News

Translating the cry

An iPhone application claims to decipher the meaning behind a baby's cries, Fox News reports. The Cry Translator uses patented technology to analyze the tone and duration of the cries and match them to one of five possible types: hungry, sleepy, annoyed, stressed or bored. It then offers tips on how to treat the child according to the type of cry. "These five cries are universal to all babies regardless of culture or language," creators Pedro Barrera and Luis Meca told Britain's Daily Mail. "Each baby has a unique accent and tone, just as adults do," says the app's Spanish developer, Biloop Technologic. The application, which reportedly took six years to develop, takes about 10 seconds to record and analyze a cry. It was more than 90-per-cent accurate during clinical tests with 104 infants.

Worth the effort

"If you're working out to prepare for swimsuit season, learning a new language for upcoming travels or clocking late hours perfecting a presentation for work," Elisabeth Best writes for miller-mccune.com, "you may experience stress in the moment, but you will have greater happiness on a daily basis and in the long run, according to a new study in the Journal of Happiness Studies. Researchers found that people who engage in activities that increase competency, such as exercising, studying or working, experience decreased happiness, lower levels of enjoyment and higher levels of stress while doing so. Yet ... the participants reported that they felt happy and satisfied with the same activities when they reflected on them at the end of the day. San Francisco State's Ryan Howell, an assistant professor of psychology, was quoted in a release: '... what's striking is that you don't have to reach your goal to see the benefits to your happiness and well-being.' "

Try, try, try, try again

"A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver's licence with near-daily attempts since April, 2005, has finally succeeded on her 950th time," Associated Press reports. "The aspiring driver spent more than five million won [$4,600] in application fees, but until now had failed to score the minimum 60 out of a possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving test. Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60 on Wednesday, said Choi Young-chul, a police official at the drivers' licence agency in Jeonju ... Now she must pass a driving test before getting her licence, Choi said." Ms. Cha has told The Korea Times newspaper she needed the licence for her vegetable-selling business.

Sharks' convention?

In a 10-year study of Pacific sharks, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, U.S. scientists combined satellite tagging, acoustic monitoring and genetic tags to study the movements of 179 great white sharks. The tags revealed, The Times of London says, that the sharks travel a regular route, spending the months between August and December off the beaches of California before swimming to the waters around Hawaii for the spring and summer. Researchers also discovered that the sharks seem to congregate in an area dubbed the White Shark Café, located in the ocean approximately halfway between the Baja Peninsula of California and the Hawaiian Islands. Scientists said they probably meet there to mate but also just to forage and "hang out" together.

Why spirit bears survive

Scientists have discovered why a rare breed of bear, British Columbia's white "spirit bear," survives on the province's islands, BBC News reports. This white breed of black bear is less visible to fish than their black counterparts, making them 30 per cent more efficient at capturing salmon in the islands' rivers. Elsewhere, similar white bears appear rarely, probably because those that do become vulnerable to predators such as grizzly bears and wolves. The researchers have published their findings in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.

Can't fly nude on United

A Maryland man says a United Airlines gate agent at a Virginia airport refused to allow him into the first-class cabin because he was wearing a track suit, United Press International reports. United Airlines said the gate agent, a contract employee who works for Air Wisconsin, is being interviewed and security footage is being reviewed. Officials said United's dress code only stipulates that passengers wear clothes and shoes.

Thought du jour

"Man is always more than he can know of himself; consequently, his accomplishments, time and time again, will come as a surprise to him."

- Golo Mann, German historian