Radio waves from from magnetic neutron stars, known as 'magnetars
LONDON: Scientists have detected mysterious bursts of radio waves that last only for a tenth of a blink of an eye, originating billions of light years
away. A single burst of radio emission of unknown origin was detected
outside the Earth's galaxy about six years ago, but no one is certain
what it was or even if it was real. Scientists have spent the last four
years searching for more of these explosive, short-duration radio
bursts.
However, a paper published on Friday
described four more such bursts, removing any doubt that they are real.
The radio bursts last for just a few milliseconds and the furthest one
detected was several billion light years away.
The
international research team rule out terrestrial sources for the four
fast radio bursts and say their brightness and distance suggest they
come from cosmological distances when the universe was just half its current age.
The burst energetics indicate that they originate from an extreme
astrophysical event involving relativistic objects such as neutron stars
or black holes.
Study lead Dan Thornton from England's University of Manchester said the findings pointed to some extreme events involving large amounts of mass or energy as the source of the radio bursts.
Astonishingly, the findings — taken from a tiny fraction of the sky —
also suggest that there should be one of these signals going off every
10 seconds.
Max-Planck Institute director Michael Kramer
said, "With current telescopes we need to be lucky to look at the right
spot at the right time. But if we could view the sky with 'radio eyes'
there would be flashes going off all over the sky every day." The
team,used the CSIRO Parkes 64metre radio telescope in Australia to obtain their results.
Author of the study, professor Matthew Bailes from the Swinburne
University of Technology in Melbourne, thinks the origin of these
explosive bursts may be from magnetic neutron stars, known as
'magnetars'. He said "Magnetars can give off more energy in a
millisecond than our Sun does in 300,000 years and are a leading
candidate for the burst".
However, a paper published on Friday described four more such bursts, removing any doubt that they are real. The radio bursts last for just a few milliseconds and the furthest one detected was several billion light years away.
The international research team rule out terrestrial sources for the four fast radio bursts and say their brightness and distance suggest they come from cosmological distances when the universe was just half its current age.
The burst energetics indicate that they originate from an extreme astrophysical event involving relativistic objects such as neutron stars or black holes.
Study lead Dan Thornton from England's University of Manchester said the findings pointed to some extreme events involving large amounts of mass or energy as the source of the radio bursts.
Astonishingly, the findings — taken from a tiny fraction of the sky — also suggest that there should be one of these signals going off every 10 seconds.
Max-Planck Institute director Michael Kramer said, "With current telescopes we need to be lucky to look at the right spot at the right time. But if we could view the sky with 'radio eyes' there would be flashes going off all over the sky every day." The team,used the CSIRO Parkes 64metre radio telescope in Australia to obtain their results.
Author of the study, professor Matthew Bailes from the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, thinks the origin of these explosive bursts may be from magnetic neutron stars, known as 'magnetars'. He said "Magnetars can give off more energy in a millisecond than our Sun does in 300,000 years and are a leading candidate for the burst".
glove gives voice
Chennai techie's glove gives voice to hand gestures
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synthesized voice|Inventor Vinoth Gurusamy|gestures|finger movements|aerospace engineer from Chennai
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LONDON: In a breakthrough that may help those with severe voice difficulties to communicate, an aerospace engineer from Chennai has created the world's most unique glove that converts simple finger movements into gestures which control speech through a synthesized voice. The user simply wears the glove and moves their fingers in order to articulate more than 1,000 words or commands.
Inventor Vinoth Gurusamy (25), who recently completed his masters in aerospace engineering from the University of Sheffield but is from Chennai, said the glove blends into the users' clothes and is one of the fastest means of communication.
Since last year, Vinoth and his team Kalhana Colombage (25) and Hossein Mohanna (28) have been working closely with a 73-year-old man from Sheffield, William Broad who suffered a stroke in 2010 that left him unable to talk. After wearing the miraculous gloves, the former steel-worker is now able to articulate more than 16 words and phrases including 'I am hungry' , 'I am thirsty' , 'my name is William' , 'thank you' and 'what time is it'.
William's daughter, Keeley Bellamy from Sheffield, said, "The glove is absolutely remarkable and has made such a difference for both dad and for the family." Vinoth is now planning to bring the path breaking glove to India by next year.
Keeping in mind the diversity in the country, Vinoth says the gloves will have multiple language options.
The graduates are now working on increasing the glove's word bank and weeklong battery life. Kalhana, who is currently studying at the University for a PhD in Electronic Engineering, said "The glove weighs approximately 100 grams, has a battery life which lasts one week and costs around £700."
Inventor Vinoth Gurusamy (25), who recently completed his masters in aerospace engineering from the University of Sheffield but is from Chennai, said the glove blends into the users' clothes and is one of the fastest means of communication.
Since last year, Vinoth and his team Kalhana Colombage (25) and Hossein Mohanna (28) have been working closely with a 73-year-old man from Sheffield, William Broad who suffered a stroke in 2010 that left him unable to talk. After wearing the miraculous gloves, the former steel-worker is now able to articulate more than 16 words and phrases including 'I am hungry' , 'I am thirsty' , 'my name is William' , 'thank you' and 'what time is it'.
William's daughter, Keeley Bellamy from Sheffield, said, "The glove is absolutely remarkable and has made such a difference for both dad and for the family." Vinoth is now planning to bring the path breaking glove to India by next year.
Keeping in mind the diversity in the country, Vinoth says the gloves will have multiple language options.
The graduates are now working on increasing the glove's word bank and weeklong battery life. Kalhana, who is currently studying at the University for a PhD in Electronic Engineering, said "The glove weighs approximately 100 grams, has a battery life which lasts one week and costs around £700."
COMMENT:-
ANOTHER USE WILL BE MAKE IT MULTILINGUAL ,AND USED BY TOURISTS IN MANY COUNTRIES WITH DIFF:LANGUAGES; FOR USE OVER PHONES AND VENTRILOQUISM
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