GM mosquitoes could block spread of Zika in Florida

Genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in Florida to block the spread of the Zika virus after the FDA confirmed they would cause "no significant threat to the environment".

The OX513A mosquito -- or Aedes aegypti -- is modified by British bioengineering company Oxitec, and has been approved following evaluation by the FDA on potential health and environmental impacts.

According to Oxitec, OX513A is intended to "suppress the population of that mosquito" at the release site in order to stop the transmission of diseases such as Zika, dengue and yellow fever.

The genetic modification does this by transmitting lethal genes to its offspring, which subsequently die before reaching adulthood. It has already been trialled in Brazil, Panama and the Cayman Islands, and Oxitec claims that these trials reduced the Aedes aegypti population by more than 90 percent.

Similar mosquitoes have been modified to halt the spread of malaria.

The FDA said in a statement that the mosquitos "do not bite humans or other animals", and are therefore "not expected to have any direct impacts on human or animal health".

"The Aedes aegypti mosquito represents a significant threat to human health," said Hadyn Parry, chief executive of Oxitec, in a statement. "In many countries it's been spreading Zika, dengue and chikungunya viruses."

"The mosquito is non-native to the US and difficult to control, with the best available methods only able to reduce the population by up to 50 percent, which is simply not enough," Parry continued. "We look forward to this proposed trial and the potential to protect people from Aedes aegypti and the diseases it spreads."

The FDA will need to make a further decision before the mosquitoes are released into the environment, and will be consulting the public for thirty days before final approval.

Source: http://www.wired.co.uk

This tech tricks your brain into hearing surround sound

Ambidio wants to give stereo sound a virtual makeover. The Los Angeles-based startup, which has secured investment from Horizons Ventures and will.i.am, has developed a proprietary encoding technology that it claims can turn stereo speakers into surround sound.

Laptops, mobile phones, tablets and even high-end hi-fi systems all work with the process. For best experience, the company says, use a laptop with speakers rather than headphones.

There’s been no shortage of stereo enhancement technologies over the years, but few have gained commercial traction. Complex recording requirements and encoding are the usual stumbling blocks.

But Ambidio looks to be different. It can be applied to any stereo source, embedded directly into movie and audio files, or used as a plug-in to process sound in real time. Adding heavyweight credibility is Skywalker Sound, which has signed up as a "strategic advisor."

Ambidio is the brainchild of Iris Wu, who as a student studying sound technology at New York University found herself increasingly frustrated at the inadequacies of laptop audio. And Michael Bay’s Transformers proved the final straw.

"There were buildings falling down, robots running around, but compared to all this visual impact, the sound from my laptop was so tinny," Wu tells WIRED. "I began to think about how I could get better sound from such a little device."

While similar to the Head Related Transfer Function trickery employed by binaural recordings, the technology is different, insists Wu. "Ambidio doesn't emulate any kind of HRTFs. We don't simulate virtual ears, virtual speakers, and we don't use HRTF shapes like EQ either. The theory behind Ambidio is a bit out-of-box - we try to let the brains pick up the sound source itself, just like we do everyday."

Ambidio claims it can make stereo sound seem three times ‘wider’ than existing virtual loudspeaker solutions. This is as much about neuroscience as it is conventional high-fidelity.

"We try to understand the whole process, how the brain interprets sound events. For example, we actually keep monitoring the environmental sound all the time, and have the ability to choose what we want to focus on, and what we don't. Knowing these really help us to fine tune Ambidio, not only make the effect more compelling, but also make it work for everyone."

"The beauty of Ambidio is that it can provide a theatrical experience to any device – from VR headsets to soundbars," says Wu. "There’s nothing like that in the market right now."

Source:http://www.wired.co.uk