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How I Keep up with technology as a software developer with a chronic health condition | Keeping up with tech while dealing with health issues can be difficult, but not impossible. Scheduling your time for learning, practice, or working on projects, and being strict about the schedule, will help keep health a priority while encouraging learning. It is important to remember to take small steps as the goal is to try to create a habit. As health should be a priority, taking frequent breaks is important as is being mindful of your mental health. If you have a desire to continue learning and development while dealing with other problems, the most important thing to do is to start taking action. | 4Miscellaneous
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The Terror Queue (27 minute read) | Google and YouTube hire contractors to moderate the content on its platforms. Accenture, one of these contractors, splits the content into three different categories for its hundreds of moderators: copyright, hate and harassment, and adult. Moderators are paid around $37,000 a year to view five hours of gruesome video per day. It is common for workers to report mental health issues such as anxiety and depression after working as a moderator for several months. Contractors are often told to keep working during breaks and are offered little time off and almost no medical leave. Potential employees are not informed about the mental health consequences of content moderation roles. Google has been experimenting with ways to lessen the impact of disturbing content, such as playing videos in grayscale. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Developer-friendly Real-Time Video (Sponsor) | Mux’s Real-Time Video integrates seamlessly with live and on-demand video, all in one API. Now you can build better real-time experiences — all with best-in-class video infrastructure. Learn more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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How iPhone Hackers Got Their Hands on the New iOS Months Before Its Release | A leaked early version of iOS 14 has been available to security researchers and hackers since at least February. iOS 14 is expected to be released in September, along with the announcement of the next generation of iPhones. Security researchers have been able to get an early look into the new code to find security flaws. The final version of iOS 14 will be significantly different from the leaked version, but the leak still contains a large amount of potentially exploitable information. This is the first time a version of iOS was leaked so many months in advance. Apple has not commented on the leak but it has taken action against leakers before. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Ukraine Government Picks Stellar Development Foundation to Help Build National Digital Currency | The Ukrainian government has chosen the Stellar blockchain network as the platform for its central bank digital currency (CBDC). It has been researching the possibility of implementing a CBDC since 2017. The partnership to digitize the hryvnia will officially launch this month. Stellar's consensus mechanism has unique security features that aren't available on other blockchains. The platform was selected by a German bank last month as a means to issue a euro stablecoin. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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China has successfully landed on Mars | China's Tianwen-1 probe has landed on Mars. Its Zhurong rover will exit the lander within the next three days and start exploring the red planet. The rover has a mass of about 240 kg, comparable to NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers. This is the first time China has sent a spacecraft to Mars. Tianwen-1 arrived into Mars orbit on February 10 and spent three months collecting images of its landing site, the large Utopia Planitia impact basin. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Chinese team test jet engine ‘able to reach anywhere on Earth within 2 hours’ | Chinese scientists have built a revolutionary plane engine for Mach 16 flight, enabling aircraft to reach anywhere in the world within two hours. A prototype of the engine was tested in a hypersonic wind tunnel in Beijing and the results suggested unprecedented performance in terms of thrust, fuel efficiency, and operational stability. Planes equipped with the engine can take off horizontally before accelerating into orbit around the Earth. The engine has a relatively simple design, consisting of a single-stage air inlet, a hydrogen fuel injector, and a combustion chamber. Existing hypersonic flight engines are too weak, fuel-hungry, and unstable for commercial flight. The new design offers the best hope so far in taking commercial flight to hypersonic speeds. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Report Reveals Where New Millionaires Invest 25% of Their Wealth (Sponsor) | Report Reveals Where New Millionaires Invest 25% of Their Wealth . Over 997,383 millionaires were minted in 2021—the most ever. What are they doing that you aren’t? They’re investing over 25% of their wealth in alternatives like art.When you realize contemporary art prices outpaced the S&P 500 returns by over 2x since 1995, you can see why. One premier art investing platform makes it ridiculously easy and cost effective to invest just like the ultra rich.Click this special TLDR link for priority access.See Important Reg A disclosures | 0Sponsor
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ipv4.cat (Website) | ipv4.cat is a server that replies with a remote address on all TCP ports. It can be used to determine your public IP address from the command line. ipv4.cat can be used to check for outbound firewall blocks. It returns a raw TCP response, which means it doesn't require an HTTP client. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the 'Father of Android' | This article is about sexual harassment by high level Google executives including Android creator Andy Rubin. Andy Rubin was having an extramarital affair with a woman, who claims that he "coerced" her into oral sex. Google investigated, and felt the claim was credible enough that Larry Page asked Rubin to resign, and gave him a $90 million severance package (Google had approved a $150 million stock grant for him just weeks earlier so this was a bit of a downgrade). Rubin denies that the sex was non-consensual. Rubin had previously had his pay docked for having porn on his work computer. In his 2015 divorce proceedings, his ex-wife provided evidence that he had multiple "ownership relationships" with other women, one of whom he emailed saying "You will be happy being taken care of. Being owned is kinda like you are my property, and I can loan you to other people." Richard Devaul, a director at Google X, told a female interviewee that he and his wife are "polyamorous", and invited her to Burning Man where he asked her for a back rub. She refused, so he settled for an awkward neck rub. She did not get the job. Amit Singhal a senior vice president in charge of search, groped an employee at an off-site event. He resigned and was given an exit package worth millions. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Amazon announces 11 new and refreshed Echo-branded gadgets—like a wall clock | Amazon announced 11 Echo branded products. There is a new Echo Dot speaker for $50 that is 70% louder than the previous Echo Dot. Echo Input is a Chromecast Audio competitor, it doesn't have a speaker itself, but it plugs into other speakers and gives them Alexa capabilities (it does come with built in microphones). Echo Sub is a $130 subwoofer. Echo Plus is a $150 all in one speaker hub with a built-in temperature sensor. Amazon Smart Plug is a $25 dongle that helps you set up other Echo devices. Echo Auto is a $25 dongle that can connect to your car's audio either via Bluetooth or an auxiliary jack. Fire TV Recast is a $230 DVR. AmazonBasics Microwave is a $60 microwave. Echo Wall Clock is a $30 wall clock that has Alexa integration for no apparent reason. A new Echo Show is available, it's basically an iPad attached to a speaker for $230. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Leak reveals Microsoft’s canceled Windows OS for dual-screen devices | Microsoft was working on a secret pocketable Surface device powered by a custom Windows OS before turning to Android for its Surface Duo. Andromeda OS had a lock screen that could act as a giant canvas to take notes, a home screen that worked as another inking canvas, gesture support, and a few other features that ended up in Windows 11. Microsoft was also working on a larger dual-screen device powered by Windows 10X, but that project was canceled along with Windows 10X. A 15-minute video showing Andromeda OS running on a Lumia 950 is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Genius Builds Computer Inside Minecraft That Can Run Its Own Games | A Minecraft player built an 8-bit processor inside the video game over the span of seven months. The Computation Humongous Unconventional Number and Graphics Unit (Chungus 2) is capable of running simple games on a 32x32 screen with its one hertz clock speed and 256 bytes of RAM. The virtual processor would be as tall as a 20-story building if built in real life if each block was a meter in length and height. A video showing a flythrough of the build, as well as a demonstration of its game-playing abilities, is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Hubble Captures Crisp New Image of Jupiter and Europa | The Hubble Space Telescope took new images of Jupiter when the planet was 653 million kilometers from Earth in August. They show a new storm brewing in the planet's atmosphere and a cousin of the Great Red Spot changing color. While it is common for storms to form, the new disturbance appears to have more structure behind it and researchers speculate that it may be the beginning of a longer-lasting spot. The Great Red Spot now measures 15,800 kilometers across, and while it is still shrinking, its rate of shrinkage appears to have slowed. Red Spot Jr, a smaller spot below the Great Red Spot, has started taking on a darker reddish hue. Hubble also captured a new multi-wavelength observation of Jupiter. The images are available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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The world's first operational 'sand battery' can store energy for months | Polar Night Energy has set up the world's first commercial-scale sand battery in a town in western Finland. Sand batteries are towers of sand that store and discharge heat energy. Sand is a relatively inexpensive alternative to other battery materials and it can store heat for months. Polar Night Energy's battery currently powers the central heating system for the town. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Move Fast and Don’t Break Privacy - Webinar (Sponsor) | Move Fast and Don’t Break Privacy - Webinar . Businesses are collecting, storing, and analyzing more data than ever. However, not all data is created equal. Some data, like sensitive user data, is special and requires better protection than other data.Join Skyflow’s Head of Developer Relations, Sean Falconer, to learn how leading companies like Netflix and Apple use zero trust data privacy vaults to protect and secure sensitive data. This webinar will introduce and demo Skyflow, a data privacy vault delivered as an API, and answer live questions.Join us July 6th at 10am PT for ‘Move Fast and Don’t Break Privacy’. Register now. | 0Sponsor
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Microsoft to shut down LinkedIn in China | Microsoft will shut down its local version of LinkedIn in China due to a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements. A Chinese regulator told LinkedIn in March to better regulate its content as some users had published prohibited content on their profiles. Microsoft will launch a new job site called InJobs that will not include a social feed or allow users to share posts or articles. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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You can now deepfake yourself into a celebrity with just a few clicks | A new iPhone app called Impressions lets you create deepfakes of celebrities with just a few clicks. Example videos are available in the article. Users just need to film and upload a short video. The video is then processed on a server and the deepfake video is returned in a few minutes. Impressions stores user videos until they are deleted from the app. Impressions plans to eventually use user-uploaded videos to develop deepfake detection models in the future. | 4Miscellaneous
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Mono Icons (Website) | This site contains 136 open-source icons that can be used in a wide range of digital products. The icons can be downloaded as SVG or the code can be copied from the site. Users can download all the icons at once, search for specific icons, or browse through all the icons. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Amazon rolls out in-store pickup for products ordered from local retailers | Local Selling is a new set of services from Amazon that allows local and regional retailers to offer both in-store pickup and fast delivery to nearby customers. Items that are eligible for store pick-up will have a special tab on the item page. Customers will have five days to collect their orders. Delivery will be facilitated by the business itself. Amazon Local Selling is now available for many retailers, with more to be added later this year and during 2022. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Exclusive: Valve is making a Switch-like portable gaming PC | Valve has been secretly building a Switch-like portable PC to run games on the Steam PC platform via Linux. The latest version of Steam has new hardware-related code for a device named SteamPal. Previous versions of Steam used a different codename, Neptune. Switch-like PC devices have exploded in popularity in recent years. At least one SteamPal prototype is wider than the Nintendo Switch. It will likely be able to dock to larger monitors through a USB Type-C port. Valve has a history of creating, incubating, and canceling projects, so things can change at any time. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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A Blank Wall Can Show How Many People Are in a Room and What They’re Doing | Side-channel attacks take advantage of unassuming inputs to reveal secrets. A research team from MIT has trained an AI to detect how many people are in a room and what the people are doing based on the soft shadows on a blank wall. The system only works for group sizes and activities for which it has been trained and it requires a high-resolution camera. Many side-channel attacks are impractical for real-world use, especially when most surveillance targets already carry smartphones or use smart devices. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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SpaceX plans its first commercial spacewalk for this year | The Polaris Program is an initiative that will include up to three crewed SpaceX flights. The first mission, Polaris Dawn, is planned for Q4 2022 and should include the first commercial spacewalk. Polaris Dawn will aim for the highest-ever Earth orbit, conduct health research, and test laser-based Starlink communication. Inspiration4 leader Jared Isaacman will return as mission commander. There are still many details to work out and delays are likely. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Brave browser now includes a built-in crypto wallet | Brave has updated its desktop browser with a built-in crypto wallet. Users will be able to buy, sell, and swap their crypto with fewer security risks than the usual browser add-ons. It is a self-custody wallet with integrations with other wallets, as well as the ability to track crypto market data and control portfolios that include NFTs. The feature will be available on mobile devices soon. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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WhatsApp users will start seeing in-app ads within ‘Status’ feature from 2020 | WhatsApp will start displaying in-app ads within the 'Stories' section of the app. This brings features that have been effective on Facebook and Instagram to WhatsApp's advertising. Facebook has been looking at monetizing WhatsApp for some time now. The method of advertising seems unobtrusive, but it is yet to be seen how users will react to the changes. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Intel's new neuron-based computer matches brain of a small mammal | Intel's new 'neuromorphic' computing system, Pohoiki Springs, contains 100 million neurons, about the same number of neurons as in the brain of a small mammal. Traditional computer chips can process a large amount of numbers but still cannot perform well with abstract problems, such as spotting the difference between cats and dogs. Pohoiki Springs uses special neuromorphic processors designed for machine learning, a computing technology that has significantly improved performance with abstract problems. The new system will be accessible via the cloud by members of the Intel Neuromorphic Research Community. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Celebrating Imgur's Next Chapter | Imgur has been acquired by MediaLab. The image-sharing site reaches 300 million people and is home to one of the largest single independent communities online. MediaLab owns a range of internet brands, including Whisper, Kik, and WorldStarHipHop. Its resources and shared services will help the Imgur team add new features and tools and help grow the site. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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EU gives millions to start-up developing 550km/h maglev rail | Nevomo is a railway technology startup that claims it can turn existing tracks into magnetic levitation rails. The company has received a €2.5 million grant and may get more funding from the EU's European Innovation Council. Preparations for a full-scale test of its system began in summer 2021. Its system is currently able to operate at speeds of up to 550kph, but the company's goal is to eventually develop hyperloop-style transport systems that can travel at up to 1,200kph. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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'Electronic nose' could smell breath to warn about higher risk of oesophageal cancer | Barrett's esophagus is a condition that can lead to cancer of the esophagus. 9,000 new cases of esophageal cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK. There are often no symptoms associated with Barrett's esophagus. The diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus is usually done via an endoscopy, which can be expensive and invasive. Researchers have developed a new electronic nose that can analyze a patient's breath and produce a diagnosis. The device is easy to use and it can potentially reduce the number of cases of esophageal cancer as doctors will be able to start early interventions. Further tests of the device will still be needed before it will be available for doctors, but researchers aim to put it to market within two to three years. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Pluton, Microsoft’s new security chip, will finally be put to the test | Microsoft's Pluton, a security processor designed to protect against some of the most sophisticated types of attacks, will be integrated into AMD's upcoming Ryzen CPUs for use in Lenovo's ThinkPad Z Series of laptops. Pluton is already being used to secure Xbox Ones and Azure Sphere microcontrollers. The technology will secure PCs against physical hacks designed to install malware or steal cryptographic keys or other sensitive secrets. It stores keys and other secrets in a walled garden isolated from other system components. The new ThinkPad Z series laptops will begin shipping in May. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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RETRO Is Blazingly Fast | RETRO models are 25x smaller than the competition, leading to huge savings in training and inference costs. | 4Miscellaneous
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dlaicourse (GitHug Repo) | This repository contains notebooks for deep learning. Each notebook contains practical exercises and explanations related to deep learning, starting from a ‘Hello World’ exercise and delving into deeper topics, such as Natural Language Processing. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Is wind power’s future in deep water? | Hywind Scotland is an offshore location in Scotland that has five 574ft-tall wind turbines that generate enough electricity for more than 20,000 homes. It is the first floating wind energy array. The turbines are held in place with mooring cables attached to anchors on the seafloor. Floating wind turbines can access deeper waters, where the world's strongest and most consistent winds blow. They can be installed out of sight of coastal residents. | 4Miscellaneous
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Exclusive: Apple dropped plan for encrypting backups after FBI complained - sources | Two years ago, Apple dropped plans to let iPhone users fully encrypt iCloud backups after the FBI complained the move would harm investigations. The company did not want to be attacked by public officials for protecting criminals, sued for moving data out of reach of government agencies, or used as an excuse for new legislation against encryption. Last week, US Attorney General William Barr called Apple to unlock two iPhones used by a Saudi Air Force officer who had shot and killed three Americans at a Florida naval base last month. President Donald Trump added pressure, accusing Apple of refusing to unlock phones used by killers, drug dealers, and other violent criminal elements. Apple had provided the shooter's iCloud backups to law enforcement and rejected accusations that it had not provided substantive assistance. In the first half of last year, Apple provided full device backups or other iCloud content to US authorities for over 6,000 accounts for 1,568 cases. If Apple had continued plans to encrypt iCloud backups, it would not have been able to provide any data. | 4Miscellaneous
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Watch A Waymo AV Get Freaked Out By Traffic Cones, Block Traffic, And Evade Support Vehicles | YouTuber JJRicks Studios documents his rides in Waymo's robotaxi fleet in Phoenix. In a recent video, a vehicle got confused when it detected traffic cones and was unable to plot a route around them, blocking traffic. The vehicle called Waymo's roadside assistance, but a road maintenance worker removed the cone before the assistance driver could get to the scene, freeing the vehicle, which got stuck again at another set of traffic cones soon after. The 35-minute video demonstrates how far self-driving cars have come, and how far they still have to go. It is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Feb 17: Join Chief Measurement Strategist at Google, Neil Hoyne, for a moderated Q&A where your questions are answered live! (Sponsor) | Feb 17: Join Chief Measurement Strategist at Google, Neil Hoyne, for a moderated Q&A where your questions are answered live! . We have new and exciting developments in store for you during our upcoming Digital Experience Summit, February 16-17! On day one, qualified attendees receive a complimentary $15 toward lunch on us. On day TWO we're hosting an exclusive, live "Ask Me Anything" with Neil Hoyne, Chief Measurement Strategist at Google, author of "Converted: The Data-Driven Way to Win Customers’ Hearts".Book Now! | 0Sponsor
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Meta Tags (Web Tool) | Here's a nifty tool that lets you check the meta tags on your website. When I make a new site, I always check these tags one by one on Twitter's card validator, Facebook's graph debugger tool etc. but this tool basically lets you check that your meta tags are being set correctly on Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Slack all at once just by typing in the URL. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Facebook Dating launch blocked in Europe after it fails to show privacy workings | Facebook will not be launching its dating service in Europe as planned as it failed to demonstrate it had performed a legally required assessment of privacy risk and give the Irish Data Protection Commission enough advanced warning. The delay may mean that Facebook will have to make some changes to how the dating product functions in Europe if regulators are not satisfied with its compliance with EU laws. Facebook first notified the DPC about the rollout of the dating feature in the EU on February 3. It has been testing and slowly rolling out the service to different countries since mid-2019. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Japan debuts new bullet train that can run during an earthquake | The N700S is a new record-breaking bullet train that can transport passengers to safety in the event of an earthquake. It can go up to 360 kilometers per hour but will be capped at 285 kilometers per hour during operation. The design is similar to previous versions of the train but with more focus on comfort and safety. It was entered into service on July 1 on the Tokaido Shinkansen line, which links Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Google parent Alphabet is now a $1 trillion company | Alphabet is now one of the four US companies to have a market cap of over $1 trillion. It achieved this milestone just before the markets closed on Thursday, with a price of $1,451.70 per share. Sundar Pichai took over as CEO of Alphabet in December after Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin resigned from the position. Google has had to deal with some controversy in recent years over internal issues. Facebook is the next company expected to hit the $1 trillion market cap, with a current market cap of $620 billion. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Drone Swarms Are Getting Too Fast For Humans To Fight, U.S. General Warns | Humans may not be able to fight back against swarms of enemy drones, which might mean the rules governing human control over artificial intelligence might need to be relaxed. Current rules require meaningful human control over any lethal system. Pentagon leaders need to discuss how much human control of AI is needed to be safe but still effective, considering the context of countering new threats such as drone swarms. In these situations, humans on their own may be outclassed. AI could lead to reduced casualties due to target misidentification. Failing to deploy the best AI could mean defeat on the battlefield. | 4Miscellaneous
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China starts testing digital currency as Facebook's Libra faces setback | China has started trials for its digital currency. The district of Suzhou will be paying half of its travel subsidies given to public sector workers in May using the digital currency. China plans to expand its pilot schemes to Shenzhen, Xiongan, and Chengdu. The 2022 Winter Olympic games may be used as a test for the currency. China has not yet announced an official timetable for releasing the digital yuan. However, reports indicate that the currency will be available to the public later this year. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Physicists Claim They've Found Even More Evidence of a New Force of Nature | The four known fundamental forces in our Universe are gravity, electromagnetism, and two nuclear interactions. Physicists may have observed a fifth physical force emerging from a helium atom. If its existence is confirmed, it could help scientists solve the dark matter problem. The force was first discovered after an anomaly was observed in the way beryllium-8 emits light as it decays. The direction that the energy moved was inconsistent with the law of conservation of energy. In order for this to be possible, a new kind of fundamental boson had to be involved. While the particle still hasn't been observed, experiments have shown that it is very likely it exists. The latest study has yet to be peer-reviewed, and many experiments will still need to be conducted to confirm the existence of X17. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Rocket Lab launched and recovered a rocket mid-air in a world first | Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket from New Zealand on May 2 and caught the rocket's first stage mid-air using a helicopter. The helicopter pilot released the rocket seconds after the recovery due to different load characteristics than were expected from tests. The rocket landed in the ocean and was picked up by a ship. An 11-second clip of the moment when the helicopter caught the rocket is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Watch China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft land on the moon in this amazing video | China's Chang'e 5 lander spacecraft has successfully touched down on the Moon and collected the first lunar samples in 44 years. A short video of the landing and footage of Chang'e 5 collecting samples is available in the article. The spacecraft launched on November 23 and touched down on Tuesday at 11:11 pm Beijing Time. Chang'e 5 will launch back into lunar orbit on Thursday and re-enter Earth's atmosphere around December 16. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Meet Starlab: Private space station planned to fly in 2027 | Nanoracks, Voyager Space, and Lockheed Martin are planning to build a free-flying private space station in low Earth orbit by 2027. Starlab will be a tourist destination as well as a research and manufacturing hub. It will feature a habitat module with 12,000 cubic feet of internal volume, a power and propulsion element, a laboratory setup, and a large external robotic arm to service payloads and cargo. NASA wants commercial stations to pick up the slack from the ISS as the outpost is due to be retired near the end of the decade. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Upgraded Google Glass Helps Autistic Kids “See” Emotions (10 minute read) | A special kind of Google Glass allows children with autism to see emotions. When users wear the glasses, they can see a code that lets them know the emotions displayed on the faces around them. Studies have shown that using this technology increases kids' eye contact and social engagement, as well as improving their recognition of emotions in others. The device has yet to gain approval by the FDA and treatment is not covered by health insurance plans. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Rex (GitHub Repo) | Rex is a project to train an open-source 3D printed quadruped robot. It aims to train the robot to learn domestic and generic tasks using simulations and then transfer the knowledge onto a real robot without any other manual tuning. This repository contains different OpenAI Gym Environments used to train Rex, the Rex URDF model, the learning agent, and some scripts to start the training session and visualize the learned Control Policies. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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IceFireDB (GitHub Repo) | IceFireDB is a distributed disk storage system based on the Raft and RESP protocols. It features distributed consistency, reliable LSM disk storage, a cold and hot mixed data storage structure, multiple groups of raft clusters, advanced cache implementation, and more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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The Navy Plans to Put HELIOS Laser Weapon on Destroyer by 2021 | The High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance (HELIOS) system is a 60-kilowatt laser system that is able to burn boats, shoot down drones, and damage electro-optical sensors. A $150 million contract had been awarded to Lockheed Martin to build two systems for the US Navy, one which will be sent to a testing faculty and another that will be mounted on an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. The weapon will theoretically be able to fire unlimited shots using a ship's onboard electrical generation system. A two minute video shows HELIOS in action. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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MIT reveals first ever laser ultrasound pictures of a human body | A new ultrasound imaging technique that doesn't require any skin contact with the body has been developed at MIT. Ultrasounds are inexpensive and do not involve harmful radiation, unlike PET or MRI scans. One of the main limitations of the technology is that it requires significant bodily contact in the process of imaging. The new non-contact method uses lasers to produce and detect sound waves to generate images. Tests of the new imaging technique were run on gelatin molds, animal tissues, and human volunteers. Currently, the method does not deliver images of the same quality as conventional ultrasound techniques, but researchers believe that the system can be refined and improved. The technique will allow people who can't have skin contact to be easily imaged. It also opens up the possibility for the development of portable screening devices. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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This Bird Went Extinct and Then Evolved Into Existence Again | The Aldabra white-throated rail is a flightless bird that lives on the Aldabra atoll in the Indian Ocean. It went extinct 136,000 years ago. A recent study has found that the bird has re-evolved itself into existence. Iterative evolution is when the same ancestral lineage produces parallel offshoot species at different points in time. The birds went extinct due to rising sea levels, but the same parent species recolonized the area once it reemerged from the sea. This is the clearest example of iterative evolution in birds. | 4Miscellaneous
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Tesla shares fall after SEC asks judge to hold Elon Musk in contempt for violating deal | In October 2018, a court ruling declared that Elon Musk must have prior approval for any tweet prior to publication. On February 20, Musk tweeted that Tesla would make around 500,000 vehicles in 2019 but later clarified that he actually meant that the annual production rate could be 500,000 vehicles. The SEC has asked a judge to hold Musk in contempt of the October ruling, citing that he did not seek pre-approval for the tweet. This has resulted in a 5% fall in Tesla’s share value. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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The UK Is Developing Nuclear-Powered Space Exploration for Faster Mars Trips | The UK Space Agency and Rolls-Royce plc have teamed up to explore nuclear-powered propulsion for space exploration. Nuclear-powered propulsion would make space travel faster and more sustainable. It would make it possible to send missions further out into space where solar power is unavailable. Faster travel times would mean that astronauts would be exposed to less radiation. The research will last for six months, and then the results will be implemented throughout the decade. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Awesome Product Design (GitHub Repo) | This repository contains a collection of bookmarks, resources, and articles for product designers. There are nine categories: research, UI, UX, visual, prototype, accessibility, writing, data, and IoT. Each category is broken down into topics and subtopics. Users can contribute to the collection by submitting a pull request. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Recoil (Website) | Recoil is a state management library for React. It provides capabilities that are difficult to achieve with React alone. A 33-minute video is available that explains and demonstrates how Recoil works. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Rocket Lab unveils details of new reusable Neutron launcher | Rocket Lab has unveiled details about its Neutron rocket. The rocket will be made out of a special carbon composite and will be mostly reusable. It will have its second stage inside of the first one, so the first stage remains with the rocket after its fuel is spent. The second stage will be attached to the payload and stay housed inside the body of the rocket. The top of the rocket will open up once in space to release the second stage and payload. The payload will then be released through a hinged fairing. A video featuring Rocket Lab's CEO Peter Beck eating a hat and then explaining the design is available in the article. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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This AI reads children's emotions as they learn | 4 Little Trees is an AI-powered learning platform created by Find Solution AI, a Hong Kong-based startup. The app's AI identifies students' emotions while they work on tests and homework. Other statistics and performance history is also collected by the platform. The data is used to generate reports on students' strengths, weaknesses, and motivation levels. It is also used to forecast their grades. The app's use of AI to identify emotions has raised some concerns, but the app creators say that the app only records facial muscle data and that it doesn't video students' faces. | 4Miscellaneous
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The #NobelPrize committee couldn't reach Paul Milgrom to share the news that he won, so his fellow winner and neighbor Robert Wilson knocked on his door in the middle of the night (Twitter Thread) | Paul Milgrom, winner of this year's Nobel prize for economics, was uncontactable, so Robert Wilson, fellow winner and neighbor, knocked on his door to give him the news directly at 2:15 in the morning. Milgrom's wife, who was in Stockholm, received a notification on her phone from their security-camera, and she got to watch Wilson tell Milgrom that he had won the Nobel Prize live. The one-minute video is available in the original tweet. | 4Miscellaneous
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Tulsi Gabbard sues Google, claims 'election interference' over suspension of ad account | Google is facing legal action by member of Congress and Democratic presidential candidate, Tulsi Gabbard, due to the suspension of Gabbard's campaign advertising account during the first Democratic presidential debate. It is alleged that Gabbard's account was suspended for several hours during the first Democratic debate when Gabbard was briefly the most-searched candidate on Google. Google claims that the suspension was due to an automated system that flagged the account for unusual activity, and that the account was reinstated shortly after the suspension. Gabbard claims that the suspension was a threat to free speech, fair elections, and to democracy. | 4Miscellaneous
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Google Contractors Are Unionizing With a Steel Workers Union | Contract workers at Google's office in Pittsburgh have joined forces with the Pittsburgh Association of Technical Professions to ask the National Labor Relations Board for a vote on union representation. The workers at HCL America Inc. work side-by-side with Google employees with far less compensation and few perks. Tech companies such as Google, Uber, and Lyft have been criticized by employees as their classifications for temps, vendors, and contractors allow companies to abdicate their responsibilities to the majority of their workforce. Once the NLRB determines whether the cards and signatures qualify, a representation election will be scheduled, which is when individual workers can vote for or against being represented by the union. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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First hands on the new Twitter API | Twitter has released version 2 of its API, promoting its support for bot developers, businesses, academic researchers, students, and makers. The developer portal has been fully rebranded, with a design that is more welcoming for newcomers. It still uses OAuth 1.0a for authentication and is mostly a REST API. Applications have a quota of 500,000 tweets per month. Only six endpoints are currently available, but there are still many features on the roadmap. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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How do you motivate yourself to keep working on a project? (Hacker News Thread) | Lots of sound advice for getting over the fear of shipping a project here, from breaking things down into smaller subtasks to utilizing your own existential dread. | 4Miscellaneous
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Language Interpretability Tool (GitHub Repo) | The Language Interpretability Tool (LIT) is a visual and interactive model-understanding tool for Natural Language Processing models. It features salience maps, custom metrics, the ability to compare models, rich visualization of model predictions, and more. LIT is framework-agnostic and compatible with TensorFlow, PyTorch, and other frameworks. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Microsoft confirms work on ‘Keystone’ Xbox game streaming dongle | Microsoft has decided to pivot away from the current iteration of its xCloud streaming device, code-named Keystone. It will refocus its efforts on a new approach that will deliver Xbox Cloud Gaming to more players around the world. It is unclear what the new approach will be. The company is working on an Xbox app that should debut on Samsung smart TVs within the next 12 months. More details about Microsoft's plans could be announced at an event on June 12. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Physicists Say We're Officially at the "Threshold of Nuclear Fusion Ignition" | A recent experiment put scientists at the threshold of fusion ignition. The experiment involved using a powerful laser to heat and compress hydrogen fuel. To achieve the goal of fusion ignition, the energy from the fusion reaction must exceed the energy delivered by the laser. The scientists were able to produce roughly 70 percent of the energy required. The UK's planned nuclear fusion reactor is expected to be operational no earlier than 2040, so it will likely still be some time before the technology is ready. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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New SpaceX Starlink Maritime service brings internet to boats | Boat owners will now be able to access Starlink's internet service from the most remote waters across the world. | 4Miscellaneous
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Sanic Omnitool (GitHub Repo) | Sanic is a complete tool for developing, building, and deploying Docker/Kubernetes projects. It focuses on developer experience and aims to make the process as streamlined and as fast as possible. Sanic supports concurrent builds, live-mounting, and templating. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Clean-code-typescript (GitHub Repo) | This GitHub repository contains a guide on producing readable, reusable, and refactorable code in Typescript. The principles used in this guide are from Robert C. Martin's book, Clean Code. It is packed with examples of good and bad code, organized by sections, with clear explanations on why certain methods of formatting are more efficient, effective, and readable. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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pattern.css (GitHub Repo) | pattern.css is a CSS only library of patterned backgrounds. It supports all modern browsers and developers have full color control. pattern.css is under 1KB when compressed. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Tired of Egregious Egress? (Sponsor) | Tired of Egregious Egress? . Vultr offers Cloud Compute across more than 20 locations with pricing as low as $2.50 per month. Deploy your first instance today in 60 seconds or less with one of 12 pre-selected operating systems or bring your own ISO! Claim $150 in credit for your first 30 days! | 0Sponsor
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Facebook creates exec team to work on Mark Zuckerberg's vision for a digital universe | Facebook will create a product team to work on the metaverse. The team will be part of Facebook's Reality Labs. Tech companies have started to increasingly discuss building a metaverse as a successor technology to smartphones. The metaverse will use augmented and virtual reality technologies, which is why Facebook has invested heavily in AR and VR. Mark Zuckerberg hopes that Facebook will be viewed as a metaverse company in the future. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Large language models will change science (11 minute read) | Thousands of scientific papers are submitted every year, making it difficult for anyone to keep up with scientific literature. Advances in natural language processing and large language models mean it is now possible for machines to understand natural language. It will soon be possible for AI to find relevant papers, determine the accuracy of a paper, and figure out its importance and novelty. These systems could one day consume more scientific research than humans and generate new scientific discoveries. They could also tutor humans by understanding their learning path and feeding them information at the time they need it. | 4Miscellaneous
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Machine Learning Attack Series: Image Scaling Attacks | An image scaling attack involves hiding a smaller image inside a larger image so that an image is completely different when it is resized. This can be used to poison training data or to make machine learning models recognize different objects, as most models will resize images before processing them. The machine learning model will process the resized image rather than the original image, even though the two images are completely different. An example is available in the article. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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US Military to Have 3D-Printing Factories in Shipping Containers | The US Department of Defense has contracted ExOne, the global leader in industrial sand and metal 3D printers, to develop a self-contained 3D-printing factory that operates from a shipping container. These portable 3D-printing facilities would be deployed whenever needed for a wide variety of military-focused purposes. The regular-sized shipping containers will be quick to deploy, and won't require a lot of technical knowledge to maneuver. ExOne's printers will be able to print using over 20 different metal, ceramic, or composite materials. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Vulnerability in Bumble dating app reveals any user's exact location (23 minute read) | A vulnerability in the Bumble dating app made it possible to track a person's location. While the app tried to hide user locations by rounding their distances from the server, a dedicated attacker could still determine a user's location by spoofing a location and pinging the app's servers for the victim's location. The server's responses could be collected and analyzed to determine the user's real location. This article describes how the attack was developed and tested. The vulnerability has since been patched, with the finder being awarded a $2,000 bounty. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Apple, Big Sur, and the rise of Neumorphism | Neumorphism is a focus on how light moves in three-dimensional space. In the context of a GUI or simulation, Neumorphism focuses on how light interacts with a variety of objects in a purely digital space. Apple introduced macOS 11 Big Sur, its newest version of macOS, at its WWDC event this week. It features a new user interface design that has been criticized for its use of Neumorphism. However, despite the criticism, Neumorphism is said to be the next wave in UI design, and there will likely be an explosion of development around the possibilities of the system soon. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Waymo and Lyft partner to scale self-driving robotaxi service in Phoenix | Waymo will be bringing on 10 vehicles onto the Lyft platform over the next few months in Phoenix as part of a new partnership agreement. Waymo’s self-driving vehicles have been operating in Phoenix since December under the Waymo One app. Lyft users will be able to select between normal ride-sharing vehicles and Waymo self-driving vehicles once the cars are in service. In Las Vegas, Lyft has partnered with self-driving vehicle supplier Aptiv, and have provided more than 40,000 paid autonomous rides. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Uber drivers are contractors, not employees, U.S. labor agency says | The general counsel of a US labor agency has concluded that Uber drivers are contractors, not employees. Drivers set their own hours, own their own vehicles, and are free to work for Uber’s competitors, which makes them unable to be considered employees under federal labor law. A final ruling by the National Labor Relations Board will decide whether Uber drivers are employees and can form unions. Uber continues to deny any wrongdoing, but they have stated in a filing with the SEC that they would pay up to $170 million to settle tens of thousands of arbitration cases across the country with drivers who claim they have been misclassified as independent contractors. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Mercury Parser - Extracting content from chaos (GitHub Repo) | Mercury Parser processes pages and returns a simple, clean output of all the important information in a categorized plain text format. Users can choose and edit which fields are important using JavaScript and CSS selectors. Mercury Parser is used in extensions such as Mercury Reader, which allows users to view sites in a ‘reading view’, removing the distraction that comes with differing page styles or ads. An example of the output is available. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Revery (GitHub Repo) | Revery is a framework to build native, cross-platform desktop apps. It's meant to be a competitor to Electron for building desktop apps, but with better performance by not requiring an entire browser to be bundled into each app. It comes bundled with React-like/Redux-like libraries so the developer experience looks like it will be pretty great. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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XSStrike (Github Repo) | XSStrike is a next-generation Cross Site Scripting detection suite with four hand written parsers, an intelligent payload generator, a fuzzing engine and a fast crawler. It's written in Python, people seem very excited about this project so if you're into security you might want to check it out. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Refresh your browser monitoring solution with more integrated user metrics (Sponsor) | Enjoy a streamlined web monitoring experience with our latest enhancements to Browser. Users now have the ability to analyze web traffic by browser and device type, filter user data by geography, and display Core Web Vitals front and center. Learn more. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Amazon’s roadmap for Alexa is scarier than anything Facebook or Twitter is doing | Amazon has plans to move Alexa from passive to proactive interactions, which means that rather than waiting and responding to requests, it will start anticipating what the user might want. In order to do this, it will need to access and process a lot of personal user data. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are trillion-dollar companies due to their ability to collect and use data. Eventually, Amazon will start focusing on building training databases with data from individuals or very small groups. By getting Alexa to start the conversation, Amazon may be able to get even more personalized data from its customers. | 4Miscellaneous
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Moving Gradient animation with CSS | This article shows you how to make a complete page background animation with CSS moving gradients. It explains how the code works, and then it shows how the code can be modified to make more complex effects. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Kredis (GitHub Repo) | Kredis (Keyed Redis) allows developers to interact with higher-level types and data structures as coherent objects rather than as isolated procedural commands. These higher-level structures can be configured as attributes within Active Models and Active Records using declarative DSL. Examples are provided in the repository. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Copii. Ready to use fully functional copy button for GitHub README files | Copii is a button you can add to your README files in GitHub to easily copy code to the clipboard. An example is available on the page. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Khaby Lame dethrones Charli D’Amelio as the most-followed TikTok creator | Khaby Lame, a 22-year-old from Senegal famous for wordlessly fixing viral life hacks, is now the most followed creator on TikTok. | 4Miscellaneous
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Frontend Weekly (Newsletter) | Frontend Weekly is a well curated list of articles, tutorials, and tools about front end web development (with an emphasis on Javascript). If you're one of the trendy people who like to keep up with the latest frameworks and tools, this is a great resource. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Genetically Modified Tiny Worms Can Detect Pancreatic Cancer at an Early Stage | Japanese biotech startup Hirotsu Bio Science Inc. has developed a cancer screening test using roundworms that can detect early signs of pancreatic cancer from urine. The roundworms have a gene in their olfactory receptors that make them react to the urine of pancreatic cancer patients. When the gene is turned off, the roundworms are still attracted to the urine of people with other cancers, but not pancreatic cancer. During tests, the method was 100% accurate in detecting pancreatic cancer and 91.3% accurate for other types of cancer. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Brilliant Planet plans cheap, gigaton-scale carbon capture using algae | Brilliant Planet is a company that has a carbon capture and sequestration model that can scale up to billions of tons per year. The method involves pumping seawater into low-cost coastal desert land and then using the pools of seawater to grow algae. It could potentially capture two billion tons of carbon per year, about 5.5% of humanity's annual global carbon emissions. The company is aiming for a cost of around $50-$100 per ton, which is significantly cheaper than other current options. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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Space Cloud (GitHub Repo) | Space Cloud replaces tradition backend servers and simplifies app development. It is essentially a web server that integrates with new or existing databases to provide instant real-time APIs over REST, web sockets, gRPC, and more. Space Cloud provides many functionalities, security, and flexibility to work with the tech stack of your choice without having to write a single line of backend code. | 3Programming, Design & Data Science
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Apple Fitness+ tidbits | Apple's Fitness+ is now available. Users will be able to share workouts with other Apple devices, but the ability to take screenshots has been blocked in the app. An Apple Watch is required to activate Fitness+, but after activation, the app can be used without the watch. While there is no leaderboard for Fitness+, there is a Burn Bar that shows users' efforts compared to others during their workouts. The data for the Burn Bar is collected anonymously from users who opt-in for the feature. A 17-minute video walkthrough of Fitness+ is available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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These are the 20 most common passwords leaked on the dark web — make sure none of them are yours | Cybersecurity experts say that the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict could result in an increase in cyberattacks around the world. Choosing a strong password helps prevent hackers from accessing online accounts. It is recommended that people use passwords with uncommon characters that are longer than the minimum length required. A different password should be used for every account. A list of the 20 most commonly leaked passwords is available. | 4Miscellaneous
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Research Opens the Door to Fully Light-Based Quantum Computing | A team of researchers have announced the development of a fully photonics-based approach to quantum computing. The team's approach could lead to the development of rack-sized, mostly maintenance-free large-scale quantum computing systems. Photonics-based quantum computing takes advantage of emerging quantum properties in light. The new design allows for a reduction in required raw materials without the complexity of controlling multiple quantum computing units. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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LG developing sliding doors made of transparent OLED displays | LG, in partnership with Swedish manufacturer Assa Abloy Entrance Systems, has announced that it is developing automatic sliding doors with built-in transparent OLED displays. The company unveiled a range of transparent signage early last year, and they are now being used for real-world applications, for example, in the windows of subway carriages in China and for the displays in Panasonic and Xiaomi's transparent OLED TVs. Samsung had experimented with transparent OLED displays in the past, but it has stopped developing the technology. LG did not announce a release date for its high-end doors. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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Tesla's Autopilot Can Be Tricked in Just a Split Second Through This Method | Researchers have found a way to trick Tesla's autopilot. This was achieved by flashing split-second 'phantom' images of speed limits or stop signs. The images only need to appear for 0.42 seconds for Tesla's autopilot to respond to them, which means that the drivers wouldn't even know what had happened. It is possible to hack into billboards to affect Tesla vehicles without leaving any traces. While autopilot wasn't designed for Teslas to drive entirely autonomously, people have been using it without paying attention to the road. This inattention from drivers has resulted in accidents. A 2-minute video demonstrating the hack is available in the article. | 4Miscellaneous
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Apple WWDC 2022: the 16 biggest announcements | Apple recently revealed news about macOS Ventura, iOS 16, the M2 chip, a new MacBook Air, and much more at WWDC 2022. iOS 16 will have a customizable lock screen, updated notifications, Live Activities, editable and unsendable texts in Messages, a Pay Later feature, Safety Checks, and more. watchOS 9 will come with new health-tracking features. The new MacBook Air will feature the new M2 chip, which offers an 18 percent performance upgrade when compared to the M1. macOS Ventura will feature an improved multitasking tool, Passkeys, and the ability to use an iPhone as a webcam. iPadOS 16 will have new multitasking and collaboration features. More details about the announcements are available in the article. | 1Big Tech & Startups
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The Canadian innovation that pulls drinking water out of thin air | A Canadian invention uses technology inspired by a cactus and thorny devil lizards to pull drinking water from the air. The species that inspired the Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG) come from Malta, where water is scarce and the land is surrounded by the salt water of the sea. On the island, the cactus uses tiny hairs to collect water from the air and the thorny devil lizard's skin has a texture that pulls moisture from the air into the lizard's mouth. The AWG uses a special material that is able to absorb moisture from the air using principles learned from nature and it uses 20 to 70 times less energy than other current AWGs. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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NuScale’s small nuclear reactor is first to get US safety approval | Small modular reactor designs could mean safer, cheaper, and easier to install nuclear facilities. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved its first small modular reactor design. A two-minute video is available in the article that explores NuScale's design. The basic design is conventional and uses a passive cooling system. It has passive features that ensure that the plant shutdowns safely and remains safe under emergency conditions. | 2Science and Futuristic Technology
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