Coin-sized device could lead to personalized cancer therapy

A form of cancer therapy that uses electric fields to stop malignant cells from spreading remains controversial, because it’s unclear how effective and safe it truly is. This coin-sized device developed by MIT’s research center in Singapore, however, could help scientists study its effects more closely. What’s more, it could eventually be used to personalize the treatment for each individual. Medical experts simply have to inject a mixture of hydrogels, healthy cells and different types of cancer cells taken directly from a patient into the device before subjecting it to electric fields at different frequencies. By doing so, they’ll be able to pinpoint the most effective electric field frequency to use to treat that particular patient.

“For personalized medicine, you can test if a recipe works for a specific person” says team member Giulia Adriani. “In three days, you can have an answer. And for many cancer patients who are dying of metastasis, time is everything.” That device is young, however, and it’ll most likely take a while before it’s used to personalize treatments for cancer patients.

The therapy is based on scientists’ findings that electric fields (at the right frequency) attack only the molecules that cause cancer cells to divide rapidly and grow into tumors. As team member Andrea Pavesi explained, “By tweaking the intensity and frequency, you can have an effect only on the cancer cells, leaving the other type of cells unaltered, without destroying them. That’s the key concept.”

The team proved that during their tests using the microfluidic device: the cancer cell samples they left untouched began to spread within a couple of days. However, the samples they subjected to three days of electric field stimulation didn’t spread, and the healthy cells weren’t affected. While personalized medicine is ultimate goal, the researchers believe their creation could help other scientists speed up the process of going from lab to animal and human testing. They can use the device to test thousands of variables — electric fields at various intensities and frequencies on different cancer cell types — after all. When they narrow it down to a smaller number, they can then move on to in vivo testing.

Source: MIT

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Machine learning is responsible for a great deal of our tech advancements, from speech recognition to self-driving cars, smart homes and beyond.

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Develop your skills in Python programming and Python libraries for Machine Learning, utilizing Hadoop and MapReduce to process and manage enormous amounts of data efficiently. Build a fluid knowledge of Java and object-oriented programming, as well as Deep Learning and Rule-Based & Machine Learning-Based approaches to solving Sentiment Analysis problems and more.

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NIH funds Zika study on US team during Rio Olympics

There’s a lot of excitement building for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic events in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but also mounting anxiety around the prevalence of Zika in the South American country. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has funded a study to monitor any evidence of the virus in a subset of the US athletic team dispatched to the games. Health officials hope to learn all they can about its infection and duration, as they can do little more to protect the the athletes, coaches and staff than educate them about how best to avoid catching it.

Of the estimated 3,000 members of the US Olympic Committee (USOC) headed to Rio, the NIH hopes to get 1,000 of them to participate in the study. Since the virus often has no external symptoms, only regular testing of bodily fluids can alert doctors of infection. Zika has little known effect on adults, but babies of infected mothers often end up with brain damage from the condition microcephaly. Pregnant women (or those intending to get pregnant) have been warned away from South American areas, like Rio, with known outbreaks.

While progress has been made on experimental vaccines, a human-approved version is still a ways off. But it’s this kind of study, and others that receive funding from a specially-accelerated NIH grant process, that will provide the data to refine medical prevention that will stop Zika’s spread.

Source: National Institute of Health

Researchers create a microscopic game of ‘Pac-Man’

Researchers with the Institute of Micro and Nano Systems Technology in Norway have built a one-millimeter wide recreation of the original Pac-Man maze, all for the lo-fi enjoyment of some microscopic organisms. Rather than 8-bit graphics and pixelated fruit, the researchers built their “game” out of nanostructures that were colorfully lit in the manner of the 1980 arcade classic and then populated with single-celled organisms representing the circular hero. Rather than ghosts, the bad guys here are hungry multicellular creatures out to eat those unsuspecting ciliates.

While there’s no joystick or coin slot, obviously, the three species of microscopic animals are zipping around the maze just fine on their own. And that’s just the point — it was constructed as a way for the researchers to observe the behavioral patterns of the single-cell protozoans and their multi-cellular predators. While the Pac-Man board is obviously far from a natural habitat for these creatures, the walls and channels actually much more similar to real world conditions than an empty and sterile petri dish. With a single cell Pac-Man already happening, what we need next is a controllable nanocar version of Pole Position.

Nintendo is thinking about making game controllers for smartphones and tablets

Nintendo executive Shinya Takahashi stated recently that it’s possible the Japan-based game developer could create controllers for smartphones and tablets in the future.

Polygon reports that Takahashi, Nintendo’s general manager of entertainment planning and development, brought up the notion at the company’s annual general shareholders.

“Physical controllers for smart device applications are available in the market and it is possible that we may also develop something new by ourselves,” Takahashi said. “I believe Nintendo’s way of thinking is to look at whether action games are really not impossible (without a physical controller for smart device applications) to create and how we can make it happen to create such a game.”

Nintendo has already released its first smartphone app, the chat software Miitomo. The company has plans to release at least four more apps before the end of March 2017, with one based on Nintendo’s Animal Crossing franchise, and another to be based on its Fire Emblem game series.

Pokémon Go is … GO!!! (As in now available)

We’ve worn the hats. We’ve played the beta. Now it’s time for everyone to get their download on.

Pokémon Go is now available for Android.

OK, so it’s almost available. It’s now got a proper listing in Google Play, completely with a whopping 50,000 installs (thanks, beta!) and in-app purchases. But as of right this second it’s not available for any of my devices. (And I have a lot of devices.) So get that F5 button ready.

Download Pokémon Go (free)

Finally! Apple’s next iPhone will start out with 32GB of storage

So long, 16GB iPhone!

The Wall Street Journal has claimed that Apple’s next flagship iPhone models, thought to be called iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, won’t be available with the long-standard 16GB storage option. Instead, the entry-level iPhone 7 will start out at 32GB. Thank you, Apple.

Let’s be real here: 16GB is not enough for all your apps, games, and music – let alone photos and 4K video clips. You of course can use iCloud or some other cloud storage service, but most people simply prefer to locally save certain things. With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S, Apple offers a choice between 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB. And the jump from 16GB to 64GB is a $100 difference.

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For some people, 64GB costs too much extra money and comes with more space than they need. If Apple does bring back the 32GB option, it would be the perfect middle-ground. We’re assuming a 32GB iPhone 7 would cost $650, the same as the entry-level iPhone 6S, and that means the 64GB version would likely stay at $750 and so on. Only time will tell, however.

The next iPhones are due to be unveiled this autumn – around September. Check out Pocket-lint’s round-up for more details about what else the iPhone 7 might or might not (like that missing headphone jack) feature.

Apple’s Health app will let you sign up to donate organs in the US

Apple wants you to donate your organs.

The Cupertino-based company has announced that it is partnering with Donate Life America, with the purpose of giving Americans an easier way to sign up to be an organ, eye, or tissue donor right from the iPhone. Apple said joining the national organ donor registry will take “just a few taps” in the updated Health app set to arrive with iOS 10 this autumn, making it quick and simple for any iPhone user in the US to become an organ donor.

Apple’s Health app launched in 2014. It lets iPhone users securely store their medical history information. The organ donation feature will be available in the Medical ID section inside the app. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, told the Associated Press he hopes the feature will help ease donor shortage. He referred to Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, as an example, noting Jobs endured an “excruciating” wait for a liver transplant in 2009.

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“Watching and seeing him every day, waiting and not knowing – it stuck with me and left an impression that I’ll never forget,” Cook told AP. There are over 120,000 Americans currently waiting for a transplant, and a new person is added to the national waiting list every 10 minutes.

To begin using the feature now, grab the developer preview of iOS 10. It’s available to iOS Developer Program members. A public beta program will also be available later this month. Otherwise, the final version of iOS 10 will be available around September as a free software update.