Paralysed US woman with robotic arm can give ‘thumbs-up’
Washington:A 55-year-old paralysed woman in US who was fitted with a thought-controlled bionic arm has now gone from giving ‘high fives’ to ‘thumbs-up’ after researchers increased the manoeuvrability of the robotic arm.
Thanks to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh, Jan Scheuermann, who has longstanding quadriplegia, can now use a number of hand movements after increasing the manoeuvrability of the robotic arm from seven dimensions (7D) to 10 dimensions (10D).
The extra dimensions come from four hand movements – finger abduction, a scoop, thumb extension and a pinch – and have enabled Jan to pick up, grasp and move a range of objects much more precisely than with the previous 7D control. Researchers hope the advance can eventually allow robotic arms to restore natural arm and hand movements in people with upper limb paralysis. (PTI)
Now, a faceless doll called ‘Deeni Doll’ for UK based Muslim girls
Karachi: Now, Muslim girls in the United Kingdom can play with a doll launched specially for them called the ‘Deeni Doll’.
The doll, designed by Ridhwana B, a Lancashire school teacher, has been made without any facial features like eyes, nose, mouth in accordance with Islamic law, and wears a traditional hijab headdress, the Dawn reported.
The toy, which is being manufactured in China, is priced at 25 pounds. Ridhwana told UK publication that she came up with the idea since some parents were a little concerned about dolls with facial features, because as per Islamic law, depiction of facial features of any kind was prohibited.
However, the doll has termed as ‘foolish’ by some critics saying that it represents outdated views of Islam and didn’t recognize Muslims as part of modern culture.
Professor Fawaz Gerges, a specialist in Muslim societies and politics at London School of Economics said that the doll was just an ultra-conservative interpretation, and would only appeal to very few people in the community. (ANI)
Man arrested in Sydney for threatening calls to mosque
Sydney: Australian police arrested a man for allegedly making threatening phone calls to a mosque in Sydney, media reported.
The 30-year-old man allegedly made several threat calls to a mosque in Auburn in Sydney, the Sydney Morning Herald reported Wednesday.
He was arrested at a Dural home in Sydney’s north-west and later charged with threatening to destroy property, using a carriage service to threaten serious harm and offend. He is likely to appear before Parramatta Local Court Jan 21, next year. (IANS)
Robot that can replicate the human gait
London: German researchers have succeeded in teaching a uniquely-built robot how to walk like a human.
Inspired by a stick insect, this one-of-its-kind robot named Hector possesses elastic joints and an ultra-light exoskeleton.
What makes it unique is that it is also equipped with a great number of sensors.
“The way the elasticity in Hector’s drives acts is comparable to the way that muscles act in biological systems,” said professor Axel Schneider, head of the biomechatronics research group that built the robot along with a team from Bielefeld University.
Hector has 18 elastic joints. Through the biologically-inspired elasticity of the drives, Hector can adapt flexibly to the properties of the surfaces over which it is walking.
In the future, Hector should serve as a platform for biologists and roboticists to test hypotheses about animal locomotion.
One major aspect will be the fusion of large amounts of data from sensors so that the robot can walk more autonomously than before.
A further key issue will be the optimal coordination of movements by a robot with elastic drives. (IANS)
Kenya shuts 510 NGOs, some for ‘terrorism financing’
Nairobi: Kenya on Wednesday closed over 500 non-governmental organisations, including 15 for alleged fundraising for terrorism, as part of a security crackdown following repeated attacks.
The government’s non-governmental organisation (NGO) coordination board said in a statement it had “de-registered 510 organisations for non-compliance with the law”, with some using their charitable status as a front for raising cash for terrorism.
“Some NGOs have been and continue to be used for criminal activities, including as conduits of terrorism financing in Kenya and in the Horn of Africa,” the statement read, which did not specify the names of such groups.
From the names of 510 listed, many appeared to be aid agencies and charities, with many closed for failing to provide financial audit returns. Several appeared to be Christian organisations, orphanages, or organisations working in health and development. “The board has with immediate effect de-registered these organisations, frozen their bank accounts and forwarded information on them to relevant government security agencies for immediate action,” it said.
Kenya’s government has been under fire since last year’s attack by Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, in which at least 67 people were killed.
Earlier this month Kenya’s interior minister and police chief were removed from their posts after the Shebab carried out massacres in the northeast of the country.
The organisations were identified “in collaboration with security agencies both locally and internationally”, the statement added, without giving further details.
Assets seized would be redistributed to credible organisations working in the same areas, it said. Kenyan lawmakers are currently deliberating proposals to boost security laws, criticised by some as being too tough and restricting freedoms. (AFP)
Christmas shopping is a puzzle for Obama too
Washington: Running America, President Barack Obama can do. But finding a gift for his wife Michelle is a tough one.
“She’s very fashionable and she looks good. I’m worried about buying her clothes,” the president said today on the radio show “On Air With Ryan Seacrest.” “On Christmas Day, she will look at it and say ‘That’s very sweet honey…’ and I never see her wear whatever I bought.”
“Michelle’s hard to shop for,” he said. Choosing a gift for his oldest daughter, 16-year-old Malia, is easier. “Malia is fun to shop for because she is a big film buff. So one year I got her a collection of the 100 greatest movies ever made and she loved that,” he said.
“That may have been my best Christmas present to her.” At the end of November, Obama visited Washington’s Politics and Prose independent bookstore with his two teenage daughters, where he purchased “some books for various members of the family.”
The Obamas leave Friday for Hawaii, the president’s home state, where the family traditionally spends Christmas. (PTI)
Forced to pay for content, Google News closes in Spain
Madrid: US giant Google on Wednesday went ahead with a vow to shut down its popular online news service Google News in Spain in protest at a new law which would make it pay for content.
“We’re incredibly sad to announce that, due to recent changes in Spanish law, we have removed Spanish publishers from Google News and closed Google News in Spain,” read a message on the company’s Spanish Google News page which is normally full of aggregated news content.
“This legislation requires every Spanish publication to charge services like Google News for showing even the smallest snippet from their publications, whether they want to or not,” it added in the message published in English and Spanish. (Agencies)