Day: October 30, 2017

An AI detected colorectal cancer with 86 percent accuracy

We’ve heard of many different uses for AI within the medical field , including for prediction of heart attacks and detection of Alzheimer’s . Now, it looks as though machine intelligence could be applied to early detection of cancer as well. A group of Japanese researchers has figured out a way to use AI to spot colorectal cancer tumors before they become malignant, according to Inverse . The team compiled a database of over 30, 000 images of pre-cancerous and cancerous cells in order to help the AI detect the difference between the two. After the machine learning process had taken place, they fed it an image of a colorectal polyp that had its magnification increased by a factor of 500. The program was able to determine within a second whether that specific polyp was cancerous. Dr. Yuichi Mora from Showa University made a presentation about these results this week at the United European Gastroenterology Conference in Barcelona. He cited the AI’s detection accuracy at 86 percent, which is impressive. This is specifically important for colorectal cancer; it’s highly treatable in early stages, but detection often comes very late, after the cancer cells have spread into the bloodstream. The cancer originates as benign polyps in the rectum and colon that turn into malignant tumors. This AI could help detect colorectal cancer early, ensuring that the cancer is treatable for more people. Source: Inverse , PubMed

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An AI detected colorectal cancer with 86 percent accuracy

Nintendo expects Switch will beat Wii U lifetime sales in a year

Nintendo has announced it’s sold a further 2.93 million Switch consoles over the latest quarter, reaching just shy of 8 million units total. After another strong quarter, the company is now aiming to sell 14 million units by the time the Switch turns one year old — up from 10 million it aimed for previously. It’s also increased its forecast for the full year, from $6.59 billion to $8.44 billion. If Nintendo hits its targets, that would mean the Switch could best its predecessor, the Wii U, in a single year. The older console only reached 13.56 million sales over the entirety of its five-year lifetime — it wasn’t a hit for the games maker. Nintendo racked up $209 million in profit for the quarter, with revenues reaching $1.93 billion. The company managed to sell 22 million game titles in the last half year — a figure that doesn’t account for the recently launched Super Mario Odyssey , which is likely to sell consoles all by itself . According to a Reuters report , the company is now endeavoring to meet customer demand — it’s still not easy to buy a Switch in stores. “We’ve boosted Switch production in order to meet strong demand from our customers as it was difficult for customers to buy the consoles at retail stores, ” said Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima . While Nintendo doesn’t spin out mobile sales, it reported a revenue increases over 420 percent since last year, lead by Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes . It looks like the company has found a whale or two . The holy grail for in-app payment centric games, these players invest a lot of time and money into smartphone games. Animal Crossing will be the company’s next smartphone game property , and will also include in-app purchases to help deck out your digital campsite. Source: Nintendo

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Nintendo expects Switch will beat Wii U lifetime sales in a year

The strangest things archaeologists have found on the ancient Silk Roads

(video link) One of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world wasn’t contained in a nation or a city. It was a series of trade routes that crisscrossed Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Swahili Coast of Africa, and dubbed the “Silk Road” by modern explorers. For centuries, these routes passed through wealthy cities whose vibrant cultures were hybrids of Eastern and Western culture, joined by the spirit of trade and knowledge exchange. The Silk Road civilization thrived because it had no borders. In this episode of Ancient People Did Stuff , we talk about some of the more unusual discoveries that archaeologists have made at excavation sites along the ancient Silk Roads. One of the great medieval cities of the Silk Road was Samarkand, located today in Uzbekistan. Its people were called Sogdians, and their language was the lingua franca of the Silk Road during roughly the 4 th through the 8 th centuries. And yet one of the only remaining examples we have of written Sogdian is in an angry letter that an abandoned wife sent to her husband, which was lost in a mailbag and found over a millennium later. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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The strangest things archaeologists have found on the ancient Silk Roads