What's The Buzz

Now, electric goggles to steam dry eyes

A British eye specialist has pioneered electric goggles that could help people with dry eyes. Dry eyes occur when the eyes either don’t produce enough tears, or those they do produce evaporate too quickly.

In a third of cases, it is caused by glands in the eyelids, which secrete oils. The new Blephasteam goggles deliver steam directly into the eyes, melting the waxy oil in the eye to improve its natural oil secretions.

Their inventor, the British eye specialist John Fuller, came up with the idea when he was persuaded to try a steam bath while visiting his brother Tom in New Zealand. Tears are formed of three layers, one of which is oily.

“Like all oily substances, when heated this layer melts, creating better lubrication,” the Daily Mail quoted Fuller as saying. Fuller persuaded Tom, who was a design engineer, to create the prototype for the Blephasteam goggles that were then used in clinical trials at Dorset County Hospital, in Dorchester (where Fuller is consultant ophthalmic surgeon).

They goggles look a bit like swimming goggles but are made from medical-grade rubber.  Because of the low heat, the amount of moisture produced doesn’t steam up the lenses so user can watch TV or read while wearing them.

“The great bonus is that the goggles deliver therapy naturally, without the need for chemicals,” Fuller explained.

Soon, telescope to look at cosmos from surface of moon
A telescope could soon be able to make celestial observations from the surface of moon for the first time, a new study has revealed.

Moon Express, a contender for the 30 million dollars Google Lunar X Prize, plans to put a small remotely operated telescope on the surface of the moon.

 “We don’t expect to be changing the annals of astronomy with this instrument. We intend to be changing people’s minds,” Discovery News quoted Moon Express founder and chief executive Bob Richards as saying.

The two-pilot, six-passenger SpaceShipTwo, owned by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, will be making its first test flight beyond the atmosphere in 2012.
The objective of Google Lunar X Prize is to promote commercial development on the moon.

“The Google Lunar X Prize is an important part, but we established Moon Express to provide entrepreneurship on the moon,” Richards said.

Sunlight can stop chickenpox from spreading
Exposure to sunlight may play a role in obstructing spread of chicken pox as it inactivates viruses on the skin, a new study has revealed.

The University of London team found that chickenpox is less common in regions with high UV levels. However, other experts assert that other factors like temperature, humidity, and even living conditions are equally likely to play a role.

The varicella-zoster virus is extremely contagious, while it can be spread through the coughs and sneezes in the early stages of the infection, the main source is contact with the trademark rash of blisters and spots.

According to Dr Phil Rice, from St George’s, University of London, who led the research, UV light has long been known to inactivate viruses, and this holds the key why chickenpox is less common and less easily passed from person to person in tropical countries.

He examined data from 25 earlier studies on varicella-zoster virus in a variety of countries around the world, and plotted these data against a range of climatic factors.

This indicates an evident link between UV levels and chickenpox virus prevalence.
“No-one had considered UV as a factor before, but when I looked at the epidemiological studies they showed a good correlation between global latitude and the presence of the virus,” Dr Rice said.