Smart patch for flexible monitoring of marine life
Riyadh, May 6: Engineers have developed a thin smart patch called Marine Skin that could make the study of the behaviour of marine animals easier and more informative.
It is a system for electronic tagging of animals that is based on stretchable silicone elastomers that can withstand twisting, shearing and stretching, even when exposed to high pressures in deep waters.
"The integrated flexible electronics can track an animal's movement and diving behaviour and the health of the surrounding marine environment in real time," Joanna Nassar, who was one of the members of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology team that developed the patch, said in a statement.
"Using simple design tricks and soft materials, we were able to beat the current standard systems in terms of non-invasiveness, weight, operational lifetime and speed of operation," Nassar added.
In the current prototype, the location data is supplemented by recordings of water temperature and salinity. Additional sensing capabilities could be added in future.
"We are consistently advancing the field of flexible and stretchable electronics by making electronic systems in which every component is physically flexible," another team member Muhammad Mustafa Hussain, said.
The data is currently retrieved via wireless connection when the tag is removed. In future, the researchers hope to develop remote data retrieval procedures by overcoming the problems of transmitting signals through water.
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He's crazy person: Himanta on Rahul alleging Assam CM misused state power to harass opponents
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma threw a "crazy person" barb at Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday after the Congress leader accused him of "abusing state power to harass his political opponents and critics".
Sarma, who arrived at the airport here before proceeding to Puri to pray at the Jagannath Temple, challenged Gandhi to make his passport details public and reveal which countries the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha had visited.
His scathing remarks came after Gandhi termed Sarma "most corrupt in the country" and said the Congress stood with Pawan Khera, who has alleged that the Assam CM's wife has multiple passports and offshore properties, which were not declared in the chief minister's election affidavit.
The Sarmas have rejected the allegations as false.
In a post on X, Gandhi alleged, "The present CM of Assam is the most corrupt in the country. He will not escape the law. His abuse of state power to harass his political opponents and critics is against the Constitution."
"The questions that are being raised have to be probed. Transparency, accountability of power and the rule of law are the basis of our Constitutional values. The Congress stands with Pawan Khera. We will not be intimidated," he has said.
Responding to reporters' questions over Gandhi's remarks, Sarma said, "Let me make it very clear, neither I nor any member of my family has a golden visa, as alleged. Rahul Gandhi is a crazy person."
"I challenge Rahu Gandhi to present his passport in front of the media, and I will bring mine and those of my family members. Let the media know who is visiting which country," Sarma said.
The Assam chief minister also said that Rahul Gandhi "is not God". "If I make allegations against him, will he be ready for a probe into those? He should know that others, too, have the right to ask him questions."
Asked about the Supreme Court staying the Telangana High Court's order granting Kehra one-week transit anticipatory bail in the case registered for levelling allegations against Sarma's wife, the BJP leader said he was not aware of it.
"However, according to me, the Telangana High Court cannot grant transit bail to Khera as he is not a resident of that state. The law will take its own course," Sarma said.
The senior BJP leader said he would join his party's election campaign in West Bengal from Thursday.
Later, in a post on X, he said, "On Assamese New Year, offered my prayers to Mahaprabhu Jagannath for Assam's continued peace and progress." Along with the post, he also shared a video of his visit to the temple.
