Experimental Ebola vaccine 'shipped to Liberia'

The first batch of an experimental vaccine against Ebola is on its way to Liberia. Hope this brings alot of relieve to Africa.

The shipment will be the first potentially preventative medicine to reach one of the hardest hit countries.

But experts say that, with Ebola cases falling, it may be difficult to establish whether the jab offers any protection against the virus.

It has been produced by British company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and the US National Institutes of Health.

Meaningful protection

GSK said a plane carrying some 300 initial doses of the vaccine was expected to arrive in Monrovia on Friday. 

The company hopes the first volunteer will be immunised in the next few weeks.

The chief executive of GSK, Sir Andrew Witty, said the pace of development was almost unparalleled and was comparable to only the development of a pandemic flu vaccine or new medicines for HIV.

He told the BBC: "As an example we have delayed two other vaccine development programmes to free up the space to do this work, so this has come with a significant amount of disruption."

Scientists aim to involve 30,000 volunteers in the trial in total, including frontline health workers.

If all regulations are met, 10,000 volunteers will be given the GSK vaccine.

More: http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30943377

Scientists slow the speed of light

 

Scientist in Scotland have slowdown the speed of of light.

The Scottish scientists sent photons- individuals particles of light - through a special mask. it changed the photons shape - and slowed to less than light speed.

The photons continue at the slow pace even when they returned to free space.

The experiment is likely to alter how science looks at light.

The scientist - from Glasgow and Heriot-Watt universities - are members of the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance. They have published their results in the journal Science Express.

The speed of light is regarded as an absolute. It is 186,282 miles per second in free space.

Light propagates more slowly when passing through materials like water or glass but goes back to its higher velocity as soon as it returns to free space again.

Or at least it did until now.

India Uber Restores Service to Delhi

 

The Online taxi firm Uber has restore back services to the India capital New Delhi.

Uber whose services were suspended a month ago in Delhi due safety and security issues, announced that it has applied for a radio taxi licence and would improve safety by introducing features such as an "app emergency button".

Early December a 26yr old female passenger accused an Uber taxi driver of rape and the accused driver is currently standing trial for rape and kidnapping chargers.

Uber apologized for the incident and acknowledge it must do better. Uber is currently valued at 40billion dollars start-up company.  

Shoe that Generate Power

Ever thought of doing away with that your "I pass my neighbour generating set" due to the terrible noise and at the same trying to be independent of the PHCN.  

Recently, researchers in Germany have have built shoe-sized devices that can harvest power from the act of walking.


The technology could be used to power wearable electronic sensors without the need for batteries.

There are two separate devices: a "shock harvester" that generates power when the heel strikes the ground and a "swing harvester" that produces power when the foot is swinging.

They could also form the basis of a self-lacing shoe for the elderly.

Details of the advance are outlined in the journal Smart Materials and Structures.

Drones Deliver Drugs in Mexico

While a country like Nigeria still struggles to acquire drone technology, drug cartels in Mexico are now transporting drugs via it.

The recent crush of a quadcopter carrying 3kg of methamphetamine near the US-Mexico border town of San Ysidro brings to light the difficulties law enforcement are facing in controlling trade in the illegal drugs sales.

Mexican police said the drone had probably crashed because the drugs onboard had been too heavy for it.


The Tijuana police said drones were just one of the many innovative ways drug-smugglers were using to ferry illicit substances across the border. Other methods included catapults, tunnels and ultra-light aircraft.

Last year, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) said drones were becoming so popular as a method of drug transport that some gangs were manufacturing their own.

The gangs have hired engineers to build most of these drones rather than use commercially available products to prevent easy detection. 

WhatsApp now available on desktop

Micro-messaging platform WhatsApp as announced that users can now assess their favorite app on desktop.


However, in a blog post announcing the feature, the company says that messages will still live on users' phones.

The desktop messaging option is also not available to users who access the app on Apple devices.
"We will not be able to provide [the] web client... due to Apple platform limitations," it wrote.

Meanwhile WhatApp is suspending for 24hrs the services of individuals using WhatsApp plus for violating there terms of use.



WhatsApp plus which offers changes to background colours and images in conversations that are not in the original app.

The app allows users to shield themselves from others like knowing when they last logged on to the service and provide extra size on attached video and sound files.

WhatsApp has over 700million monthly user and the developers of whatsapp plus claim to has been downloaded 35million times. 

Windows 10 to be free and get headset

Microsoft has revealed that Windows 10 will bring its voice-controlled assistant Cortana to PCs.


 It also unveiled a headset that it said would one day project the operating system over views of the real world.

 In addition, the firm announced that the OS upgrade would be offered free of charge for devices running Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Phone.

The offer, which is limited to the Windows 10's first year of release, may aid its adoption. It marks a change in strategy from Microsoft's previous policy of charging for major updates, and could help avoid a repeat of the relatively slow uptake of Windows 8.

 One analyst suggested the firm had needed to renew interest in its ecosystem. "Overall, we know that about only about 10% of computers are running Windows 8 and the adoption rate among companies is similar or lower," said Frank Gillett, an analyst at the Forrester consultancy.

 "Developers are not paying much attention to Windows for mass market consumer apps, and you could even argue that for enterprise software most of the energy is going into mobile apps for iPad and Android tablets.

 "Windows 10 is in effect a huge invitation to software developers to write exciting, powerful applications that will draw consumers

Microsoft's chief executive Satya Nadella said the HoloLens headset represented a "magical moment" of "category creation" that developers lived for.

The architecture of the  helmet and lens