Day: January 11, 2017

‘Tooth Repair Drug’ May Replace Fillings

Teeth can be encouraged to repair themselves in a way that could see an end to fillings, according to scientists. From a report on BBC: The team at King’s College London showed that a chemical could encourage cells in the dental pulp to heal small holes in mice teeth. A biodegradable sponge was soaked in the drug and then put inside the cavity. The study, published in Scientific Reports, showed it led to “complete, effective natural repair.” Teeth have limited regenerative abilities. They can produce a thin band of dentine — the layer just below the enamel — if the inner dental pulp becomes exposed, but this cannot repair a large cavity. Scientists discovered that a drug called Tideglusib heightened the activity of stem cells in the dental pulp so they could repair 0.13mm holes in the teeth of mice. A drug-soaked sponge was placed in the hole and then a protective coating was applied over the top. As the sponge broke down it was replaced by dentine, healing the tooth. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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‘Tooth Repair Drug’ May Replace Fillings

LinkedIn’s and eBay’s Founders Are Donating $20 Million To Protect Us From AI

Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, and Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, have each committed $10 million to fund academic research and development aimed at keeping artificial intelligence systems ethical and to prevent building AI that may harm society. Recode reports: The fund received an additional $5 million from the Knight Foundation and two other $1 million donations from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and Jim Pallotta, founder of the Raptor Group. The $27 million reserve is being anchored by MIT’s Media Lab and Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. The Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence Fund, the name of the fund, expects to grow as new funders continue to come on board. AI systems work by analyzing massive amounts of data, which is first profiled and categorized by humans, with all their prejudices and biases in tow. The money will pay for research to investigate how socially responsible artificially intelligent systems can be designed to, say, keep computer programs that are used to make decisions in fields like education, transportation and criminal justice accountable and fair. The group also hopes to explore ways to talk with the public about and foster understanding of the complexities of artificial intelligence. The two universities will form a governing body along with Hoffman and the Omidyar Network to distribute the funds. The $20 million from Hoffman and the Omidyar Network are being given as a philanthropic grant — not an investment vehicle. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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LinkedIn’s and eBay’s Founders Are Donating $20 Million To Protect Us From AI

MIT Unveils New Material That’s Strongest and Lightest On Earth

A team of MIT researchers have created the world’s strongest and lightest material known to man using graphene. Futurism reports: Graphene, which was heretofore, the strongest material known to man, is made from an extremely thin sheet of carbon atoms arranged in two dimensions. But there’s one drawback: while notable for its thinness and unique electrical properties, it’s very difficult to create useful, three-dimensional materials out of graphene. Now, a team of MIT researchers discovered that taking small flakes of graphene and fusing them following a mesh-like structure not only retains the material’s strength, but the graphene also remains porous. Based on experiments conducted on 3D printed models, researchers have determined that this new material, with its distinct geometry, is actually stronger than graphene — making it 10 times stronger than steel, with only five percent of its density. The discovery of a material that is extremely strong but exceptionally lightweight will have numerous applications. As MIT reports: “The new findings show that the crucial aspect of the new 3-D forms has more to do with their unusual geometrical configuration than with the material itself, which suggests that similar strong, lightweight materials could be made from a variety of materials by creating similar geometric features.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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MIT Unveils New Material That’s Strongest and Lightest On Earth

‘Final Fantasy XV’ out-of-bounds glitch reveals an unused open world

The world of Final Fantasy XV feels enormous, stretching out for miles across freeways, plains, lakes and mountains — but in the game’s closing act, that open world becomes incredibly linear. Instead of taking a road trip across a fantastic land, players in the third act can merely look out upon one. A newly discovered out-of-bounds glitch changes that, revealing a surprisingly fleshed out landscape with a frozen tundra, beaches, towns and a vast savannah. There’s not much to do in the area, but fans are now wondering if its a hint at what’s coming for the game’s DLC. Breaking out of the game’s linear section takes a little bit of doing . To start, players have to be running the version of the game that came on retail discs without any updates — then they must reach a train station in a late section of the game. From there, a few careful jumps can land the player outside of their linear prison and into the lands Niflheim. Between the towns, mountains and fields there’s plenty to see, but not much to do: there are no enemies to fight, no quests to take on and no Chocobo to ride. Still, when users who have made it into the unused lands update their game, things get interesting: suddenly the open fields have roads. The fact that game’s latest update added detail to the unused area could merely just be set dressing for players who look upon it from the game’s locked-down linear aream but some players are speculating that SquareEnix may add new areas later on . Even if that never happens, the glitch is a fascinating look at a even larger open world map. Via: Verge Source: YouTube (1) , (2)

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‘Final Fantasy XV’ out-of-bounds glitch reveals an unused open world

Windows 10 Creators Update will add tab previews and a night mode

Windows 10’s Creators Update will have its fair share of pleasant surprises, apparently. Microsoft has released a new Windows Insider preview that stuffs in quite a few new features, some of which you might just use every day. For one, its Edge browser now includes tab previews. This isn’t a novel concept (hi, Opera), but it’ll be immensely helpful if you have loads of tabs open and don’t want to play a guessing game. Also, Microsoft’s Flash crackdown is in full effect: Edge now blocks untrusted Flash content as a matter of course, and you’ll have to click to play it. There’s plenty more beyond the web. The preview introduces a “lower blue light” option that, like F.lux or the night modes on some phones, will gradually shift colors to ease the strain on your eyes (and theoretically, help you sleep) when it gets dark. And did we mention that you can organize the Start menu’s tiles into folders? It’ll seem familiar if you’ve used Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile, but it’s definitely welcome if you’d like to have a lot of app shortcuts. Other improvements? You’ll find a more app-centric sharing option with increased awareness of what you’re running and what you like to use. Windows is also building in a selective screen capture mode that was previously limited to OneNote, a more formal introduction to Cortana for new users, an on-demand “refresh Windows” option to reinstall the OS and better support for very high resolution displays. If you’re an Insider and are willing to live with the inevitable glitchiness of a preview, you’ll definitely want to give this a peek. Via: The Verge , ZDNet Source: Microsoft

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Windows 10 Creators Update will add tab previews and a night mode

FDA warns that certain pacemakers are vulnerable to hacking

According to a cybersecurity notice from the Food and Drug Administration, certain pacemakers and cardiac devices are currently vulnerable to hacking. Although security researchers have warned about the security risks to medical devices for years now , this is the first time we’ve seen the government publicly acknowledge a specific threat. The vulnerable devices included under the FDA’s warning are not the pacemakers themselves, but rather the Merlin@home Transmitters made by St. Jude Medical. The transmitters are part of a home monitor that connects to pacemakers and other implanted cardiac devices using a wireless RF signal. The Merlin is designed to read the data stored on a pacemaker and then upload that data to its own cloud on the Merlin.net Patient Care Network, where a physician can access and monitor the device and the patient’s health. Although it doesn’t mention specifics of the threat, the government acknowledges that Merlin monitors could be hacked to send modified commands to a patient’s pacemaker or other device. With the right access, a hacker could do anything from deplete a pacemaker’s battery to shocking a patient or throwing off their heartbeat. On the bright side, the FDA says there have been no reported hacks and no patients have been harmed so far. To fix the problem, a software patch will be automatically applied over-the-air to affected Merlin@home devices starting today. Patients or their caregivers only need to ensure the devices are online and connected to get the fix. Source: FDA , St. Jude Medical

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FDA warns that certain pacemakers are vulnerable to hacking

LA beats out SF to host George Lucas’ art museum

Unbeknownst to some, Los Angeles and San Francisco had been clashing for months on yet another front: Which would win the right to build an elaborate, expansive museum housing film ephemera and personal art collected by George Lucas. As is only proper for the nexus of cinema, Hollywood won the fight. Yes, the upcoming museum will feature choice souvenirs from the Star Wars franchise, but it aims to be a serious institution with the money to back it up. Lucas will allegedly front $1 billion himself in construction costs and art as well as the creation of a $400 million endowment fund. The 275, 000 sq ft building will sit in Exposition Park south of downtown, joining the California Science Center, Natural History Museum and California African American Museum. It will house over 10, 000 paintings and illustrations including works by Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and R. Crumb, according to The Los Angeles Times . Canny fans will note that the future site of the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is blocks away from the University of Southern California campus, where he studied as a young filmmaker. It’ll also be an hour-drive away from another sizable monument to his legacy when Disneyland’s upcoming Star Wars Land eventually opens. Source: The Los Angeles Times

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LA beats out SF to host George Lucas’ art museum

Illuminate Your House With Mpow’s Solar-Powered Spotlights, No Wiring Required

Without any wiring to futz with, Mpow’s solar-powered, motion-sensing spotlights are the easiest way to illuminate your front porch or lawn, and you can get one for $16 today, or buy more and save. Just be sure to note the promo codes in each case. Read more…

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Illuminate Your House With Mpow’s Solar-Powered Spotlights, No Wiring Required

Verizon purges unlimited data customers, targets those using 200GB

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images | Spencer Platt) Verizon Wireless customers with unlimited data plans who use more than 200GB a month will have to switch to limited plans next month or be disconnected, a company spokesperson confirmed today. Since Verizon stopped offering unlimited data to new smartphone customers in 2011, this change affects only longtime customers who were allowed to hang on to the old plans. Verizon could simply force all customers who aren’t under contract to switch to new plans, but instead it has periodically made moves that reduce the numbers of unlimited data subscribers. “Because our network is a shared resource and we need to ensure all customers have a great mobile experience with Verizon, we are notifying a small group of customers on unlimited plans who use more than 200GB a month that they must move to a Verizon Plan by February 16, 2017,” Verizon spokesperson Kelly Crummey told Ars today. Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Verizon purges unlimited data customers, targets those using 200GB