Research shows how nordic walking may benefit breast cancer patients

Nordic walking, an aerobic activity performed with walking poles similar to ski poles, may benefit patients with breast cancer, according to a review of existing research.


The low-impact exercise improved swelling, physical fitness, disability and quality of life, the study authors conclude in the European Journal of Cancer Care.

“The main strategy in rehabilitation for women with breast cancer is a change of habits, where physical exercise is a fundamental tool,” said study co-author Jorge Torres of the Faculty of Educational Sciences and Sports at the University of Vigo in Pontevedra, Spain.

“It’s not easy to turn a sedentary person into an amateur athlete, so sports such as Nordic walking are accepted more easily,” Torres told Reuters Health by email, particularly since the activity doesn’t require expensive equipment, can be done in a group with others, and is easy to learn. Readmore

Facebook, Tesla want to read your mind: here’s why you should be worried

Not content with monitoring almost everything you do online, Facebook now wants to read your mind as well. The social media giant recently announced a breakthrough in its plan to create a device that reads people’s brainwaves to allow them to type just by thinking. And Elon Musk wants to go even further. One of the Tesla boss’ other companies, Neuralink, is developing a brain implant to connect people’s minds directly to a computer. Musk admits that he takes inspiration from science fiction, and that he wants to make sure humans can “keep up” with artificial intelligence. He seems to have missed the part of sci-fi that acts as a warning for the implications of technology.

These mind-reading systems could affect our privacy, security, identity, equality and personal safety. Do we really want all that left to companies with philosophies such as that of Facebook’s former mantra, “move fast and break things”? Though they sound futuristic, the technologies needed to make brainwave-reading devices are not that dissimilar to the standard MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and EEG (electroencephalography) neuroscience tools used in hospitals all over the world. You can already buy a kit to control a drone with your mind, so using one to type out words is, in some ways, not that much of a leap. The advance will likely be due to the use of machine learning to sift through huge quantities of data collected from our brains and find the patterns in neuron activity that link thoughts to specific words. Read Complete Article

Facebook’s tool will allow users to see which apps, websites tracked them

Facebook has built an extensive network of tracking technology outside of its core social network to bolster its targeted advertising business. That has allowed the company to collect information about its users’ browsing habits, even when they were not using the social network.

On Tuesday, Facebook said it was changing its practices related to that data — kind of.


The company introduced a new tool that lets people better see and control the information that Facebook has gathered about their browsing habits outside the social network.

The tool, Off-Facebook Activity, allows users to view the hundreds of sites and apps that share data and customer information with Facebook. They can disconnect the data from their account if they want. Read Complete Article

Chandrayaan-2 reaches Moon’s orbit, just about two weeks away from landing

India’s second Moon Mission, Chandrayaan-2, successfully entered the lunar orbit on Tuesday morning in a significant milestone that brings India closer to joining select nations that have explored the moon. Isro Chairman Kailasavadivoo Sivan had earlier described this event as a major challenge.

Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) manoeuvre was completed successfully today (August 20, 2019) at 0902 hrs IST, as planned, using the on-board propulsion system. The duration of the manoeuvre was 1,738 seconds. With this, Chandrayaan-2 was successfully inserted into a Lunar orbit. The orbit achieved was 114 km x 18,072 km.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) fired the spacecraft’s liquid engine for a short while and placed it on a lunar bound orbit. From here, the spacecraft is scheduled to go through four more orbit manoeuvres to reach its final orbit passing over the lunar poles at a distance of about 100 km from the Moon’s surface.

Subsequently, the lander will separate from the Orbiter and enter into a 100 km X 30 km orbit around the Moon. Then, it will perform a series of complex braking manoeuvres to soft land in the South polar region of the Moon on September 7, 2019. Readmore

Benefits of Reverse Mortgage for Senior Citizens

World Senior Citizens Day 2019: The reverse mortgage industry has been plagued over the years by confusion, rife with reports of predatory lenders preying on the elderly. Today, reputable lending institutions require that borrowers receive counseling about the risks and pitfalls before committing to a reverse mortgage. Unfortunately, that still doesn’t guarantee a homeowner won’t get ripped off.

How a Reverse Mortgage Works

Reverse mortgages allow a homeowner to borrow equity. Instead of making payments to the lender, the lender makes payments to the borrower. Payments can be made as follows:

1. A lump sum

2. Monthly, for as long as the borrower occupies the home

3. Periodic advances through a line of credit

4. Combination of any of the above

Who Can Qualify for a Reverse Mortgage?

Anybody over the age of 62 who owns a home can qualify for a reverse mortgage if there is adequate equity in the home. That’s the kicker, having enough equity to get the mortgage, as usually, a 20% equity position is insufficient. If there is enough equity, what happens next?

1. Existing mortgage(s) will be paid off.

2. Deferred maintenance/repairs will be required, if necessary.

3. FICO scores do not apply and credit history is irrelevant.

World Senior Citizens Day

Kartik Aaryan stuns in never-seen avatar in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2

Stepping into the shoes of Akshay Kumar, Bollywood’s next-gen star Kartik Aaryan is all set to feature in the sequel of ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’. The actor unveiled the poster of the film on Monday, sharing his first look from the comic-thriller.

Donning a saffron colour garb of a “ghostbuster”, the actor clearly resembles Akshay from the first installment. Accessorising his look well and giving it a quirky look, Kartik can be seen carrying a victory sign skeleton hand along with cool sunglasses which will just leave you in splits.

The ‘Luka Chuppi’ actor shared the poster on his Instagram page. “Ghostbuster is all set to enter Hare Ram Hare Ram Hare Krishna Hare Ram Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2,” he wrote alongside the picture.

The comic supernatural thriller will be helmed by Anees Bazmee, unlike the first one which was directed by Priyadarshan. Read Complete Article

Latest Google Chrome OS update brings new camera app, adds media controls

Google is rolling out a major Chrome OS update for the month of August that includes new features like improved media playback, an updated camera app for the Pixelbook, and more.

For media controls, one can now open system menu and see all the tabs or apps on Chromebook that are playing audio tracks and control them from one place, wrote Google in a blog-post on Thursday.

Google has also included an updated camera app for the Pixelbook and select Chromebook machines. Additionally, Google has updated the Camera app UI for navigating between new modes, like square mode and portrait mode.

A “Clear all” button has also arrived for notifications. With this, one can now check and clear notifications from Play Store apps on Chromebook and dismiss notifications with the “Clear all” button.

Instagram now allows users to flag false content to stop misinformation

Expanding its fact-checking programme, Facebook has started allowing Instagram users to flag false content on the photo-and video-sharing platform.


“I’m proud that, starting today, people can let us know if they see posts on Instagram they believe may be false. There’s still more to do to stop the spread of misinformation, more to come,” Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, said in a tweet on Thursday.


According to a report in Poynter.org, while the roll out of the feature has started in the US, it should be available for all international users in about two weeks.

Fact checkers will review the posts once users flag content as false.

But even if fact checkers flag those content as false, the posts would not be deleted from the platform, said the report.

Such posts will be downplayed on “explore” and “hashtag” pages, Stephanie Otway, an Instagram spokesperson, was quoted as saying. Read Complete Article

Reliance’s gen next: Mukesh Ambani grooms heirs to his $50 billion fortune

Among Mumbai’s glitziest society events over the past year were two weddings in the family of Mukesh Ambani, the tycoon who in 2018 became Asia’s richest person.

In December, his 27-year-old daughter Isha got married in a Bollywood-style extravaganza attended by global power brokers and titans of finance. Beyonce sang at the festivities, Hillary Clinton flew in and KKR & Co.’s Henry Kravis made an appearance. In March, her twin brother Akash wed in a ceremony attended by the likes of Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai.

The lavish events put Ambani’s eldest children in a very public spotlight at a time when they are playing more visible roles at his Reliance Industries Ltd.’s retail and telecommunications businesses.

Ambani, 62, has big ambitions in new areas like e-commerce and is enlisting his children to help drive the modernization of his empire. The rise of the twins offers early signs of the efforts the titan is making to groom his heirs. The billionaire on August 12 announced that the world’s biggest crude producer, Saudi Aramco, will buy a 20 per cent stake in the oil and chemicals business of Reliance Industries, allowing the Indian conglomerate to reduce the debt that increased during its expansion spree of recent years.

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Chandrayaan-2 leaves earth’s orbit, moving towards moon

India’s second moon mission ‘Chandrayaan-2‘ left the earth’s orbit early on Wednesday, 23 days after being launched, and is moving towards the moon following the successful completion of a crucial manoeuvre by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).


The Bengaluru-headquartered space agency said it has carried out a manoeuvre called ‘Trans Lunar Insertion’ (TLI) at 2:21 am on Wednesday, following which the spacecraft has successfully entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory.


The Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft is expected to reach the moon’s orbit on August 20 and land on lunar surface on September 7.


“Today (August 14, 2019) after the Trans Lunar Insertion (TLI) maneuver operation, #Chandrayaan2 will depart from Earth’s orbit and move towards the Moon (sic),” the ISRO tweeted.

“During the final orbit raising of the spacecraft around the earth, the liquid engine was fired for about 1203 seconds. With this, Chandrayaan-2 entered the Lunar Transfer Trajectory,” the space agency said.

Earlier, the spacecraft’s orbit was progressively increased five times between July 23 and August 6.

Read Complete Article