The first uterus transplant in the US has failed

Medical progress sometimes doesn’t go according to plan. Cleveland Clinic has announced that the first US uterus transplant failed just two weeks after doctors put it in. Details of what went wrong are scarce, but the Clinic says that a “sudden complication” forced the removal. While the 26-year-old patient (referred to only as Lindsey) is recovering well, it’s clear that such a groundbreaking procedure isn’t easy. Not that the Clinic is giving up — it’s continuing with a transplant study that should include 10 women, and hopes that this transplant will eventually give more women a chance at childbirth.

Via: New York Times

Source: Cleveland Clinic

Immerse yourself in Vive’s VR with two mixed-reality videos

Fantastic Contraption launches with the HTC Vive virtual reality headset on April 5th and it promises to take advantage of the technology’s coolest features. It’s a full-body kind of game that challenges you to craft objects that can overcome physical obstacles to reach specific points in the world. If that description doesn’t excite you, take a look at these mixed-reality demo videos featuring Fantastic Contraption developer Colin Northway and get hype.

Fantastic Contraption started life as a non-VR game in 2008, and since then, players have saved more than 12 million strange and useful contraptions. Things will probably get even more wild with the fresh perspective offered by the Vive. Plus, just listen to those sound effects — they’re packed with satisfying pops and pulls.

We recently took the Vive for a spin at home and found it to be, in a word, magnificent.

Source: @kertgartner

Pentagon has deployed military drones in the US

If you were skeptical that the US military would only fly its drones in combat zones, your suspicions were well-founded — although the situation isn’t as bad as you might think. A recently published Department of Defense report has revealed that the Pentagon deployed spy drones in the US for non-military missions between 2006 and 2015. There were “less than twenty” of these flights, and the Department maintains that all of them obeyed laws restricting the use of these drones at home. While the document doesn’t say what happened on those flights, the current policy forbids spying on US residents.

There are mentions of drone requests that were either dropped or rejected. One Air Force unit gave up a request to use a drone for fire season training due to an “onerous approval process.” In another case, the Marines shot down a mayor’s desire to use a drone for spotting potholes. That just didn’t “make operational sense,” inspectors say.

While it sounds from the report as if officials respected the law, there are reasons for concern. It warns that policies about military drone use for civil roles are sometimes ambiguous, and that there’s no standard process for it. For instance, no Defense Secretary has ever delegated someone to vet these missions — if they didn’t handle it themselves, there’s a problem. The military will likely have to tighten its procedures if it wants to eliminate the chance that someone will misuse combat drones over American soil.

Source: USA Today

‘EVE Online’ now rewards you for helping science

At last, playing a ton of EVE Online can do a lot of good in the real world. As promised, the massively multiplayer space title now includes a Project Discovery minigame that has you contributing to real science. If you offer to classify proteins in between space flights, you’ll both help scientists understand the proteins’ roles in the human body (especially relating to disease) and earn in-game rewards ranging from ISK currency to loyalty points. You don’t have to be a paying EVE subscriber to participate, so it won’t hurt to give the project a go if you’re eager to advance medicine while you explore the virtual cosmos.

Source: Project Discovery, EVE Community

Netflix wants Will Smith’s next feature film

Netflix’s track record for original movies is spotty, to say the least. On one hand, you have something like the pretty stellar Beasts of No Nation. Then there’s Adam Sandler’s output that’s exclusive to the streaming juggernaut and the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon sequel. But maybe Bright, a new flick starring Will Smith that’s being directed by Suicide Squad’s David Ayer, can fix that. The Hollywood Reporter says that the budget is between $80 million and $100 million and follows a human cop (Smith) forced into working with an orc partner (Joel Edgerton) to find a powerful wand.

It sounds kind of far fetched, but the movie’s fiction is such that creatures like orcs live alongside humans and the police have a special unit for dealing with magic-related crimes. Sounds a bit like the Fables series of comics that developer Telltale Games’ The Wolf Among Us series is based on, no?

Considering Ayer’s previous cop-related work involves writing Training Day and both writing and directing End of Watch, odds are that this could be pretty good once it releases. And as far as when you can watch it goes, that isn’t known for now. THR’s sources say that the deal hasn’t been completely finalized.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Facebook Acquires Popular Live Filter iOS App ‘MSQRD’

Apps that add real-time filters to selfies and videos are growing in popularity, and today Facebook announced the acquisition of the team behind MSQRD, a much-downloaded live filter app available on iOS and Android devices.

First introduced in January of 2016, MSQRD applies live filters to photos and videos captured with the iPhone’s front-facing camera. It includes face swapping capabilities, along with a range of filters and masks that include celebrities, animals, and effects like larger eyes or rabbit ears. Filters like these have been gaining popularity in recent months following their implementation in Snapchat last fall.

Apple has made an investment in similar technology, having purchased real-time motion capture firm Faceshift in 2015. Faceshift worked with game and animation studios on technology designed to quickly and accurately capture facial expressions using 3D sensors, which could be used to create real-time video avatars for video chat. It isn’t clear what Apple will do with the technology, but it could potentially be incorporated into Photo Booth or FaceTime.

Though the technology has been acquired by Facebook, MSQRD will continue to be available on iOS devices as a standalone product. The app can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

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NCAA March Madness App Updated for 2016 Tournament, Expands to Apple TV

With the 2016 March Madness college basketball tournament set to begin on March 15, the NCAA has updated its March Madness app with new features for iOS, the fourth-generation Apple TV and Apple Watch.

The brand new Apple TV app comes with a significant feature for basketball fans: the ability to watch two games side-by-side in a split-screen interface. The feature, which is exclusive to Apple TV, also allows users to switch the audio from both the games, allowing basketball fans to hone in on exciting matches easier than before. Lisa Estrin, NCAA Digital’s senior UX lead, told Variety that the Apple TV was the “perfect” platform for the feature.

“We believe Apple TV is the perfect platform to experiment with this and bring the two together in a shared environment,” said Lisa Estrin, senior UX lead, NCAA Digital, at a Los Angeles showcase for Apple TV apps hosted by Apple earlier this week. “We look forward to more collaboration in the future.”

The iOS version of the app received several new features, including AirPlay and Google Cast support. In addition to multitasking support, iPad users will also see a redesigned version of the app with an “immersive” new experience that features a new game timeline, up-to-the-minute stats and curated highlights from Twitter and Instagram. The March Madness app has also been made available for Apple Watch, allowing users to receive alerts for their favorite teams and quick access to scores and the tournament schedule.

All versions of the NCAA March Madness app require logging in with TV provider credentials to stream games.

NCAA March Madness for iOS is available in the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tag: NCAA March Madness
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Behmor Connected 8 Cup Coffee Maker review

Coffee and smartphones. Two my favorite things. What happens when you get to combine the two? As somebody who regularly consumes coffee as part of his daily routine, you can

Ninja BL491 Nutri Ninja Auto-iQ Compact System review – CNET

The Good The to-go cups of this Nutri Ninja system are as handy as ever and the food processor attachment adds versatility so you can do more with your blender than make smoothies on the run.

The Bad The main 48-ounce jar didn’t perform well on any of our tests and the Auto-IQ feature isn’t as intelligent as I’d hoped.

The Bottom Line The Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ Compact system doesn’t make the most of its power or its pieces. It’s a fine if underwhelming blender.

One of my main complaints in my positive review of the original Nutri Ninja was the lack of a bigger jar with measurement lines. The new Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ Compact system not only has that, it also a more powerful motor as well as a food processor attachment, a dough blade, and a stainless steel cup. At $160, it’s more expensive than the $90 Nutri Ninja, but the price is still more than reasonable, especially compared to $400+ Vitamix and Blendtech blenders.

The Ninja Auto-IQ should be a home run, but it’s not. The main 48-ounce jar isn’t very well designed, and as a result, its blending performance is sub par. The other pieces work fine, and the food processor attachment is a nice addition to the Nutri Ninja package. The Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ Compact System is still a fine blender, but it’s not as special as it could have been.

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With an 1,100-watt motor, you get plenty of power for your dollar with the Ninja Auto-IQ Compact System. The base works with the various attachments, and has suction cups for feet that helps it stay upright as it blends your food.

The pieces of the Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ Compact System.

Chris Monroe/CNET

You can buy this powerful Nutri Ninja with all of its attachments from the company site for $160, as well as Best Buy, Sears, Target, Amazon and other small appliance retailers. If you don’t want the food processor attachment, you can save $30 and go with the $130 Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ Complete, which is the same system otherwise.

Both models are available in the UK, though unfortunately not in Australia at the moment. The international versions are called the Nutri Ninja Auto-IQ Pro Compact and Pro Complete respectively. On Amazon.co.uk, the Compact is priced at £180 and the complete at £150. The US price converts to approximately AU$215 for the Compact and AU$175 for the Complete.

Blending on the go

A single-blade attachment fits into both to-go cups and the 48-ounce food jar. With the to-go cups, that makes for an easy process of blending, swapping out the blades for the lid and walking out your door with your smoothie. It’s a nice design that Ninja’s employed for some time, both on the Nutri Ninja, and the to-go cups of the great Ninja Ultima.

The blade attachment fits on both to-go cups and the main 48 ounce jar.

Chris Monroe/CNET

It works quite well for smoothies in particular, but having the lid on the bottom still causes some annoyances, as I noted in the Nutri Ninja review. You won’t be able to scrape the sides or help your blender in any way during tougher assignments.

The food processor

Other annoyances include the finicky food processor lid. I like the food processor attachment in general, it adds versatility to the package in terms of what you can blend, but it takes some skill to get the lid exactly in the right spot so you can push down the lever and seal it.

Get the lid on correctly, and the food processor will make pesto within seconds and even pulverize a full 8 ounce block of cheddar. The food processor did quite well on most of our stress tests, while the to-go cups held their own, as expected, on the basics like smoothies.

The lid of the food processor attachment proves tricky to put in place.

Chris Monroe/CNET

The main jar

Both results help redeem this Nutri Ninja system, as the main jar doesn’t do either the heavy lifting or the fundamentals particularly well. The blades don’t reach low enough or wide enough. Not only does that inhibit flow, but I consistently found small, untouched pieces of food stuck under the blades or pushed away to the sides.

Blue Origin: When will Jeff Bezos’ space company take tourists into space?

Amazon.com’s founder has stopped being so secretive about his private space company by letting journalists tour the venture’s site while also announcing that human space tourism will be possible in just two years.

That space company is called Blue Origin, and for lack of a better term, it can be described as Jeff Bezos’ baby. He’s been dreaming about space since he was 5 years old, and he’s invested tonnes of money into making those dreams a reality. In fact, Blue Origin is on the fast-track to giving both SpaceX and Virgin Galactic a run for their money. We’ve explained all you need to know below.

Blue Origin: What is it?

Blue Origin

Blue Origin is a private space company started by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos in 2000. It has about 600 employees working in a former Boeing airplane parts facility headquartered in Kent, Washington (about 17 miles south of Seattle, where Amazon.com is headquartered).

Blue Origin is sort of like SpaceX, another private space company, though SpaceX was started by Tesla founder Elon Musk. The two companies are similar in that they are helping morph the space business from NASA and aerospace giants like Lockheed Martin to private industry interested in launching satellites to orbit as well as developing technologies to enable private human access to space, among other things.

Blue Origin’s motto is “Gradatim ferociter,” which is Latin for “step by step, ferociously”. In an interview with The New York Times, which happens to be the first time Bezos opened the doors to his space company, Bezos explained that the moto reflects his opinion that “you can do the steps quickly, but you can’t skip any steps.” In other words: you can’t cut corners nor dillydally when it comes to aerospace.

Bezos has been dreaming of space travel and building rockets since he was a kid. When asked how much he has invested in the space venture, he said all the hi-tech equipment and employees have added up to “a very significant number”. Currently, Blue Origin makes some of its money by selling rocket engines to other companies, like United Launch Alliance, which launches satellites and spaceships.

• READ MORE: Blue Origin’s website

Blue Origin: When will it take tourists into space?

Blue Origin

According to The Guardian, Blue Origin expects to take tourists into space by 2017. Jeff Bezos admitted this during a media tour in March, when he invited 11 journalists to tour his venture’s research and development site outside of Seattle. The first tourists will not be paying customers, but thousands have expressed interest in paying for a trip on a suborbital craft, he claimed.

The company isn’t taking deposits yet – unlike its other main rival, Virgin Galactic, a spaceflight company founded by Sir Richard Branson in 2004. It is developing commercial spacecraft, with the purpose of providing suborbital spaceflights to paying space tourists. It also conducts suborbital launches for space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites. It eventually plans to provide orbital human spaceflights too.

Virgin Galactic unveiled its latest SpaceShipTwo spaceplane on 19 February 2016 at a ceremony at the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California. Professor Stephen Hawking dubbed it the VSS Unity. This spacecraft will bring space tourists into sub-orbital space in the near feature. Virgin Galactic has not yet set a firm timeline for carrying tourists into space, but pre-sale tickets for the trip cost $250,000 (£160,000) each.

Bezos said he doesn’t want Blue Origin to be first private company to offer space tourism. He prefers to focus on safety and perfecting equipment by flying as many as 100 suborbital flights a year. Keep in mind Virgin Galactic’s first SpaceShipTwo spaceplane broke apart during its fourth flight in late 2014 due to a co-pilot error. Co-pilot Michael Alsbury died in the accident.

• READ MORE: VSS Unity explained

Blue Origin: Has it launched anything yet?

Blue Origin

Blue Origin has launched a ship twice, and it landed safely.

It plans to keep testing, though it wants to switch to ships being built to test human flight. Bezos’s company most recent successful landing and relaunching of the The New Shepard rocket into space occurred late last year. SpaceX has attempted the same with its Falcon 9 rocket, but a smooth landing only happened once. Space has yet to send the same ship off Earth twice.

The New Shepard and the Falcon 9 have different designs and missions – even though they’re both reusable. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is thin and tall and designed to launch payloads like satellites and cargo into orbit, while The New Shepard is thicker and shorter and can’t go as far up as the Falcon 9. It’s only designed to take people to sub-orbital space for about 4 minutes. 

• READ MORE: What is Space X’s Falcon 9?

Blue Origin: Does it work with NASA at all?

Blue Origin

Blue Origin has been contracted to do work for NASA on several development efforts. According to ArsTechnica, it has received about $25 million from the national space agency during its 16-year existence.

The company was awarded $3.7 million in funding in 2009 by NASA, for instance, via a Space Act Agreement for development of concepts and technologies to support future human spaceflight operations.

• READ MORE: NASA/Blue Origin Space Act Agreement (PDF)

Blue Origin: Why is it so secretive? 

Blue Origin

Bezos told The New York Times that Blue Origin was not necessarily secretive but wanted to avoid overhyping Space.

It appears Bezos will be more transparent going forward however when it comes to Blue Origin developments, because he told journalists: “We will not be strangers.” Later this year, Blue Origin will give more details about its designs for the larger rocket launching from Cape Canaveral.