The rhythm action of ‘Thumper’ hits Nintendo Switch May 18th

Late last year, PC and PS4 gamers were treated to an surreal rhythm experience when Thumper asked them to pilot a metallic scarab down a highway of intimidating, abstract set pieces. The game is as bizarre as it is intense — but timing movements to the game’s fast-paced soundtrack and be incredibly satisfying, too. Soon, you’ll be able to attain that satisfaction on the go: the game’s developer has announced that the Nintendo Switch version will be available on the eShop in just two weeks.

Naturally, the Nintendo Switch version of Thumper won’t have the virtual reality mode found on the PS4 and PC version of the game, but the developer says it will run at a smooth 60fps in both 720p in portable mode and 1080p on televisions. The game also boasts support for the Switch’s HD Rumble feature, which promises a more nuanced force feedback experience than on other platforms. The game will be available for Nintendo Switch users on May 18th. There’s no word yet for the promised Xbox One version, but if you can’t stand the wait, you can always pick up the soundtrack on Vinyl.

NASA needs your help to turbocharge its supercomputer

It’s not exactly a secret that parts of the US government run on painfully antiquated hardware that can cost billions to maintain. Decades-old code might do the trick for generating a tax return, but it isn’t exactly ideal when you’re a NASA research lab tasked with modeling complex fluid dynamics and designing the next generation of experimental aircraft. That’s why the space agency recently announced the High Performance Fast Computing Challenge (HPFCC) which hopes to find a few talented coders who can make the agency’s design software run ten to 10,000 times faster on its Pleiades supercomputer without sacrificing accuracy.

By giving the 246,048-core, NVIDIA-enhanced machine a performance boost, NASA hopes to streamline the first section of it’s three-part research process. During the first research phase, NASA engineers use proprietary FUN3D software to build computational fluid dynamics models and analyze potential aircraft designs before testing can begin on physical models and X-planes. The assignment, then, is to download FUN3D’s code — which was written mostly in Fortran and dates back to the late eighties — and identify possible hacks for cutting down the system’s computing time on Pleiades hardware.

“This is the ultimate ‘geek’ dream assignment,” Doug Rohn, the director of NASA’s Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program (TACP) said of the competition, which is happening in partnership with HeroX and crowdsourcing platform Topcoder. “Helping NASA speed up its software to help advance our aviation research is a win-win for all.”

And it’s more than just a win for the future of American aviation and space exploration — the competition boasts a $55,000 prize purse that will be split among the first and second place finishers in two categories: Ideation and Architecture. Because FUN3D was written by the US Government, only US citizens over the age of 18 can participate, but you’ll need to get cracking if you plan to enter: submissions are are due in less than two months and must be received by 5 pm Eastern time on June 29th.

To enter, simply head to the competition’s HeroX site for more details and a download link for FUN3D.

Source: NASA

Google issues anti-phishing Gmail update in wake of Docs attack

Why it matters to you

A phishing attack this week proved that users could benefit from more tools to combat fraud, and Google’s latest update should help.

Google is taking steps to warn and notify Gmail users of suspected phishing attacks after Wednesday’s incident, in which a number of individuals fell victim to a scheme involving a nefarious web app posing as a Google Docs invitation. The invite itself would appear to be sent from one of the user’s Gmail contacts and, when opened, it would automatically distribute itself to each one of their contacts as well.

To combat this, Google has pushed out an update to Gmail for Android that issues a warning every time it recognizes a link in an email that appears to be a forgery. They’re not unlike the suspected site warnings in just about every modern browser, and in similar fashion, you’re allowed to “proceed at your own risk” and ignore them if you please.

Google

While Google says the particular attack that was used earlier in the week has since been disabled, it did uncover a vulnerability within Gmail that still remains. As TrendMicro’s Mark Nunnikhoven notes, the method masqueraded as a legitimate Google URL, which allowed it to float undetected by both Gmail and users alike.

“Unlike a typical phishing attack where the goal is to compromise the user’s system,” Nunnikhoven wrote, “the goal here is to compromise their Google Account.”

According to Nunnikhoven, a similar strategy was used last summer to hack the Democratic National Committee. That instance, believed to have been perpetrated by cyber-espionage group Pawn Storm, also leveraged Google’s OAuth authentication system — a technique that appears to be becoming more common among hackers.

As a result, users will only have to become more discerning and careful in screening emails and links. Google account-based invitations aren’t necessarily completely safe anymore, so always question the sender and nature of any links you receive before you click. It could save you — and all your Gmail contacts — a lot of trouble in the future.

Gene therapy used commercially for first time to treat rare immune disease

Why it matters to you

Gene therapies offer unique treatments for patients with rare diseases. However, cost and complexity may keep these therapies from being adopted commercially.

A patient with an extremely rare immune disease has been treated with commercial gene therapy for the first time, GlaxoSmithKline, the company behind the therapy, told MIT Technology Review on Tuesday. The treatment come almost a year after the therapy was approved for sale in Europe.

Known as Strimvelis, the therapy treats a rare inherited immune deficiency by fixing a problem within the patient’s DNA.

Gene therapy has been used extensively in clinical trials but has had a slow start commercially. This is only the second commercial use of gene therapy, the first of which was with a drug called Glybera in 2015.

Gene therapies are relatively complex compared to standard pills, often requiring invasive procedures. The conditions they treat are also exceptionally rare — each year only about fifteen children in Europe and twelve in the United States are affected by ADA-SCID, the disease Strimvelis treats. Due to their complexities, the drugs are also some of the most expensive in the world. Strimvelis is priced at $648,000. Glybera was listed at $1 million. Uniqure, the company behind Glybera, announced last month that it would remove its drug from the market due to lack of demand.

The project lead for Strimvelis, Jonathan Appleby, told Technology Review that the year-long delay between European approval and treatment was due to cross-border reimbursement for the therapy, which is only available in Milan, Italy.

“It’s definitely a bad sign for patients,” said Casey Quinn, a health economist with a focus in European drug pricing. “It remains to be seen whether this represents some kind of watershed, or it will take just as long to go from one [patient] to two?”

Strimvelis treatment is complex, necessitating a “specialized environment,” according to Lucia Monaco, chief scientific officer at Fondazione Telethon, the institution that initially developed the therapy. During the procedure, doctors remove cells from a patient’s bone marrow. The cells are modified externally before being replaced through an infusion into the patient’s veins.

Though commercial use has been slow for gene therapies, many patients continue to undergo treatment through clinical trials. Spark Therapeutics, a United States-based biotech company, is scheduled to request approval for commercial sale of a gene therapy that treats a condition that causes blindness later this year.

Astronauts may one day use moon-dust bricks to build a home far away from home

Why it matters to you

The DLR German Aerospace Center’s 3D-printed moon-dust bricks, baked in a solar furnace, could one day be used to build in space.

Building a new home and looking for a design flourish that will make your neighbors sit up and pay attention? Constructing it out of 3D-printed synthetic moon-dust bricks, baked using concentrated sunlight, should do the trick!

The space-age masonry was created by the DLR German Aerospace Center at its solar furnace facility in Cologne. It involved taking simulated lunar material and cooking it in a custom furnace, which uses 147 curved mirrors to focus sunlight into a single high-temperature beam, capable of melting grains of soil together.

This is all done on a 3D printer table, where successive 0.1 mm layers of moon dust can be baked at a massive 1,800 degrees F. A single 20 x 10 x 3 cm brick takes around five hours to complete.

Due to the lack of actual lunar soil, the moon dust used in the demo was based on terrestrial volcanic material, processed in a way that allowed it to mimic the composition and grain sizes of actual moon dust.

“The starting material used in these trials is the JSC-2A lunar soil simulant,” Dr. Advenit Makaya, advanced manufacturing engineer at the European Space Agency, told Digital Trends. “Our contractor at the German Aerospace Center has performed some analysis in terms of chemical composition, distribution of grain sizes, density, and melting behavior, and we compared the results with data from Apollo mission samples, and with the JSC-1A simulant developed by NASA. The match with those two references was found to be very good.”

ESA–G. Porter

Somewhat amusingly, it seems the sun can be just as scarce in northern Europe as real moon dust — requiring the researchers to modify their solar kiln by adding an array of xenon lamps for cloudy days. These xenon lamps are the same lamps typically used in movie projectors.

While we joked up top about the bricks being used in future houses, in reality the inventors have something a bit further afield planned. Specifically, the bricks will help possible future construction in space, without having to lug heavy building materials beyond our atmosphere.

“These bricks prove the concept of printing 3-dimensional objects by using only lunar soil and concentrated sunlight,” Makaya continued. “Previous studies used either a binder — which needs to be brought from Earth — or an additional source of energy, such as laser or microwaves, to consolidate the soil powder. The approach developed here significantly reduces the needs to bring material or complex equipment from Earth. It offers a sustainable way of using local resources to build structures or hardware.”

Next up for the project is an E.U.-funded exercise that will involve increasing the complexity of objects for the lunar environment.

Valve overhauls Steam gifting policies to curtail code resellers

Why it matters to you

Steam is retiring the capacity to gift games via email or directly to another user’s inventory using the Steam storefront.

Valve has announced some major changes to the way that games bought via Steam can be gifted to other users. The element of the online storefront has long been problematic for the company, as many unofficial resellers used the system to facilitate their sales, but it seems that the time has come for a crackdown.

Steam users will no longer be able to send gifts to their recipients email address, or have them forwarded to an inventory. Instead, games will be transferred directly from the gift giver to the library of the recipient, according to a post on the Steam Blog.

This should cut down on frustration in the event that the recipient already owns the game that they’re being given. Previously, this would result in the giver having the game added to their inventory, but going forward they will simply get a refund, should the recipient decline the gift.

Valve is also giving users more control over when their recipient gets their gift. If you’re looking to send a surprise on a birthday or another special occasion, you can schedule its delivery months in advance and ensure that it arrives on time when the day comes.

Gifting between regions is also set to become more reliable, as games sent via the new system will be guaranteed to work on their recipients account, which wasn’t always the case when they were sent via email or directly to their inventory. However, if there’s a sizeable price difference between those two reasons, it won’t be possible to send the gift — the purchase will be blocked at checkout.

These new policies are now in effect, which will please certain users and frustrate many resellers. It’s been confirmed that pre-existing gifts already present in a user’s inventory or previously distributed via email will not be affected by the change.

Everything we know about Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus pricing and availability

Well, folks, the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are finally here, and boy are they beautiful. Featuring top-tier specs, an innovative yet classy design, and features like the all-new Bixby digital assistant — the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are the phones to beat for 2017.

It makes sense that you would want to get your hands on one for yourself. We’ve created a guide to help you get the new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus as soon as you possibly can.

Stores

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Some people prefer to buy their phone unlocked from stores. Here’s a list of stores selling the device.

Samsung

Why not buy your shiny new phone straight from the manufacturer? Samsung is selling the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus straight to customers online, although it’s important to note that this won’t be an unlocked version of the phone — instead, Samsung will be selling carrier-specific variants for AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. The standard Samsung Galaxy S8 starts at $720 through Samsung, and the Galaxy S8 Plus starts at $840, although prices depend on the carrier you end up choosing.

There’s also another very good reason to buy your new Galaxy direct from Samsung: Through May 16, you can snag an assortment of freebies with your purchase. Samsung is giving away an “Entertainment Kit” for no added cost, which includes a Clear View Standing Cover, 64GB EVO+ MicroSD card, and six months of Netflix.

The cover and Netflix subscription are each valued at $60, and the memory card is worth $40 — making for a total of $160 in savings. To get in on the deal, you’ll need the Shop Samsung app, available on Google Play. From there, you can register for the offer. Additional details are available on the Samsung Promotions site.

Best Buy

If you don’t want to go through a carrier, you can get the Samsung Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8 Plus straight from Best Buy.

On Verizon’s unlimited plan, the retailer is offering the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus starting at $15 a month with trade-in. On Sprint, it’s letting customers lease two Galaxy S8s for the price of one with new line activation. And it’s offering a buy one, get one free deal for DirecTV customers on AT&T.

You can get savings of “up to $100” if you order through Best Buy, as well as a free Gear VR with a controller with $50 bonus Oculus content. Alternatively, you could get the Samsung Immersive VR Experience Box for a discounted price of $99, which includes the Gear VR with a controller, $50 of Oculus content, Harman AKG Y50BT black headphones, and a Samsung 256GB memory card.

Best Buy said you can stack its offers with other deals from carriers. The retailer will also sell the unlocked variant of the S8 and S8 Plus, but you’ll have to wait a little longer as pre-orders will begin on May 9. The unlocked variants will be slightly cheaper than what carriers are offering, as the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus will cost $725 and $825, respectively.

Walmart

Best Buy isn’t the only store you can walk into to get the Samsung Galaxy S8. The device is also available from Walmart, where the standard Galaxy S8 costs $659 and the S8 Plus costs $769 when you buy the phone through the StraightTalk or Total Wireless network. A down payment of $50 will be required to get the phone.

Project Neon for Microsoft Photos arrives for Windows 10 insiders

Why it matters to you

Project Neon is starting to proliferate with Insiders, so it won’t be long before the general Windows population gains access.

The visual overhaul of Windows 10 that has been rumored for some time now, and teased with a few select application updates, has made its appearance for Windows Insiders with the Microsoft Photos app. Project Neon is a design ethos that hearkens back to the Aero theme of Windows 7, playing with transparency and blurring to add a more aesthetically pleasing interface design to the latest version of Windows 10’s applications.

We first heard about Project Neon in late 2016, but it wasn’t until February of this year that we got out first look at it. It showed up as part of a Microsoft developer stream, though it wasn’t clear how deliberate the appearance was. It seemed to take inspiration from Apple’s MacOS in bringing a more subtle visual style to the OS.

Available to a few select users now, though not officially announced by Microsoft just yet, Project Neon for Microsoft Photos has been distributed as part of the new 17.428.10010 version that some Insiders have access to. It’s Fast Ring only, of course, with the slow ring expected to receive the update in the near future, followed eventually by the more general user base.

Once people gain access, they can expect a softer, more translucent interface, with tasteful blurring that adds to the overall aesthetic. There’s also a new Bing search bar, though that doesn’t add too much to the experience.

Microsoft Photos isn’t the only app that has been given the Project Neon treatment as of late. OnMsft notes that we’ve seen updates to Groove Music, Movies and TV, and Dropbox, all of which now sport much softer user interfaces that subscribe to the Project Neon design ideals.

If you’re looking to run a fresh install of Windows 10 before you gain access to the fancy looks of Project Neon, don’t forget to check out our handy guide for Windows 10 reinstallation.

Gigabyte fields two new overclocked RX 550 video cards for gamers on a budget

Why it matters to you

Gigabyte’s two new overclocked RX 550 video cards might be an ideal solution for gamers at a reasonable price.

Gigabyte unveiled a couple of new additions to its line of RX 500 series video cards. The Radeon RX 550 D5 2G and the Radeon RX 550 Gaming OC 2G are both aimed at gamers on a budget, but could be very compelling options for anyone aiming to assemble a new rig without breaking the bank.

The OC 2G boasts a core clock speed of 1,219 MHz, while the D5 2G is capable of 1,195 MHz. Both are slightly overclocked compared to the stock models, which made their debut in April.

One area where these video cards excel is cooling capacity. Both are outfitted with Gigabyte’s Windforce technology, which is comprised of anti-turbulence inclined fans, an ultra-quiet pulse-width modification fan, and a pure copper heat pipe.

The company claims that its patented Blade Fan design and its accompanying 3D active fan technology offer up an air flow improvement of up to 23 percent compared to traditional alternatives. The fans can be deactivated when the system is operating at lower temperatures, and will only start turning once the GPU is under strain.

Both cards are built with Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable manufacturing construction, which refers to their solid capacitors and metal chokes, according to a report from Tom’s Hardware.

In keeping with other cards that are part of the Radeon 500 series, the OC 2G and the D5 2G both support bridgeless CrossFire, FreeSync, and AMD’s Eyefinity technology, which simplifies the process of hooking up a gaming PC to multiple monitors. The Aorus Graphics Engine software utility is also bundled with both models, offering up one-click overclocking functionality to help novice users get up and running quickly, and fine control over clock speeds, voltage, power targets, and fan profiles for experts.

The Radeon RX 550 D5 2G is priced at $80, while the Radeon RX 550 Gaming OC 2G retails for $90. Both are available now.

Get ready for more emojis — Facebook Reactions now expanding to comments

Why it matters to you

Like them or hate them, you’ll soon be seeing more Facebook Reactions with the new comments integration — if you haven’t spotted it already.

Get ready for more “wow” and “sad” emojis invading Facebook — now, the social media giant’s Reactions are available for comments, extending their use beyond original posts and Messenger. The comment reactions are now rolling out to both desktop and mobile users, though the feature may not be universally available just yet.

Reactions turn the traditional “like” into a wider variety of emotions represented by emoji icons, including love, haha, wow, angry, and sad. Instead of receiving a notification for a like, the owner of that post, message, or now comment receives a notification on the number of users that “reacted.” For the users who have long been requesting an “unlike” button to interact with something that they don’t “like” at all, it’s a way to interact with a more accurate response, while critics of the feature say it’s unnecessary and fills the platform with too many emojis.

Reactions first rolled out to users in posts only last year, offering a new range of responses to status updates, either text or photo-based. Reactions then moved to Messenger in March, allowing even private chat messages to be tagged with an emoji response. The Messenger feature includes the same reactions along with a yes or a no — in case typing out a yes or no response is too slow.

Now, users have the option to react to comments, like this:

The latest Reaction feature is being offered in response to user feedback, Facebook says. “We’ve heard from people they’d like more ways to show their reaction in conversations on Facebook, so we’re rolling out the ability to react to comments,” a Facebook spokesperson told Mashable.

When the feature first launched, Facebook said it would continue to listen to feedback to refine the reactions, though outside of holiday-themed emojis, the same original five reactions are still in use. While the reactions remain the same, they have migrated from public posts to private messages and back to public comments.

Like most new Facebook features, the comment functionality for Reactions isn’t launching to every user all at once, but users that don’t yet see the feature should notice the change over the next few days.