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April 04, 2020

A ventilator is a machine that supports breathing. It’s also called a breathing machine or respirator. These machines are mainly used in hospitals. Ventilators will get oxygen into the lungs, remove carbon dioxide from the body, help patient breathe easier, and breathe for people who have lost all ability to breathe on their own.
A ventilator is often used for short periods, such as during surgery when you’re under general anesthesia or during treatment for a serious lung disease or other condition that affects normal breathing. Some people may suffer from a condition where they need to use ventilators for a long period or even for the rest of their lives.
 
How does a ventilator work?
A ventilator uses pressure to blow air into the lungs. This pressure is known as positive pressure. A patient usually exhales the air on their own, but sometimes the ventilator does it for them too.
The amount of oxygen the patient receives can be controlled through a monitor connected to the ventilator. If the patient’s condition is particularly fragile, the monitor will be set up to send an alarm to the caregiver, indicating an increase in air pressure.

The machine works by bringing oxygen to the lungs and taking carbon dioxide out of the lungs. This allows a patient who has trouble breathing to receive the proper amount of oxygen. It also helps the patient’s body to heal, since it eliminates the extra energy of labored breathing.
A ventilator blows air into the airway through a breathing tube. One end of the tube is inserted into patient’s windpipe and the other end is attached to the ventilator. The breathing tube serves as an airway by letting air and oxygen from the ventilator flows into the lungs. Depending on the patient’s medical condition, they may be able to use a respiratory mask instead of the breathing tubes.
 

 
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April 03, 2020


Cricket is a game where win or loss is defined by a thin margin. Currently, a lot of money is involved in the game and a huge number of spectators are waiting to see a favorable result for their team. Therefore, not only the responsibility of players to win and play without mistakes, but accuracy of decisions made by umpires have became critically important factors.

However, umpires are also human. Naturally, there may be errors when they take decisions. To support umpires to take the correct decision (and minimize the margin of error), lot of new technical utilities have been used recently. This is going to be about one of those technical advancements of the sport; Hawk-eye.

Hawk-Eye is basically a complex computer system used in cricket, tennis and some other sports to visually track the path of the ball used in the game. Upon tracking the path, the system is capable of projecting the continual path (most statistically likely path) of the ball and render it in to video. In cricket, those predictions are used to visualize the path of the ball and aid the umpire to determine what could have happened (i.e. whether the ball could have hit the stumps unless it had been blocked by the pads of  the batsman).

This technology was initially developed by engineers at Roke Manor Research Limited of United Kingdom, in 2001. Later, the research and development of this technology grown into a separate new company, Hawk-Eye Innovations Ltd.

The term “Hawk-Eye” was coined by cricket commentators, but later the phrase was also adopted into Tennis, Snooker and Coaching. From there onward, this technology has become a necessary utility for sport.

How does it work?

Hawk-eye consists of image processing technologies, 3D modeling technologies and laws of physics. There should be at least four high speed cameras placed at different locations of the stadium covering the whole play in different angles. During each frame of the video captured by those cameras, computer system identifies the group of pixels which corresponds to the actual ball. Usually the cameras used in hawk-eye system record the action at 60 frames a second, which is about double the speed of standard commercial TV cameras. The following image shows the positions of the cameras while covering a tennis match.

After that, the three dimensional position of the ball is calculated by comparing the position against at least two other cameras (at least three cameras in total). Then those derived 3D location data are stored in a predefined model of the playing area (stadium). This process is called as ‘triangulation’.

Even though it calculates the three dimensional location, it’s more likely a "four-dimensional" technology, because the time is also added to the triangulation process. So that places the ball in space, are synchronized with the time. Accuracy of the position is pretty impressive as it gives the location with a precision in millimeters.

Using those location data, system can calculate the next movements of the ball by applying laws of physics. System is capable of calculating where the ball will interact with any of the playing area features already programmed into the database.  Furthermore Hawkeye can be taught about the game rules so it can take more sophisticated decisions for human umpires.

Finally to produce the visual guide, system generates a real time graphic image of the ball path and playing area, which can be used for the benefits of umpires, television viewers or coaching staff.
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April 03, 2020


Black Hat Hackers

These are the guys people were referencing when the term ‘hacker’ was first coined. Known to many as cyber criminals, these are the people that ‘hacker movies’ are based on. Black-Hat hackers are usually very skilled in programming and hacking and are often the perpetrators of the biggest cyber crimes we see in the news. They are responsible for much of the $2.1 billion in losses by cyber attacks that affect businesses every year.
These hackers have advanced knowledge of system networks, Operating Systems, applications and all their potential loopholes. While they write most of the malware for themselves, many of them also create scripts that can be used by script kiddies.
These guys are similar to an actual criminal network and are responsible for the larger and more widespread hacks on government installations, businesses etc. A recent example was the ransomware WannaCry. WannaCry was a type of malware that spread to a computer, encrypted its files, and prevented the user from accessing what they needed. For access to be returned to the user, the user had to pay a sum of money via Bitcoin to get a key that would then decrypt his/her files. The sum was to be paid in a certain time frame, after which all the person’s files would be deleted.

White Hat Hackers

As opposed to Black-Hat Hackers, these guys exist on the other end of the spectrum. These are the ‘good guys’ of cyber security. Like black-hat hackers, they’re highly skilled at programming and hacking, but ethics separates a black-hat hacker from a white-hat hacker. White-hat hackers perform their trade with direct permission from their clients to check and test their software or networks for potential breaches.
Also known as Ethical Hackers, they usually work for companies that employ cyber security tools to defend others from attacks. Under a legally binding document, ethical hackers try to breach the system of their client and identify vulnerabilities. They then try to patch these vulnerabilities and introduce counter measures to prevent black-hat hackers from breaching the system.
A common example to which we can relate is the antivirus program you are probably using on your PC. That antivirus program is a piece of software built by ethical hackers that defends your PC from vulnerabilities. Ethical hackers also test software like Windows and Linux in order to try and find vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are then patched in the form of system updates. all of which is done to combat the rising threat of cyber criminals.

Gray Hat Hackers

Like life, not everything can be split into black and white. There is always grey space, and the same is true for hackers. Gray-Hat hackers are not part of companies performing cyber security, nor are they part of the criminally inclined black-hat hackers. These people have great knowledge of hacking and usually put that knowledge to good use, but their means are considered illegal.
One common practice of gray-hat hackers is breaching companies without their consent. These folks might breach a company without its consent, but would not misuse the breach to extract any data. They would either contact the company to inform them of the breach or simply do nothing. Companies usually give a certain amount of money as bounties to such individuals as a reward for pointing out their system vulnerabilities.

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April 02, 2020

Commercial planes are generally white because of these reasons: white color provides a thermal advantage, it helps in easier inspection of cracks and dents on the fuselage and is also cost-effective. White planes also tend to have a higher resale value than colored ones.
While gazing at an airplane passing thousands of feet overhead, or when you are just about to board a flight at the airport, have you ever noticed that the vast majority of airplanes are white? Sure, some have stripes, decorations, and names in different colors, but the base color behind those add-ons is almost always white. It seems a bit strange, but is there a real reason for it?

Thermal Advantage

The color white is a terrific reflector of sunlight, and reflects almost all the light that falls on it, unlike other colors, which absorb some of the light.

If you paint your airplane in a color other than white, it will absorb sunlight and heat up the body of the airplane, which is something you want to avoid. White, on the other hand, reflects that sunlight and avoids the gradual build-up of heat on the plane. This is a good thing, not only when the airplane is in flight, but also when it’s parked on the runway, because it takes less time to cool down down after sitting on the ground in a hot, sunny environment. In fact, some planes actually ‘need’ to have a coating of white paint in order to guarantee a structurally sound flying machine.

Easier inspection of cracks and dents on the fuselage

Airplanes are regularly inspected for cracks, dents, and any other form of surface damage (for obvious safety reasons). Nothing works better than white when it comes to spotting a crack on the surface, as the crack is almost always darker than white.
Additionally, white also accentuates corrosion marks and oil leak spots (as they leave dark-colored trail). Plus, a white plane is easier to spot (visually) in the event of a crash or any other mishap, especially at night, or in a massive body of water.

Less ‘Scientific’ Factors

Not every reason behind the this obsession with white planes is ‘scientific’, so to speak. There are a few other reasons too, which can’t be ignored.

Painting is Expensive!

In pecuniary terms, painting an airplane is not like painting a fence. It requires a considerable investment, both in terms of money, manpower, and time. Painting a regular Boeing Airbus takes anywhere between two and seven days, depending on your budget. Plus, more paint on the fuselage means more overall weight (you didn’t think that massive amount of paint was weightless, did you?), which effectively translates to higher operating costs. As an airline company, you would want to avoid that as much as possible.
Colored airplanes have lower resale value
Now, if you have a colored airplane (parked in your own private hangar) and you want to sell it, you should expect to make a little less than if it was a white airplane.
You see, the end goal of an airline company is to minimize the cost as much as possible. Buying a colored airplane would mean that they would likely have to paint it white, for the various reasons mentioned above. Hence, it makes perfect sense that the company would pay you a lower price for your fancy, colored airplane.

White doesn’t fade

When flying at high altitudes, completely exposed to various atmospheric conditions, colored airplanes tend to fade, and thus require a lot of paint jobs to maintain their aesthetic appeal. A white-colored airplane, on the other hand, doesn’t appear significantly different, even after spending a considerable amount of time in the air.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Finally, if there’s no problem with the existing white color, then why bother fixing it at all? As we’ve clearly shown, the white color does have its benefits – both scientific and economical.
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April 02, 2020
You walk into a room and suddenly your brain goes fuzzy with an overwhelming wave of familiarity -- although this is a totally new experience. Like something out of a sci-fi plot, it almost seems as if you've walked into the future.


Chances are, you've experienced this situation, known as déjà vu, during your life. Déjà vu (French for 'already seen') occurs in approximately 60 to 80 percent of people -- a phenomenon that's almost always fleeting and may manifest at any time. Despite wide-spread coverage, bursts of déjà vu are still misunderstood by the scientific community.
"Because there is no clear, identifiable stimulus that elicits a déjà vu experience (it is a retrospective report from an individual), it is very difficult to study déjà vu in a laboratory," said Michelle Hook, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine.

A glitch in the brain?
"According to many studies, approximately two-thirds of individuals have experienced at least one episode of déjà vu in their life," Hook said. "Understanding how memory storage works may shed some light on why some experience it more than others."
Episodes of déjà vu may be closely related to how memory is stored in the brain. Retention of long-term memories, events and facts are stored in the temporal lobes, and, specific parts of the temporal lobe are also integral for the detection of familiarity, and the recognition of certain events. The takeaway: The temporal lobe is where you make and store your memories.
While déjà vu's connection to the temporal lobe and memory retention is still relatively unknown, clues about the condition were derived from people who suffer from temporal lobe epilepsy (a condition in which nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed -- causing seizures). Findings suggest that déjà vu events may be caused by an electrical malfunction in the brain.
Epileptic seizures are characterized by dysfunctional neuron (nerve cell) activity across the brain which disrupts the electrical impulses that 'fire' neurons. These impulses can spread across the whole brain -- inducing seizures. "Clinical reports show that some patients who suffer from temporal lobe epilepsy report experiencing déjà vu, almost as a sort of warning, before an epileptic seizure event," Hook said.
But, what is the basis for déjà vu in healthy people without epilepsy? Some researchers describe it as a 'glitch' in the brain -- when the neurons for recognition and familiarity fire -- allowing the brain to mistake the present for the past. In fact, the same abnormal electrical impulses that contribute to epilepsy can present in healthy people. An example of this is a hyponogogic jerk (an involuntary muscle spasm that occurs as a person is falling asleep).

Shortcuts in neural pathways
Instances of déjà vu in healthy individuals may also be attributed to a 'mismatch' in the brain's neural pathways. This could be because the brain is constantly attempting to create whole perceptions of the world around us with limited input.
For example, it only takes a small amount of sensory information -- like a familiar smell -- for the brain to create a detailed recollection. Déjà vu could be linked to discrepancies in the memory systems of the brain, leading the sensory information to by-pass short-term memory and reach long-term memory instead. This may produce the unsettling feeling that we've experienced a new moment before.
In the visual system, sensory information travels through multiple pathways to the higher cortical centers of the brain (areas that play a key role in memory, attention, perception, awareness, thought, language and consciousness), with all information reaching those centers at or around the same time.
"Some suggest that when a difference in processing occurs along these pathways, the perception is disrupted and is experienced as two separate messages. The brain interprets the second version, through the slowed secondary pathway -- as a separate perceptual experience -- and thus the inappropriate feeling of familiarity (déjà vu) occurs," Hook said.
According to Hook, there is still much to learn about déjà vu and the mechanisms behind it. "There may not be a simple answer for the mechanisms behind déjà vu yet, but, with further research and studies, conclusive evidence for the phenomenon may be discovered in the future," she said. Wouldn't that be like experiencing déjà vu all over again?
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April 01, 2020

Area 51 refers to a map location and is the popular name for a United States Air Force base. It is at Groom Lake, a dry lake bed in the Nevada Desert, 85 miles (135km) north of Las Vegas.

What goes on inside is extremely secret. Members of the public are kept away by warning signs, electronic surveillance and armed guards.
It is also illegal to fly over Area 51, although the site is now visible on satellite images. The base has runways up to 12,000ft (2.3 miles/3.7km) long.
The facility is next to two other restricted military areas: the Nevada Test Site, where US nuclear weapons were tested from the 1950s to the 1990s, and the Nevada Test and Training Range.
The entire range covers more than 2.9 million acres of land.
According to the US military, it represents "a flexible, realistic and multidimensional battle-space to conduct testing tactics development, and advanced training".

Why was it built?

Area 51 was created during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union as a testing and development facility for aircraft, including the U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance planes.
Although it opened in 1955, its existence was only officially acknowledged by the CIA in August 2013.
Four months after the CIA's disclosure, President Obama became the first US president to mention Area 51 publicly.

What goes on there today?

Although official information is sparse, it is believed that the US military continues to use Area 51 to develop cutting-edge aircraft. About 1,500 people are believed to work there, many commuting on charter flights from Las Vegas.
Annie Jacobsen, who has written about the history of Area 51, told the BBC that some of the world's most advanced espionage programmes are at the site.
"Area 51 is a test and training facility. The research began with the U-2 spy plane in the 1950s and has now moved on to drones", she says.

Are there aliens and flying saucers at Area 51?

The secrecy surrounding Area 51 has helped fuel many conspiracy theories.
Most famous is the claim that the site hosts an alien spacecraft and the bodies of its pilots, after they crashed at Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. The US government says there were no aliens and the crashed craft was a weather balloon.

Others claim to have seen UFOs above or near the site, while some say they have been abducted by aliens, and even experimented on, before being returned to Earth.

And, in 1989, a man named Robert Lazar claimed he had worked on alien technology inside Area 51. He claimed to have seen medical photographs of aliens and that the government used the facility to examine UFOs.
Area 51's association with aliens may have served as a useful distraction for the intelligence agencies.
"As early as 1950 the CIA developed a UFO office to deal with the sightings of unidentified flying objects over Nevada. When people first saw the U-2 spy plane flying, no one knew what they were seeing," says Ms Jacobsen.
"The CIA used that disinformation to their benefit by fostering an alien mythology."
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April 01, 2020

Everyone wants to become rich one day. But not everyone has the right mindset.
People often think rich people are rich because of luck or talent. This is how they give their power away. But they never understand the fact that there is no hidden ingredient. You can get there if you’re willing to put in the work.
Here are ten millionaire facts that you never knew were true.

1. Only 20% of millionaires have inherited their wealth. 80% have made it on their own and are first generation millionaires. And the fortune they have will disappear by the second or third generation.

Many people think that they’re unlucky to have born middle-class. But the reality is that 80 percent of rich people are self-made. They didn’t wish for success, they just worked hard for it. Don’t trust wishful thinking, be realistic, set realistic goals and work for your dreams.

2. 80% of millionaires go to work. Only 20% are retirees.

Another thing people believe is that rich people don’t work as hard as them. But the truth is that rich people often work twice as hard. Elon Musk regularly works 80-100 hours every week. Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, is known to work 130 hours per week when the work calls for it. Don’t be afraid of self-control. Control your mind, become its master and rule your life.

3. The average millionaire goes bankrupt at least three times.

Rich people don’t always enjoy the comfort. They earn millions but they also lose millions. For example, Henry Ford and Walt Disney, both lost their wealth and went bankrupt. But they believed in themselves and built everything brick by brick.

4. The popular notion is that rich people don’t pay taxes. In reality, millionaires pay 40% of all taxes.

40% of all taxes are paid by the rich when only 5% of people are actually rich. People complain about the increasing income gap because they don’t want to work hard. They never talk about the tax gap.

5. According to research, the longer an ancestry member lives in America, the smaller their chances to become a millionaire because of high-consumption lifestyle. However, first-generation Americans are generally self-employed which is a huge indicator of wealth.

6. Carlo Slim Helu is a Mexican billionaire who earns $30 million per day. But he lives in a modest house with no luxuries.

Mr. Carlo Slim Helu can buy a luxury house every day with the kind of money he earns. He can perhaps buy entire islands each month. But he doesn’t care. Because money is not the destination, it is the vehicle – a means to accomplish great things and explore life. If you want to own something, own a great work ethic, own a regular exercise routine and own a desire to explore life and make the best use of your short time on this planet.

7. Bill Gates has declared that he will donate all his wealth, leaving a maximum of $10 million to each of his three children.

Bill Gates is a smart man. He knows that the best use of his wealth is to change the world so that the next generation sees a better world. You can give all your money to your children, but there are no guarantees. The wise ones can turn 10 million into 10 billion. The not-so-wise ones will turn everything into zero.

8. The cars millionaires love are Ford, Cadillac, and Lincoln. Most millionaires avoid expensive cars because they give little returns and depreciate in value quickly.

The first thing many college graduates do after getting their first job is that they buy a car on loan. But they don’t realize it’s the stupidest thing to do. Rich people understand that car is a depreciating asset – its value reduces with time, and so they don’t waste their money on expensive cars just to show off.
You should always live below your means if you want to get rich. Robert Kiyosaki, the author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, says that middle-class people are the first ones to show off when they get their paycheck and this is a huge mistake.

9. 85 percent of millionaires people read at least two books a month. And 63 percent listen to audiobooks and podcasts while traveling to work, exercising or doing everyday chores.

T.V. closes your mind. Books open it and widen your perspective on life. Warren Buffett was once famously asked, “What is the key to success?”. He pointed to a stack of books sitting on a nearby shelf and said, “Read 500 pages like this every day. That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest. All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.” Rich people read for self-improvement and education. Others read for entertainment.

10. 76% of millionaires exercise at least for thirty minutes for four days a week. They like to run, bike and jog instead of smoking, drinking or doing drugs.

When you exercise, you’re not just flushing endorphins through your body. You’re training your mind to handle pain and push its own limits. That last rep when you’re tempted to quit, but you grunt hard and just do it – it strengthens your mind and prepares it for the challenges.  This fundamental lesson looks simple but goes a long way in building one’s character. So if you want to become successful, start with exercise and see how it strengthens your brain and makes you stronger than your pain.

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