Stats magic: the facts and figures to remember from World Cup 2014

There were fewer red cards at the 2014World Cup than any other edition since 1986 (8).

• The 2014 World Cup saw a joint-high number of goals scored (171).

• Germany reached the World Cup final for the eighth time; more often than any other side in the history of the competition.

• Germany scored 18 goals – the last team to score as many in a World Cup tournament were Brazil (also 18) in 2002.

• Argentina trailed for just seven minutes in the entire tournament (excluding injury time).

• Belgium reached the quarter-final stage, despite only holding a lead for 52 minutes in their five matches combined.

Belgium led for just 52 minutes of the tournament, but still made the last eight. Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP

• Brazil committed 31 fouls in their quarter-final win over Colombia; the most fouls that they had made in a single World Cup game since records began in 1966.

• James Rodríguez became the first player to score in his first five career World Cup appearances since Peru’s Teófilo Cubillas (across the 1970 and 1978 tournaments). Gerd Müller in 1970 was the last player to do it in a single tournament.

• Miroslav Klose became the top scoring player in World Cup history with his strike against Brazil in the semi-finals (16 goals).

• This was the first time that three sides from the Concafaf region made it out of the group stages and into the last 16 (since the format began in 1986).

• Costa Rica knocked out Italy, England, Greece and beat Uruguay, four sides placed in the top 12 positions of the Fifa Rankings (Uruguay – 7th, Italy – 9th, England – 10th, Greece – 12th).

• Only six European nations made it to the last 16; a joint-World Cup low since the round of 16 was introduced in 1986.

• All eight group stage winners progressed to the quarter-finals stage for the first time in World Cup history.

• One point was England’s lowest-ever return in a World Cup group stage.

 England's lowest-ever group stage points return. Photograph: Michael Regan - The FA/The FA via Getty Images

• This was the first time that England have been eliminated from a World Cup at the group stage since 1958.

• Three of the last four teams to win the World Cup have gone out in the following group stage (France 2002, Italy 2010, Spain2014).

• There were more goals scored by substitutes in this World Cup than in any previous edition (32).

• Silvestre Varela’s goal for Portugal v USA was the latest during normal time of a World Cup finals match since 1994 (94min 33sec).

• Tim Howard made 15 saves in the USA’s quarter-final defeat to Belgium – no goalkeeper has ever made as many saves in a single World Cup game (1966-2014).

• Three of Holland’s five outright victories in this World Cup tournament were from losing positions in normal time.

• Italy have exited at the group stage in their last two World Cups. The last time they managed this was in the 1960s (1962 and 1966).

• Germany are the first European team to win the World Cup in Latin America.

• Teams from Uefa have won the last three World Cups, the first time a single confederation has won three in a row.

• Germany’s 7-1 win was the biggest margin of victory ever seen in a World Cup semi-final.

 David Luiz contemplates the biggest World Cup semi-final defeat ever. Photograph: Fernando Bizerra Jr./EPA

• With their destruction of Brazil, Germany became the top scoring nation in World Cup history (223), overtaking Brazil in the process. Germany ended the tournament with 224 goals, three ahead of Brazil.

• Luke Shaw was the youngest player to play at this World Cup finals, when he played for England v Costa Rica (18 years 348 days).

• 13.3% of shots have been scored at these finals; a higher proportion than in any other World Cup tournament since records began in 1966.

• There were only three direct free-kicks scored at these finals, the fewest since 1986 (3). In 2010 there were five scored, while in 2006 and 2002, nine were scored.

• The only World Cup to see more own goals than this tournament (5) was the 1998 finals (6).

• Switzerland’s Diego Benaglio was the only goalkeeper to register a shot at the 2014 tournament, thanks to a late effort v Argentina.

• The Algeria goalkeeper Rais M’Bolhi created two goalscoring chances; only three of his team-mates managed more in the tournament.

 Rais M'Bolhi: creative Algerian genius. Photograph: Caetano Barreira/Fotoarena/Corbis

• Brazil have topped every group they have played in at a World Cup from 1982 onwards.

• Spain conceded 5+ goals in an international (5-1 v Holland) for the first time since losing 6-2 to Scotland in June 1963.

• That four-goal margin is the biggest losing margin by a defending champion at a World Cup.

• Brazil’s 7-1 defeat to Germany was the biggest losing margin by a host nation at a World Cup.

• Tim Cahill has scored in three World Cups for Australia; no other Australian has done so in more than one tournament

• Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan (6) overtook Cameroon’s Roger Milla (5) as all-time top scoring African player at a World Cup.

• Algeria became the first African team to score four goals in a World Cup game when they beat South Korea 4-2.

• England’s Wayne Rooney recorded his first World Cup assist in his team’s opening game v Italy and his first goal in their game v Uruguay.

• Keisuke Honda became the first Japanese player to score at two different World Cups.

• Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri scored the first entirely left-footed hat-trick at a World Cup (1966-2014).

 Xherdan Shaqiri scores one of his left-footed treble against Honduras. Photograph: Andres Stapff/Reuters

• His treble was also the 50th hat-trick in the history of the World Cup.

• In losing 4-0 to Germany, Portugal conceded four goals in a World Cup for the first time in their history.

• Clint Dempsey’s goal (29 seconds) v Ghana for the USA was the fifth fastest in World Cup history.

• The England goalkeeper Joe Hart made only one save in two World Cup games.

• In his 126 minutes of World Cup action, Diego Costa failed to muster a single shot on target (only five shots in total).

• In winning Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012, Spain conceded a total of six goals, one fewer than they did in their three matches at World Cup 2014.

• Alex Song picked up Cameroon’s eighth red card in their World Cup history. His cousin Rigobert Song is one of only two players (along with Zinedine Zidane) to be sent off twice at World Cups, meaning the Song family is responsible for three of Cameroon’s eight reds.

• Olivier Giroud’s opening goal v Switzerland was France’s 100th goal at World Cup finals.

• Neymar scored the 100th goal of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil’s 100th game in World Cup finals history.

• Against Japan Colombia’s substitute goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon became the oldest ever player to feature in a World Cup match, at 43 years and three days.

Faryd Mondragon: record breaker. Photograph: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

• Honduras have now played nine games without a win at the World Cup (D3 L6). They have played more matches at the World Cup without winning than any other side (New Zealand, El Salvador and Bolivia – all six).

• Ghana went out in the group stage for the first time ever (in their third World Cup). Now only three teams have never exited in a World Cup opening group stage: Germany,Holland and the Republic of Ireland.

• Fabio Capello has won one of his seven World Cup games as a manager.

• Mexico have been knocked out of the World Cup finals at the second-round stage in all six editions since 1994; no team has been knocked out at this stage as often as this.

• Nigeria have lost all three of their World Cup second-round ties (0-2 v France in 2014, 1-2 v Italy in 1994 and 1-4 v Denmark in 1998).

• Ángel di María’s goal v Switzerland was the latest ever scored by Argentina at the World Cup (118 minutes).

• Switzerland have failed to score in their last three World Cup knockout matches, last scoring in one in 1954.

• Belgium conceded only three goals in five games at the 2014 World Cup.

• Holland progressed to the semi-finals for the third time in their last four World Cups.

• Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas saved 21 of the 23 shots on target that he faced at this World Cup (91%).

• Thomas Müller has scored 10 goals and provided six assists in just 13 World Cup matches.

Thomas Müller scores. Again. Photograph: Francois Xavier Marit/AFP/Getty

• Against Brazil in the semi-final, Germany were 5-0 up faster than any other team in World Cup history (29 minutes).

• The 7-1 defeat to Germany equalled Brazil’s all-time biggest margin of defeat (lost 6-0 to Uruguay in 1920).

• Germany scored two more goals v Brazil than England have in their past two World Cup campaigns combined.

• Argentina have progressed from all four of their World Cup semi-finals.

• Argentina v Holland was the first World Cup semi-final to finish 0-0 (including extra-time). Lionel Messi did not touch the ball in the opposition box in the entire 120 minutes.

• Nine of the 14 goals Brazil conceded in this World Cup came in the first 30 minutes of their games.

• Brazil conceded 10 goals from 14 shots on target conceded in the semi-final and third place play-off game combined.

• Mario Götze is the first substitute to score a winning goal in the World Cup final.

• Mario Götze is the youngest scorer of a goal in a World Cup final since Wolfgang Weber in 1966 (22 years, 33 days).

• Sami Khedira is the 10th player to win the European Cup/Champions League and World Cup in the same season.

Stats magic: the facts and figures to remember from World Cup 2014

8:41 AM FIFA 2014, Foot ball world cup, world statistics.facts

Android 5.0 L Update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10: When to Expect It

The  much awaited Android L release was introduced earlier last month during Google I/O technology event and now the fans are eagerly waiting for the new Android iteration to hit their devices. Even though Google didn’t officially reveal when the Android 5.0 L update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and other supported devices will be released for the public, we can make estimations based on the company’s previous releases.

The Android 5.0 L release is no doubt the biggest update Google’s mobile operating system has seen since its debut back in 2008. The first thing you’ll notice is probably the new Material Design philosophy which aims to make the interface more intuitive with the help of 3D effects and shadows.

The Android 5.0 L notifications and lock screen have also suffered important changes. The lock screen is now accommodating your notifications and you will be able to interact with them as soon as you pick your smartphone up. Google has also found a clever way to prioritize the notifications you interact with more frequently. The notification bar has been redesigned and the Quick Settings button has vanished. Now, the Quick Settings menu is located one swipe down away from the notification bar. In order to access Quick Settings you will have to swipe down once to bring up notifications, then swipe once more to show Quick Settings toggles.

Quick Settings also introduces “Adaptive Brightness” instead of Auto Brightness, rotation lock shortcut, Do Not Disturb Mode, and it seems that the Android L Developer Preview code also hides some clues about the possibility of changing the Quick Settings toggles.

The status bar will now change color to match the action bar of the app running on the screen, while being transparent in the home and lock screens. The Android 5.0 L multitasking received a new interface that is a reminiscent of the Chrome for Android card-based tabs page. Besides receiving a makeover, the Android 5.0 L multitasking also allows apps to display more than one card.

The new Android iteration also introduces ART instead of the obsolete Dalvik runtime, support for 64-bit processors, USB audio-out, search within Settings menu, and enhanced battery life.

Even though the Mountain View-based company didn’t reveal when the Android 5.0 L update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10 will be released, we strongly believe we will get to see it in flesh sometime mid-fall. So far, Google released two Android updates a year, one in the summer and one mid-fall.

Android L was officially previewed at Google I/O this summer and the Developer Preview is already available for both Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 2013. From now on, Google will probably adopt an Apple-like strategy, intruding new Android iterations developer previews during I/O then make them available for the public in the fall. We are expecting the final version of Android 5.0 L to be released sometime in October, synchronized with the debut of a new Nexus device.

Even though it was rumored that the Nexus program will be discontinued, one of Google’s officials dismissed the rumors. Reports in the industry are talking of an 8.9-inch Nexus tablet manufactured by HTC and codenamed Volantis. If the rumors are to be believed, the tablet will pack a 64-bit enabled Tegra K1 processor, 3 GB of RAM, 8 MP rear-facing camera, 3 MP secondary shooter, and “aluminium zero-gap” construction.

After the Android 5.0 L update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10 will be officially released, the new firmware will also be released for the members of the Google Play Experience tribe in a matter of weeks. Motorola might be one of the first OMEs to update their smartphones to Android 5.0. Furthermore, HTC announce they will update both One M7 and One M8 to Android L within 90 days after they receive the final version from Google.

Android 5.0 L Update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and Nexus 10: When to Expect It

3:04 PM Android L update NEXUS GOOGLE

New research suggests soluble corn fibre may boost calcium absorption

Innovative ingredient may offer one solution for helping adolescents to improve status of two nutrients currently lacking in their diets

Hoffman Estates, IL – Around the globe, fibre and calcium intakes are below the levels recommended by experts^1,2,3contributing to potential long-term public health implications^1,3,4. New research, published this month in theBritish Journal of Nutrition, shows soluble corn fibre (SCF) may not simply boost fibre intake when added to foods, but can also increase the amount of beneficial bacteria present in the gut, while enhancing calcium absorption in adolescents⁵. SCF is a prebiotic fibre that is well tolerated, and is easily incorporated into foods or beverages to boost fibre content. These latest results showing SCF can enhance calcium absorption are significant because during adolescence, a critical time for bone growth, dairy intake tends to decrease, resulting in inadequate calcium intake which is a vital mineral for building and maintaining strong bones.

Researchers studied the potential effect of SCF on calcium absorption and retention in adolescent children with a usual diet that was low in fibre. In a controlled dietary study, adolescent girls and boys who consumed 12g/day fibre from SCF absorbed significantly more calcium (a 12% increase versus a control) than when consuming no SCF. Additionally, the researchers found that when the adolescents consumed SCF, there was an increase in specific strains of beneficial gut bacteria, namely the phylum Bacteroidetes, and these increases were positively correlated with increases in calcium absorption. These results indicate that moderate daily intake of SCF may increase beneficial gut bacteria and also short-term calcium absorption in adolescents who are consuming less than recommended amounts of calcium.

'A decrease in milk consumption among adolescents has led to an increase in deficiency of calcium in the diet, leaving researchers with a particular interest in finding functional foods that can help increase calcium absorption,' stated Connie Weaver, PhD, of Purdue University and lead researcher of the study. 'Dietary factors that enhance bone density and bone mineral content have the potential to contribute to reduced risk of bone fracture later in life.'

If the adolescents in this study had continued to consume SCF, allowing for increased calcium absorption, the researchers estimated that this would lead to additional 41.4 mg/day retained calcium and if persistent over a year would account for an additional 15.1 g of calcium, or about 1.8% of total body calcium.

'On average, people aren't meeting their fibre or calcium intake goals with the foods they currently consume. Adding fibres with functional health benefits to already consumed foods is a realistic and simple way to help address this global public health concern among key age groups,' said Michael Harrison, PhD, Senior Vice President of New Product Development at Tate & Lyle. 'Tate & Lyle has consistently shown a commitment to investing in research that leads to the production of high quality ingredients that allow people to live well and improve their health.'

###

The soluble corn fibre used in the study was added to fruit snacks and provided by Tate & Lyle, a global provider of high-quality, specialty ingredients.

About Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle is a global provider of ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage and other industries, operating from over 30 locations worldwide.

Tate & Lyle operates through two global divisions, Speciality Food Ingredients and Bulk Ingredients, supported by our Innovation and Commercial Development Group. The Group's strategy is to become a leading global provider of Speciality Food Ingredients through a disciplined focus on growth, and by driving Bulk Ingredients for sustained cash generation to fuel this growth.

Speciality Food Ingredients consists of three platforms: Texturants, which includes speciality starches and stabilisers; Sweeteners, which comprises nutritive sweeteners and our range of no-calorie sweeteners including SPLENDA® Sucralose; and our Health and Wellness portfolio which includes speciality fibres and our salt-reduction offering. Additionally, our Food Systems business provides a wide variety of blended ingredient solutions.

Tate & Lyle Bulk Ingredients includes bulk sweeteners, industrial starches and fermentation products (primarily acidulants). Corn co-products from both divisions are primarily sold as animal feed.

Tate & Lyle is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol TATE.L. American Depositary Receipts trade under TATYY. In the year to 31 March 2014, Tate & Lyle sales totalled £3.1 billion. http://www.tateandlyle.com. SPLENDA® is a trademark of McNeil Nutritionals, LLC.

New research suggests soluble corn fibre may boost calcium absorption

8:42 AM calcium, diet, fiber rich food, food

How to install Android L on NEXUS 5 and NEXUS 7

Manual Installation Of Android L on NEXUS 5 and NEXUS 7

Last month Google previewed Android L at I/O, and immediately after, it released the operating system preview to the developers. You however don’t have to be a developer totry out Android L now, and all you need is aNexus 5 smartphone or a Nexus 7 tablet. Hit the break below to check out the step-by-step guide on how to install Android L on your Nexus devices now.

Before we start though, let us warn you that this is a beta version of the OS and has many bugs. Google too warns that this “Android preview system image is not a stable release, and may contain errors and defects that can result in damage to your computer systems, devices, and data.” Having said that if you are still feeling adventurous here are the steps.

Android Debug Bridge (ADB) and Fastboot tools

First off you will need to download and install these two tools, which essentially allow you to send commands to your device from your computer via USB. These tools are generally found in the Android SDK, but the SDK is a huge file and has many things you will not need.

Instead you can download this minimal tool that can be found on the XDA forum. This is a 2MB installer and has both the above mentioned tools. Install the tools in a folder you can easily access.

Android L image

The next step is to download the appropriate Android L image for your Nexus device. You can find the image for Nexus 5 here, and the Nexus 7 here. The image will be downloaded in a .tgz format, and you will need an extractor utility like WinRAR or 7-zip to extract the files from the archive. Extract the files to the same folder that contains the Android ADB and Fastboot tools.

Enable USB debugging

Now, on your smartphone/tablet, head over to the Settings menu and scroll down to About smartphone/tablet. Once inside, tap on the ‘Build number’ tab seven times to unhide the developer options. Press the back button once and you will see the Developer options tab now. Click on the tab and once inside, enable the USB debugging option.

Windows drivers

Once you have enabled USB debugging, Windows will again look for drivers when you connect your device to your computer. To ensure, it uses the latest drivers, install them from here. This step is necessary for your computer to recognize the Nexus device as a developer device.

Head over to Control Panel and click Devices and Printers to look for your device. The Nexus device should be listed there as an ‘Android Composite ADB interface’. If it is not recognized, update the drivers with the one you installed. Check your device as there will be a popup message asking, “Allow USB debugging?” Click on allow and your device is ready.

Fastboot mode

With your device still connected to the computer, power it off. You will need to put it in fastboot mode and there are two methods to choose from. The first method is to press the volume up, volume down and power buttons simultaneously. For the second method double-click on “py_cmd” in the folder you downloaded the tools to open the command prompt. Type ‘adb reboot-bootloader’ — without the quotation marks — to restart your device in fastboot mode.

Unlock Bootloader

By default your device should be in a lock state, which won’t allow you to install the Android L image. To unlock it, type the command ‘fastbook oem unlock’ (without quotations). The device will ask you to confirm if you want to unlock the bootloader, and using the volume rocker move the option to ‘Yes’ and press the power button to select the option.

This step will essentially erase your Nexus device and prep it for the new Android installation.

Installing Android L

Now that the device is prepped, in the command prompt simply type the flash-all command. This will start the process of installing Android L onto your Nexus smartphone or tablet.

How to install Android L on NEXUS 5 and NEXUS 7

7:00 AM ADB, Android debug bridge, Android L, Android L image, Fast boot, Installation, NEXUS, XDA forum

Production Of water from atmospheric air

Extracting Pure water From Atmospheric Humidity

Pure water, not only pure but usable surface water is going to be, or is a big threat to the existing living system on earth. That is the reason now we are spending considerable amount of time and money to find an alternate planet with water and other livable conditions. The scenario may different like, we can migrate to new space or we can transport water from there to our reservoirs. But my gut feeling is, we have spent more time to think, how we can reduce the use of water, how we can avoid wastage of water, and more importantly how we can produce water.



Production of water from air humidity

 

Production of water from atmospheric air

This is a very hot topic to discuss and a lot of research and investment is going on this topic. Even in hot and dry area, there is a lot of moisture available in air. And due to increasing in global warming, the moisture content in the air is going to more in future and surface and ground water availability will go down.

This idea will succeed only if the production cost is nominal and the technology is simple and affordable. In future our main target is developing a renewable source of water and fuel production.

There are mainly two process involve in water production from atmospheric air.

1.    Absorption of humidity from air

2.    Separation and condensation (desorption)

 

Absorption of water from atmospheric air

 


Absorption of atmospheric humidity

In order to make the absorption of the air humidity in the saline solution as efficient as possible, a large interface with the air and a long contact time are necessary. This is done by allowing the saline solution to flow slowly down sorption strings in tower-shaped, naturally ventilated plant modules and to absorb the water from the air. By means of a special design of the sorption strings an efficient mass transfer is achieved and the saline solution is diluted by the substantial absorption of water.

Desorption : distillation and condensation

The water has to be separated from the circulating saline solution (desorbed), and so a distillation process follows. The distillation is effected by means of gravity-assisted, multiple-stage vacuum evaporation. To do this, the saline solution, diluted with water, is subjected to a vacuum, which considerably reduces the evaporation temperatures. The advantage of this is that these temperatures can be achieved with simple solar thermal collectors or also with waste heat. Since the plant works with a negative pressure, it is also possible to use the thermal energy employed several times in various evaporation stages with different pressures. The water vapor produced in the distillation is condensed and can be used as high-quality drinking water.

A combined tower-construction for the sorption and desorption makes it possible to use the gravity of the process flows to create the required vacuum. Energy-intensive vacuum pumps are no longer needed.

This is an exaple of pracal application of the technology Biilsboard that produce water in Peru.

Production Of water from atmospheric air

3:25 PM Drinking water, water from humidity, Water production from air, water purification

Retina Grown In Lab from Human Stem Cells

Human Retina Developed From Genetically  Reprogrammed Human Stem Cells



Retina grown from human stem cells

In new findings listing John Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore published the creation of immature retina in dish from human stem cells. It is believed to be sensitive to lights that mean the cultured retina is sensing the light. That simply means one day in future this development will helps us to restore our vision.

Retinal cells are a type of photoreceptor which respond to lights. This is the first step of converting light in to images. Simply this photoreceptive retinal cell can be compared with the CMOS sensor of your digital camera. The researchers developed a 3D compliment of human retinal tissue in their lab. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), which are adult cells that have been genetically reprogrammed back to their most primitive state. Such cells are capable of developing into most of the 200 cell types in the human body, the team explains, and for their latest study, they were able to turn them into retinal progenitor cells that form light-sensitive retinal tissue lining the back of the eye.

In the experiment, the cells growth resembles the fetus growth in stage and duration. When the cells growth period attained 28 week equivalent, the researchers tested the cell for its photo sensitivity to check whether these cells can sense and transform the light to visual signals. The team tested the retinas by putting an electrode into a single photoreceptor cell and sending a pulse of light to the cell. This reacted in a biochemical pattern similar to the behavior of photoreceptor in humans exposed to light.

It is true that a stem cell cannot grow completely into a retinal cell by their own , but this experiment show at least what they can do. We hope someday we can use this research to lighten the life of many.

 

 

Retina Grown In Lab from Human Stem Cells

3:56 PM

How to Add Schedule of FIFA 2014 to Your Calender

FIFA World cup Brazil Get Schedule In your Phone or any Device through Google Calender

 

 

The FIFA World Cup is only days away and, if you’re just as excited as we are, you’ll want to know when all of the matches kick-off.
So here’s a super-quick guide for adding all of the legendary tournament’s fixtures to your Google Calendar account:
1) Open up the web version and hit the arrow icon just next to the ‘Other Calendars’ option in the sidebar. Select ‘Add by URL’ and then paste the following URL into the dialog box:

https://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/vdmtdcektajkqjk51vvda4ni4k%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic


2) Alternatively, you can head to this page and click the ‘+ Google Calendar’ button in the bottom right-hand corner. You’ll then be whisked across to your personal online calendar, where you can confirm the new additions.

3) Refresh the page and after a few minutes you should see the schedule appear across all of your devices. If you used the first option, the calendar should also update automatically as teams progress and get knocked out.

How to Add Schedule of FIFA 2014 to Your Calender

6:57 AM Brazil 2014, Calender, FIFA, FIFA 2014, Foot ball, Foot ball world cup, Google calendar, Schdule

Why there is a complementary strand?

This one of my ever lasting questions. May be I asked the same to many.. Or I may hear the answer several time. But still now I am not able to get a clarity on it. The question remains the same.. Why there is a complementary strand? Yes of cause I am talking about the DNA.
We are all having double stranded DNA compliment to each other.
Is it really true that only one strand of these DNA get expressed?
Of only. One strand why there is two? OK it is true that it can increase stability. Ya well ,it act as a proof reader to eliminate mismatches during replication. The stability of the structure and function. I really wonder is that the only function of the complimentary strand. What it actually complimenting.
Nearly 70 to 80% genome of guinea pig and human are. Same. Ho! then the so called 30% is responsible for the variation. Is that really means the 70% is some level of basic genetic constitution of all livings. Not may be but its really confusing... More than 30% really.
I need to learn a lot basics.

Why there is a complementary strand?

10:24 PM

Wearable electronic skin that can store,send and receive data

 Electronic Skin: Store ,send and receive data

 

Develop an artificial skin is one of the major challenge. And we are almost achieved the goal by nanotechnology. A wearable synthetic skin that can sense touch , temperature , movement and can response to it. Now we moved little bit ahead with a wearable skin which can store, send and receive data, Nature published the success in their latest edition .

 

The application of this technology is very vast. The initial target is to  use  this synthetic skin with data  to aid patients with movement disabilities. The new improved version of skin can store data, drug, it can receive diagnostic information and can release drug, monitor movement, temperature and send data. The so called 'electronic skin' is a 0.3 mm thick 4 cm long and 2 cm wide stretchable nanomaterial.

 

The trade-off for that memory milestone is that the device works only if it is connected to a power supply and data transmitter, both of which need to be made similarly compact and flexible before the prototype can be used routinely in patients. Although some commercially available components, such as lithium batteries and radio-frequency identification tags, can do this work, they are too rigid for the soft-as-skin brand of electronic device. Even though the data is transmitted  wirelessly, there should be a device that can read the data. The thought of using human body temperature or electric charge is also a thinkable approach to solve the energy requirement.

The electronic skin can also do things that conventional medical sensors cannot. When placed on the throat, for example, it senses spoken words well enough to control a simple computer game. The device might be used to help people with laryngeal diseases communicate, to monitor premature babies, or to enhance the control of prosthetics. Use the skin to induce muscle contractions in regions of the body that have degenerated.

 

More scientific reads :

http://www.nature.com/news/electronic-skin-equipped-with-memory-1.14952

http://news.discovery.com/tech/nanotechnology/electronic-skin-patch-could-treat-diseases-140401.htm

 

 

 

 

       

 

Wearable electronic skin that can store,send and receive data

12:18 PM artificial skin, electric skin, synthetic skin, wearable skin

Artificial Leaf. Will it be the Energy source of the future ?

Artificial Leaf: the new ways of producing energy

At the very beginning of the human race, concurring the energy source was the ultimate target. And still we are racing behind a renewable, affordable energy source. We already witnessed wars and fight for capturing energy sources and witnessed the rise of economical power of the world  from scratch  just becuse of having the natural energy resources.

The world is and will be highly worried about the avaialbility of the natural resources. The depresiation of the resources is really an unforgatable thoughts. But still we are not able to come up with a replaceble source for natural resources. One advantage of liquid fuel is propotrion of stored energy in it  and storage space required.  To use elctric current insted of liquid fuel to fly a flight, just imagine the amount for batteries required to store the power. So the real though is to come up with a real alternate energy source  which is to be efficient, cheap and robust. And it is the ultimate challenge for the existance of the entire humnity.

In recent publication of Nature, discused about a concept of Artificial leaf. This leaf is just not a leaf made of synthetic material, the artifical part is the functionality of the leaf. Yes we are trying to mimic the function of a leaf 'the photosysnthesis'. Ultimately the energy source we are looking for the solar energy.

The concept of artificial photosynthesis goes back to 1912, but the push to achieve it did not start until 1972, when Japanese researchers outlined what a device would need to take in sunlight and use it to split water into oxygen and hydrogen fuel2. Progress was slow. In 1998, Turner reported3 a complete system that showed a major advance — it stored 12% of the incoming solar energy as fuel, compared with 1% of energy stored as biomass in real leaves. But it cost more than 25 times too much to be competitive, and its performance dropped off after 20 hours of sunshine.

In the process, to create a system that is much cheaper than just splitting water with electricity from a solar panel. At the heart of JCAP's artificial-leaf design are two electrodes immersed in an aqueous solution. Typically, each electrode is made of a semiconductor material chosen to capture light energy from a particular part of the solar spectrum, and coated with a catalyst that will help to generate hydrogen or oxygen at useful speeds (see 'Splitting water'). Like many other artificial-photosynthesis devices, JCAP's system is divided by a membrane to keep the resulting gases apart and reduce the risk of an explosive reaction.

Once the water has been split, the hydrogen is harvested. It can be used as a fuel by itself — perhaps in hydrogen-powered cars.

Making any one of the artificial leaf's components work well is a challenge; combining all of them into a complete system is even harder. Much of the difficulty comes down to finding the right materials. Silicon, for instance, makes a good photocathode — the electrode that produces hydrogen gas — but is stable only when the solution around it is acidic. Unfortunately, the situation is reversed with photoanodes, which produce oxygen: the good ones are stable only when the solution is basic, not acidic. And the best catalyst for the oxygen-producing electrode, iridium, is both rare and expensive, which makes it unsuitable for commercial-scale devices.

Light industry

Another entrant in the artificial-photosynthesis field is the Japan Technological Research Association of Artificial Photosynthetic Chemical Process (ARPChem), a consortium of universities and companies that has government funding comparable to JCAP's grant — although over ten years rather than five — to develop a bag-based approach. Kazunari Domen, a chemist at the University of Tokyo and leader of ARPChem's water-splitting group, says that one of the companies in the consortium has been working on a membrane to separate the hydrogen and oxygen products.
Other projects are making photoabsorbers from organic molecules, rather than semiconductors. Some are building molecular assemblies inspired directly by the photosynthetic apparatus of plants. And in the past few years, a class of materials called perovskites has drawn the attention of the solar-photovoltaic community for its high energy-conversion efficiency; some researchers think that the materials also have potential in artificial photosynthesis.
Daniel Nocera, a chemist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, launched Sun Catalytix to develop his work on a low-cost catalyst. But the company announced last year that it has put that research on hold to pursue a less challenging product with prospects of turning a profit for investors sooner. The decision underscores the challenges of bringing a commercially viable artificial-photosynthesis system to market.


 

Artificial Leaf. Will it be the Energy source of the future ?

9:47 PM Artificial leaf, energy, fuel, solar energy, splitting water