The Life Technology™ News Blog: 07/17/19

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Community size matters when people create a new language

Why are languages so different from each other? After comparing more than 2000 languages, scientists noticed that languages with more speakers are usually simpler than smaller languages. For instance, most English nouns can be turned into plurals by simply adding -s, whereas the German system is notoriously irregular.

source https://www.lifetechnology.com/blogs/life-technology-news-blog/community-size-matters-when-people-create-a-new-language

Fiber-optic vibration sensors could prevent train accidents

Researchers have developed new sensors for measuring acceleration and vibration on trains. The technology could be integrated with artificial intelligence to prevent railway accidents and catastrophic train derailments.

* This article was originally published here

Automating complex design of universal controller for hybrid drones

Hybrid unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, are drones that combine the advantages of multi-copters and fixed-wing planes. These drones are equipped to vertically take off and land like multi-copters, yet also have the strong aerodynamic performance and energy-saving capabilities of traditional planes. As hybrid UAVs continue to evolve, however, controlling them remotely still remains a challenge.

* This article was originally published here

The impact of ethnic stereotypes on employment

Despite their different migration histories, the U.S. and Spain have become the most preferred destinations for Latino migrants, who are among the largest migrant minorities in the two countries. There have been some studies about Latinos' employment discrimination in the U.S., but there is virtually no research about the discrimination of Latinos in the Spanish labour market.

* This article was originally published here

Proposed gene therapy for a heart arrhythmia, based on models made from patient cells

Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital report creating the first human tissue model of an inherited heart arrhythmia, replicating two patients' abnormal heart rhythms in a dish, and then suppressing the arrhythmia with gene therapy in a mouse model. Their work, published in two papers in the July 30 print issue of the journal Circulation, opens the possibility of developing single-dose gene therapy treatments for inherited arrhythmias, and perhaps more common arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation.

* This article was originally published here