Streaming music makes up 80% of the revenue of the music industry. Revenue is up 18% for the first six months of 2019. This follows a record year in 2018 when the music industry reached its highest revenues in 10 years. Though it should be good news for musicians, it is also the case that … Continue reading Science and Technology links (September 14th 2019)
In a small clinical trial, scientists administered some “anti-aging” therapies to people between their fifties and sixties. They used growth hormone to regenerate the thymus, part of our immune system which is nearly all gone when people reach 50 years old. They complemented this therapy with anti-diabetes drugs (dehydroepiandrosterone and metformin) as an attempt to … Continue reading Science and Technology links (September 7th 2019)
The Conboy laboratory in Berkeley is responsible for some of the best work in aging research. In 2005, they showed that by connecting the blood vessels of an old and a young mice, they could rejuvenate the old mice (via a process called parabiosis). This earlier work showed that there are probably “aging factors” in … Continue reading Science and Technology links (August 31st 2019)
The net contribution of the Amazon ecosystem to the world’s oxygen is effectively zero. Furthermore, there is a lot of oxygen in the air and it would be excessively difficult to lower or increase the ratio. In effect, we are not going to run out of oxygen on Earth any time soon, even if we … Continue reading Science and Technology links (August 24th 2019)
Google may soon release an augmented-reality version of Google Maps for mobile phones. I have always found it difficult to identify the streets I see in an unfamiliar setting, and it looks like Google may be solving this very problem. I am looking forward to seeing how well it works in practice. The delivery company UPS … Continue reading Science and Technology links (August 17th 2019)
A short (less than one hour) online lesson improved grades among weaker students. The lesson taught the growth mindset: that intellectual abilities can be developed. The chip maker AMD, has released a processor (EPYC 7742) which has 32-billion transistors and 64 cores. According to a recent study, we tend to see women as victims and … Continue reading Science and Technology links (August 10th 2019
Reportedly, researchers in China are creating embryos that are part human and part monkey. Sickle cell disease is a genetic disease with no cure. In an attempt to cure the disease, a patient received gene therapy. We still do not know whether it will work. Scientists theorize that chronic inflammation brings down your motivation and … Continue reading Science and Technology links (August 3rd 2019)
There are thick ice deposits on the Moon. Water in space is important as it can be used to create fuel and to sustain life. Most animals do not suffer heart attacks and strokes, the way human beings do. It appears that the difference may be due to a specific genetic mutation. Heart attacks are … Continue reading Science and Technology links (July 27th 2019)
Researchers solve the Rubik’s cube puzzle using machine learning (deep learning). There has been a rise in the popularity of “deep learning” following some major breakthroughs in tasks like image recognition. Yet, at least as far as recommender systems are concerned, there are reasons to be skeptical of the good results being reported: In this … Continue reading Science and Technology links (July 20th 2019)
Drinking juice increases your risk of having cancer. College completion rates are increasing and this may have to do with lower standards. Australia is going to try a flu vaccine that was partially designed with help from an artificial intelligence called Sam. Sam acquires knowledge and has new ideas, according to its creators. I think … Continue reading Science and Technology links (July 13th 2019)