Fans have been peppering Tekken 7 producer Katsuhiro Harada with questions about the recent patch that dropped for the game on PC. The 3GB update added the latest in Denuvo’s anti-tamper DRM, which has been causing some major performance slowdowns for PC gamers. According to Harada, a fix will be coming soon to address the performance issues that Denuvo is causing. https://twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN/st...91954872569857 https://twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN/st...35707209375744 Someone tried to gamesplain to Harada about DRM forcing people to move toward piracy, but Harada was having none of it. He explained that piracy isn’t something he’s concerned about and Denuvo wasn’t his idea. Basically Bandai Namco decided to include Denuvo, but according to Harada it wasn’t something he cared about or seemed to want included in the game. https://twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN/st...30771601022976 As pointed out by legitimate PC customers, the Denuvo update only harms legitimate buyers of Tekken 7 since the crackers and the pirates are going to crack and pirate the game regardless. For now this means that Tekken 7 owners on PC will have to settle for the frame-rate issues and judder when using certain specials, just until the update arrives and the Denuvo problem is fixed, specifically for Akuma, Geese, and Eliza. The user reviews on Steam are currently “Mixed” right now until Namco addresses the problem. A similar issue also occurred with RiME on PC, except Tequila Works promised to remove the DRM if crackers could crack it, and just one day later the crackers cracked the DRM. Thankfully the developers kept to their word and removed Denuvo.

GOOGLE CHROME users can hide all the fraudulent and fake torrents available on The Pirate Bay, thanks to a nifty new script. The Pirate Bay is one of the most popular destinations for torrent users online, holding a place amongst the 100 most-visited websites worldwide. The torrent repository achieved an infamous reputation by hosting torrent files which allowed users to download copyrighted material for free without permission from the rightsholders. There is little vetting when it comes to torrent files on the platform. As a result, in the past, cybercriminals have been able to leverage torrents to spread malware, as well as fraudulent files. Cybersecurity company Siege CEO Jason Syversen told Consumer Reports that there are “very real technical concerns” about downloading content via torrents. Syversen said: “There are some very real technical concerns. “You’re dealing with these shady third-party sites, so it’s a great opportunity for people to insert malware into the BitTorrent client as well as transferring files with malicious content.” https://cdn.images.express.co.uk/img...UK-1307295.jpg Thankfully, an enterprising Reddit user has created a script to highlight – and hide – fake or fraudulent torrents on The Pirate Bay. The Redditor, known as nicobelic, writes: “One of the things I've noticed after having to use Pirate Bay for a while, is the significant amount of fake torrents. “For example if you browse the HD Movies section and sort by seeds, (depending on when their bot ran) you'll see a ton of untrusted torrents with an unrealistic amount of seeds. “The script has a couple options to get rid of these. “The default behaviour is to hide untrusted torrents (torrents without the little pink or green skulls) if they have more than 1000 seeds.” The Google Chrome browser add-on also allows users to “hide porn, french torrents, as well as cams and telesyncs”. Chrome users can download the extension for free on the Web Store. Code: https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/79bg64/i_made_a_chrome_extension_that_automatically/?ref=share&ref_source=link For those who don’t know, torrent files are not in and of themselves intrinsically illegally. But those used to download copyrighted content for free without the permission of the rights holders undeniably are. Torrents do not contain the file you wish to download, but instead, enables your computer to download the requested data in small chunks from a network of online participants. Popular torrent websites like Kickass Torrents, ExtraTorrent and Torrentz.eu have all shutdown within the last year. The Pirate Bay – the most well-known example of a torrent repository – is currently banned in the UK by most Internet Service Providers, or ISPs. Those who download copyrighted content using a torrent site might find themselves the recipient of a warning letter from their broadband provider.

THE largest jail sentence ever has been handed out for Kodi illegal streaming in the UK - here's what you need to know about using the infamous boxes. Kodi software is not illegal, however, this last year has seen their use soar throughout the UK with numerous people utilising illegal third-party add-ons that provide free access to pirated content. Research has suggested that up to 5,000,000 homes in the UK make use of these boxes. But recently we've seen the biggest jail sentence ever handed out related to the use of a Kodi device: a stark warning to other viewers of pirated content. Two men who supplied “Kodi-type” illegal streaming devices have been jailed for four and half years each at Newcastle Crown Court. The two men, John Dodds and Jason Richards, were sentenced by a UK judge after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud. The duo sold hundreds of devices that enabled customers to watch Premier League matches via unauthorised access to Sky Sports, BT Sport or illegal foreign channels. As well as defrauding customers with dodgy channels or illegal access to content, the boxes also regularly didn't work - suffering from signal failure, or failing to tune into channels. Premier League Director of Legal Services Kevin Plumb said: “This is a hugely significant judgment as it provides further evidence that selling these devices is illegal and can result in a prison sentence". This comes after UK charity CrimeStoppers announced a new campaign last year, highlighting the dangers of third-party Kodi addons and the various risks associated with them. That's on top of the fact that their use is illegal and can lead to potential fines and convictions. “Advances in technology have allowed us to enjoy on-screen entertainment in more ways than ever before, with ever-increasing amounts of exciting and original content,” the CrimeStoppers campaign begins. “However, some people are avoiding paying for this content by using modified streaming hardware devices, like a set-top box or stick, in conjunction with software such as illegal apps or add-ons, or illegal mobile apps which allow them to watch new movie releases, TV that hasn’t yet aired, and subscription sports channels for free.” "From movies that have not been released yet in the UK, TV programmes that haven’t aired yet or that are only being shown on subscription channels, to pay-per-view offerings, and subscription sports channels. "If other people pay for the content you are watching for free, then you are watching illegally. However, the campaign by CrimeStoppers is intended to do more than warn against their use because of the legality. "Illegal streams are a safety and security risk. When subscribing to content you could be giving real criminals your personal information; risking identity theft, your bank account or your home network being hacked, and your online passwords being compromised. "Also, illegal streaming devices have failed a number of both UK and EU safety checks and standards - safety testing has shown that most of the components that make up these boxes would not pass EU safety regulations, meaning they could put you/your family at risk." Remarkably, CrimeStoppers also highlighted that you could be funding organised crime "You may think you’re getting a bargain if you buy a box or stick that is fully-loaded with Kodi software and illegal apps or add-ons, or if you subscribe to a service that offers them through your laptop or mobile device. "However, you could also be helping to fund organised crime and bringing it into your community." Chief Constable Giles York, National Police lead for Intellectual Property also added: “To the consumer Illegal Streaming Devices (ISDs) might appear to be a good thing, but with clear links to organised crime where does your money actually go? "There have been a number of convictions now and work is currently ongoing to identify those organised groups in the UK making huge profits and avoiding tax by supplying poor quality and unsafe devices to consumers. "Each individual that is willing to accept that ‘it’s OK to get access to services without paying’ undermines the creative industries of the UK and there could come a time when those losses mean catastrophic results to the companies concerned and individuals employed by those industries. "Would you book a taxi ride and then expect not to pay?” This follows on from recent warnings that some Kodi boxes could be carrying potentially fatal risks. Researchers conducted a series of product safety tests on a number of popular Kodi-style streaming boxes – and found 100 per cent failed to meet national electrical safety regulations. Their report states: “Several of the samples were considered to offer a potential risk of injury to the user, which includes risk of electric shock and/or fire. “The product review relates primarily to the switched mode power supply units for the connection to the mains supply, which were supplied with the devices, to identify any potential risks to consumers such as electric shocks, heating and resistance to fire. Product Safety Manager at Electrical Safety First, Steve Curtler told the Independent: “This year consumers thinking about buying an illegal streaming device for Christmas need to know that by plugging them into their TV they could potentially be putting themselves, their home and their family at risk. “We urge anyone with one of these devices to unplug it and stop using it immediately. “Not only are these devices breaking the law, but they could be putting your loved ones at risk.”

Back in 2012, the FBI, Department of Justice, and other domestic and foreign entities teamed up to seize three sites that pirated Android apps: Applanet, AppBucket, and SnappzMarket. The fallout for some of the operators of those sites was known within about 18 months of the unprecedented crackdown. For the then-teenager behind Applanet, the largest of the three offending sites, the consequences were not determined until this week: He'll avoid prison time but will be placed under probation with some special conditions. Aaron Buckley, who was an enterprising 15-year-old when he launched Applanet from his parents' home in Mississippi, pleaded guilty to two counts of his indictment: conspiracy to commit copyright infringement and criminal copyright infringement. The Northern District Court of Georgia announced on April 11th that Buckley, now in his mid-20s, will be placed under three years' probation and will also be put into a home-incarceration program for 365 days. He will also have to complete 20 hours of community service, work toward his GED, pay a $200 "special assessment" fee, and refrain from owning a firearm or possessing a controlled substance. Buckley's attorney pushed for a lenient sentence from US District Judge Timothy Batten, framing Buckley's life since launching the site for pirated Android apps as one of community work and taking a leadership role in a support community for LGBT teenagers. He also spoke of unspecified difficulties in Buckley's personal life. "I really respect the government and the judge in their sentencing and am extremely grateful that they took into account all concerns of my health and life situation in regards to possible sentences," Buckley told TorrentFreak. "I am just glad to have another chance to use my time and skills to hopefully contribute to society in a more positive way as much as I am capable thanks to the outcome of the case."

Liberia’s Industrial Property Office or LIPO says it is ready to celebrate this year’s World IP Day with series of activities aimed at creating massive awareness about intellectual property in the country. World IP Day is celebrated April 26 each year. LIPO will use this year’s celebration to continue awareness and sensitization campaign under the theme: “Piracy is a Public Enemy for our Economic Growth, Stop Piracy to Empower Innovation and Creativity.” Clifford B. Robinson, Chairman on the IP day celebration committee in a press statement over the weekend explained that activities for this year’s celebration include IP clinic, an IP business workshop and an indoor program for 25 & 26 April at the YMCA Conference Hall, commencing with a street parade. World IP Day – a day on which the global IP community joins with others to acknowledge the fundamentally important role of IP in promoting innovation and development throughout the world. “The IP clinic is a day set aside to enlighten members of the creative sector on the legal framework of intellectual property within and outside of the border, the essence of moral and economic rights and how IP can be used as a wealth of creation”, the release says. According to Chairman Robinson, the next day (April 26), will be the official World IP day celebration that will focus on educating stakeholders on the economic benefits of IP, saying, “Awareness is the key to building an environment where right holders’ rights will be protected and this two day awareness period, is just in continuation of what we have already started.” On March 22, LIPO began its first-ever nationwide awareness aimed at helping copyright holders, the police, customs officers and the general public to understand the IP law. The awareness, held separately at the US Embassy in Monrovia and the headquarters of the Liberia National Police (LNP), brought together over 100 participants from diverse backgrounds, including copyright holders, who were educated on the 2016 IP law, the process of filling in applications and its benefits in a bid to reduce the number of infringements. Recently, the new Intellectual Property Law, which aims to prevent counterfeit in all sectors, including providing ownership of artistic works, inventions, and academic research, among others, was approved by the Liberian Legislature. The new Act, a.k.a. the Liberia Intellectual Property Act, was passed on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, by the House of Representatives to concur with the Liberian Senate. Lawmakers, unanimously approved the Act owing to a report from the Joint Committee on Commerce and Industry and Judiciary, with the Committee on Commerce and Industry serving as the lead Committee. Press Release.

From the moment the first people came online, the Internet has been used to share information. Over the years this evolved from simple text-based commands, to point-and-click uploads of hours of video. Pirates are often at the forefront when it comes to finding new ways to share content, eager to expand their horizons. But how much has really changed over the years? While piracy today is more widespread than ever, the urge to share content online has been around for several decades. The first generation used relatively primitive tools, such as a bulletin board systems (BBS), newsgroups or IRC. Nothing too fancy, but they worked well for those who got over the initial learning curve. When Napster came along things started to change. More content became available and with just a few clicks anyone could get an MP3 transferred from one corner of the world to another. The same was true for Kazaa and Limewire, which further popularized online piracy. After this initial boom of piracy applications, BitTorrent came along, shaking up the sharing landscape even further. As torrent sites are web-based, pirated media became even more public and easy to find. At the same time, BitTorrent brought back the smaller and more organized sharing culture of the early days through private trackers. These communities often focused on a specific type of content and put strict rules and guidelines in place. They promoted sharing and avoided the spam that plagued their public counterparts. That was fifteen years ago. Today the piracy landscape is more diverse than ever. Private torrent trackers are still around and so are IRC and newsgroups. However, most piracy today takes place in public. Streaming sites and devices are booming, with central hosting platforms offering the majority of the underlying content. That said, there is still an urge for some pirates to band together and some use newer technologies to do so. This week The Outline ran an interesting piece on the use of Telegram channels to share pirated media. These groups use the encrypted communication platform to share copies of movies, TV shows, and a wide range of other material. Telegram allows users to upload files up to 1.5GB in size, but larger ones can be split, in common with the good old newsgroups. These type of sharing groups are not new. On social media platforms such as Facebook and VK, there are hundreds or thousands of dedicated communities that do the same. Both public and private. And Reddit has similar groups, relying on external links. According to an administrator of a piracy-focused Telegram channel, the appeal of the platform is that the groups are not shut down so easily. While that may be the case with hyper-private groups, Telegram will still pull the plug if it receives enough complaints about a channel. The same is true for Discord, another application that can be used to share content in ‘private’ communities. Discord is particularly popular among gamers, but pirates have also found their way to the platform. While smaller communities are able to thrive, once the word gets out to copyright holders, the party can soon be over. This is also what the /r/piracy subreddit community found out a few days ago when its Discord server was pulled offline. This triggered a discussion about possible alternatives. Telegram was mentioned by some, although not everyone liked the idea of connecting their phone number to a pirate group. Others mentioned Slack, Weechat, Hexchat and Riot.im. None of these tools are revolutionary. At least, not for the intended use by this group. Some may be harder to take down than others, but they are all means to share files, directly or through external links. What really caught our eye, however, were several mentions of an ancient application layer protocol that, apparently, hasn’t lost its use to pirates. “I’ll make an IRC server and host that,” one user said, with others suggesting the same. And so we have come full circle… Tagged in:

FunSharing (FSC) News - Maintenance, April 17th Just a quick heads up funsharers, on the 17th at 04:00 a.m. GMT the site will be down for maintenance for a few hours. The irc is not affected by this but annbot won't work so we'll open the channel until the site is back.

Game needed to be toned down for its console release. Hellish horror game Agony was due out on March 30, but it was delayed late in the day and developer Madmind Studio hasn't yet announced a new release date. Part of the reason is that all the violence, torture and nudity is making it difficult for the team to get the age rating that they want. In a Kickstarter post Madmind explained that, after speaking with age-rating companies, it's had to tone down certain sections of the game in order to obtain a Mature rating, rather than an Adult Only (AO) rating. An AO rating would mean the game couldn't release on consoles. The studio says that all versions of the game will be the same, so the PC version will be toned down too. However, it has also confirmed a "special, optional patch for PC that will remove the aforementioned 'censorship'", which players will be able to download after release. The patch won't be available on consoles, so Madmind is offering Kickstarter backers that paid for the console game a chance to switch to the PC version. The more, the merrier. As for what will actually be censored, Madmind is keeping quiet to avoid spoilers, but it says that everything that's been shown off in the trailer will remain in the game. That means you can still expect a haunting, gory time in Hell with plenty of impaling, eye-gouging and a terrifying Red Goddess.

Source: DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory In this illustration, the trajectory of cosmic microwave background (CMB) light is bent by structures known as filaments that are invisible to our eyes, creating an effect known as weak lensing captured by the Planck satellite (left), a space observatory. Researchers used computers to study this weak lensing of the CMB and produce a map of filaments, which typically span hundreds of light years in length. Scientists have decoded faint distortions in the patterns of the universe's earliest light to map huge tubelike structures invisible to our eyes -- known as filaments -- that serve as superhighways for delivering matter to dense hubs such as galaxy clusters. The international science team, which included researchers from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and UC Berkeley, analyzed data from past sky surveys using sophisticated image-recognition technology to home in on the gravity-based effects that identify the shapes of these filaments. They also used models and theories about the filaments to help guide and interpret their analysis. Published April 9 in the journal Nature Astronomy, the detailed exploration of filaments will help researchers to better understand the formation and evolution of the cosmic web -- the large-scale structure of matter in the universe -- including the mysterious, unseen stuff known as dark matter that makes up about 85 percent of the total mass of the universe. Dark matter constitutes the filaments -- which researchers learned typically stretch across hundreds of millions of light years -- and the so-called halos that host clusters of galaxies are fed by the universal network of filaments. More studies of these filaments could provide new insights about dark energy, another mystery of the universe that drives its accelerating expansion. Filament properties could also put gravity theories to the test, including Einstein's theory of general relativity, and lend important clues to help solve an apparent mismatch in the amount of visible matter predicted to exist in the universe -- the "missing baryon problem." "Usually researchers don't study these filaments directly -- they look at galaxies in observations," said Shirley Ho, a senior scientist at Berkeley Lab and Cooper-Siegel associate professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon University who led the study. "We used the same methods to find the filaments that Yahoo and Google use for image recognition, like recognizing the names of street signs or finding cats in photographs." The study used data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, or BOSS, an Earth-based sky survey that captured light from about 1.5 million galaxies to study the universe's expansion and the patterned distribution of matter in the universe set in motion by the propagation of sound waves, or "baryonic acoustic oscillations," rippling in the early universe. The BOSS survey team, which featured Berkeley Lab scientists in key roles, produced a catalog of likely filament structures that connected clusters of matter that researchers drew from in the latest study. Researchers also relied on precise, space-based measurements of the cosmic microwave background, or CMB, which is the nearly uniform remnant signal from the first light of the universe. While this light signature is very similar across the universe, there are regular fluctuations that have been mapped in previous surveys. In the latest study, researchers focused on patterned fluctuations in the CMB. They used sophisticated computer algorithms to seek out the imprint of filaments from gravity-based distortions in the CMB, known as weak lensing effects, that are caused by the CMB light passing through matter. Since galaxies live in the densest regions of the universe, the weak lensing signal from the deflection of CMB light is strongest from those parts. Dark matter resides in the halos around those galaxies, and was also known to spread from those denser areas in filaments. "We knew that these filaments should also cause a deflection of CMB and would also produce a measurable weak gravitational lensing signal," said Siyu He, the study's lead author who is a Ph.D. researcher from Carnegie Mellon University -- she is now at Berkeley Lab and is also affiliated with UC Berkeley. The research team used statistical techniques to identify and compare the "ridges," or points of higher density that theories informed them would point to the presence of filaments. "We were not just trying to 'connect the dots' -- we were trying to find these ridges in the density, the local maximum points in density," she said. They checked their findings with other filament and galaxy cluster data, and with "mocks," or simulated filaments based on observations and theories. The team used large cosmological simulations generated at Berkeley Lab's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), for example, to check for errors in their measurements. The filaments and their connections can change shape and connections over time scales of hundreds of millions of years. The competing forces of the pull of gravity and the expansion of the universe can shorten or lengthen the filaments. "Filaments are this integral part of the cosmic web, though it's unclear what is the relationship between the underlying dark matter and the filaments," and that was a primary motivation for the study, said Simone Ferraro, one of the study's authors who is a Miller postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley's Center for Cosmological Physics. New data from existing experiments, and next-generation sky surveys such as the Berkeley Lab-led Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) now under construction at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona should provide even more detailed data about these filaments, he added. Researchers noted that this important step in sleuthing the shapes and locations of filaments should also be useful for focused studies that seek to identify what types of gases inhabit the filaments, the temperatures of these gases, and the mechanisms for how particles enter and move around in the filaments. The study also allowed them to determine the length of filaments. Siyu He said that resolving the filament structure can also provide clues to the properties and contents of the voids in space around the filaments, and "help with other theories that are modifications of general relativity," she said. Ho added, "We can also maybe use these filaments to constrain dark energy -- their length and width may tell us something about dark energy's parameters."

Source: University of Michigan In an advance that could grime-proof phone screens, countertops, camera lenses and countless other everyday items, a materials science researcher at the University of Michigan has demonstrated a smooth, durable, clear coating that swiftly sheds water, oils, alcohols and, yes, peanut butter. In an advance that could grime-proof phone screens, countertops, camera lenses and countless other everyday items, a materials science researcher at the University of Michigan has demonstrated a smooth, durable, clear coating that swiftly sheds water, oils, alcohols and, yes, peanut butter. Called "omniphobic" in materials science parlance, the new coating repels just about every known liquid. It's the latest in a series of breakthrough coatings from the lab of Anish Tuteja, U-M associate professor of materials science and engineering. The team's earlier efforts produced durable coatings that repelled ice and water, and a more fragile omniphobic coating. The new omniphobic coating is the first that's durable and clear. Easily applied to virtually any surface, it's detailed in a paper published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. Tuteja envisions the new coating as a way to prevent surfaces from getting grimy, both in home and industry. It could work on computer displays, tables, floors and walls, for example. "I have a 2-year-old at home, so for me, this particular project was about more than just the science," Tuteja said. "We're excited about what this could do to make homes and daycares cleaner places, and we're looking at a variety of possible applications in industry as well." He says the new coating is the latest result of the team's systematic approach, which breaks with the traditional materials science "mix-and-see" approach. By mapping out the fundamental properties of a vast library of substances, they're able to mathematically predict how any two will behave when they're combined. This enables them to concoct a nearly endless variety of combinations with very specifically tailored properties. "In the past, researchers might have taken a very durable substance and a very repellent substance and mixed them together," Tuteja said. "But this doesn't necessarily yield a durable, repellent coating." They discovered that even more important than durability or repellency is a property called "partial miscibility," or the ability of two substances to mix together in exactly the right way. Chemicals that play well together make a much more durable product, even if they're less durable individually. Tweaking the miscibility of this particular coating posed a special challenge. To make a versatile coating that's optically clear and smooth enough to repel oils and alcohols, the team needed to find a repellent ingredient and a binder with exactly the right amount of miscibility, as well as the ability to stick to a wide variety of substrates. They also needed a coating that would stay smooth during processing and drying. "You can repel water with a rough surface that creates tiny pockets of air between the water and the surface, but those surfaces don't always repel oils or alcohols because of their lower surface tension," Tuteja said. "We needed a very smooth surface that interacts as little as possible with a variety of liquids, and we also needed ingredients that mix together very well, because too much phase separation between ingredients will scatter light." Ultimately, the team discovered that a mix of fluorinated polyurethane and a specialized fluid-repellent molecule called F-POSS would do the job. Their recipe forms a mixture that can be sprayed, brushed, dipped or spin-coated onto a wide variety of surfaces, where it binds tightly. While the surface can be scratched by a sharp object, it's durable in everyday use. And its extremely precise level of phase separation makes it optically clear. "The repellent and binder mix together well enough to make a clear coating, but there's a very small amount of phase separation between them," said Mathew Boban, a materials science and engineering graduate researcher and an author on the paper. "That separation allows the F-POSS to sort of float to the surface and create a nice repellent layer." Tuteja believes that the coating will be inexpensive by the time it sees the mass market -- fluorinated polyurethane is an inexpensive, common ingredient. And while F-POSS is rare and expensive today, manufacturers are in the process of scaling it up to mass production, which should dramatically lower its cost. The research team is also doing further studies to ensure that the coating is nontoxic for use in places like daycare centers. Tuteja estimates that the coating could go to market within the next two years, and he believes childproof coatings are just the beginning. The coating could also be used in refrigeration, power generation and oil refining -- all industries that depend on the condensation of liquids. The new coating could enable equipment to slough off condensed water and chemicals more quickly, increasing efficiency by up to 20 percent. That's a game changer, as those industries are some of the world's most high-volume and energy-intensive.

Source: California Institute of Technology fMRI is used to highlight select implant sites in the somatosensory cortex. Electrodes implanted in this region were able to stimulate neurons that produced physical sensations, like a squeeze or tap, in the arm of a paralyzed man. For the first time, scientists at Caltech have induced natural sensations in the arm of a paralyzed man by stimulating a certain region of the brain with a tiny array of electrodes. The patient has a high-level spinal cord lesion and, besides not being able to move his limbs, also cannot feel them. The work could one day allow paralyzed people using prosthetic limbs to feel physical feedback from sensors placed on these devices. The research was done in the laboratory of Richard Andersen, James G. Boswell Professor of Neuroscience, T&C Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center Leadership Chair, and director of the T&C Chen Brain-Machine Interface Center. A paper describing the work appears in the April 10 issue of the journal eLife. The somatosensory cortex is a strip of brain that governs bodily sensations, both proprioceptive sensations (sensations of movement or the body's position in space) and cutaneous sensations (those of pressure, vibration, touch, and the like). Previous to the new work, neural implants targeting similar brain areas predominantly produced sensations such as tingling or buzzing in the hand. The Andersen lab's implant is able to produce much more natural sensation via intracortical stimulation, akin to sensations experienced by the patient prior to his injury. The patient had become paralyzed from the shoulders down three years ago after a spinal cord injury. Two arrays of tiny electrodes were surgically inserted into his somatosensory cortex. Using the arrays, the researchers stimulated neurons in the region with very small pulses of electricity. The participant reported feeling different natural sensations -- such as squeezing, tapping, a sense of upward motion, and several others -- that would vary in type, intensity, and location depending on the frequency, amplitude, and location of stimulation from the arrays. It is the first time such natural sensations have been induced by intracortical neural stimulation. "It was quite interesting," the study participant says of the sensations. "It was a lot of pinching, squeezing, movements, things like that. Hopefully it helps somebody in the future." Though different types of stimulation did indeed induce varying sensations, the neural codes governing specific physical sensations are still unclear. In future work, the researchers hope to determine the precise ways to place the electrodes and stimulate somatosensory brain areas in order to induce specific feelings and create a kind of dictionary of stimulations and their corresponding sensations. The next major step, according to Andersen, is to integrate the technology with existing neural prosthetics. In 2015, Andersen's laboratory developed brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) to connect a prosthetic robotic arm to electrodes implanted in the region of the brain that governs intentions. In this way, a paralyzed man was able to utilize the prosthetic arm to reach out, grasp a cup, and bring it to his mouth to take a drink. Connecting the device with the somatosensory cortex would create bidirectional BMIs that would enable a paralyzed person to feel again, while using prosthetic limbs. "Currently the only feedback that is available for neural prosthetics is visual, meaning that participants can watch the brain-controlled operation of robotic limbs to make corrections," says Andersen. "However, once an object is grasped, it is essential to also have somatosensory information to dexterously manipulate the object. Stimulation-induced somatosensory sensations have the potential added advantage of producing a sense of embodiment; for example, a participant may feel over time that the robotic limb is a part of their body."

Source: Yale University Orange dots represent the gut bacterium E. gallinarum in liver tissue. Bacteria found in the small intestines of mice and humans can travel to other organs and trigger an autoimmune response, according to a new Yale study. The researchers also found that the autoimmune reaction can be suppressed with an antibiotic or vaccine designed to target the bacteria, they said. The findings, published in Science, suggest promising new approaches for treating chronic autoimmune conditions, including systemic lupus and autoimmune liver disease, the researchers said. Gut bacteria have been linked to a range of diseases, including autoimmune conditions characterized by immune system attack of healthy tissue. To shed light on this link, a Yale research team focused on Enterococcus gallinarum, a bacterium they discovered is able to spontaneously "translocate" outside of the gut to lymph nodes, the liver, and spleen. In models of genetically susceptible mice, the researchers observed that in tissues outside the gut, E. gallinarum initiated the production of auto-antibodies and inflammation -- hallmarks of the autoimmune response. They confirmed the same mechanism of inflammation in cultured liver cells of healthy people, and the presence of this bacterium in livers of patients with autoimmune disease. Through further experiments, the research team found that they could suppress autoimmunity in mice with an antibiotic or a vaccine aimed at E. gallinarum. With either approach, the researchers were able to suppress growth of the bacterium in the tissues and blunt its effects on the immune system. "When we blocked the pathway leading to inflammation, we could reverse the effect of this bug on autoimmunity," said senior author Martin Kriegel, M.D. "The vaccine against E. gallinarum was a specific approach, as vaccinations against other bacteria we investigated did not prevent mortality and autoimmunity," he noted. The vaccine was delivered through injection in muscle to avoid targeting other bacteria that reside in the gut. While Kriegel and his colleagues plan further research on E. gallinarum and its mechanisms, the findings have relevance for systemic lupus and autoimmune liver disease, they said. "Treatment with an antibiotic and other approaches such as vaccination are promising ways to improve the lives of patients with autoimmune disease," he said.

Source: University of Zurich Slight differences can be found in the inner ear of different populations of modern humans. The early migration of humans out of Africa and across the world can be proven using genetic and morphological analyses. However, morphological data from the skull and skeleton often only allow limited conclusions to be drawn about the geographical dispersal pattern, especially because of the many ways in which the human skeleton adapts to local environmental conditions. Now, an international team of researchers led by paleoanthropologists from the University of Zurich has shown that the morphology of the inner ear is a good indicator for population history and human dispersal. Differences within a population greater than between populations The hearing and balance system in humans, as in all vertebrates, is housed in a cavity system in the base of the skull -- the bony labyrinth of the inner ear. The researchers analyzed the labyrinth structures in human populations from southern and northern Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and America, including as far south as Patagonia, using computed tomography to obtain high-resolution 3-D data of the bony labyrinth. The data showed that the shape of the labyrinth varied greatly, with the variation within a population being considerably greater that the variation between populations. "This typically human variation pattern is also known from comparative genetic data. It shows that all humans are very closely related and have their roots in Africa," explains UZH anthropologist Marcia Ponce de León. Morphology of the labyrinth correlates with dispersal distance from Africa The team further discovered that the 3-D shape of the labyrinth contained important information about the global dispersal of humans from the African continent. The further away a population is geographically from South Africa, the more the shape of the labyrinth differs from that of the South African population. Moreover, the labyrinth data confirm the findings from DNA analyses which show that the genetic distance increases in correlation with the geographical distance from Africa. The team further discovered that the 3-D shape of the labyrinth contained important information about the global dispersal of humans from the African continent. The further away a population is geographically from South Africa, the more the shape of the labyrinth differs from that of the South African population. Moreover, the labyrinth data confirm the findings from DNA analyses which show that the genetic distance increases in correlation with the geographical distance from Africa. Conclusions about inner-continental dispersal history can be drawn The labyrinth data also indicate population movements within the continents. For example, the labyrinth shapes of prehistoric populations on the Sunda Islands (Indonesia) are similar to those of the indigenous people of Papua and Australia, while today's population mainly migrated from the Malay archipelago. On the other hand, the labyrinth data also reveals that today's Europeans and Japanese mainly have their roots in the respective local populations of the Neolithic Period. Incidental genetic changes do not have functional effect The new results are surprising because it was previously assumed that the shape of the labyrinth was mainly determined by its function. It has now been shown that despite the very high functional requirements for balance and hearing, nature tolerates an astonishingly wide variation in the labyrinth structure. "This is probably due to random changes in the genetic material. Such changes may have few or no functional consequences, but the associated structural changes provide a record of human dispersal and evolution history," summarizes the paper's last author Christoph Zollikofer, professor of anthropology at UZH. Computed tomography data should be acquired before DNA extraction The compact bone that surrounds the labyrinth is also interesting for paleogenetics as it contains a large amount of DNA. This gives rise to an acute conflict of interests: While computed tomographic investigations are non-invasive, the process of DNA collection damages the labyrinth. "Paleogenetics is a rapidly growing research field and hundreds of labyrinths from archaeological skeleton collections have already been milled to dust without first being documented," says Christoph Zollikofer. The research team therefore wants to ensure that computed tomographic data is routinely obtained before bones are released for DNA extraction. "These data form an invaluable archive of the history of fossil hominid and modern human populations," concludes Marcia Ponce de León.

Source: University of Manchester Jaw bone of giant ichthyosaur. The 205 million-year-old jaw bone of a prehistoric reptile belongs to 'one of the largest animals ever' say a group of international palaeontologists. The new discovery has also solved a 150 year old mystery of supposed 'dinosaur bones' from the UK. The bone belongs to a giant ichthyosaur, a type of prehistoric aquatic reptile, and experts estimate the length of this specimen's body would have been up to 26 metres. Approaching the size of a blue whale. Fossil collector and co-author of the study, Paul de la Salle, found the bone on the beach at Lilstock, Somerset in May 2016. He later returned to the site and found even more pieces that together measured about one metre in length. Paul said "Initially, the bone just looked like a piece of rock but, after recognising a groove and bone structure, I thought it might be part of a jaw from an ichthyosaur and immediately contacted ichthyosaur experts Dean Lomax (University of Manchester) and Prof. Judy Massare (SUNY College at Brockport, NY, USA) who expressed interest in studying the specimen. I also contacted Dr Ramues Gallois, a geologist who visited the site and determined the age of the specimen stratigraphically. Lomax and Massare identified the specimen as an incomplete bone (called a surangular) from the lower jaw of a giant ichthyosaur. The bone would have made up only a portion of the entire skull. They compared it with several ichthyosaurs and visited the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada, and examined the largest ichthyosaur known, the shastasaurid Shonisaurus sikanniensis, which is 21 m long. They found similarities between the new specimen and S. sikanniensis which suggest the Lilstock specimen belongs to a giant shastasaurid-like ichthyosaur. "As the specimen is represented only by a large piece of jaw, it is difficult to provide a size estimate, but by using a simple scaling factor and comparing the same bone in S. sikanniensis, the Lilstock specimen is about 25% larger. Other comparisons suggest the Lilstock ichthyosaur was at least 20-25 m. Of course, such estimates are not entirely realistic because of differences between species. Nonetheless, simple scaling is commonly used to estimate size, especially when comparative material is scarce." Added Lomax. In 1850, a large bone was described from the Late Triassic (208 million-years-old) of Aust Cliff, Gloucestershire, UK. Four other similarly incomplete bones were also found and described. Two of them are now missing and presumed destroyed. They have been identified as the limb bones of several dinosaurs (stegosaurs and sauropods), indeterminate dinosaurs and other reptiles. However, with the discovery of the Lilstock specimen, this new study refutes previous identifications and also the most recent assertion that the Aust bones represent an early experiment of dinosaur-like gigantism in terrestrial reptiles. They are, in fact, jaw fragments of giant, previously unrecognised ichthyosaurs. Dean added: "One of the Aust bones might also be an ichthyosaur surangular. If it is, by comparison with the Lilstock specimen, it might represent a much larger animal. To verify these findings, we need a complete giant Triassic ichthyosaur from the UK -- a lot easier said than done!"

A new recipe might be able to help power and provide food protein to large regions of the world -- and simultaneously remove carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere.An unconventional mélange of algae, eucalyptus and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage appears to be a quirky ecological recipe. But, scientists from Cornell University, Duke University, and the University of Hawaii at Hilo have an idea that could use that recipe to help power and provide food protein to large regions of the world -- and simultaneously remove carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere. "Algae may be the key to unlocking an important negative-emissions technology to combat climate change," said Charles Greene, Cornell professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and a co-author of new research published in Earth's Future, by the American Geophysical Union. "Combining two technologies -- bio-energy with carbon capture and storage, and microalgae production -- may seem like an odd couple, but it could provide enough scientific synergy to help solve world hunger and at the same time reduce the level of greenhouse gases that are changing our climate system," Greene said. Based on an idea first conceptualized by co-author Ian Archibald of Cinglas Ltd., Chester, England, the scientists call the new integrated system ABECCS, or algae bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. The system can act as a carbon dioxide sink while also generating food and electricity. For example, a 7,000-acre ABECCS facility can yield as much protein as soybeans produced on the same land footprint, while simultaneously generating 17 million kilowatt hours of electricity and sequestering 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year. The ABECCS system's economic viability depends on the value of the nutritional products being produced and the price of carbon. Even without a price on carbon, microalgae production -- in a fish-farming, aquacultural sense -- is commercially viable today if the algae are priced as a fishmeal replacement in aquafeeds. "In the future, as the price of carbon increases, ABECCS has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in an environmentally sustainable and profitable way," said Greene, who is a fellow at Cornell's Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.

Date: April 11, 2018 Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute Ferrets have an outer brain layer that is large and folded -- similar to that of humans. A new genetically engineered ferret has a smaller brain (right 3-D rendering) than a normal ferret (left) and may offer clues about brain development in humans. A genetically engineered ferret could help reveal how humans got their big brains. By inactivating a gene linked to abnormally small brain size in humans, researchers have created the first ferret with a neurological mutation. Although the original impetus of the work was to study human brain disease and development, says Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator Christopher Walsh, the results also shed light on how the human brain expanded during the course of evolution. "I'm trained as a neurologist, and study kids with developmental brain diseases," says Walsh, of Boston Children's Hospital. "I never thought I'd be peering into the evolutionary history of humankind." He and colleagues, along with Byoung-Il Bae's lab at Yale University, report the work April 11, 2018, in the journal Nature. Usually, the outer layer of the human brain, called the cerebral cortex, is large and highly folded. But things can go wrong when the embryonic brain is being built, resulting in a much smaller cortex. This occurs in microcephaly, a condition where babies have significantly smaller heads and brains than normal. Microcephaly can have a genetic root, and has also been linked to recent outbreaks of the Zika virus. Researchers have identified genes that play a role in the condition, some of which are essential for cerebral cortex growth during embryonic development. Mutations in a gene called ASPM, for example, reduce the size of a human brain by up to 50 percent, making it about the same size as a chimpanzee's brain. Scientists have studied microcephaly in mice to better understand the condition in humans, but learning about human disorders from mice can be tricky. A mouse brain is a thousand times smaller than a human brain, and lacks several kinds of brain cells that are abundant in humans. Inactivating Aspm in mice shrinks their brains by only about 10 percent. It's such a subtle defect that these animals, called Aspm knockout mice, provide limited insight into human cortical development, says Walsh, who leads the Allen Discovery Center at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. This prompted Bae and Walsh's team to genetically inactivate, or "knock out," Aspm in a mammal with a larger, more convoluted cortex, more like that of humans. Ferrets fit that bill because they are a large-brained mammal that breeds quickly and easily, Walsh says. "On the face of it, ferrets may seem a funny choice, but they have been an important model for brain development for thirty years." Still, scientists haven't done much research on ferret genetics. The whole idea of an Aspm knockout ferret was considered new -- and a little risky. In 2013 Walsh pitched his project to HHMI and got the budget boost he needed to make it happen. His team's Aspm knockout ferret is only the second knockout ferret ever created. One of the study's coauthors, John Engelhardt of the University of Iowa, made the first nearly 10 years ago to study cystic fibrosis. Walsh, Bae, and their colleagues discovered that their ferrets model human microcephaly much more accurately than do mice. The ferrets displayed severely shrunken brains, with up to 40 percent reduced brain weight. And, as in humans with the condition, cortical thickness and cell organization were preserved. What's more, the ferrets reveal a possible mechanism for how human brains have grown over evolutionary time. Over the last seven million years, human brain size has tripled. Most of this expansion has occurred within the cerebral cortex. Indeed, in the mutant ferrets, researchers traced the cerebral cortex deficits to a type of stem cell called outer radial glial cells (ORGs). ORGs are created by stem cells capable of making all sorts of different cells in the cortex. Walsh's team found that Aspm regulates the timing of the transition between these stem cells and ORGs. This affects the ratio of ORGs to other types of cells. Thus, tweaking Aspm can actually dial up or down the number of nerve cells in the brain, Walsh says, without having to change many genes all at once. That's a clue that the gene could have played a role in the evolution of the human brain. "Nature had to solve the problem of changing the size of the human brain without having to reengineer the whole thing," Bae says. Aspm codes for a protein that is part of a cellular complex called the centriole. Walsh and colleagues found that knocking out this gene disturbs the centriole's organization and function, suggesting an underlying biochemical mechanism for the brain deficits seen in the ferrets. In humans, a few genes associated with centriole proteins, including ASPM, have undergone recent evolutionary changes. These genes might even be important for distinguishing humans from Neanderthals and our closest living relatives, chimpanzees, Walsh says. Overall, he says, the study demonstrates the advantages of using ferrets to study some human neurological disorders. It also points to new mechanisms at work in the brain development of individuals and in species like humans over evolutionary time. "It makes sense in retrospect," Walsh says. "The genes that put our brains together during development must have been the genes that evolution tweaked to make our brains bigger."

Date: April 12, 2018 Source: Garvan Institute of Medical Research These new findings will fundamentally change thinking about how the immune system protects us. The 'bad apples' of the immune system are also its secret weapon, according to major Australian research published today in the world-leading journal Science. In a world first, scientists from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research have revealed how a population of 'bad' antibodies in the immune system -- which are usually 'silenced' because they can harm the body -- can provide crucial protection against invading microbes. The research was carried out in mice. The 'bad' antibodies are known to react against the body's own tissues and can cause autoimmune disease. For this reason, it was once thought that they were discarded by the immune system or that they were made inactive in the long term. However, the new findings show for the first time that 'bad' antibodies go through a rapid 'redemption' process and are activated when the body is faced with a disease threat that other antibodies cannot tackle. As a result, the 'redeemed' antibodies no longer threaten the body, but instead become powerful weapons to fight disease -- and particularly diseases that evade the immune system by disguising themselves to look like normal body tissue. Professor Chris Goodnow, who co-led the new research with A/Prof Daniel Christ (both Immunology Division, Garvan), says the new findings will fundamentally change thinking about how the immune system protects us. "We once thought that harmful antibodies were discarded by the body -- like a few bad apples in the barrel -- and no one had any idea that you could start with a 'bad' antibody and make it good. "From these new findings, we now know that every antibody is precious when it comes to fighting invading microbes -- and this new understanding means that 'bad' antibodies are a valuable resource for the development of vaccines for HIV, and for other diseases that go undercover in the body." This study was made possible by the generosity of The Bill and Patricia Ritchie Foundation, and through funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia). Carrying out the immune system's toughest task The new research appears to solve an enduring mystery that has puzzled scientists for decades: How does the immune system attack invading microbes that look almost identical to the body's own molecules, without mounting an attack on the body at the same time? Campylobacter, HIV and others are particularly problematic targets for the immune system because they have evolved to appear almost identical to the body's own molecules; they are 'wolves in sheep's clothing'. This makes it difficult for the immune system to attack them, because it systematically avoids using antibodies that can attack 'self'. To understand how the immune system recognizes these 'wolves in sheep's clothing', scientists from the Garvan Institute zeroed in on a mysterious army of immune cells in the bloodstream. 'Bad' antibodies are hiding inside silenced B cells The silenced cell army contains millions of immune cells known as B cells -- which produce antibodies to fight diseases. Unlike other B cells, though, the cells of this army pose a danger to the body. This is because they can make 'bad' antibodies, which can attack 'self' and cause autoimmune disease. For this reason, they are kept in a long-term silenced state (known as anergy). Professor Chris Goodnow discovered the silenced cells 30 years ago -- and has been working to understand their function ever since. "The big question about these cells has been why they are there at all, and in such large numbers," says Prof Goodnow. "Why does the body keep these cells, whose antibodies pose a genuine risk to health, instead of destroying them completely, as we once thought?" The new findings appear to answer that question, showing that selected cells in the army can be reawakened to fight invaders -- but only once their 'bad' antibodies are made good. "We've shown that these silenced cells do have a crucial purpose, says Deborah Burnett, a PhD student at Garvan whose work forms the basis of the study. "Far from 'clogging up' the immune system for no good reason, they're providing weapons -- bad apples made good -- to fight off invaders whose 'wolf in sheep's clothing tactics make it almost impossible for the other cells of the immune system to fight them." Three tiny DNA changes turn bad into brilliant Working with a sophisticated preclinical mouse model, which was developed at Garvan by Prof Rob Brink (Immunology Division) and his team, the researchers showed that the silenced cells can produce antibodies when they encounter an invader that appears highly similar to 'self'. Crucially, before the cells attack, the antibodies they make are first redeemed through tiny alterations to their DNA sequence. This ensures the antibody that each cell makes no longer attacks 'self', but rapidly becomes a 5000 times more potent weapon against the invading foreigner. Remarkably, in the model system tested, only three DNA changes were needed to transform antibodies from dangerous cells to effective weapons against disease: a first change to stop the antibody from binding to 'self', and a further two changes to increase their ability to specifically bind the invader. At the atomic level, a dimple makes the difference In experiments conducted at the Australian Synchrotron, the research team showed how the three DNA changes rearrange the tips of the antibody in defined ways, so that it becomes much better at recognising the foreign molecule and worse at recognising 'self'. In particular, the redeemed antibody fits neatly around a nanoscale 'dimple' that is present on the foreign molecule but is absent on self. "This research has taken us on an exciting journey," says A/Prof Christ. "Not only have we uncovered a new kind of immunity, we've been able to confirm precisely how a bad antibody can be made good. "Crucially, these redeemed antibodies are by no means a fall-back option. In fact, our findings show the opposite -- that antibodies made by tweaking 'bad' antibodies can be even better than those developed through established pathways." Towards better vaccines Our findings indicate that theres a whole class of B cells out there -- the silenced B cells -- that might be accessible for vaccine development, and that we have so far largely ignored, A/Prof Christ says. Dr Burnett adds, "We're hoping that, instead of ignoring this population of silenced B cells, researchers will in the future consider targeting these cells when they're developing vaccines, particularly against targets such as HIV, which disguise themselves as 'self'."

A study of 135 SF State University students found that the heaviest smartphone users were the most depressed, anxious and lonely. Smartphones are an integral part of most people's lives, allowing us to stay connected and in-the-know at all times. The downside of that convenience is that many of us are also addicted to the constant pings, chimes, vibrations and other alerts from our devices, unable to ignore new emails, texts and images. In a new study published in NeuroRegulation, San Francisco State University Professor of Health Education Erik Peper and Associate Professor of Health Education Richard Harvey argue that overuse of smart phones is just like any other type of substance abuse. "The behavioral addiction of smartphone use begins forming neurological connections in the brain in ways similar to how opioid addiction is experienced by people taking Oxycontin for pain relief -- gradually," Peper explained. On top of that, addiction to social media technology may actually have a negative effect on social connection. In a survey of 135 San Francisco State students, Peper and Harvey found that students who used their phones the most reported higher levels of feeling isolated, lonely, depressed and anxious. They believe the loneliness is partly a consequence of replacing face-to-face interaction with a form of communication where body language and other signals cannot be interpreted. They also found that those same students almost constantly multitasked while studying, watching other media, eating or attending class. This constant activity allows little time for bodies and minds to relax and regenerate, says Peper, and also results in "semi-tasking," where people do two or more tasks at the same time -- but half as well as they would have if focused on one task at a time. Peper and Harvey note that digital addiction is not our fault but a result of the tech industry's desire to increase corporate profits. "More eyeballs, more clicks, more money," said Peper. Push notifications, vibrations and other alerts on our phones and computers make us feel compelled to look at them by triggering the same neural pathways in our brains that once alerted us to imminent danger, such as an attack by a tiger or other large predator. "But now we are hijacked by those same mechanisms that once protected us and allowed us to survive -- for the most trivial pieces of information," he said. But just as we can train ourselves to eat less sugar, for example, we can take charge and train ourselves to be less addicted to our phones and computers. The first step is recognizing that tech companies are manipulating our innate biological responses to danger. Peper suggests turning off push notifications, only responding to email and social media at specific times and scheduling periods with no interruptions to focus on important tasks. Two of Peper's students say they have taken proactive measures to change their patterns of technology use. Recreation, Parks and Tourism major Khari McKendell closed all of his social media accounts about six months ago because he wanted to make stronger face-to-face connections with people. "I still call and text people but I want to make sure that a majority of the time I'm talking to my friends in person," he said. Senior Sierra Hinkle, a Holistic Health minor, says she has stopped using headphones while out walking in order to be more aware of her surroundings. When she's out with friends, they all put their phones in the center of the table, and the first one to touch theirs buys the drinks. "We have to become creative and approach technology in a different way that still incorporates the skills we need but doesn't take away from real-life experience," said Hinkle.

Source: University of California - San Diego The gripper can also porous objects, like this rock. A team of California researchers has developed a robotic gripper that combines the adhesive properties of gecko toes and the adaptability of air-powered soft robots to grasp a much wider variety of objects than the state of the art. Researchers will present their findings at the 2018 International Conference on Robotics and Automation May 21 to 25 in Brisbane, Australia. The gripper can lift up to 45 lbs. and could be used to grasp objects in a wide range of settings, from factory floors to the International Space Station. Geckos are known as nature's best climbers because of a sophisticated gripping mechanism on their toes. In previous work, researchers at Stanford University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory recreated that mechanism with a synthetic material called a gecko-inspired adhesive. This material was used primarily on flat surfaces like walls. In the current work, researchers joined forces with engineers at the University of California San Diego. The team coated the fingers of a soft robotic gripper with the gecko adhesive, allowing it to get a firmer grasp on a wide range of objects, including pipes and mugs, while still being able to handle rough objects like rocks. The gripper can also grasp objects in various positions, for example gripping a mug at many different angles. Researchers demonstrated that the gripper could grasp and manipulate rough, porous and dirty objects, such as volcanic rocks -- a task that is typically challenging for gecko adhesives. It also was able to pick up pieces of large, cylindrical pipe -- a task typically difficult for soft robotic grippers. "We realized that these two components, soft robotics and gecko adhesives, complement each other really well," said Paul Glick, the paper's first author and a Ph.D. student in the Bioinspired Robotics and Design Lab at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego. The gecko is one of nature's best climbers, thanks to millions of microscopic hairs, with features about 20 to 30 times smaller than a human hair, that allow it to climb on virtually any surface. The hairs end in tiny nanostructures that interact at the atomic level with molecules on the surface the gecko is trying to grip. This interaction, powered by what is called van der Waals forces, causes the gecko's toes to easily attach and detach as needed. Researchers at JPL use synthetic materials and similar arrays of microscopic features to harness the power of van der Waals forces and showed these adhesives retained many of the same properties as the toes of animal that inspired them. Because gecko adhesives are powered by molecular interactions between surfaces, they work best when they have a large contact surface area. Coating the inside of the soft robotic fingers with these adhesives maximizes the amount of surface area they make contact with, ensuring a better grip. The engineering team solves two different problems in this paper. First, researchers at UC San Diego set about making sure that the gripper's fingers would maintain constant contact with the surface of any object. A common problem with air-powered soft fingers is that they tend to bulge in the middle when inflated, reducing this surface contact. Glick found a study from the 1970s that provided the equations needed to solve the problem in the design process. This allowed researchers to make the gripper apply the correct forces along the entire length of the fingers. Secondly, the researchers focused on distributing forces on surfaces that aren't flat to optimize the performance of gecko-inspired adhesives. The researchers found a way to distribute force along a soft, flexible gripper, while maintaining the manufacturing precision required for the adhesives. The team did this by using a high-strength fabric embedded in the finger that can easily bend but resists stretching to support larger loads. The fingers are rigidly clamped to a base, which keeps the easily stretchable silicone from deforming beyond what is needed. This combination of soft and stiff materials lets the gripper conform to many objects while withstanding large forces. The gecko adhesives themselves are made in a three-step process. An original master gecko adhesive mold with millions of microscopic structures is made in a clean room using a photolithography process. Then, wax copies of the master mold can be made at low cost. The researchers then can make as many copies of the adhesive sheets from the wax mold as they often as want by using a process called spin coating. This allows them to make 10 to 20 adhesive sheets in under an hour. Meanwhile, the soft robotic gripper itself is cast in 3D print molds and is made of silicone-based rubber. Next steps in the research include developing algorithms for grasping that take advantage of the adhesives, and investigating the use of this gripper for zero-gravity and space operations.

The vivo Y71 has been quietly announced in India with information about it being sent out to retailers. It packs a 5.99-inch 720x1440px LCD of the trendy 18:9 aspect ratio. At its heart the Y71 has a Snapdragon 450 chipset with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage that can be expanded via the microSD card slot. There's a 13MP main camera and 5MP front-facing one. That second snapper doubles as a Face Unlock scanner, which might come in handy as there's no fingerprint sensor to be found on the vivo Y71. To complete the package come a 3,360 mAh battery, Android Oreo and LTE support. The Y71 is priced at INR 10,990 (€135) and will be available in major stores across India soon.

Although you can still purchase the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones from various retailers like Best Buy and Amazon, Google will no longer sell them. After consumers noticed the phones have been removed from the online Google Store, the search giant confirmed yesterday that it has decided to stop selling the original Pixel and Pixel XL. Instead, customers are now recommended to buy the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, Google's latest Android flagships, which will most likely be replaced next year by the new wave of smartphones the company plans to reveal later in 2018. If you're still looking to buy a Pixel XL, you can pick one up from Best Buy for $500 outright or $19.99 per month for 24 months (Verizon model). Also, the original Pixel is still up for sale on Amazon for $385 and it comes unlocked (32GB model). You can also try eBay if you want better deals, but the bottom line is you'll no longer be able to buy the original Pixel and Pixel XL directly from Google, so don't look for them in the Store.

Samsung just officially unveiled the Galaxy J7 Duo (2018) in India. The midranger will become available on April 12 for INR 16,990 or around €210 and will be trimmed in either Gold or Black. As expected the Galaxy J7 Duo (2018) comes with 5.5" Super AMOLED screen of HD resolution, a 13MP + 5MP dual camera at the back and an 8MP selfie snapper - all three sit behind bright f/1.9 aperture lenses. The battery is a 3,000mAh unit. Software is based on Android 8.0. The Galaxy J7 Duo (2018) has an octa-core Exynos 7 Series processor with 4GB of RAM. Storage is 32GB built-in but is expandable through the microSD card slot. There's a fingerprint scanner on the front, an FM Radio, 3,000mAh battery and optional dual SIM. There's no mention of the Galaxy J7 Duo (2018) having Bixby support, although that was found in a leaked manual recently. There's no dedicated Bixby button so we'll assume the virtual assistant isn't on board.

Google’s stock dialer for Android is the “Phone” app and it gets updated regularly via the Play Store. In February, it was updated to support Google transcriptions on voicemails for T-Mobile customers. Also, the Phone app was updated to integrate Duo video calls by Google, directly from the dialer. Today, Google is releasing the Phone app on its Beta channel, offering anyone a chance to check out new features before they roll out to everyone. According to Android Police, Google does not recommend that you sign up for the Beta using a Google account that is tied to your main smartphone. There is currently no notable difference between the Beta and stable releases of the app, though it will likely change over the next few days.

ZTE has unveiled the its first Z18 Series smartphone - the Z18 mini. The phone is an upper midranger with a Snapdragon 660 chipset, 6GB of RAM, a 24MP f/1.7 + 5MP dual camera at the back and an 8MP f/2.0 front-facing unit with an 80-degree wide angle field of view. The Nubia Z18 mini is built around a 5.7-inch 2160x1080px 18:9 IPS LCD and has a glass sandwich body with Gorilla Glass either side of an aluminum frame. The Z18 mini is among the most colorful phones around with the choice of White, Black, Light Blue, Purple and Pink. There's a special ZTE-designed AI inside the Z18 mini, called NeoSmart AI and it comes with a dedicated voice button. The back camera can do portrait shots while the front one can scan up to 106 facial points to use for facial unlock. If that's not your thing there's also a fingerprint scanner on the back. The ZTE Nubia Z18 mini pre-oders in China start today and actual orders will be delivered on April 19. The 64GB model will cost CNY 1,799 (€230) and the 128GB one will cost CNY 2,099 (€270). The Limited Provence Edition (the one in Purple) will cost CNY 2,199 (€280). There's no info on availability outside of China just yet.

The Samsung Galaxy Note9 may have to launch early, but there is still time for some improvements. This is based on rumors coming out of Weibo from normally reliable leaksters, but we'd wait on some official sources before we're sure (the Brazilians love leaking battery capacities). The new Note may be slightly larger at 6.4” and of the same aspect ratio. It’s a small change, but it will widen the gap between the Galaxy S9+ and Note9. Whether there will be a fingerprint reader beneath this display is a whole different matter and we’ve seen many contradicting rumors. Anyway, the increase in battery size will be more substantial, growing from the 3,300 mAh of the outgoing model to 3,850 mAh or even 4,000 mAh. The Note9 will use the same chipsets as the S9 duo (we already saw the Snapdragon 845 version do Geekbench), but the larger battery should offer an upgrade to endurance.