Nasa to conduct Mars 'flying saucer' test on Earth

The author has posted comments on this articleAP | Jun 11, 2014, 05.26PM IST

The U.S. space agency,NASA, is getting ready to launch a "flying saucer'' into Earth's atmosphere to test technology that could be used to land on Mars. (AP photo)

Page 1 of 4

LOS ANGELES: The US space agency, Nasa, is getting ready to launch a "flying saucer'' into Earth's atmosphere to test technology that could be used to land on Mars.

For decades, Nasa has depended on the same parachute design to slow spacecraft after they enter the Martian atmosphere. But it needs a larger and stronger parachute if it wants to land heavier objects and astronauts.

On Wednesday, weather permitting, a balloon carrying the saucer-shaped vehicle is set to launch from Hawaii. Then the vehicle will ignite its rocket engine and climb to 34 miles (54 kilometers). It will inflate a tube to slow itself down from supersonic speeds and unfurl a parachute for a water landing.

The test has been postponed several times because of winds.

Article continues

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Human tongue has a sixth taste sense

The author has posted comments on this articleIANS | Jun 11, 2014, 05.18PM IST

Page 1 of 4

LONDON: In addition to recognizing sweet, sour, salty, savory (umami), and bitter tastes, your tongue has a sixth taste sense, the "sense of carbs", that allows you to perceive carbohydrates — the nutrients that break down into sugar and form the main source of energy.

The "sense of carbs" also triggers the pleasure centre of the brain and could explain why people often find diet foods unsatisfying, a research shows.

"The mouth is a more capable sensory organ than we currently appreciate, able to distinguish carbohydrates from artificial sweeteners when both taste identical," said Nicholas Gant from University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Carbohydrates are extremely powerful stimuli that have profound and immediate effects on the brain and the systems it controls, Gant added.

For the study, researchers asked participants to squeeze a sensor held between their right index finger and thumb when shown a visual cue.

At the same time, the participants' tongues were rinsed with one of three different fluids.

The first two were artificially sweetened — to identical tastes — but with only one containing carbohydrate. The third, a control, was neither sweet nor carb-loaded.

When the carbohydrate solution was used, the researchers observed a 30 percent increase in activity for the brain areas that control movement and vision. This reaction, they propose, is caused by our mouths reporting that additional energy in the form of carbohydrates is coming.

"This 'sixth taste sense' for carbohydrate is likely one of many additional food qualities that are detectable by receptors in the mouth," Gant was quoted as saying in media reports.

The study is set to appear in a forthcoming issue of the journal Appetite.

Article continues

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Now, a wristwatch to monitor glucose, pulse rate & hydration levels

The author has posted comments on this articleKounteya Sinha, TNN | Jun 12, 2014, 06.50AM IST

Page 1 of 4

LONDON: A new biometric wristwatch is being developed that can monitor your blood glucose, dehydration and pulse rate.

In a pair of papers published in The Optical Society, researchers from the Netherlands and Israel described two new wearable devices that use changing patterns of scattered light to monitor biometrics: one tracks glucose concentration and dehydration levels while the other monitors pulse.

Monitoring a patient's vital signs and other physiological parameters is a standard part of medical care but increasingly health and fitness-minded individuals are looking for ways to easily keep their own tabs on these measurements.

The glucose sensor is the first wearable device that can measure glucose concentration directly but noninvasively, the authors said.

And while other wearable devices have been made to monitor pulse, the authors claim their new design would be less sensitive to errors when the wearer is in motion.

The devices use the so-called speckle effect, the grainy interference patterns that are produced on images when laser light reflects from an uneven surface or scatters from an opaque material.

"The speckle pattern changes with changes in the flow," said biomedical engineer Mahsa Nemati from the Delft University of Technology.

In the first paper bioengineer Zeev Zalevsky of Israel's Bar-Ilan University described a new wearable biometric system that uses the speckle effect to directly monitor the glucose concentration in the bloodstream and the wearer's relative hydration level.

"Glucose is the holy grail of the world of biomedical diagnostics and dehydration is a very useful parameter in the field of wellness," Zalevsky said.

Article continues

22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nasa to conduct Mars 'flying saucer' test on Earth

The author has posted comments on this articleAP | Jun 11, 2014, 05.26PM IST

The U.S. space agency,NASA, is getting ready to launch a "flying saucer'' into Earth's atmosphere to test technology that could be used to land on Mars. (AP photo)

Page 1 of 4

LOS ANGELES: The US space agency, Nasa, is getting ready to launch a "flying saucer'' into Earth's atmosphere to test technology that could be used to land on Mars.

For decades, Nasa has depended on the same parachute design to slow spacecraft after they enter the Martian atmosphere. But it needs a larger and stronger parachute if it wants to land heavier objects and astronauts.

On Wednesday, weather permitting, a balloon carrying the saucer-shaped vehicle is set to launch from Hawaii. Then the vehicle will ignite its rocket engine and climb to 34 miles (54 kilometers). It will inflate a tube to slow itself down from supersonic speeds and unfurl a parachute for a water landing.

The test has been postponed several times because of winds.

Article continues

22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Human tongue has a sixth taste sense

The author has posted comments on this articleIANS | Jun 11, 2014, 05.18PM IST

Page 1 of 4

LONDON: In addition to recognizing sweet, sour, salty, savory (umami), and bitter tastes, your tongue has a sixth taste sense, the "sense of carbs", that allows you to perceive carbohydrates — the nutrients that break down into sugar and form the main source of energy.

The "sense of carbs" also triggers the pleasure centre of the brain and could explain why people often find diet foods unsatisfying, a research shows.

"The mouth is a more capable sensory organ than we currently appreciate, able to distinguish carbohydrates from artificial sweeteners when both taste identical," said Nicholas Gant from University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Carbohydrates are extremely powerful stimuli that have profound and immediate effects on the brain and the systems it controls, Gant added.

For the study, researchers asked participants to squeeze a sensor held between their right index finger and thumb when shown a visual cue.

At the same time, the participants' tongues were rinsed with one of three different fluids.

The first two were artificially sweetened — to identical tastes — but with only one containing carbohydrate. The third, a control, was neither sweet nor carb-loaded.

When the carbohydrate solution was used, the researchers observed a 30 percent increase in activity for the brain areas that control movement and vision. This reaction, they propose, is caused by our mouths reporting that additional energy in the form of carbohydrates is coming.

"This 'sixth taste sense' for carbohydrate is likely one of many additional food qualities that are detectable by receptors in the mouth," Gant was quoted as saying in media reports.

The study is set to appear in a forthcoming issue of the journal Appetite.

Article continues

22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Now, a wristwatch to monitor glucose, pulse rate & hydration levels

The author has posted comments on this articleKounteya Sinha, TNN | Jun 12, 2014, 06.50AM IST

Page 1 of 4

LONDON: A new biometric wristwatch is being developed that can monitor your blood glucose, dehydration and pulse rate.

In a pair of papers published in The Optical Society, researchers from the Netherlands and Israel described two new wearable devices that use changing patterns of scattered light to monitor biometrics: one tracks glucose concentration and dehydration levels while the other monitors pulse.

Monitoring a patient's vital signs and other physiological parameters is a standard part of medical care but increasingly health and fitness-minded individuals are looking for ways to easily keep their own tabs on these measurements.

The glucose sensor is the first wearable device that can measure glucose concentration directly but noninvasively, the authors said.

And while other wearable devices have been made to monitor pulse, the authors claim their new design would be less sensitive to errors when the wearer is in motion.

The devices use the so-called speckle effect, the grainy interference patterns that are produced on images when laser light reflects from an uneven surface or scatters from an opaque material.

"The speckle pattern changes with changes in the flow," said biomedical engineer Mahsa Nemati from the Delft University of Technology.

In the first paper bioengineer Zeev Zalevsky of Israel's Bar-Ilan University described a new wearable biometric system that uses the speckle effect to directly monitor the glucose concentration in the bloodstream and the wearer's relative hydration level.

"Glucose is the holy grail of the world of biomedical diagnostics and dehydration is a very useful parameter in the field of wellness," Zalevsky said.

Article continues

22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Now, a wristwatch to monitor glucose, pulse rate & hydration levels

The author has posted comments on this articleKounteya Sinha, TNN | Jun 12, 2014, 06.50AM IST

Page 1 of 4

LONDON: A new biometric wristwatch is being developed that can monitor your blood glucose, dehydration and pulse rate.

In a pair of papers published in The Optical Society, researchers from the Netherlands and Israel described two new wearable devices that use changing patterns of scattered light to monitor biometrics: one tracks glucose concentration and dehydration levels while the other monitors pulse.

Monitoring a patient's vital signs and other physiological parameters is a standard part of medical care but increasingly health and fitness-minded individuals are looking for ways to easily keep their own tabs on these measurements.

The glucose sensor is the first wearable device that can measure glucose concentration directly but noninvasively, the authors said.

And while other wearable devices have been made to monitor pulse, the authors claim their new design would be less sensitive to errors when the wearer is in motion.

The devices use the so-called speckle effect, the grainy interference patterns that are produced on images when laser light reflects from an uneven surface or scatters from an opaque material.

"The speckle pattern changes with changes in the flow," said biomedical engineer Mahsa Nemati from the Delft University of Technology.

In the first paper bioengineer Zeev Zalevsky of Israel's Bar-Ilan University described a new wearable biometric system that uses the speckle effect to directly monitor the glucose concentration in the bloodstream and the wearer's relative hydration level.

"Glucose is the holy grail of the world of biomedical diagnostics and dehydration is a very useful parameter in the field of wellness," Zalevsky said.

Article continues

22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Human tongue has a sixth taste sense

The author has posted comments on this articleIANS | Jun 11, 2014, 05.18PM IST

Page 1 of 4

LONDON: In addition to recognizing sweet, sour, salty, savory (umami), and bitter tastes, your tongue has a sixth taste sense, the "sense of carbs", that allows you to perceive carbohydrates — the nutrients that break down into sugar and form the main source of energy.

The "sense of carbs" also triggers the pleasure centre of the brain and could explain why people often find diet foods unsatisfying, a research shows.

"The mouth is a more capable sensory organ than we currently appreciate, able to distinguish carbohydrates from artificial sweeteners when both taste identical," said Nicholas Gant from University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Carbohydrates are extremely powerful stimuli that have profound and immediate effects on the brain and the systems it controls, Gant added.

For the study, researchers asked participants to squeeze a sensor held between their right index finger and thumb when shown a visual cue.

At the same time, the participants' tongues were rinsed with one of three different fluids.

The first two were artificially sweetened — to identical tastes — but with only one containing carbohydrate. The third, a control, was neither sweet nor carb-loaded.

When the carbohydrate solution was used, the researchers observed a 30 percent increase in activity for the brain areas that control movement and vision. This reaction, they propose, is caused by our mouths reporting that additional energy in the form of carbohydrates is coming.

"This 'sixth taste sense' for carbohydrate is likely one of many additional food qualities that are detectable by receptors in the mouth," Gant was quoted as saying in media reports.

The study is set to appear in a forthcoming issue of the journal Appetite.

Article continues

22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nasa to conduct Mars 'flying saucer' test on Earth

The author has posted comments on this articleAP | Jun 11, 2014, 05.26PM IST

The U.S. space agency,NASA, is getting ready to launch a "flying saucer'' into Earth's atmosphere to test technology that could be used to land on Mars. (AP photo)

Page 1 of 4

LOS ANGELES: The US space agency, Nasa, is getting ready to launch a "flying saucer'' into Earth's atmosphere to test technology that could be used to land on Mars.

For decades, Nasa has depended on the same parachute design to slow spacecraft after they enter the Martian atmosphere. But it needs a larger and stronger parachute if it wants to land heavier objects and astronauts.

On Wednesday, weather permitting, a balloon carrying the saucer-shaped vehicle is set to launch from Hawaii. Then the vehicle will ignite its rocket engine and climb to 34 miles (54 kilometers). It will inflate a tube to slow itself down from supersonic speeds and unfurl a parachute for a water landing.

The test has been postponed several times because of winds.

Article continues

22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More

Nasa to conduct Mars 'flying saucer' test on Earth

The author has posted comments on this articleAP | Jun 11, 2014, 05.26PM IST

The U.S. space agency,NASA, is getting ready to launch a "flying saucer'' into Earth's atmosphere to test technology that could be used to land on Mars. (AP photo)

Page 1 of 4

LOS ANGELES: The US space agency, Nasa, is getting ready to launch a "flying saucer'' into Earth's atmosphere to test technology that could be used to land on Mars.

For decades, Nasa has depended on the same parachute design to slow spacecraft after they enter the Martian atmosphere. But it needs a larger and stronger parachute if it wants to land heavier objects and astronauts.

On Wednesday, weather permitting, a balloon carrying the saucer-shaped vehicle is set to launch from Hawaii. Then the vehicle will ignite its rocket engine and climb to 34 miles (54 kilometers). It will inflate a tube to slow itself down from supersonic speeds and unfurl a parachute for a water landing.

The test has been postponed several times because of winds.

Article continues

22.10 | 0 komentar | Read More