Science News Roundup: Akcea Therapeutics gets approval, Smart Caption Glass and lot more

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Akcea Therapeutics genetic disease treatment gets FDA approval

Akcea Therapeutics Inc said on Friday its treatment, developed along with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, which targets a rare genetic disease was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Akcea's once-weekly injection, Tegsedi, treats hereditary ATTR amyloidosis patients with polyneuropathy.

Smart caption glasses refocus the action for deaf playgoers

For all his adult life keen theatregoer Tim Hardy, who is partially deaf, has watched plays with a torch in his hand and a script on his lap so he can follow what's being said on stage. But from Wednesday he'll be able to swap those props for a pair of augmented reality glasses that, by displaying subtitles in real time, will let him focus fully on the action.

Tech breakthrough offers an early warning system for heart attacks

A new method of analyzing images from CT scans can predict which patients are at risk of a heart attack years before it occurs, researchers say. The technology, developed by teams at Oxford University and institutions in Germany and the United States, uses algorithms to examine the fat surrounding coronary arteries as it shows up on computed tomography (CT) heart scans.

NASA addresses unexplained space station hole but the mystery remains unsolved

NASA sought on Wednesday to tamp down speculation that sabotage caused a tiny hole found last month in the side of a Russian module docked at the International Space Station, but the mystery remained unsolved. NASA stressed in a brief statement issued from its Washington headquarters that Dimitri Rogozin, general director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, had in public comments this week ruled out a manufacturing defect as the cause.

(With inputs from agencies.)