If someone asks you to name a Google X Labs moonshot, you’d probably say Glass , self-driving car or maybe even Project Loon . But as you might remember from the WSJD Live conference last year, it also has a flourishing Life Sciences division that employs 100 doctors and scientists, and one of their main projects is a Fitbit-like bracelet that can detect cancer cells . Now, The Atlantic has taken a peek into the division’s headquarters in Mountain View. The publication’s video (below the fold) also explains why the team has to create synthetic human skin mixed with the real thing to cover disembodied arms. See, those arms serve as testers for the Labs’ cancer-detecting bracelet project. For that to make sense, though, you need to understand how the system works: first you’ll need to take pills packed with nanoparticles that circulate throughout the body looking for cancer cells. If they find any, they’ll bind to those cells, which then literally light up. After that, the cell-particle combos make their way underneath the bracelet, since it has a magnet that attracts the nanoparticles. Since the team wants to make sure that an illuminated clump of cancer cells is visible through human skin, they created those practice arms. They’re covered in skin exhibiting different properties (thickness, etc.), as well as skin mimicking those of different ethnicities and skin tones. The bracelet probably won’t be sniffing out cancer in the real world anytime soon, though, so watch the interview for now to see what it’s like inside Google X Labs’ Life Sciences department. Filed under: Science , Google Comments Source: The Atlantic

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Google X Labs made synthetic skin to test a cancer-detecting bracelet

The FCC’s latest wireless auction brought in far more money than anyone expected. The Chairman, Tom Wheeler, set a goal of raising $10.6 billion by selling off 1, 600 licenses to blocks of wireless spectrum. In the end, the government not only blew past its goal, but also its previous record of raising $19.1 billion in 2008, when it auctioned off significant pieces of the 700Mhz band that delivers LTE for a number of carriers. This auction ended with the government raising $44.9 billion, which surprised many observers, especially since even smaller markets like Portland, ME received sizable bids worth tens of millions of dollars. Who won which pieces of spectrum in the 1, 700Mhz and 2, 100Mhz bands is unknown right now, but we do know that 70 different companies and organizations submitted bids. Obvious players were involved, like AT&T and Verizon, but Dish also participated, as did some private equity firms, like Grain Management LLC. Interestingly, Sprint sat this one out, though the company does have what the Wall Street Journal calls , “largest stores of spectrum” in the industry. Part of the reason people were shocked by the high price tag, is that these higher frequencies are actually considered less valuable than lower bands. That’s largely because they’re unable to cover as much distance or penetrate buildings as easily. But, since they’re able to carry large amounts of data over short distances, they can be very useful in cities. Hopefully we’ll have more information about who won what soon, but for now lets just enjoy the cash windfall for the government and the American tax payer. [Image credit: Shutterstock] Filed under: Wireless , Verizon , AT&T Comments Source: Wall Street Journal

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Government raked in $44.9 billion from wireless auction