POLE-DANCING ROBOTS SHOW OFF THEIR MOVES

Pole-dancing robots built by Briton Giles Walker perform at a Las Vegas gentlemen’s club on Monday. The event was held to coincide with CES International. Walker said the robo-strippers were an expression about surveillance, power and voyeurism

(TOI)

BITCOIN PRICE SURGE CAN PUT OUR SMART HOMES AT RISK

Aatif Sulleyman

People’s homes could come under attack as a consequence of bitcoin’s price surge, a cyber security expert has warned.

“Cryptojacking” incidents, in which people’s devices are quietly hijacked and forced to mine digital currencies for other people, are on the rise. However, it’s not just regular computers that are at risk.

Other internet-connected devices around the home — seemingly harmless items such as smart thermostats, light bulbs and cameras — could be targeted, and victims might not even notice they’d been attacked until they saw their electricity bills inflate.

Cryptocurrency mining requires a lot of processing power, and therefore a lot of energy.

“Any device that is ‘smart’ now has the three key ingredients to provide the cyber bad guy with everything they need — internet access, power and processing,” Neil Haskins, the director of advisory services for EMEA at cyber security firm IOActive, told The Independent.

It’s fairly easy to work out if your computer is being used for mining, as it will slow down significantly and the battery will drain rapidly. “When could you detect this, at the end of the month when you get an electricity bill? Instead of £50 a month, it’s now £150,” says Haskins.

“And how do you diagnose the issue? You complain to the power company, they show you the usage and it’s correct. Your home really is consuming that power, even if it isn’t you doing it.”

If they manage to pull off such an attack successfully, they’re likely to try it again.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect your home, says Haskins. “Consider the entry point for most cyber bad guys. Generally, it’s your desktop, laptop or mobile device. Ensure you have suitable security products running on these devices, make sure they are patched to the correct levels, and be conscious of the websites you are visiting. If you control the available entry points, you will go a long way to protecting your home.” THE INDEPENDENT

(TOI)

NOW YOU CAN BE CITIZEN OF FIRST SPACE NATION

Now, you can be citizen of first space nation

Scientists Launch Asgardia To Protect Earth, Foster Peace And Open Up Cosmos For Commerce

Scientists have launched the first new space nation.

And anyone can become a citizen of it.

The new space nation of Asgardia hopes to save the human race twice over. First, it will look to protect it from warfare in space; and second it will try and keep humanity safe from the dangers coming from outside of atmosphere, protecting us from threats like space debris and asteroid collisions.

Those behind Asgardia hope that creating the country is the first step of a new era in the space age. And they intend to start that by sending rockets into the sky . The country will send its first satellite into space in 2017. From there, Agardia hopes to “open up access to space for commerce, science and peoples of all countries on earth“. The scientists behind the plan launched it in Paris this week, and named it after the city of skies that was ruled by Odin from Valhalla in Norse mythology .

It is being led by Igor Ashurbeyli, who leads the Aerospace International Research Center in Vienna and is chairman of Unesco's science of space committee. But Asgardia was created in consultation with “globally renowned scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and legal experts“, according to those behind it.

The country is hoping to become a fully recognised country, said Ashburbeyli. And when it does so it will be able to promote values central to scientists, he claimed.

“Asgardia is a fully-fledged and independent nation, and a future member of the United Nations -with all the attribu tes this status entails,“ he said in a statement. “The essence of Asgardia is `Peace in Space', and the prevention of Earth's conflicts being transferred into space. “Asgardia is also unique from a philosophical aspect --to serve entire humanity and each and everyone, regardless of his or her personal welfare and the prosperity of the country where they happened to be born.“

The country will allow for anyone to apply for citizenship.

“Any human living on Earth can become a citizen of Asgardia,“ the site's citizenship page reads. It includes a link to a form to join the country, which is done just by handing over your first name, last name, email and country .

But the new project also hopes that it can completely change the idea of the nation state. It hopes to create a new framework for how space activities are regulated and owned, changing who's responsible for what goes on there and how it can be governed.

But the project hopes to keep people on Earth more safe, too. One of the project's first initiatives will be to create a protective shield that keeps human kind from “cosmic manmade and natural threats to life on earth such as space debris, coronal mass ejections and asteroid collisions“.

Scientists have warned repeatedly that those threats are being underestimated.Scientists have warned that there are thousands of pieces of debris that could crash down to Earth, and that coronal mass ejections coming from the Sun could potentially wipe out all communications on Earth.

(Toi)

HIGHER-STATUS PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO WHINE

Higher-status people are more likely to whine

Workers With Better Education And Income More Stressed & Less Happy Than Lower-Income Ones: Study

Money and education confer plenty of ad vantages in life, and re search has long shown that people who have them live healthier, longer lives and tend to have more stable, lessmonotonous jobs. But they also report feeling a lot more stress at work than people with lower salaries and fewer degrees, a recent study found.

To measure stress levels during the work day , Penn State University researchers gave 122 workers living in a northeast US city Palm Pilots to carry with them on the job.Several times a day , the handheld computers prompted them to rate how stressed and how happy they felt. The idea was to measure stress in real time, rather than ask people at the end of the day , when other factors such as commutes or family obligations might influence their stress levels.

People with higher incomes and levels of education reported being about 28% more stressed and 8.3% less happy overall than workers with lower incomes and levels of education did, according to Matthew Zawadzki, now a professor at University of California-Merced, who wrote the study with Penn State professors Sarah Damaske and Joshua Smyth.

In addition to reporting be ing more stressed and less happy from moment to moment, those higher-status workers -that is, those in the top fifth of a combined measure of income and education, tending to earn at least $100,000 (approx. Rs 66.85 lakh, as on Wednesday) a year -also reported having more trouble meeting the demands of their jobs.

“These individuals who report higher stress are probably individuals who simply have more authority or decision-making duties than oth ers,“ said University of Toronto sociology professor Scott Schieman, who was not involved in the study but called it “important“ research.

The study's results certain ly don't mean low-status workers have it easier. Obviously , low-status jobs can create all sorts of problems for workers, such as making it more difficult for them to pay bills.“Even though that's caused by work, maybe it's a stressor you can leave behind for the moment when you get to work,“ said Damaske. She and her coauthors found in a 2014 study that people with lower incomes tended to report more stress at home than at work the opposite of what higher-income people reported.

Stress and happiness are also pretty subjective feelings, and people express their moods and deal with stress in different ways. Could it be that higher-status people are just more likely to whine when things don't go their way?

More research is needed, Damaske said, but the study contains a clue: In addition to answering questions, the subjects also submitted saliva so her team could measure their levels of the stress-related hormone, cortisol -and those levels didn't indicate significantly more stress among betterpaid workers.

 (toi)

INSTA FASHION STARS EARNING UP TO £60K PER POST

Insta fashion stars earning up to £60k per post

Some of the fashion world's most influential tastemakers are making up to £60,000 (approximately Rs 49.7 lakh, as on Sunday) for a single Instagram post.

A recent Vogue debate over fashion bloggers being paid to wear outfits has shone the spotlight on the world of sponsored posts and lucrative endorsements.

After being called “pathetic“, “ridiculous“ and “embarrassing“, a number of influencers have argued that this type of work is no different from a glossy magazine exchanging advertising space for cash. Susie Bubble tweeted: “Bloggers who wear paid-for outfits or borrowed clothes are merely doing the more overt equivalent of that editorial-credit system.“

Speaking anonymously , one social media branding guru said that the going rate for many fashion bloggers was £20,000 (approx. Rs 16.6 lakh) per sponsored Instagram post -but some can earn three times that.

It has made a one-time hobby into an incredibly lucrative pasttime. Vlogging sensation Zoe Sugg, for example, started her YouTube channel in 2009 and has accrued 9.5 million followers on Instagram. She now earns a reported £50,000 (Rs 41.4 lakh) a month wage and has a net worth of around £3m (approx. Rs 24.9 crore).

Those with clout in the world of high-end fashion can earn a lot more.

Candace Fremder, senior account director at PR firm Thrsxty , said: “Influencers provide an immediate channel for brands to connect with their desired consumer in a genuine way . In today's landscape, consumers are more likely to buy a product recommended by a trusted social media star than one promoted via traditional advertising channels.“

 

 (toi)

THESE MEN HAVE SWORN OFF SEX WITH WOMEN

These men have sworn off sex with women

Tens of thousands of men have formed a real-life online community called MGTOW, or Men Going Their Own Way. Their first rule?

Abandoning all romantic relationships with women. On Reddit alone, some 15,000 readers are subscribed to the MGTOW page which declares it is for “men going our own way by forging our own identities and paths to self-defined success; cutting through collective ideas of what a man is.“

Other websites including MGTOW.com are also dedicated to what they see as each man's fight for sovereignty of himself. And despite their hatred for women, homosexuality isn't accepted, either. Posts on the Reddit page offer an insight into their world: They range from worrying that future sex bots will be hacked by central government, to encouraging men to divorce their wives. They also debate how “even men in Hollywood“ are “cuckold ed“ and wronged by women.

The more you scroll, the darker it becomes. One recent post described how women “fake orgasms often, because it makes men more submissive“.Another talked of “ditching“ his “blue pill friends“. Others proudly declare that they are still virgins. “I want sex and company , but I don't wantcan't put in the effort to get it,“ wrote another user on the MGTOW.com forum.

The MGTOW community has a pretty clear set of expectations for themselves and the wider world that are based in meninism: a counteraction to feminism which sees women's rights directly disadvan tage men.

While feminists might argue that their movement aims to help both men and women break free of harmful gender stereotypes, meninists disagree.

To them, men are the victims of heterosexual relationships, compa rable to a horse with a cart strapped it its back. MGTOWs borrow heavily from pop-culture to explain their beliefs, particularly the film The Matrix where the Chosen One chooses to reject his blinkered “blue pill“ life in favour of the awareness offered by the “red pill“.

The ultimate goal for MGTOWs is total freedom from societal constraints -known as level four.

“Level 0“ involves “taking the red pill“ and recognising gender equality is a sham. Level one sees a man rejecting long-term relationships but engaging in sexual encounters, which he will reject in level two.

As the MGTOW movement is entangled with alt-right and libertarian politics, the third step sees the man focusing on earning money in order to sustain himself.

Their heroes? The so-called herbivore men of Japan who have no interest in finding long-term female partner.

(toi)

TECH GIANTS' GOAL: PROTECT US, OUR JOBS FROM ROBOTS

Tech giants' goal: Protect us, our jobs from robots

Amazon, Facebook, Google, IBM And Microsoft Unite To Ease Public Fear Of Machines

Five major technology com panies have created an or ganization to set the gro und rules for protecting humans -and their jobs -in the face of rapid advances in artificial intelligence. The Partnership on AI, unites Amazon, Facebook, Google, IBM and Microsoft in an effort to ease public fears of machines that are learning to think for themselves and perhaps ease corporate anxiety over the prospect of government regulation of this new technology .

The organization has been created at a time of significant public debate about artificial intelligence technologies that are built into a variety of ro bots and other intelligent systems, including self-driving cars and workplace automation. The industry group introduced a set of basic ethical standards for engineering development and scientific research that its five members have agreed upon.

In a conference call on Wednesday , five artificial intelligence researchers representing the companies said they thought the technology would be a major force in the world for social and economic benefits, but they acknowledged the potential for misuse in a wide variety of ways.

They said their effort was not intended to be an enforcement organization to force technology companies into self-regulation. Rather, they want to foster “public understanding“ and set “best practices“ for work in artificial intelligence. “We passionately believe in the potential for it to transform in a positive way our world,“ said Mustafa Suleyman, head of applied AI for DeepMind, an artificial intelligence development company acquired by Google in 2014.“We believe it's critical now to start to think about new models of engagement with the public, new models of collaboration across the industry and new models of transparency around the work that we do.“

The group released eight tenets that are evocative of Isaac Asimov's original “Three Laws of Robotics,“ which appeared in a science fiction story in 1942. The new principles include high-level ideals such as, “We will seek to ensure that AI technologies benefit and empower as many people as possible.“

Nevertheless, at least one of the tenets implies that the companies realize they could be drawn into sticky ethical situations, and it calls on engineers to oppose the use of artificial intelligence technology in weapons or other tools that could be used to violate human rights.

“With the hyperbole about AI over the last two to four years, there have been concerns in an echo chamber of anxiety that the government itself will be misinformed,“ said Eric Horvitz, managing director for Microsoft Research. The researchers said they were talking with other companies like Apple and research laboratories like a nonprofit research group OpenAI about participating in their organization.

(toi)

SELFIE ADDICTS MAY NOT MAKE GOOD PARTNERS

Selfie addicts may not make good partners

Good news for anyone who has ever twitched with rage at the friend who constantly posts selfies of their apparently perfect life online: the biggest offenders could be damaging their romantic relationships. Researchers in the United States are working to understand how selfies affect our self-perception, and the quality of our romantic relationships. The team behind an initial study entitled “The online ideal persona vs the jealousy effect“ found that the more selfies a couple take, the more likely they will view their relationship as a “lower quality“. They pinned this down to jealousy stemming from the comments about the pictures, as well as the creation of an “online ideal persona“ that was different to real-life. Other studies have also revealed how social media surveillance of a roman tic partner is associated with greater jealousy , insecurity, and dissatisfaction in relationships.

Their findings follow a previous study by the same team at Boston University which found that that those who were more narcissistic take more selfies, but that the photos also boosted feelings of self-importance.

To make those findings, the researchers at Boston University and the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile surveyed 314 people aged between 18 to 65-years-old, and again a year later.The respondents were asked to rank on a one-to-five scale questions including “I like to be the centre of attention,“ “I will never be satisfied until I get all that I deserve,“ and “I like to look at myself in their mirror,“ according to Pacific Magazine. The researchers also asked how frequently the participants took and shared photos of themselves on social media.

(TOI)

 

Happy People Have Healthy Partners

Happy people have healthy partners

Cheerful Spouses Give Stronger Social Support, Indulge In Healthier Activities, Make Life Easy

Having a happy spouse may be related to better health, at least among middle-aged and older adults, according to a new study .

Involving 1,981 heterosexual couples in the US, middleaged and above, the study helped researchers conclude that people with happy spouses were much likelier to be healthy than those with unhappy partners. This occurred above and beyond the person's own happiness, the researchers said.

“This finding significantly broadens assumptions about the relationship between happiness and health, suggesting a unique social link,“ said William Chopik, an assistant professor of psychology at Michigan State University .

“Simply having a happy partner may enhance health as much as striving to be happy oneself,“ said Chopik, the principal investigator of the study.

Previous research suggests happy people are generally healthy people, but Cho pik wanted to take it one step further by exploring the health effects of interpersonal relationships.

He said there are at least three potential reasons why having a happy partner might enhance a person's health, irrespective of one's own happiness.

Happy partners likely provide stronger social support, such as caretaking, as compared to unhappy partners, who are more likely to be focused on their own stress factors, the researchers said.

Cheerful partners may get unhappy people involved in activities and environments that promote good health, such as maintaining regular sleep cycles, eating nutritious food and exercising, they said. Being with a happy partner should make a person's life easier, even if not explicitly happier.

“Simply knowing that one's partner is satisfied with his or her individual circumstances may temper a per son's need to seek self-destructive outlets, such as drinking or drugs, and may more generally offer contentment in ways that afford health benefits down the road,“ Chopik said.

The study examined the survey information of couples aged 50 to 94, including happiness, self-rated health and physical activity over a six-year period. The results showed no difference between husbands and wives.

Nearly 84% of the respondents were White, 8% AfricanAmerican, and 6% Hispanic.The participants answered questions about their health, including level of physical impairment, chronic illnesses and level of physical activity , as well as any concerns regarding their spouse's health.

(TOI)

Sex Makes Men More Likely to Believe In God

Sex makes men more likely to believe in God

Oxytocin Released Boosts Feeling Of Religiousness

Hormones released while hav ing sex can increase spiritu ality and belief in God, scientists have claimed.

According to the research, release of oxytocin not only promotes social bonding and helps childbirth in women, but also stimulates increased feelings of religiousness.

A research team from US's Duke University carried out a study in which they boosted levels of oxytocin in middle-aged men and found increased self-reported spirituality on two separate measures. The effect remained significant even a week later. A control group who received a placebo did not report higher levels of spirituality . Those who received the hormone also reported more positive emotions during meditation.

Patty Van Cappallen, a social psychologist and the lead author of the study said, “Spirituality and meditation have each been linked to health and well-being. We were interested in understanding biological factors that may enhance those spiritual experiences,“ she said. “Oxytocin appears to be part of the way our bodies support spiritual beliefs.“

The results were published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. Oxytocin is produced in the hypothalamus, and previous research has indicated the hormone may play a role in promoting empathy , trust, social bonding and altruism.

The group who received oxytocin were more likely to report that spirituality was important in their lives and that life has meaning and purpose. This remained true after taking into account whether the participant belonged to an organised religion or not.

The participants who received the hormone also gave more positive responses to statements, including “all life is interconnected“ and “there is a higher plane of consciousness or spirituality that binds all people“. However, Van Cappellen warned the findings should not be over-generalised.“Oxytocin does seem to affect how we perceive the world and what we believe.“

(TOI)

Order a daddy? App lets women pick sperm donor

Order a daddy? App lets women pick sperm donor

Delivers Sample To Fertility Clinic

A mobile app has been launched that allows women to select a sperm donor based on characteristics, including race, nationality and eye colour.

London Sperm Bank Donors, dubbed “order a daddy“ app, lets users narrow down their search by giving them the option to browse through potential fathers and create a “wish list“ that informs them when a donor with their desired characteristics becomes available.

The potential fathers are titled by numbers, such as “Donor 1000“ and “Donor 1004“, with physical characteristics listed below. The user can then choose to “find out more“, an option that gives information about the donor, including medical data and personality .

The description gives an insight into what the donor is like. One states: “Pleasant, charming and easy to get on with, this donor was a cheerful intellectual teeming with positivity,“ while another reads: “He is a well mannered, well spoken and very likeable individual“.

Applicants listed are from a wide range of professions, including law, medicine, finance, engineering, hospitality , the performing arts and creative work.

Users can buy a donor's sperm sample by paying £950 via the app, and the sample is then delivered to the fertility clinic where the woman is being treated. The app, which promotes itself as a way to “plan your family on the go“, is legal and meets requirements of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the IVF regulator.About half of UK's IVF clinics have registered to use the service.

Critics have claimed the app trivialises parenthood. Josephine Quintavalle, of the campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said, “This is reproduction via phone. This is the ultimate denigration of fatherhood.“

But Dr Kamal Ahuja, director of London Sperm Bank, said the app was in keeping with the rise in online transactions. “This allows a woman who wants to get a sperm donor to gain control in privacy of her own home and to choose and decide in her own time.“

(TOI)

Alcohol that'll be hangover-free

No Dry Mouth, Nausea From New Drink `Alcosynth'

A new type of synthetic alcohol has been discovered which could allow people to enjoy the sociable effects of a few pints, but skip the hangover that usually follows. The new drink, known as `alcosynth', is designed to mimic the positive effects of alcohol but doesn't cause a dry mouth, nausea and a throbbing head, according to its creator professor David Nutt.

The Imperial College professor and former government drugs advisor told The Independent he has patented around 90 different alcosynth compounds. Two of them are now being rigorously tested for widespread use, he said -and by 2050, he hopes alcosynth could completely replace normal alcohol.

“It will be there alongside the scotch and the gin, they'll dispense the alcosynth into your cocktail and then you'll have the pleasure without damaging your liver and your heart,“ he said. “They go very nicely into mojitos. They even go in to something as clear as a Tom Collins. One is pretty tasteless, the other has a bitter taste.“

By researching substances that work on the brain in a similar way to alcohol, professor Nutt and his team have been able to design a drug which they say is non-toxic and replicates the positive effects of alcohol. “We know a lot about the brain science of alcohol; it's become very well understood in the last 30 years,“ said professor Nutt.

“So we know where the good effects of alcohol are mediated in the brain, and can mimic them. And by not touching the bad areas, we don't have the bad effects.“ Advocates of alcosynth believe it could revolutionise public health by relieving the burden of alcohol on the health service. According to Alcohol Concern, drinking is the third biggest risk factor for disease and death in the UK, after smoking and obesity .

“People want healthier drinks,“ said professor Nutt. “The drinks industry knows that by 2050 alcohol will be gone.“

“They know that and have been planning for this for at least 10 years. But they don't want to rush into it, because they're making so much money from conventional alcohol.“

Early experiments into alcosynth, such as those reported on by BBC's Horizon in 2011, used a derivative of benzodiazepine -the same class of drugs as Valium. Nutt said his new drinks did not contain benzodiazepine, and their formulas would remain a closely guarded, patented secret. However, the huge cost of funding research into the drug and regulatory concerns mean it could be a long time before people can order an alcosynth cocktail at their local pub.

Red wine could boost brain power: Research

A research team at Northumbria University are examining resveratrol, which is found in red wine, and its effect on blood flow.The team believes the substance may boost mental function by increasing blood flow to the brain and wants to test the theory with the help of healthy volunteer subjects. A study on people aged 18-35 has already been carried out, with some participants demonstrating improved performance when their mental function was tested.However, positive results have not been consistent.

(TOI)

All humans came from Africa in a single wave

Dispersal Took Place 50k-80k Years Ago

Modern humans evolved in Africa roughly 2,00,000 years ago. But how did our species go on to populate the rest of the globe?

In a series of genetic analyses published on Wednesday in journal Nature, researchers believe they have found an answer to the question that has intrigued scientists for decades. Three separate teams of geneticists surveyed DNA collected from cultures around the globe, and concluded that all non-Africans today trace their ancestry to a single population emerging from Africa between 50,000 and 80,000 years ago.

“We know there were multiple dispersals out of Africa, but we can trace our ancestry back to a single one,“ said Joshua Akey of University of Washington. The three teams sequenced the genomes of 787 people, drawn from people in hundreds of indigenous populations: Basques, African pygmies, Mayans, Bedouins, Sherpas and Cree Indians.

The DNA of indigenous populations is essential to understand human history , many geneticists believe. The new data has altered scientific understanding of what human DNA looks like, experts said.

In the 1980s, a group of paleoanthropologists began championing a hypothesis that modern humans emerged only once from Africa, roughly 50,000 years ago. Skeletons and tools discovered indicated that modern humans lived after that time in Europe, Asia and Australia. Yet there are also clues that some humans may have departed Africa well before 50,000 years ago.

In Israel, for example, researchers found a few distinctive ly human skeletons that are between 1,20,000 and 90,000 years old. In Saudi Arabia and India, sophisticated tools date back as far as 1,00,000 years. Last October, Chinese scientists found tooth belonging to Homo sapiens that were 80,000 years old.

In 2011, Eske Willerslev, a renowned geneticist, reconstructed the genome of an aboriginal Australian for the first time from a century-old lock of hair. The DNA held a number of peculiar variants not found in Europeans or Asians, raising questions about the origins of the people who first came to Australia and when they arrived.Meanwhile, Mait Metspalu of the Estonian Biocentre picked out 148 populations to sample, mostly in Europe and Asia, with a few genomes from Africa and Australia.They , too, sequenced 483 genomes. David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, and his colleagues assembled a third database of genomes from all six inhabited continents.

All three groups came to the same conclusion: People everywhere descended from a single migration of early humans from Africa. But they found no genetic evidence that there was an earlier migration giving rise to people in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

(TOI)