5 common OnePlus 5 problems and the solutions to fix them

The OnePlus 5 is the latest smartphone from OnePlus that’s making us rethink the concept of a flagship, but it has its flaws. These have nothing to do with its surprising lack of water resistance, though, or how much it looks like a certain fruit-related phone. These flaws were discovered by new OnePlus 5 owners quickly upon the phone’s release, and range from minor to major. We’ve compiled a short list of the most common OnePlus 5 problems, and hope our accompanying explanations, workarounds, and solutions provide some comfort.

If you’re on the fence about the OnePlus 5, however, don’t let the following issues scare you off. Instead, learn everything there is to know about the device, and see how it compares to its predecessor, the OnePlus 3T, and phones like the Google Pixel XL. Afterward, decide for yourself if you’re ready to make the jump.

Problem: Odd scrolling effect

While scrolling on the OnePlus 5, your eyes may notice a weird effect that makes the screen look like it’s stretching. You’re not going crazy — and your eyes aren’t bad — because this has been widely talked about on Reddit, the XDA Developers Forums, and reported on by us and sites like BGR. Dubbed the “jelly effect,” you can easily spot the difference between the OnePlus 5’s display performance and any other smartphone, and owners are understandably confused, concerned, and a little annoyed.

Official explanation:

• According to OnePlus, this is a natural occurrence and not something to be worried about. They’re aware of the various reports, and stick to the belief that it’s a visual effect that only a handful of people will notice: “The OnePlus 5 uses the same level of high-quality components as all OnePlus devices, including the AMOLED display. We’ve received feedback from a small number of users saying that at times they notice a subtle visual effect when scrolling. This is natural and there’s no variance in screens between devices.”
• Another explanation, as pointed out by BGR, is that the display on the OnePlus 5 is upside down, in comparison to the OnePlus 3T, which is having an effect on how the display and scrolling effects behave.

Potential solutions:

• OnePlus may come around and release an update that alleviates the issue, but judging by the company’s aforementioned statement, it doesn’t seem to have plans to fix it. With enough complaints from consumers, however, that could change.

Annoyance: Phone vibrates while on a call

Smartphones can vibrate to let users know when they’re receiving an incoming call, but a few OnePlus 5 owners on the OnePlus forums have had their phones vibrate in the middle of a call. As you can imagine, this could be a little startling when you have the phone up to your ear and are in the middle of a sentence.

Potential solutions:

• OxygenOS version 4.5.5 adjusted the vibration intensity when receiving a call. This isn’t the exact same problem as described above, but changing your vibration settings and assigning vibration profiles to contacts may fix the issue. Go to Settings > Sound & vibration > Vibration intensity to do so.
• A couple of people in the thread linked above have said the vibrations stopped after they disabled the Double tap to wake feature. To do so, navigate to Settings > Gestures and toggle the feature off.
• Boot your phone into Safe Mode and get on a call again to see if the vibrations continue. If not, a third-party app is likely the problem. To enter Safe Mode:
  • Press and hold the Power button until the Power Menu appears.
  • Press and hold the Power Off option, then tap OK when prompted to boot into Safe Mode.
  • Your phone will restart and enter Safe Mode. You’ll know you’ve done it correctly if there’s a “Safe Mode” message in the bottom corner of the screen.
• If Safe Mode didn’t reveal an app to be the culprit, you may need to perform a factory reset on your phone. To do so, navigate to Settings > Backup & Reset > Factory Data Reset > Reset Phone > Erase Everything. Remember to back up first!
  • If you want to wipe your internal storage, you can also do so after tapping the Factory Data Reset option.
• If none of the methods above work, it might be time to reach out to OnePlus Support.

Problem: PC doesn’t recognize device

Quite a few people in these threads have been having trouble getting their PC and OnePlus 5 to get along. Typically, when connecting a smartphone to a computer, the latter will almost immediately notice the former has been connected, but that doesn’t seem to be happening for many OnePlus 5 owners. Thankfully, there are things you can try to get the two to work together.

Official solution:

• We once again look to OxygenOS update 4.5.5, which specifically contains a bug fix for this very thing. The update notes for 4.5.5 do mention, however, that you should turn off USB debugging before applying the update.

Potential solutions:

• The bit about turning off USB debugging will only make sense to those that enabled it to begin with, and, ironically, it was the solution for some people with this problem. To enable USB debugging, go to Settings > About Phone, then find your Build Number and tap it seven times, or until you get the message telling you’re now a developer. Once that happens, go to Settings > Developer Options > USB debugging and enable the feature. Some have also suggested going into these particular options and changing the Connectivity Mode from Charging to MTP Transfer File.

Issue: Unable to maintain Wi-Fi connection

It wouldn’t be a new smartphone if people weren’t having trouble with their Wi-Fi connections, and the OnePlus 5 doesn’t break the trend. As you may have guessed, some owners are unable to maintain a steady internet connection, and have instead had to deal with their phone constantly connecting and disconnecting. Some users even lose their connection completely from time to time.

Official solution:

• OxygenOS 4.5.5 is your best bet once again, as it adds “Further improvements to Wi-Fi connectivity” and contains a fix for “Wi-Fi signal consistently being displayed as weak.”
• If 4.5.5 doesn’t help, OnePlus support is asking for Wi-Fi logs to help develop future fixes.

Temporary fix:

• Enabling and disabling Flight Mode has given people a constant internet connection, at least for some time.

Potential solutions:

• Try restarting your phone and router, and connecting to Wi-Fi again.
• Boot your phone into Safe Mode. If you’re able to keep a connection, a third-party app is likely the cause of the problem. Uninstall one-by-one and test, or skip to the next step and perform a factory reset on your phone.
• Perform a factory reset, and once your phone is restored, try using Wi-Fi again.

Problem: Random shutdowns

A handful of people on the XDA Developer forums are experiencing a problem in which their OnePlus 5 will randomly shut down. The shutdowns have occurred both when the phone is being used, and when the phone has been idle. It’s not a result of the 4.5.5 update, either, as it has happen to people before and after the update’s release.

Potential solutions:

• If it happens when using a specific app, make sure that app is current or remove it from your phone.
• Boot your phone into Safe Mode. As always, if the problems go away, a third-party app is likely the culprit.
• Perform a factory reset on your phone and restore it from a backup.
• Reach out to OnePlus support, as it may be a hardware or software issue you’re unequipped to deal with on your own.

What is the Fermi Paradox? The strange mystery of why we can’t find E.T.

Last year, we showed you the massive size of the universe (hint, it’s REALLY big). But in a universe that large — and given the Milky Way Galaxy itself is so expansive — why haven’t aliens contacted us? That’s the essence of the Fermi Paradox.

The idea is this: It shouldn’t be out of the question that there are many sophisticated civilizations across the galaxy. Given the age of the Milky Way itself (about 13.21 billion years), even a cosmically small sliver of time (like 10 million years) should be enough for some type of contact to occur.

Italian physicist Enrico Fermi is credited with bringing this question into the scientific forefront. According to stories, the genesis of the Fermi Paradox came during a 1950 lunchtime discussion with colleagues. They all thought it reasonable to speculate that we were not alone, and that we likely have a lot of company. But Fermi began to wonder, if that’s true then where is everyone?

Think about it in terms of humankind’s own space accomplishments. We’re on the cusp of interstellar space travel, and likely will send our first interstellar probes within the next few decades. That’s less than a century after mankind first sent a human being into space. In hundreds, thousands, if not millions of years, what could we do?

This point wasn’t lost on Fermi and his companions, even years before the first humans made it to space. An alien race should have no trouble colonizing the galaxy with a decent amount of rocket technology and some imperial wherewithal — especially in ten million years.

But scientists need proof though, and there’s little if any scientifically accepted evidence to back up the notion that we’re not alone in the universe. Even so, and using physics as an excuse for limiting speed of any alien spacecraft, it just doesn’t make sense.

Take Proxima Centauri, for example. Even going just a quarter of the speed of light, an alien craft could make it to Earth in 16 years. The planets around Gilese, 60 years. The slew of potentially habitable planets around TRAPPIST-1? About 160 years. That’s a long time, but nowhere near the 10 million year timeframe Fermi and his colleagues discussed, and a drop in the bucket when compared to the age of the Milky Way Galaxy itself.

The Drake Equation

Let’s shift gears to understand further why the Fermi Paradox gives astrophysicists fits. The Drake Equation is a simple mathematical formula first proposed by astronomer Frank Drake in 1961. Simply put, it tries to estimate the number of technologically advanced and communicating societies present in the galaxy. It looks like this:

Over the years, many astrophysicists have attempted to estimate each of the values, but here’s what they have come up with. R can also be thought of as the number of stars in the galaxy, which is currently estimated at 100 billion. Even on the low end, the fraction of good stars with planetary systems is thought to be about 20 percent, and those with “ecoshells” — life sustaining atmospheres — thought to be at least one per star. For the sake of argument, let’s say only 10 percent could actually develop lifeforms capable of human intelligence and communication. We’re eliminating quite a few possibilities, since that’s 10 percent of 10 percent of 10 percent.

Finally, “L” is a fraction of time the planet has borne communicable life. We’ll assume that they’ve been on their planet for as long as we have, so we make this 1/100,000,000. So, we’ve been awfully pessimistic. What is our result?

Two. So us, and somebody — or thing — else. It’s hard to believe that other civilizations haven’t been around longer than us. There are also other pre-technology civilizations that Drake’s Equation doesn’t even address. This leaves us with even more questions.

The Kardashev Scale

Adding to the debate is something called the Kardashev scale. Created by Soviet Russian astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, it classifies civilizations by the amount of usable energy they can harness. These classes are:

• Type I. This civilization has the ability to use all energy available on their planet.
• Type II. This civilization can harness all the energy radiated by its star.
• Type III. This civilization can harness the energy of the entire galaxy.

Carl Sagan put us about 70 percent of the way to Type I, and we should be able to achieve it within a century or two. Current calculations estimate we will reach Type II in a few thousand years, and to Type III within 100,000 to a million years.

At Type II or III, a civilization should be able to speed across the galaxy at close to the speed of light (or faster, if they’ve managed to discover ways to bend the current laws of physics). Things get even more mysterious.

So what gives?

The problem with the Fermi Paradox is that we might not ever be able to confirm or deny it, unless we either gain the technology to scan every planet in the galaxy, find aliens ourselves, or they find us. In the meantime, we’re left to speculate why we still haven’t heard from any galactic neighbors.

The Great Filter

One explanation is known as The Great Filter theory. In simplified terms, “The Great Filter” is an evolutionary step that is so difficult to surpass that most civilizations cannot surpass it. This prevents civilizations that could eventually gain spacefaring capabilities from doing so, simply because they destroy themselves first.

But there’s no consensus on where this Great Filter is located on the path from the origins of a civilization to a Type III on the Kardashev scale. Some even argue that we’ve already surpassed it, or that there are actually multiple ‘Great Filters.’ We also have no way of knowing how far we’ve come in the process, and we could simply be the most evolved species currently in existence.

Another version of the theory argues that we haven’t even made it to one of these Great Filters, and that we’re destined for destruction just like everybody else. The discovery of fossilized complex lifeforms on other planets could lend credence to this theory — but that hasn’t happened yet.

There’s a reason for the silence

Another line of reasoning speculates that it’s not necessarily the Great Filter, but a host of other reasons for why we haven’t heard from aliens yet. Here are a few possibilities:

They were already here. Aliens could have visited us thousands of years ago, and we’d have no way of knowing. Early humans had no way to describe what they were seeing in modern terms. In fact, they’d probably consider it a sign from God himself. But there is merit to this theory, in spite of that crazy-haired guy from Ancient Aliens. Some of the structures built by early man are so extraordinarily complex that they defy explanation even in our modern society.

They’re too advanced, and don’t care. Galactic snobbery may be at play. Spacefaring societies may already know about us, but believe Earth has nothing to offer. So they pass us by, and will continue to do so until we’re interesting to them.

We live in the Galactic version of the boondocks. Other portions of the galaxy may already be colonized, it’s just that Earth and the solar system are in a remote area. This would prevent them from getting to us easily, and vice-versa.

Safety reasons. interstellar chatter might attract the attention of aggressive species aimed at galactic domination — think Star Trek’s Borg. This species may have also wiped out other communicative species, which is actually a tad bit scary if you think about it. We could be next!

We’re too primitive. Maybe signals from other civilizations are already out there, and our current communications technologies are too primitive to either pick out those signals, or we’re listening the wrong way (applying our techniques for communication transmission to an alien society which might be doing things completely differently). Think of it like turning on the radio to the wrong station.

We live in The Matrix. Perhaps the most depressing explanation is that none of this reality is actually real, and it’s all just a simulation. The theory has gained some speed over the past decade or two, and it would indicate that we are alone, and an experiment for another, far more advanced civilization’s scientific curiosity.

As you can see, there’s a multitude of reasons — all of them even in the slightest bit plausible — for why the search for alien life has come up fruitless. But until we find concrete proof, the Fermi Paradox will continue to keep astrophysicists busy trying to explain the eerie galactic silence.

It might not be Fermi after all…

In the interest of complete accuracy, we should mention that Fermi was not the first scientist to speculate on this issue, and some accounts dispute he was even speaking of the lack of alien contact in terms of the actual existence of alien life during that lunch conversation. As early as 1933 astronautical theorist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was speculating on many of the same issues that Fermi is credited for, although in unpublished manuscripts.

Fermi’s rumored discussions were the first to be extensively debated in the scientific community, and he’s received many of the accolades — fair or not.

Behind Netflix’s Emmy nominations haul are more shows than ever

After passing 100 million subscribers, overtaking cable TV in customer numbers in the US and expanding to over 190 countries, Netflix is starting to cement something else: sustained prestige.

A record haul of 91 Emmy nominations puts Netflix — which had 54 nominations last year — just behind perennial frontrunner HBO with 110, thanks to hits like Master of None and Stranger Things. In May, the company screened movies including Bong Joon-ho’s Okja at the Cannes Film Festival. It was the first time streaming services have been recognized at the iconic event (though not without controversy).

A key component of this upgrade in status is the sheer number of original offerings Netflix has put out. If you throw everything at an awards committee, quite a few of them might stick.

The company says it will release 1,000 hours of original content this year, up from 600 hours in 2016 and 450 in 2015. Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos has said Netflix spends over $6 billion a year on its own shows, in comparison to Amazon’s reported spend of nearly $3 billion, with HBO at $2 billion. Even without counting the hefty volume of stand-up comedy specials and kids’ programming, ten-year-old Netflix is debuting original TV shows at a far faster rate than its closest competitors.

Ever since Netflix went head-to-head with HBO with House of Cards in 2013, those originals have included highbrow prestige drama ripe for awards. Yet its programming today covers a swath of niches, from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to choose-your-own-adventure stories like Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale for children, and non-English language shows like Japanese Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories and Mexican Spanish soccer drama Club de Cuervos. “We aren’t in the business of creating ‘one size fits all’ programming,” Sarandos said in a statement earlier this year.

This strategy works for a company that chases subscribers rather than viewers. Serving every area of interest, ensuring there’s content for everybody even if they only see a fraction of the extensive back catalog, is how Netflix grows its base. Owning the content also allows Netflix to circumvent tricky regional licensing issues, fueling its global expansion. The company has said that it wants to own half of all its programming. Last year, it owned more than a third of it.

Netflix’s prolific output shows in its Emmys nominations, too. It spread its recognition across 26 shows, from Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th to the now (almost) canceled Sense8. HBO received 19 more nominations but across four less shows. Distant runners-up NBC and FX had nominations in 17 and 9 shows, respectively.

Netflix vs. HBO at the Emmys

Other streaming services are gaining stature too. Hulu picked up 18 nominations, up from two last year, including a first series nomination for dystopian A Handmaid’s Tale. Together with Netflix’s House of Cards, Stranger Things and The Crown, the majority of nominees in the competitive Outstanding Drama category were from streaming services. Amazon picked up 16 nominations, the same as last year, having already made its mark in highbrow TV with Transparent.

Of course, while Netflix is busy disrupting traditional TV, it may need to look over its shoulder in the near future: Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter are all trying to enter the market too, whether through live-streaming sports events or original programming.

To keep ahead of the pack, Netflix will want to see its ballooning nominations convert into statues. Probability suggests it should do fine.

Watch Disney’s D23 video game event at 4PM Eastern

You probably don’t think of a Disney fan expo as a go-to source for video game news, but you might need to reconsider this year. The media giant is livestreaming a Video Game Showcase starting at 4PM Eastern, and it promises better looks at Disney-themed games than you might have had in the past. The event will center around Square-Enix’s elusive Kingdom Hearts III, Insomniac’s take on Spider-Man and EA’s much-hyped Star Wars: Battlefront II — those first two in particular haven’t had much screen time. Whether or not there are any big revelations, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to tune in. Hosts Jacksepticeye and Strawburry17 are streaming the event on their respective Twitch and YouTube channels, while Disney itself is offering a live feed through the D23 website as well as its Facebook games page.

Source: Disney, Twitch, YouTube

Lenovo made an augmented reality headset for ‘Star Wars’ games

Here’s something you probably weren’t expecting out of a Disney fan event: a Star Wars augmented reality headset. Lenovo and Lucasfilm have teased headgear that uses your smartphone to bring the space epic into the real world. There’s precious little to know about the hardware (not even a release date), but we already know a bit about the games you’ll play. Lenovo and Disney are teasing holochess, for a start, but there’s also a real-time ground battle game and Jedi Challenges, which will (naturally) have you wielding a lightsaber. In short: you’re about to live out a lot of Star Wars fantasies.

Source: Lenovo

After a decade on Macs, Windows 10 showed me what I was missing

I’ve been using an Apple MacBook, with MacOS, as my daily computer for more than 10 years. The last Windows computer I used for any length of time ran Windows XP, and it was past its sell-by-date at that point. So, when Huawei, the maker of the P10 and the Mate 9, two smartphones that I greatly admire, announced the MateBook X, it turned my head. I’m a fan of Huawei’s Android phones, but what would the MateBook X be like? Design wise, it has more than a hint of Mac in its DNA, which made me all the more desperate to find out. The trouble is that, to do so, I’d have to return to Windows.

I jumped head-first into Windows 10 on a notebook built by a company known for smartphones.

Fear of change is a common emotion, and modern tech seems designed to encourage that fear. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and many other companies use ecosystems to their advantage. We buy hardware, software, and services that work together. Swapping to another ecosystem is always daunting.

What if that special file doesn’t work? What if I don’t understand how to do something important? What if my world completely implodes, and I can’t handle it?

“Change. Fear it,” the big-name companies whisper in our collective ears.

I decided to defy them, and jumped head-first into Windows 10 on a notebook built by a company known to most only for smartphones. This is my story.

I embraced the fear

My Fear Factor-style challenge was a simple one. Use the MateBook X as a replacement to my 2011, 11-inch MacBook Air, which is the laptop I take out and about with me.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

That’s a tall order. My Air sees far harsher use than my desktop Mac, and when I use it, I’m often short on time. Everything needs to work when it’s needed, without any fuss. The MacBook Air has done exactly that for the last five or so years.

The fear was there when I opened the MateBook X’s box and took out the shiny, golden laptop. Luckily, the computer made a good first impression. It’s thin, and its consistent thickness — compared to the MacBook’s wedge-shape — made it feel more modern, slender, and chic. It’s also incredibly light. Size and weight is important in a laptop that I will be carried all day, and the Huawei passed my initial inspection without issue.

Windows 10 started quickly, though it needed a few personal details and inevitable updates before it was ready to start working. Set-up went on without a hitch, and after about an hour, the MateBook X was ready to go.

The fear got me, and I viewed the space outside Apple’s walled garden as a terrifying wilderness.

Setting up a computer wasn’t the part I feared. I’m technically competent, so getting it working at a basic level, shouldn’t have been especially problematic anyway. No, problems were going to arise when I started making it suitable for everyday use. That meant apps and programs I was familiar with being installed, media synced and possibly converted over to a different file format, and my biggest worry of all — passwords and login data.

Without all that, I’d be very stuck indeed.

To be clear, I wasn’t looking for a carbon copy of my Mac in a different body, but I did want a carbon copy of my daily workflow. A Windows machine would never work for me if getting it set up to my standards required hours of effort.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Within an hour, the Huawei was in the same state of operational readiness as my long-loved MacBook Air. Everything was shockingly easy, to the point where I didn’t even need to sign-in to the Microsoft Store to download apps.

It was Google which, to my surprise, proved the real hero. Syncing Google Docs, Calendar, Gmail, and Chrome with the new Huawei meant everything from appointments to passwords were ready and waiting on the MateBook X. I didn’t need to transfer anything manually, outside of music files, which was also effortless.

Kyle Wiggers/Digital Trends

I was now living a dual life. I had a Mac at home, and Windows 10 on the MateBook X when out and about.

And I was loving it.

Windows 10 exceeds expectations

Over the next few days, I learned what I liked and didn’t like about the MateBook X, and about Windows 10. My favorite feature turned out to be Windows Hello with the MateBook X’s fingerprint scanner. It worked flawlessly, and was a huge time-and-effort saver over a password. The MateBook X’s 13-inch screen is stunning, with 2,160 x 1,440 resolution, and a very thin bezel. The glass panel is reflective, but not so much that I couldn’t work outside on a sunny day. The MateBook X’s keyboard is excellent, with precise motion, great spacing — highly reminiscent of the MacBook, in fact.

The MateBook X, and Windows 10, integrated into my work without any problems at all

I did run into a few hardware quibbles. The keyboard backlight wasn’t great, and at some angles the keys weren’t properly illuminated, making placement difficult. That’s an important point when you’re adjusting to a new computer. The trackpad felt small, and the response was sludgy rather than fluid. Pushing it down to click didn’t feel great either. Battery life didn’t disappoint, but couldn’t meet my MacBook Air’s still impressive 8 – 9 hours. I got about 7 hours, spread between standby and use.

Windows 10 was a wonderful, refreshing surprise. A decade had passed since I last used it for any length of time, and none of my memories were especially good. These past two weeks have changed that. Visually, for me, Windows 10 has evolved more in that time than MacOS, which awesome and surprising to see. It’s fresh and modern, and the task bar is genuinely helpful, which is more than can be said of the MacOS Dock. Even exploring the settings menu was easy, and using search to find how to perform certain actions was faultless.

I’m not blindly in love, though. Having to tell Word I wanted to edit a downloaded document before it would let me is annoying. The Start Menu, which was once simple, is now a big, muddled mess. Out-of-the-box, it’s difficult to know who would find it useful, because it’s just so full of Tiles doing … stuff. If I was living with Windows 10 for longer, then I suspect putting in the time and effort to personalize it would pay off; but it’d be preferable if it was simpler and better thought out straight away, which would encourage customization, rather than making it feel daunting.

Still, I found Windows 10 to be unexpectedly simple for beginners to pick up and live with daily. I’d gone into the experiment with low expectations. The fear got me, and I viewed the space outside Apple’s walled garden as a terrifying wilderness filled with monsters and bandits. I emerged after the two weeks relatively unafraid. The MateBook X and Windows 10 had integrated into my work life without any problems at all. It was as smooth as going from an old car to a new one. The feel is different, but not worse, and there’s even a few shiny new features to check out.

Don’t be afraid to change

Did Windows 10 and the MateBook X make me fearless? Once a reliable virus scanner — something I’ve never installed on my Mac — was up and working, yes, it did. I’d spent a decade considering Windows the enemy, after it irritated me enough that I jumped ship, but the ghost of Vista has been well and truly exorcised.

Huawei impressed, too. The MateBook X is a genuine MacBook alternative, worthy of the smartphone brand I’ve grown to admire.

The build quality, finish, and style all equal Apple’s efforts and I’m going to miss it when it goes back. News that Windows 10 is good won’t surprise those already using it, but for the many who haven’t considered it after being disappointed by versions of old, and are angry about the skyrocketing MacBook prices, take my word. Swapping to Windows isn’t the nightmare you expect.

How does cloning work, anyway? Your guide to real-world replication

It’s common knowledge that cloning has broken the bonds of sci-fi, and that labs around the world are experimenting with cloning techniques. But how exactly does cloning work, and why haven’t we heard more about it? More specifically, why haven’t clone armies overrun us yet? Here’s how researchers clone living organisms, and why it remains a complicated process.

Types of Modern Cloning

Caroline Davis2010 | Flickr

“Cloning” isn’t a very scientific word, so it’s no surprise that there are several different techniques that you could call cloning. That includes the common gene cloning, where biological materials are reproduced — and used for medical techniques or even meeting demand for red meat — as well as therapeutic cloning, which involves swapping nucleus DNA between eggs for a shortened development process.

But for the real, “that’s what I meant” style of cloning, we need to talk about somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). This is the type of cloning that takes the DNA of an adult specimen and reproduces it, so that an embryo with that same DNA is created. It’s the sort of science that inspired stormtroopers and dinosaurs in our favorite movies, and it’s probably exactly what you were thinking of. So let’s talk about how somatic cell nuclear transfer works.

Step 1: Extract DNA from a donor

First, scientists need healthy, durable cells from a donor — a.k.a. the organism they aim to clone. There are different kinds of cells in the average sexual organism, but somatic cells are the “neutral” type of cell that just hangs out doing its job with the typical two complete sets of chromosomes.

Somatic cells can’t be found among red blood cells, but white blood cells are somatic and a common source for DNA products. Skin cells and the traditional cheek-swab also work, but the cells have to be healthy and undamaged. That’s why it is usually impractical to try to clone ancient frozen or trapped animals: Their cells are almost always heavily damaged.

Step 2: Prepare an egg cell

Tara Brown Photography/ University of Washington

While one part of the scientific cloning team is working on extracting a plentiful supply of somatic cells from the donor, another part is working to prepare a viable egg cell. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an egg cell from the same species, but for greater chances of success, the closer the better.

When scientists find the right undamaged egg cells, they carefully extract the nucleus of the cell. The nucleus is what holds the single set of chromosomes that contributes to reproduction. But for cloning, they don’t want that DNA — they want an intact, empty shell that can house an embryo. So the nucleus and all its DNA is removed, while the rest of the egg is delicately preserved.

Step 3: Insert somatic cell material

Creative Commons

Remember, because somatic cells are complete, adult cells not used for reproduction, they have the full dual set of chromosomes, already present and ready for action. However, scientists need to get this DNA into the egg cell and prepared to grow into a new organism. So they — again, very carefully — remove the nucleus and insert it into the waiting, empty egg cell.

The goal is to combine them into a single cell again, which is not easy. Current successful techniques use a very light, directed flow of electricity so that the nucleus and egg cell bind together, and hopefully agree to their new living arrangement.

Step 4: Convince the egg that it’s fertilized and implant it

Now we have a cloned egg, ready to start growing! But, while the egg does have two sets of chromosomes and, in theory, everything it needs to grow into a copy of the donor organism, it hasn’t actually been fertilized — and it can’t be fertilized without ruining the cloning process.

So scientists try to convince the egg that it’s fertilized and should start growing. This is another area where there is a lot of experimentation with new techniques: Usually, the egg is subjected to chemical cocktails designed to trigger the growth process, often while being zapped with more electricity (sometimes science really is like the movies).

When the cell starts to divide, scientists move quickly onto the next stage, keeping the egg in similar conditions to the real reproductive process. If the egg starts to develop into an embryo that appears healthy, they typically implant that embryo into a living female organism to gestate. This is better for the egg and much less expensive than trying to grown an embryo externally in a lab.

Step 5: Repeat until viability

Closeup of the researched embryos

As you probably noticed, there’s a certain amount of uncertainty and delicate work involved in all the previous steps. Even small amounts of cell damage can be disastrous, and there’s no guarantee a doctored egg will develop correctly either inside or outside the carrying organism. In other words, viability is a major issue. There are a lot of failed attempts and embryos that just don’t develop correctly (often going awry when the embryo is only a small collection of cells), so it takes massive resources, plenty of time, and hundreds of attempts to create a successful clone. Successful live births are a rarity.

Even then, the process is not usually kind to the successful clones. They tend to suffer from shortened lifespans and other problems summed up by what you could call DNA whiplash. However, these problems have diminished as technology has advanced.

Where Cloning is Today

Juan Gärtner/123RF

The first true cloning using SCNT occurred in 1996 after 276 attempts: The famous Dolly the sheep. This was quickly followed by cloned calves in Japan, and then a number of other animals were added to the list, including cats, dogs, rabbits, rats, horses, and even a rhesus monkey.

Except for rumors, there is no evidence that a human has ever been cloned — primates are especially difficult to clone, and humans are the most difficult of all because of the complex way that our cells divide. Reports of human clones have either been debunked or dropped due to lack of evidence.

Full cloning like this also has relatively little value to the scientific community thus far. Gene cloning is far more advantageous when it comes to healthcare and profit, and much easier to accomplish. True cloning with SCNT has become something of a sideshow as a result: Today, most interest in the process focuses on the applications of stem cells from successful embryos, but that also remains an expensive, controversial process for now.

Best new songs to stream: Nine Inch Nails, Art Feynman, and more

Every week, there are thousands of new songs hitting the airwaves — and it’s just too much for your two ears to handle. With all those options, you can’t be wasting your time on tracks that deserve a thumbs-down click — you want the best new songs to stream now.

But don’t worry, we’re going to save you the hassle. We listen to some of the most-hyped and interesting songs each week, and tell you which are worthy of your precious listening time.

Here are our top five songs to stream this week. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our Spotify page for a playlist of our weekly picks, which can also be found at the bottom of this post. Not sure which streaming service is best for you? Check out our post about the best music streaming services to better weigh your options.

Nine Inch Nails — Less Than

Nine Inch Nails‘ second EP in just over six months, a group of songs called Add Violence, will hit shelves in just a few short days. In anticipation, Trent Reznor and company released a video game-style music video to accompany the EP’s first single, Less Than. The song showcases Reznor’s catchy-yet-dark aesthetic, with a rolling bass line and deep drum groove that propels you through to a series of hook-laden choruses.

Art Feynman — Can’t Stand It

The most dance-inducing jam we heard this week comes from Here We Go Magic‘s Luke Temple, whose funky single Can’t Stand It was released this week under the alias Art Feynman. Hand percussion and a straight-eighths hi-hat groove join cool, punchy vocals and a warm bass line on the track. The result is a wave of sound that will have you dancing in the living room in no time flat.

Zachary Cole Smith — Cow (Sparklehorse cover)

DIIV frontman Zachary Cole Smith released this beautiful slide-guitar-laden cover of Sparklehorse’s Cow this week, along with a video that looks to be shot on a ’90s-era Handycam. There’s a very cathartic vibe to this version, the kind of introspective tune we found ourselves particularly enjoying as the summer sunset began to fade.

The Fresh & Onlys — Impossible Man

If you’re looking for something new to rock out to, you need look no further than The Fresh & Onlys’ latest single, Impossible Man. A classic Krautrock drum groove joins distorted guitars and doubled vocals, forming a song that feels like it will almost certainly end up in a montage sequence of a Sundance Film Festival hit. The Bay Area band will release its first new album in three years, called Wolf Lie Down, next month on Sinderlyn Records.

A. Savage — Winter In The South

Parquet Courts‘ songwriter Andrew Savage has been hard at work on his first solo album of late, recording the 10-song collection he calls Thawing Dawn over the past six months for a scheduled October release. Lead single Winter In The South capitalizes on his regular band’s speech-song aesthetic. it’s a rambling, country-ish tune with cool tremolo guitar tones and interesting saxophone backgrounds.

That’s it for now, but tune in next week for more songs to stream, and check out the playlist loaded with our recent selections below:

Pay what you want and learn how to develop your own Android apps

Android is the world’s most popular operating system with millions of apps available in the Google Play Store. New apps are released by indie developers every day. Do you have a brilliant idea for a new app? Don’t wait for someone else to make it — learn how to build and monetize your own Android apps.

Pay what you want for the Ultimate Android Development Bundle! Learn more

Right now, Android Central Digital Offers is letting you pay what you want for The Ultimate Android Development Bundle.

Here’s how these deals work. You can pay anything you want and get access to 44 lectures as part of the Android Mobile Apps: Beginner to Published on Google Play online course. Pay more than the average price and get all six courses in the bundle! They include:

• The Complete Android Developer Course: Go From Beginner To Advanced
• Android: From Beginner to Paid Professional
• How to Make a Freaking Android App
• Android App Development: Create Streaming Spotify Clone
• The Complete Android & Java Developer Course: Build 21 Apps
• Android Mobile Apps: Beginner to Published on Google Play

All combined, this is a $861 value, and you can currently get them all for under $20!

Pay what you want for the Ultimate Android Development Bundle! Learn more

Ready to make a change in your career and start creating your own Android apps? This bundle will teach you everything you need to know to get started. Get lifetime access to these valuable courses so you can always consult back to them as needed when you’re building your first apps.

Samsung’s latest Galaxy S8 BOGO deal scores you a free device with select trade-ins

Our friends at Thrifter are back again, this time with another Galaxy S8 BOGO deal from Samsung directly.

Samsung is back with another awesome Galaxy S8 promotion, this time offering a free one with a purchase of another if you trade-in your old device. The company recently ran an extremely popular deal like this for T-Mobile customers, but this time it works with devices for all carriers. This deal is only available on Samsung.com or through the Shop Samsung app, and lets you score a free Galaxy S8, or $100 Galaxy S8+ when you purchase another one, and trade-in your old device.

If you don’t want to be locked into a carrier version, you’ll be happy to see even the unlocked version is available this time. When buying the phones, both of them have to be from the same carrier, so no mixing and matching this time around.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to take an old flip phone, or your original Droid and trade it in for a free Galaxy S8. The company notes that the eligible phones include the Galaxy Note5, S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, S7, S7 edge, iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, 7 or 7 Plus devices only, and it has to be in good condition. That means it powers on, no cracks in the display, it isn’t bricked or blacklisted, and there are no software locks on the device. If you’ve been holding out for a Galaxy S8, this deal may be enough to have you finally make the plunge.

These deals have sold out quickly in the past, so be sure to get yours now, before they are gone!

See at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

• Galaxy S8 and S8+ review!
• Galaxy S8 and S8+ specs
• Everything you need to know about the Galaxy S8’s cameras
• Get to know Samsung Bixby
• Join our Galaxy S8 forums

Verizon
AT&T
T-Mobile
Sprint
Unlocked