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Could 5.7 Million Years Old Footprints Challenge The Theory Of Human Evolution?

September 8, 2017 By Grant Hamersma Leave a Comment

ancient footprints

ancient footprints

These footprints come to show that early humans started walking on two feet 5.2 million years ago.


A set of ancient footprints in Greece are causing some scientists to question the current form of the theory of human evolution.

The prints were discovered in Trachilos, on the Greek island of Crete, by Gerard Gierlinski, the lead author of a paper describing them. Apparently made on the island’s sandy beaches, they are 5.7 million years old and apparently human, despite the fact at this point our ancestors are believed to have been confined to Africa, and to have had more apelike feet.

These Prints Are 2 Million Years Older Than Scientists Believed

Before now, the earliest signs of human-shaped feet that we had were the Laetoli footprints, made in volcanic ash about 3.7 million years ago and found in Tanzania.

Meanwhile, the fossils we have of Ardipithecus ramidus, in Ethiopia, are 4.4 million years old and have apelike footprints. This would seem to imply that the human foot evolved sometime between these points, and wholly on the continent of Africa.

The Footprints Provide Important Clues Regarding Modern Human Evolution

Until now, the theory of human evolution said that Ardipithecus ramidus was our ancestor. But these new prints, at 5.7 million years old, imply that more anatomically modern humans already existed a million years before those fossils, making Ardipithecus ramidus more like a cousin.

Geographically they greatly confuse things: these new prints are only slightly younger than the oldest known hominid fossils, and date millions of years before humans were thought to have left Africa.

There are several differences between the apelike foot of the older hominids and modern humans. Like modern great apes, these feet resemble human hands, with a hallux (big toe) that sticks out to the side like a thumb, as opposed to the human hallux, positioned like the other toes but larger.
The Crete prints also have a ball on the sole that no apelike foot has, and overall resemble the humanlike Laetoli prints.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Nexus 6P Has Received Android 7.1.2 Beta

February 25, 2017 By Adam Lynch Leave a Comment

white Nexus 6P phone
white Nexus 6P phone

Nexus 6P owners are receiving the Android 7.1.2 beta.

Before the release of Google’s own Pixel phones, the Nexus series was the company’s main focus when it came to operating system updates. Nonetheless, Google has not completely overlooked the Nexus series, as it continues to receive some of the latest software updates.

After the Nexus 5X received the Android Nougat 7.1.2 developer preview, Nexus 6P owners were started to ask when they would see the new beta version of Android. Now, their question has been answered as Google has started to distribute the 1.3GB-sized update over-the-air to all Nexus 6P owners who are part of the Android Beta program.

The Android 7.1.2 anticipation was caused by the fact that Google announced that it will bring the Pixel fingerprint gestures to both the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P in the upcoming update. However, it’s somewhat strange that users who have already updated their OS, are not able to use the new feature, which is available on the Nexus 5S.

At this moment, it is unclear what the cause of this discrepancy is, as both devices use the same fingerprint sensor. However, it is very likely that the fingerprint gestures feature will make its debut directly on the public version of Android Nougat 7.1.2.

The update is currently rolling out worldwide to all Nexus 6P owners which are participating in the Android Beta Program. As such, they should receive the NPG05F built anytime soon, if they don’t already have it. Google has started to roll out the developer preview three weeks ago, but Nexus 6P, which was developed in partnership with Huawei, still includes the January Security Update.

Furthermore, the update also does not include fixes for bugs that were previously identified. Some of the frustrating bugs identified by early adopters of the update is the inability to configure the Wi-Fi settings, a bug which persists even in the update for the Nexus 6P.

As the public release of Android Nougat 7.1.2 is coming closer, eager Nexus 6P owners should find out more information about the availability of fingerprint gestures, which will surely prove more useful on larger devices like the Nexus 6P rather than the Nexus 5X, on which it is already available.

Image source: Flickr

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Leonard Cohen Died At 82, The Family Requests Time to Mourn

November 11, 2016 By Jeremy Kennedy Leave a Comment

Leonard Cohen died at age 82
Leonard Cohen dies at age 82

As Leonard Cohen died at age 82, the world is weeping the man with the voice of an angel.

Leonard Cohen died on November 7th. The family requested fans to allow them to mourn the artist in private. The songwriter, musician, poet was known for his profound lyrics exploring themes of death, love, and faith, his songs being covered by numerous artists.

Leonard Cohen was born on September 21st 1934. He began his career by writing novels and poems. He first climbed on stage in the 1960s when he won the fans’ hearts with his profound voice and handsome looks. Cohen was one of the last gentlemen of music, always wearing a suit and a hat while performing, his deep voice and the nix eroticism of his lyrics making him a vision of artistic lust.

A member of the Beat generation, Cohen explored themes like faith, death, and love. One of his most famous compositions, Hallelujah, has created a frenzy among fans as it manages to speak about both unrequited love and faith, all the while offering a cathartic ending. Numerous artists have tried to cover the song, none managing to capture its essence quite like the deep voiced beat poet turned singer.

Even though Cohen’s songs never reached Top 40, artists like Nina Simone, Johnny Cash, and even REM tried to cover his compositions. The modern troubadour’s name was added to the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2008, demonstrating that his work touched the hearts of many.

The visionary artist once declared that he is in love with the guitar. According to him, not only are his songs written with the sound of a guitar in mind, but also his novels.

However, his incommensurable talent did not rely just on pure instinct, but also on hard work. The bard worked for over five years on Hallelujah, the song that is considered his masterpiece.

Critics have had a hard time deciphering the appeal of the artist. At first glance, his tunes are simple, a rogue chord inserted here and there. Of course, his cavernous voice helps by raising the sexual tension of the deep lyrics.

A memorial service will be held for the Canadian artist. The family did not communicate a time and date yet as they still need time to cope with his departure.

Image source: Wikipedia 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Google DeepMind Wants To Find Cancer Treatment

September 1, 2016 By Grant Hamersma Leave a Comment

Google DeepMind wants to help the process called segmentation
Google DeepMind wants to help the process called segmentation

Google DeepMind subsidiary recently reported working with the University College London Hospitals

Google DeepMind subsidiary recently reported working with the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) to decrease the time it takes to treat a neck or head cancer using machine learning engineering.

Moreover, it announced a partnership with the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, with the promise that its machine-learning technologies would help hurry up diagnoses of eye conditions.

The research scheme involves anonymised scans from over 700 head and neck cancer patients at UCHL. The machine learning technique will make radiotherapy procedure more efficient. More than 11,000 patients in the UK are affected by neck and head cancer each year.

The company declared in a blog post that they are trying to find out if machine learning approaches could lessen the time it needs to prepare radiotherapy for such cancers.

The process called segmentation takes clinicians about four hours to distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissues by scanning the cancer patients.

Before the cancer healing can begin, doctors recognize the areas that need to be defended from the radiation and the cancerous zones. It’s a very dangerous process that decides which areas are to receive the highest radiation and which healthy structures are to be preserved, thereby lessening the potential side-effects.

With the use of the artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, the clinicians will be assisted in the segmentation method to perform it quickly.

Yen-Ching Chang, who heads radiotherapy at UCLH is excited to find this revolutionary process that could change the way in which radiation treatment is planned.

To automatically differentiate between healthy and cancerous tissue on radiotherapy scans with the use of machine learning technology will support clinicians in preparing radiation treatment. It will help doctors spend more time on research, education and patient care all of which would be to the advantage of the populations and patients.

DeepMind co-founder, Mustafa Suleyman, mentioned that he is excited to work with the radiotherapy team at UCLH and that real-world purpose of artificial intelligence engineering is the main reason they set up DeepMind. They want to see how AI can serve to diminish the time it takes to prepare radiotherapy treatment for neck and head cancer patients.

Image source:Pixabay

Filed Under: Science, Uncategorized

Unexpected Treatment for Asthma in the Amish Lifestyle

August 4, 2016 By Jeremy Kennedy Leave a Comment

Amish lifestyle
Amish lifestyle

the Amish lifestyle brings unexpected remedies in treating asthma

Surely it cannot be comfortable living like in the 19th century with all the technology provided by the midst of the 21st century but, according to recent studies, the Amish lifestyle brings unexpected remedies in treating asthma. They mostly live on dairy farms and use horses for transportation and fieldwork.

In recent years, one of 12 kids in the United States is diagnosed with asthma and even more have allergies. Asthma is a chronic disease that makes breathing problematic. Its cause is still unknown, but the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute believes that an important role is played by environmental exposure and genetics. Until now, no cure for this chronic disease has been discovered.

Studies showed that the secret to preventing asthma in children are the microbes from farm animals carried inside homes by dust. Stimulating children’s immune system by exposing them in their first years of life to bacteria will help to protect them from asthma.

The studies compared children that lived and grew up on farms with kids that lived in other environments and the result proved that the simple farm life helps prevent asthma. But the results were still not clear due to other major differences between the children who had more asthma and those who had less.

Another study has been conducted on Amish and Hutterites which have a similar genetic background, both groups having large families and living on dairy farms. Also, they both forbid indoor pets and have little exposure to tobacco smoke or pollution.

The only significant difference was that Hutterites live on large, industrialized communal farms and use modern farm machines which limit their exposure to animals. Although they have such similar ways of living, the rates of asthma in the Hutterites is 21.1 percent, while for the Amish, the rate is just under five percent.

Researchers discovered that the difference came from the type of dust that was inside their homes which for the Amish was richer in microbial products. The Amish barns being much closer to their homes suggests an early exposure to microbes that decreases the risk of allergies and asthma.

Besides, the blood test done on the children that participated in the studies showed that the Amish children had fewer blood cells that encourage allergic inflammation.

Image source: Wikipedia

Filed Under: Health, Uncategorized

NASA Invites You to Fancy Landing on Pluto with Anniversary Video

July 17, 2016 By Grant Hamersma Leave a Comment

Planet Pluto’s surface

Planet Pluto’s surfaceOn July 14, 2015, NASA’s New Horizon spacecraft performed humanity’s first-ever flyby of Pluto, whizzing past the dwarf planet from 7,800 mile distance. One year later, NASA used more than 100 images collected during the historic event to crop an anniversary video that shows how a landing on the cold world’s surface would be like.

New Horizons spent around 6 weeks approaching the icy planet and gathering science data before it performed the flyby and headed to another target deep within the Kuiper Belt. NASA said that the craft is now 300 million miles farther from Pluto

The space agency explained that when it finally reached Pluto after a 9-year-long trip, New Horizons moved at speeds that could take you from L.A. to New York in less than five minutes. But despite the breathtaking speed, its instruments were able to collect troves of data on the icy planet and its moons.

This year, NASA used the data to produce a short clip showing a close-up view of Pluto and the Solar System’s outer reaches. Agency’s investigators said they used more than 100 photos to compile the short video.

In the video, the craft gets closer to Pluto, takes a look at its largest moon, Charon, and “lands” on the Sputnik Planum.

Alan Stern, mission’s principal investigator and researcher at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, noted that last year, the dwarf planet was just another “dot in the distance.” Stern described the video as an attempt to create the sensation of being abroad on a spacecraft that approaches and lands on Pluto.

New Horizons hasn’t beamed back to Earth all the science data gathered during the flyby as downlink speeds tend to drop as the distance gets longer. The probe has 20 percent left of the data to send. The process is expected to complete at some point in October.

Jim Green head of NASA’s Planetary Science department acknowledged that New Horizons data has taken scientists aback.

‘Who knew that Pluto would have a heart?’

said Green.

However, a heart-shaped surface feature was not the only surprise. Scientists were shocked to learn that Pluto was not the dead, cold world they had imagined. Instead it is geologically active, and far more complex than originally thought.

Image Source: Wikimedia

Filed Under: Science, Uncategorized Tagged With: Charon, NASA, new horizons, Pluto

Japanese Spacecraft Hitomi’s Swan Song: Tranquil Image of Universe

July 7, 2016 By Barbara Mast Leave a Comment

Nursery clouds within galaxy M83

Nursery clouds within galaxy M83Just one month after its launch the Japanese satellite Hitomi suddenly went silent. But before its death it caught a rare glimpse of a tranquil cloud of gas in a galaxy cluster from Perseus constellation.

Hitomi’s mission goal was to scour the Universe for supernovae and black holes from a 360 mile distance above Earth. It was launched in February but after a month, the orbiter’s X-ray telescope lost its functionality. Mission scientists believe that it somehow broke apart.

Still, before permanently shutting down, Hitomi was able to capture a rare instance of the Universe. The image revealed that gases in Perseus galaxies as not as restless as scientists had thought.

Scientists calculated that the hot gas in the galaxy cluster is swirling at just 366,858 mph which is a lot slower than what they had estimated. The finding could help researchers better understand how galaxies form in these dense clusters.

It could also unveil the role of the supermassive black hole at the core of the galaxy cluster in galaxy formation. Researchers believe that the tranquil intergalactic gas in the said cluster of galaxies may stem from the supermassive black hole not the galaxies themselves.

If the theory is correct, it means that black holes play a critical part in how galaxies grow. Hitomi’s imagery spans over three days of observations, or at least this is how much mission scientists were able to retrieve from the now-defunct spacecraft.

Andrew Fabian, one of the scientists who took a glimpse at the raw data, said that the intergalactic gas’ composition is very similar to the Sun’s only that it is far more “diluted.” Fabian added that there are traces of helium, hydrogen, iron and other elements which due to strong ionization have a strong emission.

The researcher explained that most cosmic gas can be found between galaxies not within them across the Universe. Perseus galaxies reportedly swirl at 2.7 million mph. At the center of the cluster lies a huge black hole which spews powerful jets of matter towards the gas cloud.

According to a past theory, supermassive black holes’ radiation and resulting matter were expected to churn the intergalactic gas to produce bubbles of superheated plasma, which kept the gas cool and prevented it from forming new stars.

By contrast, Hitomi’s data shows that at least in Perseus galaxies’ case this theory does not apply.
Image Source: YouTube

Filed Under: Science, Uncategorized Tagged With: galaxy formation, Hitomi, intergalactic gas clouds, Japan, Perseus constellation, star formation, supermassive black holes

Feathers, Scales and Hairs Share the Same Anatomical Origin

June 25, 2016 By David Kellen Leave a Comment

snake scales

snake scales

Is it possible for feathers, scales and hairs to have anything in common? According to a new paper featured this week in the journal Science Advances, it is. Experts believe that all of these skin appendages could share a common ancestor.

Researchers noted that the mechanism responsible for the embryonic development of a bird’s feathers, a reptile’s scales, and a mammal’s hairs are strikingly similar.

“This doesn’t imply at all that feathers evolved from hair or that scales evolved from hair or that hair evolved from scales, et cetera,” said Richard Prum, a Yale University ornithologist who did not participate in this study.

He went on to explain that these three different developmental structures are “homologous as appendages,” which means they are similar in the way they created the place where something grows out of the skin.

According to Dr. Prum’s research, published previously in 2017, this mechanism is what is shared, the one signaling an organism to prepare certain spots for skin appendages.

Hairs, feathers, and scales – and even a tooth, to a certain degree – grow out of a placode, an anatomical structure that prepares the spot by thickening the top layer of the skin.

Spotting the similarities in placodes between feather and hair development was fairly easy, but experts had a lot of trouble identifying them in scaly reptiles.

This apparent lack of placodes in reptilians led scientists to believe they have lost the feature over time, even if they did have it at some point in their evolution.

The Yale University team, however, managed to find the anatomical placodes in reptile embryos, proving successful where previous research pieces had failed.

In mammals, the placodes appear at the same time over the entire skin; so if researchers took a good look during the embryonic stage, these structures were easily identified. The same does not apply to reptiles, however.

Because the placodes develop at different time intervals on various parts of the reptile’s body, it’s fairly difficult to spot them. It also doesn’t help that they maintain this identifiable state for a very short time – you blink and you might miss it!
Image Source: Good WP

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Anatomical Origin, bird's feathers, evolution of reptiles, mammal's hairs, placode, placodes, scales

Huawei’s MateBook, Another Reason to Be in Awe of This Year’s MWC

February 21, 2016 By Lonnie Davidson Leave a Comment

huaweilogo

With news about the Samsung Auto Connect being showcased at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress in a few days, we’ve all been left tapping our toes in anticipation of the upcoming event. Now Huawei’s MateBook gives us another reason to be in awe of this year’s MWC.

Huawei is a Chinese company that has managed to position itself as a strong brand in the world of telecommunications.  It has reached worldwide success with their smartphone devices and now they are making a bold move in the tablet market.

The tech giant has just unveiled its first 2 in 1 tablet called the MateBook at this year’s Mobile World Congress and from the looks of things, it’s going to be a powerful competitor for Apple, Samsung and Lenovo’s similar products.

It is meant to combine a smartphone’s mobility with a laptop’s productivity, while offering a simple and innovative user experience. Even though it has very few embellishments, it features a high-quality aluminium, which makes it look classy and business-like.

Although it appears incredibly slim, the developers assure us that its body is strong enough to withstand any kind of challenges that may arrive with a high-paced lifestyle.

The 12-inch MateBook tablet has a detachable keyboard and it features Microsoft’s Windows 10. It also has a 5MP front camera, it can store up to 512 gigabytes of data and also integrates a fingerprint sensor.

On top of that, it incorporates Microsoft’s latest browser – Microsoft Edge -, as well as the Cortana digital personal assistant.

You can find it in two colors, so if you are looking for champagne white or dark silver, it is completely up to you. The screen-to-body ratio is 84%, which means it is smaller than the average convertible laptop, but with a reasonable display size, nonetheless.

According to Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, this device shows the company’s industry-leading design and vast expertise in terms of manufacturing. Their product is meant to redefine the business segment, by bringing connected computing throughout all devices.

Prices for the MateBook are set to start at $699 and can go up to $799.

Neil Mawston, who is executive director at Strategy Analytics, explains that Huawei has experienced a steady growth in its main consumer segment, so now they have decided to advance their business towards the proconsumer and corporate market.

Image Source: Klgadgetguy

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: huawei matebook, huawei tablet, MWC 2016

Newly Born Star Shines Upon a Reflection Nebula

February 11, 2016 By Joseph Decker Leave a Comment

Young star lights up reflection nebula IC 2631

 A newly born star shines upon a reflection nebula in a stunning cosmic show noticed from ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile. The star’s name is HD 97300 and is around 500 light years away from Earth, in the constellation of Chamaeleon Complex.

Researchers at the European Space Observatory have just released this footage, taken with the help of an MPG/ESO 2.2 metre telescope. The spectacular part about the image is that it shows the cosmic object reflecting in the dust particles around it, thus creating the so-called reflection nebula, known as IC 2631.

The dark nebulae in the picture also reveals the fact that the new star is not alone in the region, however since the cloud is so cluttered with gas and dust, it does not seem to allow any background stars to shine.

Even though HD 97300 seems to present a powerful light, scientists say that this is only a fleeting moment. It is also known as a T Tauri star, which means that it has reached the youngest visible phase for a star of relatively small dimensions.

According to researchers, this happens because they did not yet begin to fuse hydrogen into helium inside their bodies. However, when these objects arrive at adulthood, they are said to lose proportions, thus making them less visible.

The region that surrounds the bright young star is apparently filled with material which is bound to create many more stars in the future. A reflection nebula represents a cloud of interstellar dust, which has the capacity to reflect the light of the stars located in its proximity. If it weren’t for the external source, the nebula could not shine on its own.

The energy radiated from the adjacent stars is not powerful enough to create an emission nebula, thus enabling it to emit light on its own. If the temperature of the nearby stars was higher, then they would be capable of ionizing the gas hosting them and support the formation of an emission nebula.

Reflection nebulae are typically blue, because the material surrounding them works better for blue light rather than red. This scattering process is the same one that creates blue skies and red sunsets.

So far, scientists were able to identify around 500 reflection nebulae, the most famous ones being those bordering the stars of the Pleiades. A spectacular sight is also the red reflection nebula surrounding the giant star Antares.

Image Source: Eso.org

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Chamaeleon Complex, ESO, HD 97300, IC 2631, La Silla Observatory, new born star, reflection nebula

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