1 . Back pain can make it difficult for many people to function in everyday life.     1     If you suffer from back pain, read on for four everyday fixes.

Our bodies need adequate movement throughout the day to avoid the stiffness that contributes to aches and pains. If the weather is good, don't hunt for the nearest parking spot; don't take the elevator when you have the option of one or two flights of stairs. When you need to sit for long periods, set a timer to get up every hour and be active for just a few minutes.     2    

When we overuse our dominant side, we create muscle patterns of weakness and tension that increase pain, especially in our backs. Consider the actions you take repeatedly throughout the day that shift your weight to one side.     3     And use your opposite hand every so often for basic activities, such as opening doors.

Psychological stress is a noted risk factor for back pain, according to research. Most mental stress is caused by focusing on the past or future.     4     A few minutes a day of mindfulness can go a long way toward minimizing the impact of stress. Additionally, mindfulness practices like tai chi have all shown effectiveness in reducing back pain.

    5     That is, you can create a game plan of daily activities to practice for back health. If your back hurts at the end of the day, don't just decide it was a “bad” day. Ask yourself if you practiced the activities to help you avoid the stress and tension. Taking an active, daily-life approach to maintaining a healthy body is the key to keeping back pain at bay.

2 . An international team led by scientists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has recently developed the world's first 3D artificial eye with capabilities that even outperform those of the human eyes, bringing vision to humanoid robots and new hope to patients with visual damage.

Scientists have spent decades trying to produce the exact copies of the structure and clarity of a biological eye, but vision provided by existing artificial eyes with external wires are still in poor resolution (分辨率) with 2D flat image sensors. The Electrochemical Eye (EC-Eye) developed at HKUST, however, may actually offer sharper vision than a human eye, with extra functions such as the ability to see things in darkness.

The key feature allowing such breakthroughs is a 3D artificial retina (视网膜), made of nanowire light sensors which are like the photoreceptor in human retinas. The scientists connected the nanowire light sensors to some liquid-metal wires serving as nerves behind the human-made retina during the experiment, and successfully carried out the visual signal transmission to reflect what the eye sees onto the computer screen. In the future, those nanowire light sensors could be directly connected to the nerves of the visually damaged patients. Apart from that, the artificial retina can receive more light signals and potentially attain a higher image resolution than human retina.

With further adjustment, the EC-Eye can be a self-powered image sensor, so there is no need for external power source, which will be much more user-friendly as compared with the current technology. “The current artificial eyes are still of no match to the human eyes. A new technology is in urgent need, and it gives me a strong motivation to start this unconventional project. In the next step, we plan to further improve the performance of our device. Animal and clinical trials are now being planned. I think if everything is on track, perhaps in five years, the technology will become practical,” said Prof. Fan, whose team has spent nine years to complete the current study.