This app will track disease-carrying mosquitoes by listening to their buzz

Our smartphones are pretty darn good at recognizing our voices and the contents of what we say. Could they also be good at recognizing the sounds of different mosquitoes? Absolutely, suggest researchers from the University of Oxford. With the goal of helping identify the select mosquito breeds responsible for spreading diseases like malaria, they developed a machine-learning algorithm and app that can identify the acoustic signature of different mosquito species, and categorize them accordingly.

“We have developed a set of algorithms that go some way toward detecting the presence of mosquitos by ‘listening’ to the sound of their wingbeat,” Dr. Davide Zilli, one of the researchers on the project, told Digital Trends. “On top of this, we have developed several prototype sensors, in particular, an Android app designed to run on budget smartphones. The smartphone prototype app allows us to make mosquito recordings and upload them to our servers, where we can analyze them further and use them in the ongoing training process in our algorithm development. Collecting these recordings also goes towards another goal of the project: A database of free-flying species-specific mosquito recordings that will be made openly and freely available.”

At present, the tool developed by the team can accurately identify the Anopheles species of mosquito, responsible for spreading malaria, around 72 percent of the time. Going forward, the team hopes to extend that accuracy to cover all 3,600 different mosquito species in existence — a task that requires high-quality sound recordings for them to train their system on. To help with this, the researchers are launching a citizen science project on the Zooniverse platform to help process the raw data and label it correctly.

“This is very time-consuming and we hope to use Zooniverse volunteers to help us with this classification,” Dr. Marianne Sinka, a member of the team from the department of zoology at Oxford, told us. “These labeled data are then used to directly train the algorithm to detect mosquitoes within a variety of background environments. We would also hope to use citizen science to help with first level curation of incoming recordings when the app becomes available to the wider public.”

Additional researchers on the work included Dr. Yunpeng Li, a postdoctoral researcher in machine learning, and others. A paper describing the research, “Mosquito Detection with Low-Cost Smartphones: Data Acquisition for Malaria Research,” can be read here.

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10 things you could buy with $200,000 instead of the new Lamborghini Urus

After months of anticipation, luxury automobile manufacturer Lamborghini finally unveiled the Urus SUV. Packed with the company’s first production turbocharged engine — a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8, 650 horsepower, and 627 pound-feet of torque the Lamborghini Urus is nothing short of an automotive monster, but all of this engineering, of course, comes at a cost — $200,000, to be exact. This ungodly sum of cash got us to thinking, instead of buying this big car how could one just as easily, irrationally, and conspicuously blow this much cash? Here are the most investment- savvy ways to burn nearly a quarter of a million clams. Period.

125 Spike the Beetle original pieces of art

Spike the Stag beetle made our list of best pets of Instagram for his general charm, ornate tea parties, and, of course, his penchant for marker-on-canvas original creations. Spike’s original magnum opus auctioned earlier this year and sold on eBay for nearly $1,600. Spike’s next piece will be sold in the coming months with 20 percent of the proceeds going to People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES).

Two of those Cheetos shaped like Harambe

Harambe stole our hearts in 2016 and while his soul has departed he will live on forever in our hearts and of course our shared cultural meme lore. Anyway, someone found a Cheeto that kind of looks like Harambe and another human being paid nearly $100,000 for said cheese-dust thing. More than a year later it’s still too soon. It will always be… too soon. RIP, big guy.

Diversify your portfolio with seven Virgin Mary Grilled Cheeses

From grilled cheese to tree trunks, and even leftover french toast, in true omnipresent fashion, the Holy Ghost and all of its squad just has a knack for showing up when we least expect it. Nonetheless, after carrying around the 10-year old grilled cheese bearing an uncanny likeness to the Virgin Mary scorched on its surface, Dia Dusyer of, you guessed it, Florida decided it was time to cash-in on this pareidolia prize. Dusyer claims over the course of the 10 years she personally oversaw this sandwich, it never once went moldy — a true testament to its divinity and also the shelf-life of Velvetta infused breads. Eventually, the slightly nibbled snack went to auction fetching $28,000 on eBay. This sandwich should match or pass the 10-year Treasury bond projections. Remember, some people once laughed at the idea of BitCoin. You don’t want to be on the wrong side of history, my friends. The time to invest is now.

Buy a ‘new to you’ liver on the black market

For some, the old adage “my body is my temple” holds true, however, for the vast majority of humans, their bodies merely exist as their temporary trashcan. After decades of Michelob and Cup Noodles, things can often go awry internally but in true capitalist spirit, if there’s demand for a product, there is a supply. The black market organ-trafficking business has never been better and apparently based at least on this infographic, you or a dying loved one should be able to score a new-ish liver for a cool $157,000. Based on those estimates, you could go ahead and buy a spare set of eyeballs while you’re at it with enough broccoli left to throw in a spleen for good measure. Go ham, folks.

133 2009 Kia Rios

Instagram/Jen

Not unlike the new Lambo SUV, the Kia Rios will get you from point A to point B via four wheels. While 200,000 stacks guarantee you just a single Lambo, that same cash could allow you to theoretically go more than four months without every driving the same Kia Rios twice. Your move, Birdman.

This suspect island

Most of us can only dream about the prospect of owning our own exotic tropical island, and for just $200,000 you probably have to keep dreaming. However, you can settle on this econo option situated just off of Maine’s southeastern coast in the oft-blustery Atlantic. Based on current projections, you should have at least a couple hundred years before the oceans rise above the craggy shores.

A couple of these Killer Whale Submarines

Sure, the new Lambo SUV can fly from 0 to 60 in under four seconds, but can it go underwater? Nah. In swims a pair of Schlemmer’s completely unnecessary Killer Whale submarines. Even after purchasing a pair of these bad boys, you should have about $20,000 left to even potentially literally burn in a dumpster.

134,228 Doritos Locos Tacos

If you hate yourself, you could always just spend the rest of your fleeting days Livin’ la Vida Loca, cramming sheer tons of Doritos Locos Tacos into your skull. Fork and knife types could conversely opt for 55,710 Mexican Pizzas instead. You do you.

Fulfill your childhood dream of owning a Subway franchise

Who hasn’t dreamed of owning their very own corporate delicatessen? That said, if the Jared Fogle scandal proved anything, Subway can weather even the most central of PR storms and remain both economically viable and nutritionally void. You will probably never top this sick location in Big Merino at Goulburn, Australia, so temper your expectations in advance.

Just Venmo me directly

I’ll personally see to it that the money makes it to a good cause or something. I’ll just be posted at the “OMG Kittens” slots on hold with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America waiting for the funds to clear. Scouts honor. Let’s change the world.

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HQ Trivia is coming to Android just in time for Christmas

Android users will finally get to check out HQ Trivia, the game show you play on your phone.

It seemed to arrive out of nowhere, but since launching as an iOS exclusive app in late October HQ Trivia has been growing in popularity day after day, a dozen questions at a time. The app live streams a trivia game show right on your phone daily, giving you a chance to answer 12 questions correctly for a chance to win real cash. It’s free to play and broadcasts live twice a day on weekdays and once on weekend and holidays.

Now, it appears folks behind HQ Trivia are ready to bring the trivia fun and excitement to Android, tweeting the following just hours before Tuesday’s 3pm EST live stream:

Hey world, we hear you also have Android phones? HQ has a nice little stocking stuffer coming your way… pic.twitter.com/RwY6Qpkk9e

— HQ Trivia (@hqtrivia) December 5, 2017

So its look like Trivia Daddy Scott Rogowsky is prepping to give all the HQties rocking an Android phone a very Merry Christmas this year — and if parts of that sentence confuse or scare you it’s going to be okay.

HQ Trivia was created by some of the same folks who created Vine, and has the same early energy as the six-second video platform. The game has managed to steadily grow its player base by offering cash pots of a minimum of $1,000 and up to $8,500, along with a diabolical referral system which nets you an extra life in the game for every new player that used your username when they sign up.

The game has just barely held it together at times with the viewership swelling past 400 thousand at times and leading to laggy video. It will be interesting to see if HQ Trivia can survive the inevitable influx of players when the Android app is released. Until then, you can always bust out that old iPhone or iPod Touch you may have sitting around and join in on the fun.

And if you’re a new player, tell’em mousemachine sent you 😉.

Aukey’s $15 USB Outlet can charge six devices at once

No more power struggles over who gets to charge first.

Amazon has the Aukey USB Outlet on sale for just $14.99 when you enter promo code AUKEYX06 at checkout to save $5. This is this product’s lowest price since its release in late September.

Aukey’s USB Outlet features two USB ports and four AC outlets, allowing you to triple your standard wall outlet’s charging capability. It’ll charge two USB devices at once with a total output of 2.1A. It features a night light which turns on automatically when it detects low light levels, though you can choose to turn it on and off as you’d like. There’s also a built-in phone stand to hold your device while its charging.

This outlet comes with a 24-month product replacement warranty card and a 45-day money back guarantee.

See at Amazon

Car2Go’s carsharing service now offers Mercedes CLA sedans in NYC

If you’re a Car2Go member living in New York City, you can show up to your next destination in style. Starting today, members of the car-sharing service in Brooklyn and Queens can rent 2018 Mercedes-Benz CLA four-dour sedans for 47 cents per minute (in comparison to 41 cents a minute for the standard Smart vehicles). Car2Go expects to add the crossover Mercedes GLA in 2018.

Car2Go is a subsidiary of Daimler, so it’s not surprising the company would introduce Mercedes cars. In fact, it’s already done so in seven cities. Now, it’s added New York City to the list, though the service only operates in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The cars are family friendly, and include LATCH car seat anchors and backup cameras and sensors. The vehicles are also equipped with all wheel drive.

The addition of these new luxury cars brings Car2Go’s total number of New York vehicles up to around 600, which serve roughly 77,000 members. Car2Go is also offering free registration to new members based in New York, along with $10 of drive credit. Just use the code BENZ when you register.

Via: The Verge

Source: Car2Go

Marvel is making a scripted ‘Wolverine’ podcast for Stitcher

Marvel is taking Logan to the internet. The comics publisher has entered a partnership with Stitcher to produce a premium podcast starring the razor-clawed mutant called Wolverine: The Long Night. Weapon X will be voiced by Richard Armitage, who has lent his voice to Netflix’s Castlevania series as Trevor Belmont. Of course, he was also Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. Needless to say, his geek cred stacks up. As for the rest of the production, TechCrunch notes that the 10-episode season finds Wolverine hounded by investigators tracking a serial killer, and that it will debut next spring.

This won’t exist on Stitcher’s free service, though. Ben Percy (Green Arrow, Batman: Detective Comics) is on writing duties, and the cast also includes Scott Adsit (Pete Hornberger on 30 Rock) and veteran podcaster Chris Gethard. Sound effects will be recorded in surround sound too, which, combined with the cast, explains why Wolverine: The Long Night will live on Stitcher’s $35 yearly Premium subscription (or $5 per month). After an exclusivity period, it’ll arrive on other platforms next fall.

From the sounds of it, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Marvel’s Dan Silver described the podcast to Variety as “the ideal premiere vehicle” and that Marvel will keep exploring the medium. With how well podcasts like Serial, Crimetown and Heaven’s Gate have done, and how comic heroes have invaded pop culture, this seems like an area ripe for expansion — especially given that this is a murder mystery. Wolverine as the star is just the icing on the cake here.

Source: TechCrunch

NBA 2K eSports league qualifiers start January 1st

If you’ve been itching for an opportunity to participate in the officially sanctioned NBA 2K League when things get started in earnest this May, you now know what it’ll take to pass muster: the eSports competition’s Brendan Donahue has confirmed details of the initial qualifying phase. The first stage runs through all of January and is open to any 18-or-older player in the world with a copy of NBA 2K18 for PS4 or Xbox One, whether they’re solo or part of a team. To qualify, you’ll have to win at least 50 games in the Pro-Am mode and submit an online application before January is over.

Not surprisingly, things will get tougher from then onward. The league will conduct more “in depth” scouting in Feburary, with a “balanced” play environment. And in March, the 17 teams will draft their players for the full-fledged competition. Just be prepared to up-end your life if you’re one of the fortunate few to get in — you’ll have to move to the city that drafts you.

More details of the later qualifying stages are coming in the future. However, Donohue wants to stress that this first round is about showing “commitment” to the game rather than dominating everyone else. In short, it won’t hurt to try out if you’re already playing NBA 2K18 on a frequent basis and like the idea of turning pro.

Source: Reddit

Researchers 3D-print WiFi-connected objects that don’t need power

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a way for 3D-printed plastic objects to transmit information via WiFi without the help of batteries or electronics. And they show that it can be done with commercially available plastics and WiFi receivers. “Our goal was to create something that just comes out of your 3D printer at home and can send useful information to other devices,” Vikram Iyer, a graduate student on the project, said in a statement. “But the big challenge is how do you communicate wirelessly with WiFi using only plastic? That’s something that no one has been able to do before.”

To do this, the team used things like 3D-printed springs, gears and switches that could be used to translate motion into antenna-transmitted information. For example, they created an anemometer, which measures wind speed, and attached it to a gear. When the gear spins, the teeth connect with an antenna embedded into the object and that antenna then reflects ambient WiFi signal, which can be decoded by a WiFi receiver. The faster the wind, the faster the gear spins and the more rapidly those signals are transmitted. They also created a scale and a flowmeter that can measure water speed.

Additionally, they printed three widgets — a button, a knob and a slider — that work in similar ways and can be used to talk to other smart devices. The researchers also developed two smart objects — a detergent bottle with an attached flowmeter that can track the amount of remaining detergent and order it when it gets low and a test tube holder that can be used to measure the amount of liquid test tubes contain and track inventory. And lastly, they developed a way to print iron into 3D objects in distinct patterns, which when read by a magnetometer in a smartphone, for instance, can be used to convey important information about that object such as what it is, who made it or how a robot is meant to interact with it. “It looks like a regular 3D-printed object but there’s invisible information inside that can be read with your smartphone,” said Justin Chan, another student on the project.

The team is making their 3D models available to the public so that anyone can utilize these objects at home. The work was recently presented at the Association for Computing Machinery’s SIGGRAPH Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in Asia and you can check out a video about the work below.

Image: Mark Stone/UW Photography

Source: University of Washington (1), (2)

Apple Says iOS 11 is Now Installed on 59% of Devices

iOS 11 is now installed on 59 percent of iOS devices, according to new statistics Apple shared this week on its App Store support page for developers.

That’s up from 52 percent on November 6, indicating iOS 11 adoption has grown just 7 percentage points over the course of the last month.

33 percent of iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices continues to run iOS 10, while 8 percent of devices run a version of iOS earlier than iOS 10.

iOS 11 adoption has been slower than iOS 10 adoption. Based on Apple’s official App Store numbers, for example, iOS 10 was installed on 54 percent of devices in October, a month after the operating system had been released. Comparatively, iOS 11 was only at 52 percent in November, a month and a half after launch.

Apple has already released several updates for iOS 11, but that doesn’t seem to have improved installation rates, especially as many of those updates have been made available to address major bugs found in the operating system.

Over the weekend, Apple released iOS 11.2, the second major update to iOS 11. iOS 11.2 introduced Apple Pay Cash in the United States, but the update was released early to fix a date bug that was causing crashes on December 2. As a result, Apple Pay Cash was not initially available and wasn’t provided to customers until yesterday.

With Apple Pay Cash now available, though, customers who have been reluctant to upgrade may install the iOS 11.2 update to access the new feature, so it’s possible we’ll start seeing improved installation rates in Apple’s next App Store support page update.

Related Roundup: iOS 11
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NASA’s James Webb telescope is one step closer to launch

NASA’s $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has just left the thermal vacuum chamber where it’s spent more than three months being put through its paces in a series of hardcore cryogenic tests. Scientists wanted to make sure the telescope’s instruments and optical element can function properly in the cold, airless conditions of space, and while NASA studies the results, engineers are busy putting JWST back together again, in preparation for its launch in spring 2019.

JWST will take to the skies from a European spaceport in French Guiana and journey to the sun-Earth Lagrange point 2, which is situated about 930,000 miles from Earth. Like its predecessor the Hubble Space Telescope, JWST will operate in infrared waves to peer into the deepest, oldest parts of the universe. The launch date has already been pushed back twice due to integration issues, but JWST is the most powerful telescope of its kind with the potential to unlock the secrets of life as we know it. It’s no surprise NASA is taking the time to make sure everything is ready.

Source: Space.com