On November 3rd 2015, Twitter officially changed its star symbol for favorites to a heart symbol for likes. The change will take place on Vine as well, which is also owned by Twitter. The move was made in an effort to simplify the the Twitter experience and to woo new users to the service. Twitter's product manager, Akarshan Kumar said, "We want to make Twitter easier and more rewarding to use, and we know that at times the star could be confusing, especially to newcomers."
Favorites came about shortly after the birth of Twitter. Originally, favorites were designed as a means of bookmarking tweets. Over time, the act of favoring was made possible in real time. This gave power users like journalists a way to save articles that they wanted to read at a later date. Retweets and Hashtags were added later. With the move to hearts, Twitter is taking a cue from Facebook which is considering adding emojis as a means of giving its users more ways to express themselves.
Opinions about this latest move by Twitter are mixed. It's hard to imagine that the change will make a huge difference, as long as the functionality of the new heart symbol remains the same as the star symbol. The gamble will be whether it is easier and more rewarding to like something than it is to favorite something.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
YouTube Red Arrives
On October 28th 2015, Google officially launched it new subscription video service called YouTube Red. As announced earlier this month, YouTube Red will be an ad free version of the popular video site, priced at $9.99 a month. The new service was originally introduced as YouTube Music Key in the fall of 2014. As YouTube Red, the service will be released first in the U S before being rolled out to the rest of the world.
Ad free viewing is only the beginning. Subscribers will be able to access YouTube Red from their PCs, smartphones, tablets, and TV apps. You will also be able to subscribe to Apple devices, but the cost is $12.99 per month. A YouTube Red membership also comes with full access to Google Play Music at no extra cost. Videos can be downloaded for viewing offline for up to 30 days.
In early 2016, YouTube Red subscribers will get access to members only original shows and movies. If it all of this sounds temping but you're still not sure, you can get a 30 day free trial to YouTube Red, so you can try before you buy
Ad free viewing is only the beginning. Subscribers will be able to access YouTube Red from their PCs, smartphones, tablets, and TV apps. You will also be able to subscribe to Apple devices, but the cost is $12.99 per month. A YouTube Red membership also comes with full access to Google Play Music at no extra cost. Videos can be downloaded for viewing offline for up to 30 days.
In early 2016, YouTube Red subscribers will get access to members only original shows and movies. If it all of this sounds temping but you're still not sure, you can get a 30 day free trial to YouTube Red, so you can try before you buy
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Artificial Skin Gives Sense Of Touch
On October 16th 2015, researchers at Stanford University announced that they had created artificial skin that could feel pressure. This development is expected to one day give prosthetic limbs a sense of touch. The researchers say that the plastic skin is capable of distinguishing the strength of a hand shake and can send that information to the central nervous system. The break through was made by Zhenan Bao, professor of chemical engineering and her team, and was a decade in development.
Dr. Bao and her coworkers made the artificial skin by connecting, microstructured resistive pressure sensors, flexible organic electronic circuits, and nerve cells that contained light activated ion channels. The sensors, which measured conductance in response to applied pressure, were made of carbon nanotube elastomer that coated the surface. Each sensor was then connected to an organic printed circuit that converted the pressure signal into electrical impulses that increased in frequency in response to an increase in pressure.
From there, the electrical impulses were used to modulate the frequency of a light emitting diode (LED). Light from the LED was fed through an optical fiber which then stimulated a slice of mouse brain tissue. The nerve cells in the mouse brain tissue were treated with channelrhodosins that opened and closed in response to light, which triggered the nerve cells to fire.
Dr Bao said, "This is just the beginning of the path toward building fully integrated artificial skin." She and her team hope to mimic other human sensing functions, such as the ability to feel heat.
Dr. Bao and her coworkers made the artificial skin by connecting, microstructured resistive pressure sensors, flexible organic electronic circuits, and nerve cells that contained light activated ion channels. The sensors, which measured conductance in response to applied pressure, were made of carbon nanotube elastomer that coated the surface. Each sensor was then connected to an organic printed circuit that converted the pressure signal into electrical impulses that increased in frequency in response to an increase in pressure.
From there, the electrical impulses were used to modulate the frequency of a light emitting diode (LED). Light from the LED was fed through an optical fiber which then stimulated a slice of mouse brain tissue. The nerve cells in the mouse brain tissue were treated with channelrhodosins that opened and closed in response to light, which triggered the nerve cells to fire.
Dr Bao said, "This is just the beginning of the path toward building fully integrated artificial skin." She and her team hope to mimic other human sensing functions, such as the ability to feel heat.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
YouTube Subscription Services Coming Soon
On September 25th 2015, it was announced that YouTube is in the final stages of launch preparations for its much anticipated new music service. According to Peter Kafka of Recode.com, an email was sent to content creators advising them to accept and agree to new terms by October 22nd 2015. After such time, if they have not, their "videos will no longer be available for public display or monetization in the United States."
YouTube plans to bundle two separate services into one offering. They are going to offer both its music service, YouTube Music Key, and another service that they have yet to launch. The services will be priced at $10 a month and will be ad free. Most of the money will go to the record labels and copyright owners. While an actual launch date has not been given, the new premium ad free subscription service is expected to arrive by the end of November.
YouTube plans to bundle two separate services into one offering. They are going to offer both its music service, YouTube Music Key, and another service that they have yet to launch. The services will be priced at $10 a month and will be ad free. Most of the money will go to the record labels and copyright owners. While an actual launch date has not been given, the new premium ad free subscription service is expected to arrive by the end of November.
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Two Scientists Win Nobel Prize For Neutrino Oscillations
On October 6th 2015, two scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for the discovery of neutrino oscillations. The discovery, which was made by Takaaki Kajita and Arther B McDonald, definitively proves that neutrinos do have mass. The announcement was made during a press conference by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The two men will share an award of 8 million Swedish Krona ($964,000).
The two physicists led separate teams, Kajita at the University of Tokyo in Japan and McDonald at Queen's University in Canada. They each used massive detectors designed to alert them if a neutrino had passed through them. Neutrinos have very little mass, no electric charge, and rarely interact with other particles. They are found as the result of radioactive decay and most notably as a by product of the nuclear fusion reaction that powers the sun.
Because they rarely interact with anything, billions of them, streaming from the sun, pass through the earth and our bodies every second. Neutrinos come in what is called, three "flavors," electron, muon, and tau. The experiments conducted by Kajita and McDonald revealed that one type of neutrino could turn into another by a process called oscillation. It was further determined that this process occurs as neutrinos travel from the sun towards the earth.
It is not yet known what the mass of each of the three flavors of neutrinos are, but it is believed that it is very small, on the order of at least a million times smaller than the mass of the electron. Some scientists believe that the success of the experiments by Kajita and McDonald will not only help to increase our understanding of how the fusion process works inside the sun, but it may also one day aide in the creation of fusion reactors here on earth.
The two physicists led separate teams, Kajita at the University of Tokyo in Japan and McDonald at Queen's University in Canada. They each used massive detectors designed to alert them if a neutrino had passed through them. Neutrinos have very little mass, no electric charge, and rarely interact with other particles. They are found as the result of radioactive decay and most notably as a by product of the nuclear fusion reaction that powers the sun.
Because they rarely interact with anything, billions of them, streaming from the sun, pass through the earth and our bodies every second. Neutrinos come in what is called, three "flavors," electron, muon, and tau. The experiments conducted by Kajita and McDonald revealed that one type of neutrino could turn into another by a process called oscillation. It was further determined that this process occurs as neutrinos travel from the sun towards the earth.
It is not yet known what the mass of each of the three flavors of neutrinos are, but it is believed that it is very small, on the order of at least a million times smaller than the mass of the electron. Some scientists believe that the success of the experiments by Kajita and McDonald will not only help to increase our understanding of how the fusion process works inside the sun, but it may also one day aide in the creation of fusion reactors here on earth.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Water Flows On The Surface Of Mars
On September 28th 2015, NASA announced that they had made conformation of liquid water flowing on the surface of Mars. Photos taken from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed what researchers at NASA are calling, recurring slope lineae or (RSL), which are narrow, dark streaks on the planet's surface. NASA's director of planetary sciences division, James L Greene said, "We now have, I think, great opportunities to investigate the possibility of life."
The recurring slope lineae or RSL are about 15 feet in width or smaller and appear on slopes during the planets warm seasons. These lineae then fade during the cooler seasons only to reappear when the temperature warms again. Previous analysis of data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer found neither salt nor water. However, the new study has yielded greater detail.
A team of researchers, led by Lujendra Ojha, of the School of Earth Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, found evidence of hydrated salts like magnesium chlorate, magnesium perchlorate, and sodium perchlorate. All of these substances can effectively lower the freezing point of water so that it can flow freely at cooler temperatures. The average temperature on Mars is 70 degrees below zero but can reach as high as 70 degrees above zero near the equator.
NASA and other research institutions are developing new technologies to search for a bio-signature on Mars. Some of those bio-hunting devices are expected to be incorporated into the next NASA mission, Mars 2020 rover and the European Space Agency's ExoMars Mission. Researchers are now expressing some concern as to how life can be detected without causing cross contamination. Any robotic mechanism designed to detect Martian life may ultimately only be detecting life brought there from Earth.
The plan for future exploration is to use a sort of, "stand off," analysis. At this time, the idea is to use Raman Spectroscopy, which is a form of vibrational spectroscopy. While it's harder for Raman Spectroscopy to distinguish between fossils and carbon based materials, it is however very adept at distinguishing between organic compounds that were once alive and those that are living now. Some researchers believe that the ideal way to examine the Martian soil, is to do a Mars sample return.
The recurring slope lineae or RSL are about 15 feet in width or smaller and appear on slopes during the planets warm seasons. These lineae then fade during the cooler seasons only to reappear when the temperature warms again. Previous analysis of data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer found neither salt nor water. However, the new study has yielded greater detail.
A team of researchers, led by Lujendra Ojha, of the School of Earth Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, found evidence of hydrated salts like magnesium chlorate, magnesium perchlorate, and sodium perchlorate. All of these substances can effectively lower the freezing point of water so that it can flow freely at cooler temperatures. The average temperature on Mars is 70 degrees below zero but can reach as high as 70 degrees above zero near the equator.
NASA and other research institutions are developing new technologies to search for a bio-signature on Mars. Some of those bio-hunting devices are expected to be incorporated into the next NASA mission, Mars 2020 rover and the European Space Agency's ExoMars Mission. Researchers are now expressing some concern as to how life can be detected without causing cross contamination. Any robotic mechanism designed to detect Martian life may ultimately only be detecting life brought there from Earth.
The plan for future exploration is to use a sort of, "stand off," analysis. At this time, the idea is to use Raman Spectroscopy, which is a form of vibrational spectroscopy. While it's harder for Raman Spectroscopy to distinguish between fossils and carbon based materials, it is however very adept at distinguishing between organic compounds that were once alive and those that are living now. Some researchers believe that the ideal way to examine the Martian soil, is to do a Mars sample return.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
A New Species Of Human Is Found In South Africa
On September 10th 2015, scientists in South Africa announced that they had discovered what they believed to be a new species of human. The fossil find was made while searching the Rising Star Cave. The remains, which were many, covered the earthen floor just beyond the caves narrow entrance. Deep within what is being called the Dinaledi Chamber were the 1,500 bones of approx 15 hominids that have been named Homo Naledi.
The international team that made the discovery consisted of 60 scientists who were led by Lee R Burger. Burger is an American paleontologist and a professor of human evolution studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Burger says that the species' name, Homo Naledi, is derived from the cave where the remains were found, and that "naledi" means "star" in the local Sesotho language.
Researchers analyzing the Homo Naledi remains have yet to determine the actual age of the fossils. A determination has been difficult due to the muddled chamber contents and the absence of fauna. Because the species had a brain no larger than an orange, Dr Burger believes that it might have evolved near the root of the Homo genus. If this is true, then it's possible that Homo Naledi may have lived 2.5 to 2.8 million years ago.
The scientists who made the discovery have noted that Homo Naledi has a combination of both primitive as well as modern characteristics, which include their jaws, teeth and feet. The average Homo Naledi is believed to have stood five feet tall and weighed about 100 pounds.
The international team that made the discovery consisted of 60 scientists who were led by Lee R Burger. Burger is an American paleontologist and a professor of human evolution studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Burger says that the species' name, Homo Naledi, is derived from the cave where the remains were found, and that "naledi" means "star" in the local Sesotho language.
Researchers analyzing the Homo Naledi remains have yet to determine the actual age of the fossils. A determination has been difficult due to the muddled chamber contents and the absence of fauna. Because the species had a brain no larger than an orange, Dr Burger believes that it might have evolved near the root of the Homo genus. If this is true, then it's possible that Homo Naledi may have lived 2.5 to 2.8 million years ago.
The scientists who made the discovery have noted that Homo Naledi has a combination of both primitive as well as modern characteristics, which include their jaws, teeth and feet. The average Homo Naledi is believed to have stood five feet tall and weighed about 100 pounds.
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