It was a well documented fact that spending time in outer space was going to affect your health adversely. Your sleep cycle is affected, you may have suffered atrophied muscles and apparently some may even be having trouble with their eyesight.

Now researchers at the Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences Division at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas have found out that genetic differences in enzymes present in the human body may be the actual culprits when it comes to many diseases.

Scott M. Smith who is involved with the research said that they have identified a genetic link in astronauts with vision issues. While they are yet to identify why, or how it happens exactly, they are hopeful of studying the people who are suffering from eye trouble after being in space to be able to identify the cause and eventually find a cure for the problem.

The results of the scientific study will naturally have far fetching implications on future astronauts who will work for NASA in outer space. The researchers hope that more work into the genetic and nutritional reasons for the issues arising from these enzymes will help them solve the riddle faster.

The French government, several commercial companies and the crowd sourcing campaign which are providing the initial funding for building the vessel have got to be anxious to see it completed soon. Not that you will be in any danger of missing it when it finally does hit the waves.

The monumental Sea Orbiter is going to have a structure of 27 meters above sea level and 31 meters below sea level. There are going to be different observation decks at both above and below sea level zones.

The Sea Orbiter will have a pressurised module where aquanauts can live and work. They will be able to move freely from the module to the sea without wasting time for decompression as traditional divers have to do. This will make it possible to save a lot of time in deep sea research as they can live in the underwater module for much longer periods of time than ever possible before.

Astronauts may join the aquanauts in the deep sea module to live under pressurised space living conditions before they head out to outer space. Of course the primary purpose of the Sea Orbiter will remain to help facilitate the learning and research activities that ocean related science experiments can provide the scientists on board the vessel.

Its no surprise that the Earth has a lot of unexplored territory when it comes to the oceans and seas of the world. While man may have made strides in space exploration, it has been difficult to map the seven seas. In fact some experts say that close to 99 percent of the ocean floor is uncharted and undiscovered.

The primary problem for exploration has been the great depth at which this ocean floor lies and the inability of man to dive that deep and stay there for the long periods of time an in-depth exploration would take. This is the problem that the scientists designing and building the Sea Orbiter are hoping to solve.

The Sea Orbiter is a $43 million research project which is a result of more than 30 years of research and designing. A self sufficient slow drift vessel, the Sea Orbiter is going to work as an international oceanic station to conduct scientific research into the oceans of the world.

Its a tribute to Jules Verne and will be a 24/7 laboratory where the crew is able to live underwater for months on end to complete research studies. Captain Nemo would be proud of the way that this partially crowd funded science project is coming together.

In the age of miniaturization, its kind of difficult to keep up with the smallest electronic gadgets that are multiplying by the dozen. Here we take a look at some of the smallest functional cameras in the world to see if we can actually settle the debate of which one is the smallest of them all.

Hammacher Schlemmer sells a miniature camera measuring 1.125 inches long, 1 inch wide and 1.062 inches deep. It can easily rest on one finger.It has a built in battery that can be recharged after its 30 minute usage time. Plus a USB port that can be used to transfer the images it takes. Its 1.195 cubic inches volume is certainly small.

JTT’s Chobi Cam One is another competitor for the position of the world’s smallest camera and while its dimensions are not as compact, its 0.934 cubic inches volume certainly is. However it has an external battery and that does take up more in size.

Swiss company CSEM has its Vision-In-Package or VIP optical sensor which sits in a package containing its own processor, and is smaller than the size of a stock cube. Unfortunately this little baby that uses Bluetooth to transfer data is not currently commercially available. However future science projects for robotic surgery and drones sound promising when using the VIP.

The Federal Aviation Administration of FAA is wondering if this little one and a half square inch flying drone camera needs to be registered. Its so tiny that the Axis Vidius can very easily fit into the palm of your hand, but its still powerful enough to live stream the video its recording.

In December the FAA began its drone registration program for all drone pilots both professional and hobbyists and within two days had more than forty five thousand registrations on its portal online. However the Axis Vidius weighs just about half a pound and is currently exempt from being registered at the FAA.

Although the quadcopter is really small it can use WiFi and stream a live video in the five to seven minutes that it manages to stay in the air. While it has its own controller, the user has the option of also controlling it from a tablet or smart phone.

At less than a hundred dollars and with no additional headaches of registration with the FAA, the Axis Vidius may well emerge as the drone of choice for a number of first time buyers. And trust me there will be more interesting science projects just round the corner with the tiny quadcopter drone flying about.