System to cut delivery time for online orders
The time between placing order on e-commerce sites and getting it delivered could soon shrink significantly. Engineers in University of Missouri have worked out a system wherein human-robot collaborative measures are being optimised to quicken the sorting process before order dispatches. Companies have already developed collaborative robots, called autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to work in distribution centres.
They are equipped with sensors and cameras to help them navigate around a controlled space like a warehouse. However, the AMRs are not designed to replace humans, to eliminate the drawback of robots being unable to grasp the goods as effectively as humans.
New crash-proof training tech for teen drivers with ADHD
A new driving simulator training could come in handy to reduce road crashes especially by teenagers with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — a disorder that is not checked for among candidate drivers while taking the licence tests in India. It is a computer-based program, called Focussed Concentration and Attention Learning (FOCAL), that teaches drivers with ADHD to limit long glances away from the roadway.
It has been developed by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in the USA. The researchers have added a simulator that provides immediate feedback on long glances, calling the combined training ‘FOCAL+’. ADHD involves high frequency of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsive actions which can critically interfere with normal functioning. And while driving, this could prove fatal. A study has found that teen drivers are four times more prone to be involved in crashes than adult drivers, and teenagers with ADHD are twice as prone to crashing than those without ADHD.
Unique genetic tech to grow fruits in drought conditions
Researchers have completed the first-ever study to map gene expression changes in tomatoes in response to drought, which can apply to a range of other fruits as well to help grow them in water-stressed conditions.
The researchers from Boyce Thompson Institute in Cornell University, USA, selected candidate genes for the study and looked at gene expressions in tomato leaves and six fruit organs (pericarp, placenta, septum, columella, jelly and seeds) during the growth stage and in the ripe state, and that too under conditions without drought, mild drought, intermediate drought and severe drought.
They found that each of the organ tissues changed in unique ways over time through the four conditions. The crucial detail they discovered was that less than 1% of the gene expressions affected by drought were common in all the tissues, while over 50% of the affected genes were specific to single tissues.
The researchers modified the less than 1% genes expressed that were common to all the tissues to make the fruit more resilient to drought. When the seeds from treated plants were sown in drought conditions, they found that the seedlings from the stressed tomatoes actually showed recovery compared to seedlings from tomatoes taken from untreated plants. The technique can also be applied to other fleshy fruits, including grapes and apples.