New Delhi: In good news for mango lovers, US scientists have found that the tropical fruit may reduce diabetes risk. A new study by George Mason University in Virginia examined mangoes and the sugar content in them in the context of diabetes risk. While the common thinking is that any high sugar foods are naturally not conducive to diabetes and blood sugar, the scientists found something different altogether in their paper published in Foods journal last month.
The study said that mangoes might actually be protective for people living with prediabetes. In an experimental set-up, the researchers compared two groups—one that consumed 11 grams of sugar in a granola bar every day, and another that consumed 30 grams of sugar in a fresh mango every day.
They found that the mango group had better blood glucose control, better insulin sensitivity, and reduced body fat, compared to the other group. The study explained that this was because of the way sugar is packaged. It’s not just overall sugar content, but natural and artificial flavours and packaging that matter. The granola bar might have less sugar, but a fresh mango has vitamins and fiber that are beneficial for the body.
Holograms on phones not too far into the future now?
We might have moved one step closer to having holograms on our phones. A team from the University of St Andrews in Scotland has created building blocks of holographic technology, using two novel techniques—Organic Light Emitting Devices (OLEDs) and Holographic Metasurfaces (HMs). This research was published in the peer-reviewed Light: Science and Applications journal on 27 August.
Traditionally, holograms are made using lasers. We see them often at concerts and festivals, where holograms are projected onto the sky or empty spaces at night. But lasers are expensive and bulky, which means holograms remain inaccessible for wider usage. Now, by using OLEDS—thin-film devices used for colour displays in smartphones—the problem of accessibility of holograms may be solved.
The researchers combined these OLEDS with holographic metasurfaces, which are structures that bend and shape light to form holograms. This combination allows for a single OLED pixel to project an entire holographic image, which makes it possible to have compact holographic displays for everyday devices, like phones and tablets.
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Babies of dog lovers may have less risk of asthma
Scientists say that babies, who grow up in houses with dogs, have a lower chance of developing childhood asthma. Exposure to the kind of allergens found around dogs could be beneficial in developing a stronger immune system in babies.
The observational study, conducted by the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, which will be presented at the European Respiratory Society’s Congress in the Netherlands this week, looked at over 1,000 children and measured the kind of allergens that were present in their houses, when they were around three months old. The reserachers looked at houses with dogs, cats, and no pets at all. They also measured blood samples and other genetic risks of these children to asthma. The study, however, is yet to be published in a peer-reviewed article.
When the researchers went back to assess the kids’ lung function and asthma risk at five years old, they found that babies with exposure to the dog allergen Can f1 had 48 percent lower risk of asthma, compared to others. This was even seen in children with predisposed asthma risk. Cat allergens and other bacterial exposure, though, did not show any such benefits.
AI-generated voices now more indistinguishable from real voices
A study by Queen Mary University of London published in PLOS One journal on 24 September has found that the average listener can no longer distinguish between real voices, and deepfake or AI voices. For this study, researchers used real voice recordings, and two types of synthetic or AI-generated voices—one of clones mimicking specific individuals, and other voices from a large AI model without a human counterpart.
The results were shocking. Most participants said that the fake AI model voices were more dominant and more trustworthy than the real voices. These findings show that voice synthesis tools have advanced very quickly, and that they now require only a few minutes of recordings, little expertise and minimal cost to produce deepfakes. The authors warned of ethical and security risks, including impersonation and fraud.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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