Daily Mail - Science & tech

Eating a diet of junk food for just one week was enough to damage part of the brain that stops us eating more when we are already full, research suggests. Study participants who ate an abundance of fast food and high-fat milkshakes had increased cravings for more after seven days. They performed worse on cognitive tests, with results suggesting an area of the brain called the hippocampus was impaired. The hippocampus normally stops us from gorging on more food when we are full by suppressing memories of how tasty it is. When it's not working properly, the memories are more powerful and we are left unable to resist more cake, chocolates and crisps in front of us, the researchers believe.

A computer algorithm from Leiden University in the Netherlands has spotted eleven asteroids that could eventually hit Earth and cause'unprecedented devastation'. All were missed by NASA software thanks to their chaotic orbits, which are difficult for current techniques to predict and identify as being potentially dangerous. Each are more than 328 feet (100 metres) in diameter and will pass closer to our planet than ten times the distance between the Earth and the moon. For comparison, the Tunguska object which flattened 772 square miles of forest in Siberia had a diameter of around 164–262 feet (50–80 metres). However, these space rocks won't pose a threat in our lifetime, however -- for they will only get worryingly near to Earth between the years 2131 and 2923.

Online dating going mainstream hasn't made the potential dangers of meeting up with an internet stranger any less alarming. That's why Match.com is rolling out a check-in feature that lets users shoot over their date details to trusted confidantes, including the name of the person they're meeting up with, the location of the date and the time. Once check-in is turned on, users will receive an automated text message during their date asking them if everything is going alright and if they'd like to notify their previously listed emergency contacts if it's not. Match.com is letting users notify emergency contacts if their date is showing any red flags. Check-in sends users a text that users can reply to and send trusted contacts their date's name, the location of the date and the time The user can then reply'yes' to the text message and all three contacts will be notified.

A Tesla vehicle has been tricked into spontaneously accelerating over the speed limit with just a simply strip of tape. Researchers at McAfee placed a two-inch long piece of electrical tape horizontally across the middle of the '3' on a 35 mph speed limit sign, causing the car's camera system to misread it as 85 mph. When the 2016 Tesla Model X drove toward the altered sign in cruise control it automatically accelerated to 50 mph before being stopped by the driver – the same occurred in a 2016 Model S. The findings come just a month after Tesla found itself under investigation after 127 complaints were sent to the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) claiming certain models experienced'sudden unintended acceleration'. Researchers at McAfee placed a two-inch long piece of electrical tape horizontally across the middle of the '3' on a 35 mph (left) speed limit sign, causing the car's camera system to misread it as 85 mph (right) The flaw is said to have caused 110 crashes and 52 injuries, with many drivers stating the incident occurred when they attempted to park in a garage or at a curb. However, Tesla has noted that'the car accelerates if, and only if, the driver told it to do so, and it slows or stops when the driver applies the brake'.

A new electric shuttle unveiled by Jaguar Land Rover will look to hit a happy medium between autonomous and manual driving. On Tuesday, the company announced'Project Vector', a futuristic-looking electric shuttle that they say is being built to transition into an autonomous vehicle if and/or when the technology arrives. While it has a traditional steering wheel and gas/brake pedals, it's interior is designed to accommodate private or shared use as well as use as a last-mile delivery vehicle. Jaguar Land Rover want'Project Vector' to function on multiple planes. The concept measures just four meters in length and is designed for urban use according to the companies.

A snake robot that can nimbly slither its way up large steps has been developed by scientists to help search and rescue missions. US engineers studied how the real-life serpents moved and used their observations to make a snake robot that can climb large steps. It is thought that snake robots may some day help in the exploration of inaccessible terrain, such as across building rubble after an earthquake. The breakthrough in robotic engineering uses a'car-like suspension' to keep the wheeled robot level as it climbs tricky stairs. Johns Hopkins University's Terradynamics Lab created this snake robot to mimic its animal counterpart, the kingsnake'We look to these creepy creatures for movement inspiration because they're already so adept at stably scaling obstacles in their day-to-day lives,' said senior author Chen Li, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk, says that AI like the one his companies make should be better regulated. Musk's opinion on the dangers of letting AI proliferate unfettered was prompted by a report published in MIT Technology Review about changing company culture at OpenAI, a technology company that helps develop new AI. Elon Musk formerly helmed the company but left due to conflicts of interest. The report claims that OpenAI has shifted from its goal of equitably distributing AI technology to a more secretive, funding-driven company. 'OpenAI should be more open imo,' he tweeted.

Albert Einstein's favourite childhood toy that he cherished all his life will go up for sale next month for £46,000 ($60,000). The German game, titled'Perlen Mosaik Spiel' (Mosaic Pearl Game), consists of 520 coloured beads that can be inserted into a punch-hole frame to create patterns. The game shows some general signs of wear and tear, including minor chipping to the title label and'intriguing' pencil markings inside the box, which may represent his first autograph. The board game would have been cherished by the young and gifted physicist, who went on to win the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. Seller Bonhams New York describes the set as'a rare and joyous Einstein artefact of museum quality' and'an essential learning tool for the young genius'.

Smart speakers, like Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, have come under fire over the past few years for'listening' to its owner's conversations. Now, a team of scientists believe they have developed the ultimate weapon to block the devices' spying abilities - a wearable that jams the microphone. Dubbed the'bracelet of silence', the chunky bracelet is fitted with 23 speakers around it that emit ultrasonic signals that drown out any speech of the wearer. While these ultrasonic signals are undetectable to human ears, they leak into the audible spectrum after being captured by the microphones, producing a jamming signal inside the microphone circuit disrupts voice recordings. Scientists developed the ultimate weapon to block the devices' spying abilities - a wearable that jams the microphone.

Self-driving electric vehicles that change colour could be seen hitting the roads by 2050, automotive firm Auto Trader has claimed. Their predictions for the car of the future have been guided by so-called'futurologist' Tom Cheesewright and a survey of more than 2,000 UK drivers. They think the car of 2050 will include an all-electric cabin fitted with 360 panoramic glass windows and body panels that will change colours. Auto Trader has revealed how it envisions how the future of driving will look like in the year 2050. It includes an all-electric cabin fitted with 360 panoramic glass windows and body panels that will change colours (pictured, artist's impression) The 2050 car would supposedly come with fitted with windows that extend into the roof to form a large bubble.