Introduction & Purpose
Knowledge update and Industry update at Horizon University College (HUC) is an online platform for communicating knowledge with HUC stakeholders, industry, and the outside world about the current trends of business development, technology, and social changes. The platform helps in branding HUC as a leading institution of updated knowledge base and in encouraging faculties, students, and others to create and contribute under different streams of domain and application. The platform also acts as a catalyst for learning and sharing knowledge in various areas.
Super User
From Different Corners
New York, Jan 12 (IANS) When a star comes close to the black hole only to be ripped apart, the outward gas streamer gathers itself into planet-size objects which are then flung across the galaxy in a game of cosmic 'spitball', new research has revealed.
The team from Harvard University noted that the closest of these planet-mass objects might be within a few hundred light-years of Earth with a weight somewhere between Neptune and several Jupiters.
"A single shredded star can form hundreds of these planet-mass objects. We wondered: Where do they end up? How close do they come to us? We developed a computer code to answer those questions," said lead author Eden Girma.
These planet-size objects glow from the heat of its formation and are very different from a typical planet because they made of star-stuff.
"It takes only a day for the black hole to shred the star and only about a year for the resulting fragments to pull themselves back together," said the study presented at the conference of American Astronomical Society recently.
Almost 95 per cent of the planet-mass objects will leave the galaxy entirely due to their speeds of about 10,000 km per second. It would take about a million years for one of these objects to reach Earth's neighborhood.
"Since most other galaxies also have giant black holes at their cores, it is likely that the same process is at work in them," Girma added.
Super User
From Different Corners
New York, Jan 12 (IANS) If you think that watching superheroes that defend, protect and help the weak may inculcate positive traits in kids, you may be wrong.
Rather, the early exposure to superheroes may trigger aggressive behaviours like bullying in young kids and reduce empathy for others, a study has found.
The findings showed that children who frequently engage with superhero culture are more likely to be physically and relationally aggressive.
The children were also not more likely to be defenders of kids being picked on by bullies and were not more likely to be pro-social.
"So many pre-schoolers are into superheroes and so many parents think that the superhero culture will help their kids defend others and be nicer to their peers," said Sarah M. Coyne, Professor at Brigham Young University in Utah, US.
"But, our study shows the exact opposite. Kids pick up on the aggressive themes and not the defending ones," Coyne said.
In addition, these superhero programmes often contain complex storylines that interweave violence and pro-social behaviour -- associated with reduction in cognitive and emotional responses in kids.
This reduction in response to the victims of violence on the TV screen, computer or tablet, could lead to a lack of empathy for the victims of violence on the playground or at school, the researchers stated.
For the study, the team included 240 children who along with their parents responded about the level of engagement with the superhero culture and found that most of the kids associated their favourite superhero with some type of violent skills.
The study does not suggest that parents need to totally disengage their children from superheroes.
But, if the exposure is not moderated, then "the superhero culture can become consuming, especially if kids are watching the movies, playing with the toys, strongly identifying with the characters, dressing up, etc," Coyne noted.
The study was published in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
SUC Editing Team
International Business
Las Vegas, Jan 11 (IANS) Not just smartphones, convertibles or cameras, it was time for ground-breaking products in 5G technology, self-driving vehicles, digital health, Artificial Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), robotics and machine learning to be showcased at the world's biggest annual electronics event here.
SUC Editing Team
Accounting & Finance
Canberra, Jan 11 (IANS) The Australian government plans to tax all online transactions, Treasurer Scott Morrison said on Wednesday, as part of a so-called 'tax strike' on the rapidly-growing digital economy.
Super User
Lifestyle and Trends
Toronto, Jan 11 (IANS) Playing a musical instrument does not only produce melodies but can make the elderly more reactive and alert in daily life, says a new study.
According to the researchers from Université de Montréal, musicians have a faster reaction time to sensory stimuli than non-musicians have.
"The more we know about the impact of music on really basic sensory processes, the more we can apply musical training to individuals who might have slower reaction times," said lead researcher Simon Landry.
Playing an instrument also has implications for preventing some effects of ageing.
"As people get older, for example, we know their reaction times get slower. So if we know that playing a musical instrument increases reaction times, then maybe playing an instrument will be helpful for them," Landry explained.
In the study that involved 16 musicians and 19 non-musicians, the researchers found significantly faster reaction times with musicians for auditory, tactile and audio-tactile stimulations.
"The idea is to better understand how playing a musical instrument affects the senses in a way that is not related to music," Landry added in a paper published in the journal Brain and Cognition.
SUC Editing Team
Information Systems
New York, Jan 11 (IANS) Microsoft is launching a web-based account privacy dashboard that gives users control over their data and lets them monitor the information Microsoft services use.
Super User
Lifestyle and Trends
Toronto, Jan 11 (IANS) If you are a sedentary type and prefer sleeping over hitting the ground, better start exercising or face the risk of developing dementia like those who are genetically predisposed to it, warns a new study.
According to researchers from McMaster University, carriers of a variant of the 'apolipoprotein E' (APOE) genotype are more likely to develop dementia and inactivity dramatically increases the risk for non-carriers.
APOE is the principal cholesterol carrier in the brain. This protein is involved in Alzheimer's disease and cardiovascular disease.
"The important message here is that being inactive may completely negate the protective effects of a healthy set of genes," said Jennifer Heisz, Assistant Professor at McMaster.
Approximately 47.5 million people worldwide are living with dementia and the numbers are expected to surge to 115.4 million by the year 2050.
Researchers suggested that physical exercise can reduce the risk of developing dementia among those individuals who are not at genetic risk.
"Exercise can mitigate the risk of dementia for people without the variant of the 'apolipoprotein genotype'. However, more research is needed to determine the implications from a public health perspective," added Barbara Fenesi, postdoctoral fellow.
The study involving over 1,600 Canadians and published in the journal Alzheimer's Disease, also noted that a physically-active lifestyle helps the brain operate more effectively.
SUC Editing Team
Retail and Marketing
New York, Jan 11 (IANS) Apple's next generation bezel-less iPhone 8 is rumoured to sport a bold new design and would feature an OLED display full of holes, a media report said. "The patent filed by Apple for 'Electronic devices having displays with openings' describes a method by which various components can be mounted behind perforations in a device screen that are so small as to be imperceptible to the human eye. This arrangement would allow engineers to design a smartphone or tablet with a true edge-to-edge, or full-face display," appleinsider.com reported on Wednesday. The openings may be located in the active portion of the display. The display may be mounted in a housing associated with the electronic device. An electronic component may be mounted in alignment with the one or more openings in the display. The electronic component may be a structure that uses light such as a camera, a light sensor, a light-based proximity sensor, a status indicator light, a light-based touch sensor array, or a secondary display that has display pixels that may be viewed through the openings. Signals associated with the electronic component may pass through the openings. The signals may include acoustic signals, electromagnetic signals such as radio-frequency electromagnetic signals, and light. One or more openings in the display may form a window through which a user of the device may view an external object. Display pixels in the window region may be used in forming a heads-up display. The 2017 version of Apple's iPhone is also rumoured to come in red and will retain the same design as the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Alongside its usual 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch smartphone offerings, the company will also unveil a third model that will be priced at a higher side than iPhone 7 and will sport a 5.1-inch or 5.2-inch OLED display with invisible home button, all-glass housing, wireless charging, according to earlier reports. Samsung and LG, joined by Foxconn-owned Sharp by 2018, are said to be Apple's primary OLED suppliers.
SUC Editing Team
Travel and Tourism
Beijing, Jan 11 (IANS) China's tourist spending is expected to be more than six trillion yuan ($865 million) in 2017, Xinhua news agency said citing a report.
The number of domestic, inbound and outbound tourists might reach over five billion in 2017, with outbound tourism expected to grow as more Chinese people have time and money to travel abroad, according to a report released by the China Tourism Academy and online travel agency giant Tuniu.com.
Chinese tourists are called "walking wallets".
Around 4.7 billion domestic, inbound and outbound tourists spent 5.5 trillion yuan in 2016, the report claimed.
Chinese tourists no longer prefer group tours and many go to suburban and rural areas.
Cruises and island tours are gaining popularity, with cruises expected to have earned 1.8 billion yuan in 2016.
China plans to raise tourism revenue to 7 trillion yuan by 2020, according to the country's five-year tourism plan.
Super User
From Different Corners
New York, Jan 11 (IANS) Contrary to the common perception that people who post frequent selfies on social media platforms are generally narcissists, a new study now says selfie lovers may have different motives which often extend beyond self-obsession and showing off.
After analysing their survey results and interviews, a team of researchers from Texas Tech University found that there are three categories of selfie-takers -- communicators, autobiographers and self-publicists.
"It is important to recognise that not everyone is a narcissist," said Steven Holiday, study co-author in a paper published in the journal Visual Communication Quarterly.
Communicators are those who post selfies on social media such as Facebook and Instagram primarily to engage with their friends, family or followers in a conversation.
"They are all about two-way communication," added team member Maureen "Mo" Elinzano.
Autobiographers use selfies on social media platform as a tool to record key events in their lives and preserve significant memories.
Lastly, self-publicists are the people who love documenting their entire lives.
"Identifying and categorising the three groups is important because it's a different kind of photography than we have ever experienced before," Holiday added.
Understanding people's motives can be valuable, because years from now, our society's visual history is going to be largely comprised of selfies.
"And to find out why people do it, that contributes a lot to the discussion on selfies and visual communication in general," added Matt Lewis, co-author.