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​New York, July 13 (IANS) Small shoebox-sized satellites, flying in formation around the Earth, could estimate the planet's reflected energy with twice the accuracy of traditional monolith satellites, according to a new study led by an Indian-origin professor.

If done right, such satellite swarms could also be cheaper to build, launch and maintain.

Sreeja Nag, a former graduate student in Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) department of aeronautics and astronautics, simulated the performance of a single large, orbiting satellite with nine sensors and compared it with a cluster of three to eight small, single-sensor satellites flying together around the Earth. 

The team found that clusters of four or more small satellites were able to look at a single location on Earth from multiple angles and measure that location's total reflectance with an error that is half that of single satellites in operation today. 

According to Nag, such a correction in estimation error could significantly improve scientists' climate projections.

“If we can estimate the reflectance of different surface type, globally and more accurately which a cluster of satellites would let you do, then at least you've solved one part of the climate puzzle,” said Nag in a paper published online in the journal Acta Astronautica. 

Today, satellites that measure the amount of light reflected from the Earth do so with multiple cameras arranged on a single satellite. 

For example, NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on the Terra satellite houses nine cameras that take images of the Earth from a fan-like arrangement of angles. 

According to Nag, the drawback of this design is that the cameras have a limited view, as they are not designed to change angles and can only observe within a single plane.

Instead, the team proposes a cluster of small satellites that travel around the Earth in a loose formation.

"Over time, the cluster would cover the whole Earth, and you'd have a multiangular, 3-D view of the entire planet from space which has not been done before with multiple satellites," Nag noted

There's another big advantage to monitoring the Earth with small satellites: less risk.

“You can launch three such units and start operating and then put three more up

​Japanese car manufacturer Honda Motor together with Daido Steel has developed the first ever engine for hybrid cars without using dysprosium and terbium -- two scarce rare earth elements -- to help reduce manufacturing costs, an official said on Wednesday.

The two companies have made sure that the neodymium magnet -- presenting the highest magnetic force of nature which is essential for electric cars and hybrids -- of this engine does not require the use of these two minerals, which were used to withstand high temperatures, EFE news reported.

Both dysprosium and terbium, like neodymium are classified as rare earth elements, although the latter is almost as common as nickel or cobalt. In contrast, dysprosium and terbium were far more scarce and most of it comes from China, which sometimes restricts exports, putting price stability and supply at risk. Honda has modified the engine design to incorporate this new magnet and has proven that the "torque, output and heat resistance performance (is) equivalent to those of a motor that uses the conventional type of magnet," Honda said.​

Tokyo, July 13 (IANS)

​New York, July 12 (IANS) Smartphones are the most used gaming device for people globally -- and across 12 countries, 47 per cent of all smartphone players are now women, a Facebook study has revealed, adding that gaming on mobile devices is increasingly becoming popular among women. Facebook's data analysis and storytelling team Facebook IQ commissioned market research company TNS to survey people ages 18-plus spanning 12 countries representing North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle-East and Asia on their use of mobile as a gaming device. The survey found that on average, smartphones are the top gaming device for users -- at 71 per cent -- followed by computers at 64 per cent, tablets at 34 per cent and video game consoles at 26 per cent, adweek.com reported on Tuesday. The survey also analysed the habits of mobile game spenders -- users who play games on mobile and pay for games on at least a monthly basis -- and found that these spending players were 2.7 times more likely to stay in-game for a "sense of community and belonging" than mobile non-spenders. These spenders were also found to be 2.3 times more likely to stop playing games than non-spenders if community members stop playing. "On average across the 12 markets, 68 per cent of mobile game spenders said they discover games via social networking platforms. Other popular discovery sources were photo and video services at 57 per cent and chat apps at 54 per cent," the report said. Thirty-four per cent of mobile game spenders said they discover games by word of mouth.​

London, July 13 (IANS) Looking for ways to shed those extra kilos around your waistline? Worry not, according to a study, drinking water along with a meal can fill the stomach and signal the brain to stop eating.

The findings showed that the brain listens to the stomach during eating.

Drinking more water can alter messages from the stomach which can be interpreted as fullness by the brain.

Further, intake of water along with a meal can increase stomach distension, curb appetite in the short term as well as increase the regional brain activity.

This means anyone who is looking to lose weight or cut down on eating would benefit from a large drink with their meals.

For the study, the team collected data from 19 participants during two separate sessions with different consumption procedures.

In the experiment, participants drank a milk-shake on an empty stomach, which was followed by a small (50 mL) or large glass of water (350 mL).

The large glass of water doubled the content in the stomach compared to the small glass. Those who drank the large glass also felt less hungry and felt fuller.

The real time data of the brain, the stomach, and people's feelings of satiety was measured simultaneously during the meal.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) images were used to see how the different amounts of water affected stretching of the stomach -- the large glass of water doubled the stomach content compared to the small glass.

"Combining these types of measurements is difficult, because MRI scanners are usually set-up to perform only one type of scan," said lead author Guido Camps from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

"We've been able to very quickly switch the scanner from one functionality to another to do this type of research," Camps added.

This new research approach can be used to investigate the interplay between satiety feelings, volume of the stomach and activity in the brain, the researchers suggested.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, held in Portugal.

​New York, July 11 (IANS) Discounts tied to buying virtual goods have little impact on profitability and do not increase the number of customers making purchases, say economists from the University of Chicago. In an experiment that involved more than 14 million app players of mobile games by King Digital Entertainment -- maker of Candy Crush Saga -- the researchers designed a series of quantity discounts which were offered to different groups of customers for a three-month period. The team including researchers Steven Levitt, the William B. Ogden Professor of Economics, and John List, the Homer J. Livingston Professor of Economics and King conducted the field experiment together. In the most extreme intervention, players were offered a more than 60 per cent discount for intermediate-size purchases and a more than 70 per cent discount for large-size purchases. Analysis of players' responses to the discounts show that quantity discounts had virtually no effect on the share of players making a purchase. "Customers who made small and infrequent purchases tended to spend more when offered the largest quantity discounts, while customers who were already large buyers tended to spend less. The net result was no impact on revenues or profit," the study noted. Data suggests some consumers who would have made small purchases were discouraged from doing so when faced with large quantity discounts. The researchers said their findings challenge traditional theoretical thinking on quantity discounts, particularly that such practices increase company profitability. “This project was an example of using experimental methods to test a much more radical shift in strategy," Levitt noted. King's games for smartphones, tablets and other devices are free to users.

New York, July 13 (IANS) A US-based researcher has devised a new "sand" that can inexpensively provide improved cooling for power-hungry electronic devices.

Baratunde Cola, associate professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, devised silicon dioxide nanoparticles coated with a high dielectric constant polymer that could be

​New York, July 10 (IANS) Certain personality types are more likely to rebel rather than comply when seeing the colour red, suggests a study led by an Indian-origin researcher. The study was inspired by a problem faced by a Dutch child helpline that offered free counselling to children aged 8 to 18. The Dutch child helpline that ran the counselling service were frustrated because of the high percentage of prank calls they received who had no interest in genuine counselling. Researchers launched an experiment that showed three different colours on the chat screen while callers were on hold for a counsellor. They expected that red would reduce the number of prank chats. "To our surprise, the prank chatting was higher with the red colour background than the white or blue. Prank chatting occurred about 22 per cent of the time with the red background, compared to 15 per cent for the white or blue," said Ravi Mehta, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois. The researchers realised that the colour red can increase non-compliant behaviour in people with sensation seeking personality types. To test whether personality type influenced the response to red, the researchers conducted another study. In this experiment, college students completed an online questionnaire to assess their level of sensation seeking. They answered questions to evaluate their attitude toward compliant behaviour and the questions were presented on either a red or white screen. People high in sensation seeking who viewed the red background preferred statements that were resistant to compliant behaviour. This did not happen when they saw a white background. The findings suggest that the assumptions about the colour red may not apply to everyone and this could have implications for things like anti-smoking and safe sex campaigns. "Using red to promote these preventative health measures might not work for people who are high in sensation seeking, and it might even backfire," added Mehta. Red could help some people comply with health eating recommendations, but for high sensation seeking personality types, this may not be the colour of choice, suggested the study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.​

​London, July 13 (IANS) Researchers have found that an extinct specie of primates who walked thousands of years ago had indistinguishable footprints similar to those of a modern day human.

In the study, an international team of scientists examined a set of 1.5-million-year-old footprints of Homo erectus, discovered at a site near the town of Ileret in Kenya in 2009. 

Continued work, since the initial discovery by scientists has revealed an unprecedented set of trace fossils of hominin, including a total of 97 tracks created by at least 20 different presumed Homo erectus individuals from five distinct sites.

The footprints revealed new insight on how they moved and interacted.

Habitual bipedal locomotion is a defining feature of modern humans compared to other primates, the researchers said.

Using an experimental approach, the researchers have found that the shapes of their footprints are indistinguishable from those of modern habitually barefoot people, most likely reflecting similar foot anatomies and foot mechanics.

"Our analyses of these footprints provide some of the only direct evidence to support the common assumption that at least one of our fossil relatives at 1.5 million years ago walked in as much the same way as we do today," said Kevin Hatala, Paleoanthropologist at Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Germany.

Further, there is evidence of several adult males at each of the sites, suggesting these groups had developed tolerance and may be even cooperation.

"It isn't shocking that we find evidence of mutual tolerance and perhaps cooperation between males in a hominin that lived 1.5 million years ago, especially Homo erectus, but this is our first chance to see what appears to be a direct glimpse of this behavioural dynamic in deep time," Hatala added.

London, July 13 (IANS) Cycling, often marked as a recreational activity, can significantly reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes (T2D), if used as a means of transport to work daily, suggests a research.

The findings showed that people who took up habitual cycling were at 20 per cent lower risk for T2D than non-cyclists.

"Because cycling can be included in everyday activities, it may be appealing to a large part of the population. This includes people who due to lack of time, would not otherwise have the resources to engage in physical activity," said Martin Rasmussen from the University of Southern Denmark.

Further, cycling can lower the risk of various chronic diseases not only in young people but also people who are in their middle age or are entering old age, the researcher said.

"We find it especially interesting that those who started cycling had a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, given that the study population were men and women of middle and old age," Rasmussen added.

In addition, the risk of developing T2D appeared to decrease with the time spent in cycling per week.

For the study, the team included 24,623 men and 27,890 women from Denmark, between the ages of 50 and 65, and compared the association between self-reported recreational and commuter cycling habits with T2D incidence measured in the Danish National Diabetes Registry.

It seems beneficial to encourage adults of middle and old age to engage in commuter and recreational cycling to prevent the development of T2D in late adulthood, said the paper published in the journal PLOS Medicine.