News: Startup DronOSS Sets Its Sights on Fewer Drone Crashes with Augmented Reality Pilot Training
Drone mishaps, such as the collision that scratched a military helicopter in New York, are becoming something of an everyday hazard.
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Market Reality: Niantic & WaveOptics Locate More Funding for AR, Cheddar Spreads to Magic Leap, & Tesla Files AR Patent
Investors continue to bet on augmented reality, both for short-term returns and long-term plays. This week, Niantic reportedly picked up another round of funding from Samsung and others, based on the success of PokémonGO and the prospects for future revenue. Likewise, investors see value in WaveOptics, whose waveguide displays could make consumer smaller AR smartglasses possible within the next year.
How To: Everything You Should Know About Google Lens on the Pixel & Pixel 2
Google just rolled out a revolutionary feature to its Pixel devices — Google Lens. Previously, Lens had only been available in the Photos app, but now, whenever you want to learn about something in the real world, you can just bring up Google Assistant, turn on the camera, then let Google's famous AI analyze the scene.
Brief Reality: Don't Drink & Drive, Unless It's in AR
ARKit is a marketer's dream. By providing tools for creating augmented reality experiences on mobile devices, AR apps can now be deployed easily alongside just about any campaign. As expected, we now have ARKit apps pushing wares ranging from automobiles to tequila.
News: Why You're Probably Always Going to See Those Ugly Dome-Shaped LiDARs on Driverless Fleet Cars
The large, dome-shaped LiDARs that have become a fixture on driverless car prototypes are expensive and notably ugly. And yet, these unsightly devices should remain planted on driverless cars, even when they become available in commercial fleet services across the country in a couple of years.
News: Replacement Joints with Antibiotics on Board Mean Lower Chance of Infection & Fewer Surgeries
For about a million Americans each year, a joint replacement brings relief from pain and restored mobility. But, 5–10% of those people have to endure another surgery within seven years, and most of those are due to an infection in their new joint. If doctors could treat infections more effectively, patients could avoid a second surgery, more pain, and another rehabilitation.
News: How Gut Bacteria Could Set Off the Immune System in Rheumatoid Arthritis
As if the swollen, painful joints of rheumatoid arthritis weren't enough, the disease is the result of our immune system turning against cells of our own body. Ever since this realization, scientists have worked to find the trigger that sets the immune system off. Scientists believe that gut bacteria may have a role in initiating the abnormal immune response. Now, a team of researchers from Boston has figured out how that might occur.
News: Tougher Than Steel — Tardigrades Will Survive Until the Sun Explodes
Forget the rise of the machines. Tardigrades are set to outlive everything — even the bots. When the last echo of a whisper in a cell phone has long dissipated into space, the water bears will still be hanging out.
News: Turning Off the Immune System May Turn on Protection Against HIV
Even though HIV rates declined 18% between 2008 and 2014, 1.1 million people in the US are living with the infection. Part of that is because HIV is treatable, but not curable.
News: Chemical Cocktail on Mars Makes Microbial Life There Unlikely
A new study casts real suspicion on the possibility of life on Mars. Why? It seems the surface of the planet may be downright uninhabitable for microbial life as we know it.
News: Sleeping with the Fishes — Decay in Wastewater Damages Aquatic Life
Everything from disposed of drugs to hormones and disease-causing bacteria — anything that is rinsed or flushed down the drain — can contaminate wastewater.
Market Reality: Augmented Reality Companies Strike Deals for Funding, Manufacturing & Retailing
Four augmented reality companies made deals this week to grow their businesses. Two companies, TechSee and Car360, completed funding rounds, while DAQRI signed with a production partner and Decalomania landed a prime spot with a top retailer.
News: Deadly Lungworm Parasite Spread by Rats & Snails Is More Prevalent Than We Thought
Deadly rat lungworm parasites have found their way into Florida. The parasitic worm relies on snails and rats to complete its life cycle, but don't let this nematode's name fool you. This worm can cause meningitis and death in humans who inadvertently consume snails, frogs, or crustaceans harboring the infective parasite.
News: Don't Believe That Whole Wheat Is Healthier — Your Gut Bacteria May Think Differently
Move over whole wheat — white bread may be back in style after a new study shows that it may be your gut microbes that decide what kind of bread is best for you.
News: A Protein Found in Ticks Can Help Kill MRSA Infections
As researchers from Yale searched our environment for compounds to aid in the battle against drug-resistant bacteria, they got an unlikely assist from ticks.
News: Hybrid Molecule Delivers 1-2 Punch to Find & Attack Nasty Staph Bacteria
Drug-resistant bacteria have made curing some infections challenging, if not nearly impossible. By 2050, it's estimated that 10 million people will be dying annually from infections with antibiotic-resistant organisms.
News: Rocking 'Radiohead' Ant Farms Fungus for a Living — & It Might Help Fight Superbugs
Long admired for their active and cooperative community behavior, some types of ants also wear a gardening hat. Nurturing underground fungus gardens, these ants have a win-win relationship that provides food for both ants and fungi. If we humans understand it better, it may just help us out, too.
News: One Way Climate Change May Cut Animal Lives Short — Messing with Gut Microbes
As headlines focus on melting glaciers and rising water levels caused by global warming, climate change is quietly taking its toll on the nearly invisible occupants of this planet, the microbes.
News: We've Finally Figured Out Why Some Mushrooms Glow
Bioluminescence — the ability of an organism to produce and emit light — is nature's light show. Plants, insects, fish, and bacteria do it, and scientists understand how. Until now, though, we didn't know how fungi glow.
News: Bacteria-Killing Viruses Can Help Us Take Down Superbugs
Fighting fire with fire, scientists are harnessing the adaptability of helpful microbes to challenge the adaptability of deadly microbes. What are we talking about? Hunting with phages — viruses that attack and kill bacteria.
News: Bacteria Offer Low-Cost, High-Quality Help to Clean Drinking Water
Water makes up about 60% of your body weight. Whether you like it plain, flavored, bubbly, or in beverages or food, we all need water daily to avoid dehydration and stay healthy. For communities in need of clean drinking water, new research using bacteria may offer a simplified, lower-cost method for boosting potable water supplies.
News: 4 Billion Year Old 'Fossil' Genes May Be Our Secret Weapon Against Infection
The evolution of our infection-fighting systems may have something to teach modern scientists. That's what a group from the University of Granada in Spain found when they studied a protein that's been around for over four billion years. Their work, by senior author José Sánchez-Ruiz and colleagues in the Department of Physical Chemistry, was published in the journal Cell Reports.
News: Livestock Antibiotic Use Increases Threat of Resistant Microbes to Humans
Antibiotics used to prevent diseases in livestock are creating a world of hurt for humans and the soil we depend on for food. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a global health issue. The overuse, underuse, and poor use of these life-saving drugs is rapidly removing them as a treatment option for serious infections in humans—plus bacteria are naturally adaptive.
News: B2B Software Company Kaon Bets Big on Google's Tango Phones & AR
At the moment, it would be safe to say that demand for devices running Tango, Google's augmented reality smartphone platform, is relatively low among consumers. Kaon Interactive, a B2B software company who has built more than 5,000 interactive applications for use at trade shows, remote sales demonstrations, and other customer engagements, is betting that there is a market for the devices in sales and marketing.
News: Microbes Lost from Corals Due to Global Warming Cause 90% of Great Barrier Reef to Bleach
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest living system on the planet. Yet more than 90% of the reef is bleaching because of the loss of a tiny algae that lives within the coral.
News: Sponge Bacteria Clean Heavy Metals & Toxins Like Arsenic from Water, Saving Turtles & Humans Alike
Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment, but it is also one of the most commonly found heavy metals in wastewater, deposited there by inappropriate disposal and arsenical pesticides, for example.
News: How Humanity's Choices in Brazil Brought Together Bats & Pigs in a Melting Pot of Diseases
Ecosystem changes caused by agricultural choices in Brazil are creating a dangerous microbe mix in exploding populations of vampire bats and feral pigs.
News: Visiting a National Park in the East? Watch for Lyme-Spreading Ticks
Transmitted by ticks, Lyme disease is a serious infection that is probably headed your way. A recent study confirms the pathogen that causes Lyme disease is now established in nine national parks in the East, including Acadia and Shenandoah National Parks.
News: Driverless Vehicles Are Really Coming—If You're Getting a New Car, Read This First
When the time comes to replace your car, you most likely have a checklist of criteria that you would like on the new one. Your car is possibly the most expensive possession you have—or the second-most expensive, after your home—so you want to make sure that you are not only getting what you want, but that you are getting the best deal possible.
How To: Vegans Rejoice! Finally, a Damn Good Substitute for Bacon
Seaweed isn't just for rolling sushi anymore. The food science world is introducing chefs and home cooks to dulse (rhymes with pulse), kale's wacky seaweed cousin that tastes surprisingly like bacon and may even be the next big superfood.
How To: 5 Awesome Ingredients You Didn't Know You Could Juice
When we initially started juicing, we tended to gravitate towards the widely popular juice staples—carrots, cucumbers, celery, kale, spinach, and apples. However, as we grew more comfortable with these fruits and vegetables (and honestly, a bit bored), we realized there are other unsung juicing ingredients that are just as tasty and nutritious.
How To: Black Peppercorns Make a Surprisingly Delicious Tea
I'll be the first to admit that I have a problem: I'm utterly addicted to tea.
TypoGuy Explaining Anonymity: Staying Hidden from the NSA
We all know them, and many of us despize them. And some might support them, regardless many have different opinions.
Hack Like a Pro: Capturing Zero-Day Exploits in the Wild with a Dionaea Honeypot, Part 1
Welcome back, my greenhorn hackers! The Holy Grail of any hacker is to develop a zero-day exploit—an exploit that has never been seen by antivirus (AV) and other software developers, as well as intrusion detection system (IDS) developers. In that way, you can exploit systems with your newly discovered vulnerability with impunity!
How To: 10 Desk Hacks That'll Help You Get More Done at Work
There are many hacks for increasing productivity, but so many depend on tricking your own mind or behavior. When it comes to motivation in the workplace, though, sometimes the space within which you work dictates how you behave and the work you produce. So if you want to increase your ability to get more done in a single workday while doing a better job, consider changing your surroundings in the following ways.
Bottled vs. Tap: 5 Reasons Why You Should Choose City Water Over Plastic
There is a huge myth that most Americans believe, and it might be the marketing triumph of the 20th century. We pay an absurd markup (Zero Hedge says as much as 280,000% for "designer" water) on something we can get for free because most of us believe that bottled water is healthier than tap water. But is it? Here are 5 reasons why tap water is probably better than that bottled stuff you drink. 1. It's Not Cleaner (& Might Be Dirtier) Than Your Tap Water
How To: Work Less & Get More Accomplished
From our work life to our home life, we have an awful lot of projects, tasks, and activities that require more productivity than play. After working for an entire day in the office, no one wants to face even more that needs to be done at home.
How To: 8 Reasons Why You Should Never Throw Away Eggshells
The other day I was doing the math on roughly how many eggs I eat each year. I estimated about 500. That's a lot of eggs. And, subsequently, that's a lot of eggshells to throw in the trash.
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: Huitlacoche, the Disease You Want to Eat
It's an unspoken rule that diseases are not things that you want to purposely consume. So if anyone ever offers to cook you something made out of a disease, just kindly say no... unless it's huitlacoche.
News: Store-Bought Almond Milk Is Bad for You (And the Environment)
While Kobe beef cows get massaged, American dairy cows are taking a real beating. Many people are cutting back on dairy while a growing number of people are discovering that they're lactose intolerant. As the public's disdain of cow's milk grows, milk sales themselves are at a forty-year low.