Science and Technology

Sunday, 11 December 2022 05:37

Certain disease-causing pathogens are released when you flush toilets. This is how that affects you

Every time you flush a toilet, it releases plumes of tiny water droplets into the air around you. These droplets, called aerosol plumes, can spread pathogens from human waste and expose people in public restrooms to contagious diseases. Scientific understanding of the spread of aerosol plumes – and public awareness of their existence – has been hampered by the fact that they are normally invisible. My colleagues Aaron True, Karl Linden, Mark Hernandez, Lars Larson and Anna Pauls and I were able to use high-power lasers to illuminate these plumes, enabling us to image and measure the location and motion…

Friday, 25 November 2022 06:11

Nigerian start-up uses tech products to help the visually impaired

A Nigerian start up called Vinsighte is using technology to assist the visually impaired, with several products including "smart" reading glasses that convert text to audio. About 15.3% of the world's blind population resides in Africa, according to the World Health Organization, where they often lack the resources and support needed to succeed in school and everyday life. "I wanted to just try and see if we could build something that could solve the problem and that was where it all started," said Vinsighte CEO Kolawole Tomi. The company distributes its products to schools and institutions and estimates it has…

Thursday, 24 November 2022 06:01

This drug costs $3.5m per dose. This is what it’s used for

U.S. health regulators on Tuesday approved the first gene therapy for hemophilia, a $3.5 million one-time treatment for the blood-clotting disorder. The Food and Drug Administration cleared Hemgenix, an IV treatment for adults with hemophilia B, the less common form of the genetic disorder which primarily affects men. Currently, patients receive frequent, expensive IVs of a protein that helps blood clot and prevent bleeding. Drugmaker CSL Behring, based in Pennsylvania, announced the $3.5 million price tag shortly after the FDA approval, saying its drug would ultimately reduce health care costs because patients would have fewer bleeding incidents and need fewer…

Tuesday, 22 November 2022 05:44

‘Impossible to intercept’: Russia shows how its Avangard Hypersonic Missile gets loaded

On November 18, the Russian Defense Ministry released a video showing how its Avangard Hypersonic Missile, which it claims is “impossible to intercept,” is loaded into the launch shaft. The Avangard is a hypersonic glide vehicle that entered service in December 2019. It can be fired by various ICBMs, including the country’s newest and most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, the RS-28 Sarmat. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the weapon can travel toward targets “like a meteorite, a fireball.” According to the Russian military, placing a rocket into the launcher is a skill. A loader removes the missile…

Monday, 21 November 2022 06:03

Hackers found a way to unlock your Android phone without your password. This is what to do

Your phone’s lock screen is supposed to be a safeguard against the world (and accidental unlocks in your pocket). When it’s locked, your phone can’t be opened without either the passcode, a face scan, or a fingerprint. If you lose your phone or someone snatches it from you, you can rest assured they won’t be able to do anything with it. Except right now they can, thanks to a recently discovered vulnerability allowing anyone to bypass an Android device’s lock screen. As reported by Bleeping Computer, cybersecurity researcher David Schütz discovered a way to unlock both a Google Pixel 6…

Saturday, 05 November 2022 06:19

Russia’s cheap homemade drones bring Ukrainian counter offensive to a halt

Since October 10, 2022, when Russia retaliated fiercely against the Ukrainian intelligence-masterminded terrorist attack on the Kerch bridge, world attention has been riveted on the Russian use of inexpensive Geran-2 drones. Russia has used the Iranian-designed drones, which reportedly cost under $20,000/- a pop, to effortlessly knock out 40% of Ukraine’s power generation infrastructure, despite Western-supplied MANPADS and AWACS support. Even as Ukraine and its Western curators are struggling to put together an effective counter to the Geran 2 drone, Russia has escalated its use of inexpensive drones, this time all along the frontline where Russian forces have brought the…

Friday, 04 November 2022 06:11

WhatsApp Groups can now upgrade to Communities with larger membership. This is how the new feature works

WhatsApp today is officially launching Communities, the new feature offering larger, more structured discussion groups that first entered into testing earlier this year. Designed to help organizations, clubs, schools and other private groups better communicate and stay organized, Communities bring a number of new features to the messaging platform, including admin controls, support for sub-groups and announcement groups, 32-person voice and video calls, larger-file sharing, emoji reactions and polls. Communities themselves can support groups of up to 1,024 users and offer end-to-end encryption. Some of the features developed for Communities, like emoji reactions, large-file sharing (up to 2GB) and the…

Thursday, 27 October 2022 06:47

US-supplied AGM-88 HARM missiles are failing to breach Russian defenses in Ukraine

According to this Russian Telegram channel, Ukraine struck Russia’s Belgorod region with HARM missiles last night. It’s claimed all the missiles were brought down. Citizens have posted photographs of the wreckage with markings indicative of HARM. The AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles (ARM), which the US plugged into Ukraine as a game-changing weapon system, hasn’t been a stellar performer, going by the frequency with which RuMoD claims to be downing the missile. The missile’s use against civilian targets would corroborate that assessment. HARM was built for carriage by NATO aircraft. Ukraine modified its MiG-29 fighters with US help to carry and…

Wednesday, 26 October 2022 06:27

Iran’s Shahed-136 drone vs US’ Switchblade 300s drone: Which is more combat efficient?

Ukrainians say the drones buzz like flying mopeds or chainsaws. In recent days Russia has unleashed a deadly wave of drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, the capital. Most of the drones appear to have been the Iranian-made Shahed-136, a “kamikaze” model that detonates on impact. They have only recently made an appearance in Ukraine but quickly left their mark. Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, claims that Russia has ordered 2,400 Iranian drones. What impact might they have on the war? Kamikaze drones, also known as loitering munitions or “suicide” drones, have proliferated in recent years. Their effectiveness varies. Switchblade…

Tuesday, 25 October 2022 06:17

Germany’s defense system used in Ukraine clashes with Russian missiles

Germany announced earlier this month that it was rushing to deliver the first IRIS-T SLM system in the wake of a massive Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital. Over a week later, the first photographic evidence of the system is flooding the internet. The German government had received severe criticism for the slow transfer of advanced weaponry to Ukraine. While the US promised to expedite the delivery of NASAMS in the wake of Russia’s air raid, Berlin rushed to deliver the first unit of IRIS-T. The wreckage of an IRIS-T SLM missile was photographed on October 19, reportedly in or close…

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Monday, 24 October 2022 06:06

NATO just deployed its first killer ground robot

The Netherlands has deployed several armed and unmanned ground vehicles (UGV), making it the first NATO country to do so — setting an alarming precedent for the use of killer robots on the battlefield by the West. As Vice reports, the AI-powered robots dubbed the Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry Systems (THeMIS) were developed by Estonian defense company Milrem Robotics and were dispatched to Lithuania on September 12. Armed with tank treads, they can host a number of different weapons. Pictures published by the Dutch military show the tank-like machines outfitted with machine guns. "We have deployed four weaponized [unmanned] machines…

Saturday, 22 October 2022 06:06

Startup turns desert sand into fertile soil in just 7 hours

Norwegian startup Desert Control claims that it can fight desertification efficiently by spraying sand with Liquid NanoClay (LNC) and turning it into soil in a matter of hours. In the past, we’ve featured many ‘green heroes‘ who have been fighting desertification for decades, using all sorts of techniques, from draught-resistant shrubbery to tree barriers, but now a startup claims to obtain much better results in the same harsh conditions in just seven hours. Invented in the early 2000s by Norwegian scientist Kristian Olesen, Liquid NanoClay is the secret behind Desert Control’s amazing achievements. When sprayed onto sand, this amazing invention…

Friday, 21 October 2022 06:15

Russia upgrades Iranian Kamikaze drones to make them more accurate, deadly

Russia has allegedly upgraded the Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drone’s guiding system, enhancing its lethality and accuracy against Ukrainian targets, reported the Odesa Journal, citing a military expert. Iranian drone attacks are already wreaking havoc on Ukrainian cities. These attacks highlighted how Russia is aggressively using Iranian-made attack drones to support its military effort in Ukraine. Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military expert, disclosed that Russian drones produced in Iran had their inertial guidance systems replaced by GLONASS control units, Russia’s satellite navigation system. The Kamikaze Shahed-136 UAVs, according to Kovalenko, have been modified by Russian engineers. He underlined that Moscow has now…

Thursday, 20 October 2022 06:19

Microsoft's $22bn worth smart goggles failed in US Army tests - Report

In 2021, the U.S. Army awarded a $22 billion dollar contract to Microsoft to build HoloLens-like smart goggles for its soldiers. Over a year later, the smart goggles program has been plagued with delays as well as performance issues and failed four of six elements in a test conducted by the U.S. Army, Business Insider has reported. The U.S. Army first awarded Microsoft a $480 million contract in 2018 to create a prototype of the advanced smart goggles, dubbed Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS). Although the smart goggles look much like Microsoft's commercially available HoloLens Augmented Reality (AR) headsets, the…

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