot on the pedals."The medical team are now launching the worldwide search as they are looking for patients with an uncommon type of injury, where the spinal cord has been completely severed, which can happen after a knife injury. The head of the project, surgeon Dr Pawel Tabakow said: "If we can bridge the gap between two spinal cord stumps then there will be no doubt that our technique works and this will be ...

Amber-trapped lizard fossils reveal lost world

The ancient reptiles are preserved in "superb detail" down to scales of skin, the tip of a tongue and tiny claws. Two of the fossils are related to modern-day chameleons and geckos, revealing how features such as sticky toe-pads evolved. The lizards inhabited tropical forests in what is now Myanmar during the Mid-Cretaceous Period. Researchers in the US have published their assessment of the specimens in the journal Science Advances. "The fossilised amber provides a view into a lost world, revealing that the tropics of the Mid-Cretaceous contained a diverse lizard fauna," Dr Edward Stanley of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Some of the lizards are representatives of modern groups such as geckos, while others have no modern equivalent and eventually died out. One of the fossils appears to be a transitional form between the "standard" lizard form and chameleons, said Dr Stanley. "This 'missing-link' is roughly 80 million ...

The emotional stress can cause heart attact, a Swiss study suggests

Three-quarters of cases of takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a change in the shape of the heart's left ventricle, which can be fatal, are caused by stress. The University Hospital Zurich study, in the European Heart Journal, suggests about one in 20 cases is caused by joy. The condition is normally temporary and people are generally fine afterwards. In the study of 1,750 patients, researchers discovered heart problems caused by: a birthday party a son's wedding meeting a friend after 50 years becoming a grandmother a favourite rugby team winning a game winning a casino jackpot a computerised tomography (CT) scan giving the all-clear from another condition The study also suggested most cases were in post-menopausal women. Dr Jelena Ghadri, one of the researchers, said: "We have shown that the triggers for takotsubo syndrome can be more varied than previously thought. "A takotsubo syndrome patient is no longer the classic 'broken-hearted' p...