Researchers use electric currents to detect cancer in human tissue

In a study published recently in Angewandte Chemie, researchers demonstrated that an imaging technique called scanning electrochemical microscopy could become a very useful medical tool. Rather than having to use additional chemicals like dyes or fluorescent markers to get a good look at tissue, this method uses electrochemical probes to detect natural biomolecules around the tissue.

In this study, the researchers used soft microelectrodes that were brushed gently across tissue samples. While it moved across them, it measured the electrical current produced by certain chemicals in the tissues to get an idea of the physical structure of that tissue as well as its composition. The team provided three separate demonstrations of this technique’s use. In the first, it scanned mouse livers to show that a certain type of nanoribbon that’s being studied as a potential drug delivery mechanism can be distributed throughout the liver. In the second, the probes measured hemoglobin proteins to get a full image of a mouse heart (the right side of the image above). And in another experiment, the researchers used the technique to show that it can accurately differentiate healthy human tissue from cancerous tissue.

In the future, the researchers would like to use this method to not only detect cancerous cells but also destroy them. “We are perfectly capable of using electrochemistry to kill cancer cells on microscope slides and in petri dishes,” Hubert Girault, an author of the study, said in a statement, “but doing so in thick tissue is another story.”

Via: Phys.org

Source: Angewandte Chemie

Google re-enables touch controls for audio playback on the Home Mini

There’s an update on the way for those of you with a Home Mini speaker. Google is rolling out a new feature that lets you use the sides of the device to play or pause whatever you’re listening to, be it music, news or if you want to end a call you’re on. Right now, the touch-friendly side area of the Home Mini only works to control the volume, but now with a long press of the unmarked spots you can have some extra functionality.

Back in October, Google had to disable the Home Mini’s top button, after it was reported that the budget speaker was recording basically any and every sound. Thankfully, the search giant took care of that issue rather quickly — but those are just the risks you take when you want the lavish life of a smart home.

James Cameron’s ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ stars creepy CG anime eyes

James Cameron has been toying with the idea of remaking Battle Angel Alita for decades now (seriously, I wrote about it back in 2009). Now, with its first trailer, the anime adaptation finally seems to be more than a myth. It centers on a scientist (Christoph Waltz) who discovers and repairs a trashed cyborg, Alita (Rose Salazar). And, as these stories tend to go , it turns out she’s a bit of an ass-kicking powerhouse. (Her giant CG anime eyes might be enough to make her enemies cower in fear, though.)

Unfortunately, Cameron isn’t directing the film — he handed over those duties to Robert Rodriguez two years ago, after he decided the world needs several Avatar sequels. And while Rodriguez hasn’t had any huge successes lately, the trailer seems more reminiscent of the guy who made Sin City, and not the one who made Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

Bungie feeds ‘Destiny 2’ trolls a ridiculously overpowered gun

Bungie responded to Destiny 2 player’s complaints by cancelling a planned “Curse of Osiris” DLC livestream to detail new changes. The developers added more endgame rewards, a new weapon class and an improved economy to address those concerns.

Recently, a massively overpowered, game breaking laser gun called the Prometheus Lens was available to high-level players as a random drop, making it too easy for those who found it to dominate the PVP maps. Bungie had plans to fix the issue, but maybe it’s grown tired of all the whining, since Destiny 2‘s exotic weapons sales-alien, Xur, has the gun on sale for anyone who wants it.

Did you make a bet that we wouldn’t let Xur sell Prometheus Lens?

It’s available in the EDZ. Your move.

— Bungie (@Bungie) December 8, 2017

The effect of everyone having such a high-range BFG on PVP modes right now is hilariously predictable, of course. Kotaku’s Kirk Hamilton said that “the Laser Pointer of Doom” is like an instant-delete button.

In lieu of a (still-incoming) proper fix, Bungie gets to give a little bit of a finger to its sometimes toxic community and garner some “fun” news coverage. Maybe this will encourage us all to drop back into the game over the weekend and even get our butts to Mercury.

Xur selling Prometheus Lens! Lmao! from DestinyTheGame

Via: The Verge

Source: Bungie (Twitter)

Sony drops the price of PSVR bundles by $100 for the holidays

Sony is all set to make some fine deals on PlayStation hardware this holiday season. Starting December 10th, you can score a PlayStation VR bundle for $100 off the regular price and a PS4 Pro 1 TB bundle for $50 less than retail.

The $200 Gran Turismo Sport bundle comes with a PS VR system, a PS Camera, a copy of the game and a PS VR demo disc. You can grab a Doom VFR bundle for $100 off, as well, getting a PSVR headset, the camera, a copy of the game and the demo disc for $300. For another fifty bucks, you can grab The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR bundle, which adds two Move controllers and a copy of Skyrim to the $350 set. These deals last through December 24th.

You can also score a PS4 Pro for $50 off the regular price through December 16th with a 1 TB Jet Black console for $350 and either a Star Wars Battlefront II-branded console or a limited edition Destiny 2 PS4 Pro for $400. The Battlefront edition comes with a copy of Star Wars Battlefront II: Elite Trooper Deluxe Edition while the Destiny 2 bundle gets you the game plus its expansion pass.

Source: PlayStation

Apple Shares ‘Turi Create’ Machine Learning Framework on Github

Apple this week shared a new machine learning framework called Turi Create on Github. According to Apple, Turi Create is designed to simplify the development of custom machine learning models.

Apple says Turi Create is easy to use, has a visual focus, is fast and scalable, and is flexible. Turi Create is designed to export models to Core ML for use in iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps. From the Turi Create Github repository:

• Easy-to-use: Focus on tasks instead of algorithms
• Visual: Built-in, streaming visualizations to explore your data
• Flexible: Supports text, images, audio, video and sensor data
• Fast and Scalable: Work with large datasets on a single machine
• Ready To Deploy: Export models to Core ML for use in iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS apps

With Turi Create, for example, developers can quickly build a feature that allows their app to recognize specific objects in images. Doing so takes just a few lines of code.

Turi Create covers several common scenarios including recommender systems, image classification, image similarity, object detection, activity classifier, and text classifier.

Apple purchased this technology back in August of 2016 when it acquired machine learning and AI startup Turi.
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Delivery robots may not be able to roam freely about San Francisco anymore

As tickled as you may be by the prospect of having little robots deliver your Seamless meals, Amazon orders, or other little luxuries to your doorstep, city governments don’t exactly share in your excitement. At least, it certainly wouldn’t seem that way considering the passage of new regulations in San Francisco that would limit the number of such delivery bots to a total of just nine in the city, and confine their delivery area to relatively unpopulated neighborhoods. Plus, these robots will be banned from going any faster than three miles per hour and will have to have a human monitor at all times (which seems to somewhat defeat the purpose).

To be fair, there are not all that many delivery robots out roaming the streets as it is. Most of these little machines are in the testing phase, and certainly aren’t a common sight … at least, not yet. But the San Francisco Board of Supervisors wanted to make sure that if and when these delivery bots do become more popular, that they won’t become a nuisance, or worse yet, a public hazard.

Board Supervisor Norman Yee proposed the initial regulation, noting concerns around “bots essentially taking over city sidewalks.” As a result of the five-to-one vote, companies who make these robots will be limited to just three bots each, and they’ll have to act quickly to ensure that their three bots are part of the nine-bot citywide limit. And as for those unpopulated neighborhoods we mentioned earlier, the regulation actually limits the machines to industrial areas, which means that they probably won’t be able to deliver much to anybody at all.

Not everyone is thrilled about the city’s decision. As Bob Doyle, a spokesman for the Association for Advancing Automation Association told the San Francisco Chronicle, “To put such a strict limit on these types of autonomous delivery vehicles drastically slows down the process of testing and the potential for these being put into (use before) the general public.”

Indeed, there are already a few of these vehicles being tested in neighborhoods throughout San Francisco, notably by local startup Marble. The company has recently partnered with Yelp to make Eat24 food deliveries in and around the Bay Area. In a decidedly diplomatic statement, Marble CEO and co-founder Matt Delaney noted, “We’re happy for the productive relationship that we’ve built with the Board of Supervisors, and we agree that this is a promising first step in crafting a regulatory system that will help San Francisco lead the way in robotics innovation and creating well-paid manufacturing jobs.”

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Why gaming on MacOS is dead forever and never coming back

Mac gaming is dead.

Right now, there are just 4,500 games to play on Steam for MacOS. That’s more than zero, but as a means of comparison, it’s around the number of PC games that will hit Steam this year alone.

While gaming on Apple’s iOS platform keeps growing, gaming on MacOS isn’t in good shape. But then again, the hope of gaming on your Mac never had much justification. It was a pipedream for those who wished they could also play games on the computers they used for the rest of their lives.

The hope of gaming on your Mac never had much justification.

However, over the past few years, Apple developed its own graphical API called Metal as a competitor to DirectX and OpenGL. It started as an iOS exclusive, but the newest version of Metal (Metal 2) is now included in every copy of MacOS High Sierra. Suddenly, the conversation of Mac gaming was back in the air. Was Metal 2 going to usher in a new era of Mac gaming? Would Apple begin to divulge serious resources into pleasing gamers?

Unfortunately, the answers are still no — and no. Mac gaming is still dead, and it’s time we opened an investigation as to who killed it. Let’s bring in the suspects one at a time to find out who pulled the trigger, and why.

Our first suspect – OpenGL

The strength of the competition is an obvious choice as the force that not only killed Mac gaming, but prevented it from ever standing a chance.

As our Steam statistic shows, Windows has always been the PC platform of choice for gamers. Even if every Mac user in the world was a gamer, all 100 million of them, it would be a very small audience compared to the potential audience of active Windows 10 users — about 600 million. Not all of them are gamers, but it’s a tantalizing number for developers.

If games eventually do make it over to MacOS — and that’s a big ‘if’ — the result is often a mixed bag. When PC games are ported to MacOS, they’re often handed off to a third-party developer who then makes all the behind-the-scenes adjustments to get the game to work on a new operating system. That means a game like Civilization VI isn’t built from the ground up to work on MacOS — in fact, it doesn’t even use Metal to drive its graphics. Even though it’s a relatively recent game, the developers choose to use a different API called OpenGL to run Civilization VI on MacOS. OpenGL was around long before Metal showed up on the scene, and still powers a lot of the games that can be played on a Mac.

In our tests, the game only achieved about 22 frames per second during an internal benchmark at 1,620 x 1,050 resolution, on medium settings. We ran the benchmark on a 15-inch MacBook Pro with an AMD Radeon Pro 455 graphics card while running in MacOS. The same system hit 66 FPS when we ran the same benchmark on Windows 10.

MacOS isn’t even compatible with the most recent version of OpenGL.

That’s not just an extra frame here and there — Civilization VI runs three times faster on Windows 10 than it does on MacOS. Like we said earlier, Civilization VI doesn’t use Metal to push its graphics — and that’s the primary problem.

OpenGL isn’t a proprietary API like Microsoft’s DirectX. It’s an open graphical platform that runs on Windows, MacOS, and Linux. It gets the job done, but it’s not as high-performing as DirectX because it’s not built from the ground-up to cater to MacOS’ needs the same way DirectX is for Windows.

To make matters worse, MacOS isn’t even compatible with the most recent version of OpenGL. MacOS uses version 4.1 which was released in 2010, the most recent version is 4.6, and it came out in 2017. Apple is trying to stiff-arm developers into using Metal, but in the process, gamers end up getting the short end of the stick.

Our second suspect – DirectX

DirectX is a collection of APIs that Microsoft has built over decades to help developers bring their applications and games into the world of Windows. It’s the part of Windows that does all the graphical heavy lifting, and it’s the primary reason players and developers flock Windows computers for all their designated gaming needs. But can it really be blamed for the death of MacOS gaming?

We’ve established that games on the Mac don’t always use Metal, but what about when they do? Let’s see how well the performance stacks up.

Metal 2, the successor to Apple’s Metal API, was revealed at WWDC earlier this year.

at 1,620 x 1,050 resolution, with all the settings turned to medium, we saw a consistent 33 FPS on MacOS. We ran the benchmark on a 15-inch MacBook Pro with an AMD Radeon Pro 455 graphics card while running in MacOS.

That’s a significant gain over Civilization VI, a less graphically demanding game run by OpenGL, so Metal clearly has a few tricks up its sleeves.

Yet in Windows 10, at the same settings, we saw 74 FPS. That’s well over twice the framerate. Keep in mind these tests were all conducted on the same machine. According to our results, you will typically see more than double the framerate just by running games in Windows 10. It’s a remarkable performance gain, the likes of which you usually see only when you upgrade your hardware.

You will typically see more than double the framerate just by running games in Windows 10.

Metal might someday come close to DirectX in terms of raw performance, but it’s unlikely it’ll ever offer better performance than DirectX or Vulkan — an upcoming graphics API. Because of the resources Microsoft has devoted to building up DirectX over the years, it’s always seeing updates, unlike OpenGL or Metal.

Even if Metal offered the same performance as DirectX, there’s the issue of availability. The fact games typically release for MacOS later than they do for Windows is big hurdle, and it’s not something that’s going to change overnight.

Suspect number three, Boot Camp

The final nail in the coffin comes from Apple itself.

Boot Camp is the quickest and easiest way to get Windows 10 working on a Mac. Installing Windows is a one-time setup that takes about an hour at most — and at this point, it’s worth the extra effort. You end up with a platform that will run your games better, and give you access to them on day one. Even if Metal caught up to DirectX in terms of performance, not having to wait an extra few weeks, or months, to play a game you’ve been waiting for is a pretty big deal.

This isn’t how it ought to be. You shouldn’t have to partition a part of your hard drive for an entire operating system just to play a game, especially not on an expensive laptop that has the same raw power as its Windows counterparts.

By clearing the way for Mac users to install Windows, Apple has given gamers an appealing alternative to poorly optimized MacOS ports of popular games, without having to do the work of investing in the future of Mac gaming. Between the performance differences and release date problems, Apple has given zero reasons for developers or gamers to use MacOS to play games. It might feel like a handy solution now, but it’s killing any sort of future for MacOS as a real gaming platform.

That brings us to our next and final suspect.

The real culprit is revealed

Let’s look at our previous suspects. Metal is engineered to provide near-direct access to the GPU for professionals and iOS games, but it does a poor job competing with DirectX. That’s the first piece of evidence pointing to the kingpin lurking in the shadows. The second suspect is Boot Camp. Having an easy way to install Windows on Macs has created a growing community of Mac gamers who don’t even have to bother with MacOS’ poor gaming performance. Apple hasn’t discouraged the use of Boot Camp in the slightest — it’s only made it more convenient.

Add those up, and it becomes clear that Apple itself is the reason MacOS gaming is dying, and unlikely to ever make a comeback. Sure, iOS games make their way to MacOS often enough, and Steam has many MacOS titles available, but the aforementioned problems — poor performance, and easy access to Windows — offer a strong argument against gaming on MacOS at all.

This all provides the more damning evidence that Apple doesn’t, and probably never will, care about gaming on the Mac. There are plenty of reasons why gaming on MacOS is dead, but Apple itself pulled the trigger.

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How to check data usage on an iPhone

Are you one of those people that are always just a little worried about how much data you are using on your new iPhone or other iOS device? Sure, it’s probably fine, but as the end of your carrier’s billing cycle nears, you keep wondering if you (or a family member) are going to go over your data limits and incur dreaded extra charges.

There’s good news. Apple makes it easy to obsess over your data usage. We’ll show you how to check data usage on an iPhone whenever you’d like with this quick process, and show how it can also be use to limit your data use.

How to keep an eye on your data

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Step 1: Turn on your iPhone and head toward the Settings icon. Once in Settings, look for an option that says Mobile Data. Select this. In some iOS devices, this option may say Cellular Data instead, but it means the same thing. When the new window opens, look for a section called Cellular Data, which should be a couple sections down from the top.

Step 2: Some of the information in this section may vary depending on your carrier. However, most carriers will provide a section at the top called Current Period. Here you will see exactly how much data your phone has used in the current month (or whatever your payment period may be). Many carriers also include a section called Current Period Roaming, a separate tracker of all roaming data used — since the two are frequently charged at different rates, this could also be useful to you. If you don’t see any information about data used in the current period, you are going to have to call up your carrier or log into their website and search for more specific information.

Step 3: As you scroll down, you will also see a list of all the apps you are currently using on your iPhone. Each app includes information on how much data it has used — if it uses cellular data at all. At the very end of the list you should find a final section called System Services. If you select this, you will see all the very basic, required function services on your iPhone and how much data they are using, too. This is the amount of data your phone has to use to provide innate communication services.

Saving data when you are using too much

Are the results of your data monitoring a little disturbing? Are you ready for a new iOS approach? If you are suddenly anxious to start cutting back on data and saving some money, we can help out with that. Here are the methods that iOS provides.

Switch data off by app: Remember that list of apps in Mobile Data? They are probably all switched to the green “on” state, but you can look through and switch any data-hungry apps off of data use, especially if you didn’t want them on in the first place. This is a nice way to save on some data while still allowing important services to work. The only exception to this is System Services, which you cannot switch off.

Switch data off entirely: Do you want to put a moratorium on data for the remaining period to prevent any additional fees? At the very top of the Mobile Data window, you should see a label named Cellular Data (iOS reuses this phrase a lot, which can be annoying) with a green button next to it. Flip the green button to off, and your data connection will switch off. Here, different carriers may offer additional options, such as the ability to switch off Data Roaming and Voice Roaming separately. Remember, you can still use Wi-Fi networks to go online when necessary.

Additional data services: Many modern carriers may also offer options in this section to switch from LTE/4G to 3G (which can help save on data) and choose what type of network connection you want for specific voice/data services. Switching voice services to 3G, for example, may help you save data if you make a lot of local calls — and some carriers enable Wi-Fi calling so you can switch off data entirely when making those calls. Your data speed will be slower on 3G.

Turning Off Wi-Fi Assist: Wi-Fi Assist means well, but you probably want it turned off if you are trying to save data. For mobile devices that have it, Wi-Fi Assist automatically switches to cellular data when Wi-Fi can’t handle loading a webpage or similar problem, so it can sneakily use data bit by bit. If you are leaving some data services on, look for Wi-Fi Assist in the Cellular section of Settings, and make sure it is turned off.

Download an app: There are plenty of third-party options to monitor and control your data usage. One good option is My Data Manager.

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The best Ethernet cables you can buy

All network connections operate either wirelessly, or through cables. While high-speed Wi-Fi helps to minimize the chord clutter around our home and office, cable connections are usually faster and less prone to lag. If you’re still using a Cat 5 cable, or simply want to upgrade your old Ethernet cables, there are many enhanced options to choose from. Here are five of the best Ethernet cables on the market.

Before you go choosing which Ethernet cables to buy, make sure you know the difference between what options you have out there. Once you get caught up, here are the five best Ethernets you can buy right now.

Mediabridge Ethernet Patch Cable — Cat 5e

• Length: 50 feet
• Warranty: 1-year warranty
• Price: $16

While Cat 7 cables are capable of running up to 10 gigabits per second, opting for the latest connectivity is probably overkill for most households. Boasting speeds up to 1 Gbs, 5e is powerful enough for slower, older connections. Mediabridge’s 50-foot cable should be sufficient enough for most users, especially since it supports both Cat 6 and Cat 5e applications.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

AmazonBasics RJ45 Ethernet Patch Cable — Cat 6

• Length: 25 feet
• Warranty: 1-year warranty
• Price: $5

When you’re trying to achieve a maximum of 10 Gbs operating speeds, cable length should not exceed 55 meters. With these parameters in mind, this Cat 6 cable is preferential for faster connections.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Ethernet Cable 100 Feet Flat White with Sticky Cable Clips — Cat 6

• Length: 100 feet
• Warranty: Lifetime warranty
• Price: $24

Flat cables are ideal when running Ethernet cables under carpet for connectivity between multiple rooms. Thankfully, Xinca’s offering boasts 100 feet of cable, allowing you to easily install Ethernet throughout your home.

If that length of cable is overkill and you want to save a bit of money, there’s also a 50-foot Jadaol cable that will do just fine too.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

30FT Networking RJ45 Ethernet Patch Cable — Cat 5e

• Length: 30 feet
• Price: $5

As previously mentioned, Cat 5e cables are more than capable of achieving 1 Gbs speeds. If this fits the bill for your household, this $5 cable will do the trick without breaking the bank.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

TNP Ethernet Network Cable — Cat 7

• Length: 25 feet
• Price: $16

Cat 7 cables are the latest class to hit the market, one that allows for up 10 Gbs speeds. TNP Products’ 25-foot cable adheres to these standards, and is backwards compatible with older devices as well. If you want a flat version for routing under carper, this 100-foot Jadaol Ethernet cable will see you right.

Buy one now from:

Amazon

Updated 12/08/2017 by Jon Martindale – Updated pricing and added alternatives.

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