#Google maps goes LIVE: Satellite firm reveals first breathtaking colour footage of Earth from high resolution cameras on the ISS The world's biggest reality show is about to go live.
Urthecast today revealed that it is ready to switch on a continuous, colour video feed of the planet from the ISS in high-definition.
Scroll down for video This is detailed enough to be able to see cars and even people moving around the planet
gyro-stabilised platform controlled by a computer on the ISS. The computers cancels out in real-time,
any vibrations caused by movements of the ISS, while keeping the camera pointed at different areas for about a minute at a time.
which boasts a 5-metre-per-pixel-resolution. Russian cosmonauts took a spacewalk in January outside the ISS to complete the camera work on the Earth-observing cameras.
Expedition 38 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight engineer Sergey Ryazanskiy of the Russian federal space agency installed the cameras on the hull of the station's Zvezda Service Module.
Urthecast says it will make the cameras commercially available in July to anyone who wants to use them, from governments and nonprofit organizations, to businesses and universities.
For example, a real-time view of Earth will give scientists a powerful tool to monitor climate change.
Premium accounts for enable users paying a fee to track an area without sharing it with others
and to monitor larger areas of interest as well as applying image processing techniques to reveal data. Urthecast said it plans to install two more cameras on the station
These cameras will double the resolution of the existing technology, from one metre per pixel on the ground to half a metre e
Some of the new bacteria are the smallest life forms yet to be discovered On earth just 400 nanometres across, about 250 times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Professor Jill Banfield, an environmental scientist at the University of California in Berkeley who led the work
Professor Banfield and her colleagues sequenced the genomes of organisms found in ground water at a site beside the Colorado river in Rifle Colorado.
Using filters to catch the bacteria they then used shotgun-sequencing on the DNA of the microbes they found
They then assembled the millions of DNA pieces into eight complete bacterial genomes from four new and one previously studied phyla.
They also produced draft genomes more than 90 per cent complete for a further 789 other bacteria.
Professor Banfield and her colleagues found the new bacteria they discovered appear to use a simple process of fermentation to make the energy they need.
the protein-based machinery that translate genetic information into proteins. They have placed them into an entirely new branch of the tree of life they have called the'candidate phyla radiation'due to their similarities to each other.
The work highlights the sheer diversity of life that is still to be discovered by scientists. These new phyla were found from just one site using samples of groundwater in Colorado
but many more could exist in soils, rivers, oceans and even deep underground around the world.
Christopher Brown, a microbiologist who was part of the team who took part in the study at the University of California Berkeley,
They have extremely small genomes and appear to be stripped down'forms of life with just enough genes needed to survive.
The team has named now 20 the new phyla they identified after award-winning microbiologists and one was called Berkelbacteria-after University of California Berkeley.
Mr Brown added:''I think what this is telling us is that a large part of bacteria and bacterial lifestyles are very different from
'There is a lot of biology that we haven't been able to understand from our current methods.'
#Ford unveils its all-terrain electric bike: Folding Mode: Flex has sat-nav, collision sensors and adapts to roads and mountains By Victoria Woollaston for Mailonline Published:
10:54 GMT, 24 june 2015 Updated: 10:54 GMT, 24 june 2015 Google and Blocks may be leading the way
when it comes to modular phones and watches, but Ford is hoping to bring the concept to your morning commute.
At a conference in California, the car maker unveiled its latest prototype folding electric bike called Mode:
Flex. It builds on the technology used in Ford's previous electric bikes but adds a twist-the battery,
motor and wheels can be swapped easily and replaced for different riders and varying terrains. Scroll down for video The Mode:
Flex joins the Mode: Me and Mode: Pro bikes unveiled at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona under Ford's Handle on Mobility scheme.
Its prototypes are powered each by 200-watt motors, fold to fit on a train or in the boot of a car,
and with pedal assist, help riders reach speeds of up to 15mph (25km/h). They are also part of the company's wider Smart mobility plan,
designed to make cars and other vehicles more connected. With all of its protoypes, Ford took inspiration from technology seen in cars including rear-facing ultrasonic sensors.
These sensors link with the handlebars to discreetly alert the rider when a car is about to overtake using subtle vibrations.
These handlebars also light up to make the bikes more visible to motorists. And each of the bikes works with an app called Mode:
Link, currently only compatible with the iphone 6. This app acts as a sat-nav
and sends vibrations to the handlebars so the rider knows when to change direction. Turn signals are triggered then automatically for safety.
The app also finds bike-friendly roads, hazards and alerts, and could'communicate'with other vehicles.
Its multimodal navigation and smart routing lets riders filter journeys based on cost, time, and the amount of cycling required, compared to driving.
This map additionally shows the weather, parking costs and charging stations. Ford said:''Mode: Flex is Ford's third, most versatile ebike yet-easily reconfigurable for different customer needs.
The bike's centre frame assembly includes the motor and battery, while the front and rear assemblies and wheels can be configured for road,
mountain or city riding''In many cities, driving your vehicle from home to work is explained not feasible
Ford.''Mode: Flex is Ford's third, most versatile ebike yet-easily reconfigurable for different customer needs.'
'The bike's centre frame assembly includes the motor and battery, while the front and rear assemblies and wheels can be configured for road, mountain or city riding.'
'It added the bike can also be charged while stowed in the back of a car.
As part of the announcement, Ford also said it is extending its Mode: Link app for use on the smartwatch to bring real-time data to the rider's wrist.
This includes a'no sweat'mode which increases electric pedal assist based on heart rate. The wearable also provides safety notifications.
Hazards, such as potholes ahead, are signalled through vibrating handlebars, plus the smartwatch alerts the rider and beeps.
There are no immediate plans to release the bikes but Ford said they will help test alternative transportation ideas. t
#Medical cannabis DOESN'T ease pain, nausea, vomiting, sleep disorders or Tourette's By Lizzie Parry for Mailonline Published:
14:27 GMT, 24 june 2015 Updated: 14:51 GMT, 24 june 2015 There is very little evidence to suggest cannabis can help ease the symptoms of a raft of illnesses,
scientists have said. Medicinal cannabis has been legalised in 23 US states as a therapy to treat disease
or alleviate symptoms, and a further seven states have legislation pending. But despite the drug's legal status in many parts of the world, the debate rages as to
whether it is effective. A new study, in which scientists assessed the findings of 79 randomised trials including around 6,
500 volunteers, found the evidence supporting the use of medical cannabis is weak. It found moderate-quality evidence to support the use of cannabinoids-chemical compounds that are the active principles in marijuana-for the treatment of chronic pain.
And weaker evidence still that the drug eased nausea and vomiting in chemotherapy patients, sleep disorders,
and Tourette syndrome. Dr Penny Whiting, from the University of Bristol, and her team evaluated the evidence for benefits and adverse events, related to medicinal cannabis use.
Researchers found most studies they examined suggested cannabinoid use was associated with an improvement in symptoms.
But these associations did not reach statistical significance in all the studies evaluated. Moderate-quality findings suggest that cannabinoids may be beneficial for the treatment of chronic neuropathic or cancer pain,
and muscle contractions due to multiple sclerosis. But researchers discovered weak evidence that medical marijuana was associated with improvements in nausea and vomiting due to chemotherapy
weight gain in HIV, sleep disorders and Tourette syndrome. And there was very-low quality evidence the drug eased anxiety.
In addition, Dr Whiting and her team found weak evidence to support the claim that medicinal cannabis has no effect on psychosis,
and very little evidence in defence of the idea it had no effect on depression.
Meanwhile, the drug was linked with several adverse effects. Notably, cannabinoids were found to cause dizziness, dry mouth, nausea, fatigue, euphoria, vomiting, disorientation, drowsiness, confusion, a loss of balance and hallucination.
The study authors said:''Further large, robust, randomised clinical trials are needed to confirm the effects of cannabinoids, particularly on weight gain in patients with HIV/AIDS, depression, sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, psychosis, glaucoma,
and Tourette syndrome are required.''Further studies evaluating cannabis itself are required also because there is very little evidence on the effects and adverse effects of cannabis.'
'In an editorial linked to the study, Dr Deepak Cyril and Dr Mohini Ranganathan, of Yale university, said:'
'Since medical marijuana is not a lifesaving intervention, it may be prudent to wait before widely adopting its use until high-quality evidence is available to guide the development of a rational approval process,
'they add.''Perhaps it is time to place the horse back in front of the cart. r
#The full colour'skin screen'you can wear as clothing: Radical technology could let you alter your outfit instantly By Mark Prigg For Dailymail. com Published:
19:58 GMT, 24 june 2015 Updated: 20:01 GMT, 24 june 2015 It could allow soldiers to change the color and pattern of their camouflage instantly,
and let indecisive dressers alter their clothing in a second. Researchers have unveiled the first fully flexible colour screen,
and say it if so flexible it can be worn. They say the technology is based on a chameleon.'
'All manmade displays-LCD, LED, CRT-are rigid, brittle and bulky. But you look at an octopus,
they can create color on the skin itself covering a complex body contour, and it's stretchable and flexible,
'said Professor Debashis Chanda of the University of Central Florida, who developed the technique for creating the world's first full-color,
flexible thin-film reflective display. Chanda's research was inspired by nature, he said. Traditional displays like those on a mobile phone require a light source, filters and a glass plates.
But animals like chameleons, octopuses and squids are born with thin flexible, colour-changing displays that don't need a light source-their skin.'
'That was the motivation: Can we take some inspiration from biology and create a skin-like display?'
'The team is able to change the colour on an ultrathin nanostructured surface by applying voltage.
The new method doesn't need its own light source. Rather, it reflects the ambient light around it.
A thin liquid crystal layer is sandwiched over a metallic nanostructure shaped like a microscopic egg carton that absorbs some light wavelengths
and reflects others. The colours reflected can be controlled by the voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer.
The interaction between liquid crystal molecules and plasmon waves on the nanostructured metallic surface played the key role in generating the polarization-independent
full-colour tunable display. The display is only about few microns thick, compared to a 100-micron-thick human hair.
Such an ultrathin display can be applied to flexible materials like plastics and synthetic fabrics. The research has major implications for existing electronics like televisions,
computers and mobile devices that have considered displays thin by today's standards but monstrously bulky in comparison.
But the potentially bigger impact could be whole new categories of displays that have never been thought of.'
'Your camouflage, your clothing, your fashion items-all of that could change, 'Chanda said.''Why would I need 50 shirts in my closet
if I could change the color and pattern?''Researchers used a simple and inexpensive nano-imprinting technique that can produce the reflective nanostructured surface over a large area.'
'This is a cheap way of making displays on a flexible substrate with full-color generation,
#The gas powered 3d printed supercar that can go from 0-60 in TWO seconds It can go from 0-60mph in just two seconds,
and weighs 90%less that traditional cars. According to San francisco firm Divergent Microfactories, the Blade is the first 3d printed supercar,
and is created using a series of chassis parts held together by carbon rods-rather like a giant Lego kit.
and altogether it weighs just 1400lbs-90%less than some modern cars. Scroll down for video'Society has made great strides in its awareness and adoption of cleaner and greener cars'
said Divergent Microfactories CEO Kevin Czinger.''The problem is that while these cars do now exist,
the actual manufacturing of them is anything but environmentally friendly, 'The firm says its approach incorporates 3d printing to dramatically reduce the pollution,
materials and capital costs associated with building automobiles and other large complex structures.''At Divergent Microfactories, we've found a way to make automobiles that holds the promise of radically reducing the resource use
and pollution generated by manufacturing.''It also holds the promise of making large-scale car manufacturing affordable for small teams of innovators.'
'The Blade is made using a proprietary solution called a Node: a 3d printed aluminum joint that connects pieces of carbon fiber tubing to make up the car's chassis. This solves the problem of time
and space by cutting down on the actual amount of 3d printing required to build the chassis
and can be assembled in just minutes. In addition to dramatically reducing materials and energy use, the weight of the Node-enabled chassis is up to 90%lighter than traditional cars,
despite being much stronger and more durable. This results in better fuel economy and less wear on roads,
it claims. Equipped with a 700-horsepower bi-fuel engine that can use either compressed natural gas or gasoline
and weighs around 1, 400 pounds. Divergent Microfactories plans to sell a limited number of high-performance vehicles that will be manufactured in its own microfactory.
The goal is to put the platform in the hands of small entrepreneurial teams around the world,
allowing them to set up their own microfactories and build their own cars and, eventually, other large complex structures.
while reducing the health and environmental impacts of traditional manufacturing u
#Darpa is working on designer organisms to make Mars the new Earth Modifying a planet's atmosphere to make it habitable for humans could soon be a possibility, according to the Pentagon Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
It would see a number of organisms introduced to the Martian environment, making regions on the surface suitable for humans.
Alicia Jackson, the deputy director of Darpa Biological Technologies Office In virginia, made comments alluding to the technology at a biotech conference on Monday. or the first time
but to stay, she was quoted as saying by Motherboard. This oolkitwill involve genetically engineering organisms of all types,
On earth, most synthetic biology projects use just two at the moment-e coli and yeast. want to use any organism that has properties
A newly developed software called DTA GVIEW dubbed the oogle Maps of genomes, will help scientists correlate information on organisms.
And the ultimate goal is to choose organisms with specific genes to create something with certain characteristics.
But Darpa technology would creative liveable environments outside in the open air on the Martian surface.
it could be used to repair an environment On earth after a manmade or natural disaster, although Darpa did not specify what these could be.
Oblivion software could help Google remove hundreds of people from the web in seconds By Victoria Woollaston for Mailonline Published:
15:10 GMT, 26 june 2015 In the year since the European Court of Justice ruled that anyone can ask Google to remove personal information about them,
the site has evaluated more than one million links. Each request has to be verified and processed by a dedicated team of people,
and New zealand have developed an algorithm capable of analysing hundreds of such requests in seconds. And they hope to offer it to Google,
and other search engines, to help them manage future demands. Called Oblivion the software allows a user to automatically find
and tag their personal information on the web, using both text-or natural language processing (NLP)- and image recognition.
They are taken then to a form where they can securely and privately file their request with the relevant URLS.
To confirm their identity, the user sends a digital copy of their ID to what the researchers described as a certificate authority (CA)- a separate body designed to securely handle the data.
This software confirms their name, age, address and nationality. Oblivion will then check the webpages the user wants to remove
and tag relevant references. Following the tagging process Oblivion sends the request and tagged pages to Google who confirms the details match with those in the article,
and if they do, the user is given an'ownership token'.'These tokens are linked then with the information on the request form
and both are submitted to Google's takedown team. The researchers, led by Milivoj Simeonovski from Saarland University in Germany,
have tested Oblivion on existing articles and found it to be capable of handling 278 removal requests per second.
This is on a standard notebook running a 2. 5 GHZ dual core processor, suggesting more powerful computers could process higher numbers.
The final takedown decision still needs to be made by a human because the variables, including the public interest defense,
needs to be handled on a case-by-case basis . But Oblivion would speed up this process and confirm the validity of the claims within seconds.'
'Search results typically comprise a variety of sources that contain personal information -either intentionally released by the person herself,
or unintentionally leaked or published by third parties without being noticed, often with detrimental effects on the individual's privacy,'explained the researchers in their paper Oblivion:
At the time of writing, Google has evaluated 1, 002,790 URLS submitted since 29 may 2014 and removed 41%of those it has processed fully (interactive module above).
these technical means consist of a web form that requires a user to manually identify all relevant links herself upfront
and to insert them into the web form, followed by a manual evaluation by employees of the indexing system to assess
if the request to remove those links is eligible and lawful.''In this work, we propose a universal framework Oblivion to support the automation of the right to be forgotten in a scalable, provable and privacy-preserving manner.'
'At the time of writing, Google has evaluated 1, 002,790 URLS submitted since 29 may 2014 and removed more than 41 per cent of those it has processed fully.
Last week France's data watchdog gave Google just two weeks to extend the'right to be forgotten'ruling to all of its domains.
The agency CNIL issued the order because Google only deletes the information from searches made through European domains, such as google. fr or google. es.
By switching to a non-European Google domain, such as Google. com, internet users can still access the deleted links relatively easily.
French citizens have made more requests than from any other European member state with 55,000 requests.
Google added that Facebook accounted for the largest number of deleted URLS. But not all requests are granted,
only those deemed by Google to be valid. Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, president of CNIL, said the order to remove search results globally'is only telling international companies that operate in Europe that they must conform to European law'.
'Google said that it is working to comply with the EU decision, but did not say
cooperating closely with data protection authorities, 'the company said in a statement.''The ruling focussed on services directed to European users,
and that's the approach we are taking in complying with it.''If Google does not meet the deadline,
it faces a relatively insignificant maximum fine of#150,000 (£110, 000). However, it will also be forced to put a banner on its homepage saying it had failed to follow French law.
if Google fails to meet the deadline, it would begin compiling a report about the company that would be used to decide
if the search engine should be sanctioned. h
#Scientists crack morphine gene in poppies amid homebrew drugs fears Scientists have identified a key gene used by poppies to make morphine.
since poppies are very efficient natural factories, researchers say.''Poppies are not going to be displaced overnight by any stretch of the imagination,
'said Ian Graham, a professor at the University of York, who worked on the latest gene discovery.
'he told Reuters. That could lead to agricultural production of drugs such as noscapine, a cough-suppressant that may also fight cancer,
as well as improved plant strains with higher yields of morphine. The University of York team worked on the project with scientists from Glaxosmithkline.
The drugmaker has long been a major supplier of opiates but agreed in March to sell its Australian-based business to India's Sun pharmaceutical Industries.
But understanding the genetics means it is now possible to engineer a microbe like yeast to do the job.
reported in the journal Science on Thursday, provides the missing piece in the biosynthesis puzzle.
Computer learns to create computer games by watching videos of Super Mario Brothers Researchers have created a system that can automatically design new levels of a computer game by simply watching other people play on Youtube or Twitch.
The computer software was able to create its own levels for Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers after analysing Youtube footage of the game.
The Georgia Institute of technology system focuses on the gaming terrain (not the playable character) and the positioning between elements on-screen be it pipes
lead researcher and Ph d. student in Computer science at Georgia Tech. Key to the process is watching the players in action to see where they actually spend most of their time in the game.
After recording on-screen locations of sprites, Georgia Tech's algorithms determine what are high-interaction areas those spots where players spend more time to collect bonus items or master a challenge.
'says Mark Riedl, associate professor of Interactive Computing.''One could say that the system'studies'the design of Mario levels until it is able to create new playable areas.'
But now there a noninvasive wristband that deploys a buoyant balloon on demand to save wearers from drowning.
A team in Gridley California, is raising money on Indiegogo to put the safety device into production
It can be inflated in less than one second by pulling a metal lever and triggering the CO2 cylinder to fill the balloon,
which can pull a wearer towards the water surface. The wristband is said to be suitable for activities including swimming,
sailing and fishing, allowing for more freedom of movement than a life jacket, which can be up to 78 times larger.
and whistle attached to attract attention to the user. The company founder, Tom Agapiades came up with the idea after his friend drowned. fter
and they respond to touch without burning the user's skin. Scroll down for video Researchers from the University of Tokyo used femtosecond lasers to create 3d holograms that are safe to touch
and respond in real time. A femtosecond is a quadrillionth of a second and these pulses ionise the air to create plasma
which can be touched (pictured) The breakthrough was made by Japanese researchers from the University of Tokyo, University of Tsukuba, Utsunomiya University Nagoya Institute of technology.
Holography uses lasers to record the brightness, contrast and dimensions of an image and project this image, typically in 3d,
When pixels are beamed and visible in 3d space they're known as voxels and are created when the energy from the laser ionises the air and releases extra energy in the form of photons
which glow purple and blue. Researchers and companies have used this technology to create plasma displays in the past
but these involved lasers that pulse with bursts that last for nanoseconds, for example. Although this is a relatively short period of time,
To solve this problem the Japanese researchers created plasma voxels using femtosecond lasers instead. A femtosecond is a quadrillionth of a second
and record a user's interactions, allowing the voxels to be touched.''In reality, when a person touches the voxels the finger generates a shockwave,
which the user feels as an pulse. And because of the high-speed nature of the femtoseconds, the voxels are able to respond in real-time to these touches.
and a broken heart'A high-intensity laser excites a physical matter to emit light at an arbitrary 3d position.'
since plasma induced by a femtosecond laser is safer than that generated by a nanosecond laser.'
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