Review: Logitech MX Anywhere 2 does multi-device mousing right

 

Gizmag reviews Logitech's latest mobile mouse, the MX Anywhere 2 (Credit: Stanley Goodner/Gizmag.com) Despite the rise of touchscreens, for many people the humble mouse remains the primary computing input device, requiring the right amount of comfort and precision for the user. Just as with tools in the garage or utensils in the kitchen, quality makes a big difference on overall experience. We give the Logitech MX Anywhere 2 mouse a spin, click, and scroll to see how it handles.   Design & Connectivity The Logitech MX Anywhere 2 mouse boasts svelte curves and a black satin finish. A touch of chrome on the scroll wheel adds a bright focal point, while the textured sides provide equal measures of visual appeal and function. Four smooth "feet" on the bottom of the MX Anywhere 2 let the mouse practically glide over flat surfaces. A micro USB charge port is located at the front, and controls for power, Bluetooth, and device-switching are found on the belly. Those accustomed to having a mouse’s scroll wheel function as a button may feel a little disappointed as the MX Anywhere 2's scroll wheel only toggles between free-scrolling and tactile-feedback scroll modes when pressed down until it clicks. Nudging it left or right also allows you to horizontally scroll documents or web pages. However, behind the scroll wheel is a button that can be programmed (with Logitech Options software) for any desired command. By default, this button is set to "gesture", which permits the mouse to pan around on a page instead of moving the cursor. If it weren’t for the pair of thumb buttons on the left-hand side, the Logitech MX Anywhere 2 could be used with either hand as the overall shape is almost a mirror image through the center. It would be a bit awkward not having use of the side buttons, but at least they aren’t in the way. So, if you’re a leftie and are forced to use this mouse, you won't find it too uncomfortable. Pairing with the MX Anywhere 2 is quick, either by itself via Bluetooth or with the included unifying 2.4 GHz Unifying Pico receiver. No separate drivers are needed and the software for customizing button layouts is optional. With the Easy-Switch button on the bottom, the MX Anywhere 2 can pair with and toggle between up to three separate devices. When the button is pressed and set to the next profile, the MX Anywhere 2 instantly seeks to pair with the relevant device. Although pairing with the Pico receiver uses up one of the Easy-Switch profiles, the pint-sized USB receiver itself can handle up to six Logitech devices. Using the receiver is the easy way of moving multiple devices between Windows and Mac computers. It's small and ideal to keep plugged into a free USB port. Unlike some other Logitech input devices, the MX Anywhere 2 does not provide a compartment to store the receiver within the mouse itself. The MX Anywhere 2 mouse is smart enough to put itself to sleep during periods of inactivity, taking only a second to wake up after being nudged. When cycling through the connected devices, you can expect the mouse to work within an instant after each switch. Add another second of wait-time after turning the MX Anywhere 2 on, but all in all this mouse is practically ready when you need it to be. A small LED below the scroll wheel pulses red when the Logitech MX Anywhere 2 is getting low on power and needs a recharge. It doesn’t take long to fill back up, and you can charge and use the mouse at the same time.   Comfort Logitech has mastered mouse comfort with the MX Anywhere 2, which is a darn close fit to the average hand’s neutral, slightly-cupped position despite being a mobile mouse. And since the mouse is so light, the wrist doesn’t have to leverage much force to move it. The way the rear end of the MX Anywhere 2 curves down makes for a perfect palm fit. Mice with big booty, such as the Logitech M557, tend to elevate the hand. And that eventually leads to fatigue and sore wrists. The MX Anywhere 2 keeps wrists flat, raised just enough to cover the mouse with fingers and thumb resting comfortably. The streamlined shape is equally good for claw- or palm-grip (or combination thereof) styles of mouse-holding. The MX Anywhere 2 certainly nails down size versus comfort for a mobile mouse. While there are slimmer, lighter mice out there, many of them come in an odd shape by sacrificing form for portability. Despite not being (primarily) meant as desktop gaming mouse, the MX Anywhere 2 does an admirable job for FPS (first person shooter) and RTS (real time strategy) games. Sure, it doesn’t have the array of buttons to customize for macros and control, but fluid movement and precision are spot-on. Performance Right out of the box, the MX Anywhere 2’s speed and accuracy are fantastic. Those who prefer to tweak the movement can do so by downloading and installing the Logitech Options software. The right and left click buttons deliver that wonderfully firm "mouse click" sound. Although good and clean, some people may consider it noisy if they’ve been accustomed to silent mice. The forward/back thumb buttons are practically mute, like a dull click you feel more than hear. The big question many may be wondering about is the "phantom clicks" that the original MX Anywhere mouse tended to suffer. So far, the MX Anywhere 2 has always clicked as intended, never missing or doubling-up unintentionally. No fixes are necessary here, so it appears Logitech has listened to user feedback and addressed the issue. Although requiring the occasional wipe-down to clear dirt and debris, the smooth pads provide mostly-silent mousing on surfaces. Since the MX Anywhere 2 is so light, controlling it feels very airy, responding to gentle movements. Initially, the scroll wheel feels a little loose with the side-to-side motion. "Different" is likely the most diplomatic adjective to describe it. But despite the bit of play in the wheel, it doesn’t take long to acclimate. And it is neither disruptive nor a nuisance for long-term use. The side tilting function of the scroll wheel delivers a faint click with each small nudge, and rarely (if ever) does the wheel scroll when it tilts.   With frictionless roll enabled, a single flick of the finger sends the wheel spinning, scrolling page over page for almost 10 seconds. That’s a lot of document that can be covered, ideal for Twitter feeds or Kickstarter project listings. In this mode the wheel is very sensitive, so even a light brush against it with your finger will unintentionally nudge the screen. But the wheel does stop on a dime, preventing any residual scrolling after the finger lifts up off it. Pressing the wheel down in order to switch between tactile-feedback and frictionless rolling does nudge the screen just a tad. There’s no way to not have lines move when doing this, unfortunately. As for noise, the smooth roll of the wheel makes only the subtle sound of whirring bearings. The MX Anywhere 2’s thin clicks of ridged-scrolling are a touch noisier than some other Logitech mice, such as the M557. It sounds like a finger lightly running along the teeth of a straight comb, which may only bother those who prefer ninja-silent mice. The button below the scroll wheel isn’t something you’d want set to a common function. It needs either a serious finger curl to poke or the moving of the index finger over in order to press down. The latter feels easier to perform, but it’s far more awkward. Considering the compact form versus the average-sized hand, this button may have been more successful located on the top side of the scroll wheel. Courtesy of the device's Darkfield Laser sensor, tracking is smooth and precise, not unlike using a fine-tipped pen on a device’s screen. Countertops, wood tables, glossy magazines, glass desks, metal, couch cushions, clothing, and even bare skin make perfectly acceptable surfaces with which to use the Logitech MX Anywhere 2. Mousing also works on textured materials, such as thick-painted walls or carpeting. Keep in mind that uneven surfaces will throw off the mouse's accuracy and tracking. As long as the surface is smooth, the material doesn't really matter that much. Battery Life The battery life of the MX Anywhere 2 mouse is pretty good. While it doesn’t quite have the longevity of the Logitech Keys-to-Go keyboard (which users can easily forget needs charging due to the months upon months of uptime), it does well for itself. Light-to-moderate use will require charging about every eight weeks. Heavy users may need to charge monthly. The mouse takes only a few minutes of being plugged in to work for half an hour, and one can always charge and use the MX Anywhere 2 simultaneously. Although the MX Anywhere 2 has a built-in battery, it's removable for safe recycling purposes. It could be possible to replace an old battery with a new one, but Logitech would have to provide replacements along with instructions. Some may balk at this mouse not having replaceable AA batteries like its predecessor, but if you do the math it’s not that big a deal. The box states the MX Anywhere 2 mouse needs a full charge once every two months. But for the sake of argument, let’s assume we’re all power-users that charge monthly instead, so would go through 12 power cycles a year. Most rechargeable batteries claim a lifespan good for 500 cycles. But, again, for the sake of argument, let’s assume 250 cycles for peak performance. That crunches to 20 years and 10 months. Even half that number is an incredible amount of time to keep a mouse based on battery life, considering the likelihood of such gadgets being lost, broken, succumbing to natural methods of failure, or simply shelved because of a newer, shinier product release.   Logitech Options Software Although optional, the Logitech Options software provides an easy means of reassigning the thumb buttons, scroll wheel tilt, and the gesture button, as well as adjusting the MX Anywhere 2 mouse pointer/scroll speed. Current button commands conveniently show when the mouse pointer hovers over the button highlight dot. You can also invert the scroll wheel as well as swap the primary left/right buttons. Changes made with the Logitech Options software apply to the current Easy-Switch connection only. So if you decide to swap buttons and invert the scroll wheel with one profile, it won’t affect any of the others, and vice versa. Since the connection through the Pico receiver counts as a separate connection from Bluetooth by itself, one could have two different control layouts to use with the MX Anywhere 2 mouse. This only works on PC/laptops with USB ports and built in Bluetooth wireless. Although the MX Anywhere 2 mouse itself doesn’t have a battery indicator, aside from the LED blinking red when low, the Logitech Options software does show a rough estimate via an icon at the bottom right of the program. By default, the software is set to notify users when the mouse’s battery life gets low, which is an added benefit when paired with a Mac or PC.   The Verdict Logitech understands that modern consumers own multiple devices for entertainment and/or productivity. The MX Anywhere 2 mouse caters to the masses by providing cross-platform compatibility and Bluetooth connectivity with up to three separate devices. This mouse is practically plug-and-play right out of the box, ready to go, and since it’s so small and light, the MX Anywhere 2 is easy to pack in pockets, bags, or briefcases at a moment’s notice.   Unlike its predecessor, the MX Anywhere 2 features a built-in battery instead of relying on separate rechargeables. Not everyone will be happy with this aspect, despite Logitech’s assurances of longevity (the numbers bear this out, too). While quiet for your average mouse, the MX Anywhere 2 may not be silent enough for some. And even though it doesn’t affect operation, the slightly loose-feeling scroll wheel might give the overly picky something to nag about. But if the minor quibbles are of little concern, the MX Anywhere 2 has the right kind of curves and snappy performance to keep hands happy. The cursor tracking movement is astoundingly smooth for a device this small, making it feel like a natural extension of your hand. And it just works. Those looking for a mouse that meshes performance and mobile portability should find that the US$79.99 MSRP for the Logitech MX Anywhere 2 is money well spent. Product page: Logitech MX Anywhere 2 wireless mouse

Age-related macular degeneration patient receives bionic eye transplant

 

The 80-year-old Raymond Flynn was the first to receive the implant for AMD treatment (Credit: Second Sight) You might remember the Argus II implant from when it first gained market approval in the US back in 2013. The ambitious prosthesis is back, with researchers now looking to utilize the technology to treat patients with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The effort forms part of a feasibility study, and early results are positive. The Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, built by Second Sight, is designed to stimulate a patient's remaining retinal cells, allowing them to obtain useful visual information. Images are captured by a small, glasses-mounted camera, converted into electrical pulses, and wirelessly transmitted to electrodes implanted onto the surface of the retina. Providing the implant works as intended, the patient will perceive patterns of light, which they can learn to interpret, thus regaining some degree of sight. It's software-based, and will likely provide improved results as testing continues. Back in 2013, the implant received market approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US, for the treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) – a degenerative condition that affects the peripheries of patient vision. Fast-forward two years and zip across the Atlantic, and the device is now being tested for the first time on a patient suffering from dry AMD . The big difference here is that AMD affects central vision, rather than peripheral sight. The procedure was carried out at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital in the United Kingdom, by Dr. Paulo Strange MD. The device was activated two weeks after being implanted, with early tests indicating that the 80-year-old subject, Raymond Flynn, was already receiving useful vision from the system. Though this is only the first test using the implant for AMD sufferers, those initial positive results are extremely promising. In the long run, it could provide a new course of action for the estimated two million people who are legally blind due to AMD, for which there are few approved treatments. "We are very excited to begin such an important study for this patient population and to have the opportunity to help a great deal more people living with blindness," says Second Sight's Executive Officer, Dr. Robert Greenberg. "Though it is obviously still early in this clinical trial, we are very encouraged by these initial results." Mr. Flynn is the first of five patients who fill form the initial feasibility study, wherein the safety and effectiveness of the system for AMD sufferers will be evaluated. If the positive results continue, a larger study will take place, with the eventual goal of market approval for AMD treatment. For more on the use of the Argus II System on dry AMD sufferers, you can take a look at the video below. Source: Second Sight

Software helps deaf and hearing communities interact, in the U.S. and abroad

 

National Science Foundation (NSF) Discoveries The power of translation Few resources exist for deaf students in Morocco, making assistive devices important for classrooms. July 22, 2015 Communication is an oral endeavor. We learn to speak and read through sound, to distinguish between hard and soft k's, to make the hiss of a double "s" or the slight lisp of a "th." A large chunk of the population, however, relies on their eyes to speak. These are the millions of people who use American Sign Language (ASL), a visual language built on movement, gesture and facial expression. This difference between English and ASL--auditory versus visual--has implications for how the deaf and hearing communities interact. There's no translation app to help a deaf person navigate a doctor's visit, for example, or to aid a teacher trying to understand why a deaf student struggles to read. That's where the Institute for Disabilities Research and Training Inc. (IDRT) comes in. With funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Maryland-based small business has created translation software and assistive technologies to build bridges between English and ASL. And through a partnership between NSF and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), they've adapted those technologies for use in Morocco, a country in desperate need of resources for deaf children. "We do this to make life better for deaf people, and those who work with them," says Corinne Vinopol, president and CEO of IDRT and principal investigator on the NSF grants. "It's become clear to me that all this IT we've developed over the years can go out into the world and do some more good." That technology includes software with an extensive translation database, which allows users to enter English words or sentences, and see images and video of how to express it in ASL. Think of it as Google Translate for sign language: Users can translate into both signs and fingerspelling, which spells English words with the ASL alphabet. The software also supports real-time ASL translation. Much of that technology was developed with support from NSF's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, which catalyzes commercialization at startups and small businesses. IDRT's current SBIR award includes research on gesture recognition technology through the AcceleGlove, a high-tech glove embedded with sensors. It works with 3-D camera technology to capture hand movements. AcceleGlove has implications beyond ASL translation. It could replace a joystick to maneuver sensitive robotics--the kind that venture into dangerous environments or control heavy machinery. Or it could be adapted for artificial simulation, to help train medical technicians. About five years ago, Vinopol was contacted by Abdelhadi Soudi, a computational linguistics professor at Morocco's Ecole National de l'Industrie Minerale. He'd found Vinopol's research and wondered if she would be interested in adapting that technology for Moroccan Arabic sign language. "I really didn't know anything about Arabic when we started," Vinopol says. "I don't think he knew anything about sign language." And yet their collaboration--and assistive technology developed by their team--has been so successful, Morocco's government is interested in using the technology in classrooms throughout the country. Soudi and Vinopol received funding through Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER), which links NSF-funded researchers in the U.S. with researchers in developing countries. USAID provides funding for the foreign scientist, and the ensuing collaboration benefits both countries. Vinopol's research is the only SBIR-supported work to ever receive supplemental funding from NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering. "The research promised international cooperation between the U.S. and Arab nations, at a time that couldn't be more important," says Glenn Larsen, a program director in NSF's Engineering Directorate, which funds the SBIR program. "We saw it as a great broader impact to handle the needs of deaf students both here and abroad." A country in need More than 85 percent of deaf children in Morocco lack access to education past primary school. The country has few well-trained deaf educators and has almost no sign language interpreters, which means deaf children are kept in segregated classrooms, with sparse instructional materials and little opportunity to interact with their hearing peers. Soudi has spent the last 15 years working on machine translation between spoken languages--software to translate Arabic into French, for example. He was interested in the mechanics of translating a spoken language into a visual one. "Translation between native spoken and sign languages involves not only analyzing linguistic differences, but also rendering translation from one cognitive processing modality (auditory) to another (visual)," he says. It's not a word-for-word translation. For example: Vinopol's company previously helped WalMart use ASL translation for employee training, which included teaching people how to hang clothes on a rack. In English, "rack" is one word. In sign language, it depends on what the rack looks like: Is it thin or thick? High or low? Soudi and Vinopol built technology that works as a real-time translation device and an instructional tool, converting Standard Arabic into Moroccan Sign Language (MSL) and offering resources like games and quizzes to help students and parents learn MSL. A second PEER award, received in 2013, supports the creation of a MSL thesaurus, which will allow users to describe signs (the right hand is making this shape, the left hand looks like this) and find the Arabic word equivalent. To get this technology into the hands of schools, the team has traveled all over the country, met with over a dozen deaf associations and caught the attention of government ministries. The robust intellectual collaboration between Vinopol and Soudi is a core criteria for international activities funded by NSF's international office, says Lara Campbell, a program director in that office. "The unusual partnership between a small business and a foreign university brings a unique perspective to the table in terms of fundraising and structure," she says. "I think the business perspective may help the work of this project expand not just across Morocco but eventually across the region." The most impressive results right now, however, may be how this technology affects deaf students and their families. "Teachers, parents and students were positively astounded that software of this kind could be developed," Soudi says. "It generated hope and advocacy on the part of parents that there could be better education and higher expectations for their children." -- Jessica Arriens, (703) 292-2243 jarriens@nsf.gov Investigators Corinne Vinopol Related Institutions/Organizations Institute for Disabilities Research and Training, Inc. Related Awards #0944752 SBIR Phase I: ASL Literacy Support System #1118610 SBIR Phase II: ASL Literacy Support System #0712183 SBIR Phase I: AcceleGlove: A Cost Effective Device For Translating American Sign Language Into Text and Speech Total Grants $1,153,035

Terrafugia unveils new design for TF-X autonomous flying car

 

In cruise mode, the main 300 hp engine of the TF-X provides thrust and charges the batteries (Credit: Terrafugia) Image Gallery (5 images) Flying-car developer Terrafugia has released new designs for its planned TF-X model. The TF-X is a planned autonomous flying car that was announced back in 2013. The updated design shows a sleeker body shape, a one-tenth scale model of which will be tested in a wind tunnel at MIT. If flying cars sound a bit far-fetched – never mind ones that fly themselves – then you should bear in mind that, not long after the TF-X was announced, Terrafugia gave the first public flight demonstration of its original flying car model, the Transition. Whereas the Transition requires a runway to take off, however, the TF-X is able to take off and land vertically. Terrafugia says the aim of its vehicles is to provide "true door-to-door transportation." The TF-X is designed to seat up to four people and will have computer-controlled flight that that will allow the operator to simply input the desired destination before letting the vehicle take off (from a level clearing of at least 100 ft in diameter) and fly itself. To enable flight, the TF-X design has fold-out wings with twin electric motor pods attached to the ends. The motors are powered by a 300 hp engine and can move from vertical to horizontal positions as required for taking off, cruising and landing. A ducted fan will provide thrust, and the vehicle will have a cruising speed of 200 mph (322 km/h), as well as a 500 mile (805 km) flight range. As with taking off, the plan is for the TF-X to land autonomously, though says Terrafugia points out that the user will have the final say regarding whether it's safe to land. Once back on the ground, the car's wings will fold down in a matter of seconds to make it suitable for use as a road-going plug-in hybrid once again. The one-tenth scale model will be tested at the Wright Brothers wind tunnel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where the Transition was also tested. The testing will help to measure the drag, lift and thrust forces of the new design. Simulations of hovering flight, transitioning to forward flight and full forward flight will also be carried out. Terrafugia says the TF-X will be another 8-12 years in development. Source: Terrafugia

NASA Views Complex World: New Horizons Pluto Science Update Set for July 24

 

A newly discovered mountain range lies near the southwestern margin of Pluto’s Tombaugh Regio (Tombaugh Region), situated between bright, icy plains and dark, heavily-cratered terrain. This image was acquired by New Horizons’ Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) on July 14, 2015 from a distance of 48,000 miles (77,000 kilometers) and received on Earth on July 20. Features as small as a half-mile (1 kilometer) across are visible.

Credits: NASA/JHUAPL/SWRI

Members of NASA’s New Horizons team will hold a science update at 2 p.m. EDT Friday, July 24, to reveal new images and discuss latest science results from the spacecraft’s historic July 14 flight through the Pluto system.

The briefing will be held in the James E. Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, located at 300 E St. SW in Washington. NASA Television and the agency's website will carry the briefing live.

The briefing participants are:

• Jim Green, director of Planetary Science at NASA Headquarters
• Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado
• Michael Summers, New Horizons co-investigator at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia
• William McKinnon, New Horizons co-investigator at Washington University in St. Louis
• Cathy Olkin, New Horizons deputy project scientist at SwRI

Media may ask questions by telephone. To participate by phone, reporters must send an email providing their name, affiliation and telephone number to Felicia Chou at felicia.chou@nasa.gov by noon Friday. Media and the public also may ask questions during the briefing on Twitter using the hashtag #askNASA.

For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more information on the New Horizons mission, including fact sheets, schedules, video and images, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/newhorizons

New battery technologies take on lithium-ion

 

Wed, 07/22/2015 - 12:15pm American Chemical Society Researchers at Oxis Energy in England could be poised to commercialize lithium-sulfur batteries within the next few years. Image: Oxis EnergyLithium-ion batteries remain the technology-of-choice for today’s crop of electric cars, but challengers are revving up to try to upset the current order. An article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) takes a look at two of the top contenders vying to erode lithium-ion’s dominance. Alex Scott, a senior editor at C&EN, reports on two developments from companies in England that seem poised to compete in the electric car battery market within the next two to four years. One is a sodium-ion version, produced by a start-up called Faradion. The other is a battery powered by lithium-sulfur technology and is being developed by Oxis Energy. Both companies assert their advances will be able to compete with lithium-ion in performance, safety and costs. Some industry watchers, however, remain unconvinced by the claims, given that a slew of other battery-makers made similar promises and then failed to deliver. Soon enough, the fates of Faradion and Oxis could also be determined. Faradion has set a goal to match the energy density of lithium-ion batteries by 2017. And although they’re still dealing with battery cycle issues, Oxis’ lithium-sulfur technology has already attracted the attention of the military. Source: American Chemical Society

Why we live on Earth and not Venus

 

Earth and Venus.

Credit: NASA

Compared to its celestial neighbours Venus and Mars, Earth is a pretty habitable place. So how did we get so lucky? A new study sheds light on the improbable evolutionary path that enabled Earth to sustain life.

The research, published this week in Nature Geoscience, suggests that Earth's first crust, which was rich in radioactive heat-producing elements such as uranium and potassium, was torn from the planet and lost to space when asteroids bombarded the planet early in its history. This phenomenon, known as impact erosion, helps explain a landmark discovery made over a decade ago about the Earth's composition.

Researchers with the University of British Columbia and University of California, Santa Barbara say that the early loss of these two elements ultimately determined the evolution of Earth's plate tectonics, magnetic field and climate.

"The events that define the early formation and bulk composition of Earth govern, in part, the subsequent tectonic, magnetic and climatic histories of our planet, all of which have to work together to create the Earth in which we live," said Mark Jellinek, a professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences at UBC. "It's these events that potentially differentiate Earth from other planets."

On Earth, shifting tectonic plates cause regular overturning of Earth's surface, which steadily cools the underlying mantle, maintains the planet's strong magnetic field and stimulates volcanic activity. Erupting volcanoes release greenhouse gases from deep inside the planet and regular eruptions help to maintain the habitable climate that distinguishes Earth from all other rocky planets.

Venus is the most similar planet to Earth in terms of size, mass, density, gravity and composition. While Earth has had a stable and habitable climate over geological time, Venus is in a climate catastrophe with a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere and surface temperatures reaching about 470 C. In this study, Jellinek and Matt Jackson, an associate professor at the University of California, explain why the two planets could have evolved so differently.

"Earth could have easily ended up like present day Venus," said Jellinek. "A key difference that can tip the balance, however, may be differing extents of impact erosion."

With less impact erosion, Venus would cool episodically with catastrophic swings in the intensity of volcanic activity driving dramatic and billion-year-long swings in climate.

"We played out this impact erosion story forward in time and we were able to show that the effect of the conditions governing the initial composition of a planet can have profound consequences for its evolution. It's a very special set of circumstances that make Earth."

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Story Source:

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by University of British Columbia. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. A. M. Jellinek, M. G. Jackson. Connections between the bulk composition, geodynamics and habitability of Earth. Nature Geoscience, 2015; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2488

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Mysteries of the Brain–Frontiers in Neuroscience

 

NSF-funded scientists and engineers have studied the brain for decades, yet a host of mysteries remain unsolved. In this July 9, 2015 briefing on Capitol Hill, leading experts in brain science discuss some of the latest cross-disciplinary research and cutting-edge technologies to better understand the brain and advance the frontiers of neuroscience. The briefing was hosted by Congressman Chaka Fattah and sponsored by NSF, Society for Neuroscience, and The Optical Society.

Credit: National Science Foundation

Pill on a string pulls early signs of cancer

 

The Cytosponge is around the same size as a multi vitamin pill (Credit: University of Cambridge) As with every form of the deadly disease, early detection of oesophageal cancer is critical to recovery. The current approach of detecting the cancer through biopsy can be a little hit and miss, so the University of Cambridge's Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald and her team have developed what they claim to be a more accurate tool for early-diagnosis. Billed as "a pill on a string," the Cytosponge is designed to scrape off cells from the length of the oesophagus as it is yanked out after swallowing, offering up a much larger sample for inspection of cancer cells. According to Fitzgerald, the five-year survival rate for oesophageal cancer is only 13 percent, a fact which has led researchers to hunt for signs of a condition that precedes the disease, known as Barrett's oesophagus. This sees the cells located in the lining of the oesophagus take on a different shape and grow abnormally, a process that is brought about by acid and bile reflux when fluids from the stomach come up to say hello. Between one and five of every 100 people with Barrett's oesophagus go on to develop oesophageal cancer. Using biopsies to detect the pre-cancer condition is problematic for a couple of reasons. It requires trained scientists to pore over the samples looking for abnormalities, which introduces a degree of subjectivity and possible human error. And although a stretch of oesophagus affected by Barrett's could measure as much as 10 cm (4 in), there is much variation in the cells with some presenting mutations and others appearing normal and healthy. This means if the wrong area is targeted, the biopsy may not really reveal much at all. So Fitzgerald and her team developed a solution they say can provide more accurate results. The Cytosponge is around the same size as a multi vitamin pill, but instead of nutrition it packs a tightly compressed sponge. The patient swallows the capsule just like any other and it makes its way to the stomach, where it rests for around five minutes. In this time the exterior dissolves and the sponge expands. With a string attached and in the nurse's hand, the sponge is then pulled up through the oesophagus. Rather than taking samples from only a section, it scrapes along the entire length of the tube collecting as many as half a million cells in the process. "If you’re taking a biopsy, this relies on your hitting the right spot," says Fitzgerald. "Using the Cytosponge appears to remove some of this game of chance." The researchers are hopeful the Cytosponge could replace expensive and invasive endoscopies. Already more than 2,000 patients have swallowed the device in testing, though more trials are required to establish its efficacy. The have licensed the device to a company called Covidien with a view to developing a commercial test. The team's latest research into Barrett's oesophagus and oesophageal cancer was published in the journal Nature Genetics. Source: University of Cambridge

Researchers demonstrate first realization of invisible absorbers and sensors

 

Tue, 07/21/2015 - 10:56am Aalto University An array of helical elements absorbs radiation of a certain frequency while casting no shadow in light over a range of other frequencies.The manipulation of light has led to many applications that have revolutionized society through communications, medicine and entertainment. Devices consuming the energy of electromagnetic radiation, such as absorbers and sensors, play an essential role in the using and controlling of light. The researchers at the Aalto University Department of Radio Science and Engineering have demonstrated the first realization of absorbers that do not reflect light over a wide range of frequencies. All previous absorbers at other frequencies were either fully reflective, as mirrors, or the range of low reflection was very narrow. “These absorbers are completely transparent at non-operational frequencies,” concludes researcher Viktar Asadchy. While maintaining efficient absorption of light of the desired frequency, all conventional absorbers strongly interact with the radiation of other frequencies, reflecting it back and not letting it pass through. As a result, they create a reflected beam as well as a perceptible shadow behind and become detectable. The designed and tested structures are able to absorb and sense the light of one or several desired frequency spectra, while being invisible and undetectable at other frequencies. The research has proven that such an unparalleled operation can only be achieved with the use of structural inclusions whose electric and magnetic properties are strongly coupled. These functionalities can lead to a variety of unique applications for radio astronomy and stealth technology. They can also be very useful in everyday life. For example, they could be used in screens that can filter any cell phone signals and pass through Wi-Fi and other microwaves. “This research will also open new venues for general light control and enable novel devices such as flat lenses and light beam transformers,” explains Asadchy. SOURCE: Aalto University