Month: November 2020

science

DeepMind’s latest AI breakthrough can accurately predict the way proteins fold

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Alphabet-owned DeepMind may be best known for building the AI that beat a world-class Go player, but the company announced another, perhaps more vital breakthrough this morning. As part of its work for the 14th Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction, or CASP, DeepMind’s AlphaFold 2 AI has shown it can guess how certain proteins will fold themselves with surprising accuracy. In some cases, the results were perceived to be “competitive” with actual, experimental data.



diagram: AlphaFold 2

AlphaFold 2

“We have been stuck on this one problem – how do proteins fold up – for nearly 50 years,” said Professor John Moult, CASP chair and co-founder, in a DeepMind blog post. “To see DeepMind produce a solution for this, having worked personally on this problem for so long and after so many stops and starts, wondering if we’d ever get there, is a very special moment.”

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Researchers and enthusiasts across

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new technology

Allbirds, Disney, Canon and more

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Our editors independently selected these items because we think you will enjoy them and might like them at these prices. If you purchase something through our links, we may earn a commission. Pricing and availability are accurate as of publish time. Learn more about Shop TODAY.



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December is almost here and with it the month brings a host of sales and deals that extend well beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Retailers like Bed, Bath & Beyond, Amazon and Nordstrom are gearing up for the shopping season by creating online hubs centering around some of their best-selling or highly rated products, which we’re organizing into gift guides about fitness trackers, books, board games and more, with plenty of options for everyone on your shopping list.

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Other notable releases to keep on your radar include a new mattress from DUX, an exclusive design for

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modern technology

Moderna Covid vaccine is 94.1% effective, plans to apply for emergency OK Monday

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Moderna said Monday it will request emergency clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for its coronavirus vaccine after new data confirms the vaccine is more than 94% effective in preventing Covid-19 and was safe.

Moderna will be the second drugmaker to seek emergency use from the FDA after Pfizer, another front-runner in the Covid-19 vaccine race, applied for the same authorization on Nov. 20. The announcement means some Americans could get the first doses of Moderna’s two-dose vaccine within a few weeks.

The new analysis from Moderna evaluated 196 confirmed Covid infections among the late-stage trial’s 30,000 participants. The company said 185 cases of Covid were observed in the placebo group versus 11 cases observed in the group that received its vaccine. That resulted in an estimated vaccine efficacy of 94.1%, the company said.

The company released on Nov. 16 an early analysis of its phase three trial based

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future technology

5G Propels the Future of An Ancient Chinese Town

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In many ways, a walk around the Old Town of Lijiang, China, takes visitors back to the experience of what life was like here at its founding more than 1,000 years ago. Renowned as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Dayan Old Town’s orderly system of waterways and bridges established this trading town and still serves as an artery to keep progress flowing today.

But a powerful modern technology recently joined the ancient roots still growing in this city of more than 1 million people: 5G. These days you can spot cutting-edge operator-less sweepers and patrol vehicles in Lijiang. The technology powering these vehicles illustrates the partnership between Lenovo and Lijiang on 5G, part of the Lijiang Ancient Town 5G Application Demonstration Project.

As you can imagine, the intense flow of people puts a lot of pressure on managing this ancient town. Cleaning, patrolling, and providing dining services to the

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science daily

How telemedicine may ease ER overcrowding — ScienceDaily

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Overcrowding in emergency rooms is a costly and concerning global problem, compromising patient care quality and experience. In a new study, a researcher from The University of Texas at Dallas investigated whether telemedicine could enhance ER care delivery.

“This longstanding problem is mainly driven by the imbalance between increasing patient flow and the shortage of emergency room capacity,” said Dr. Shujing Sun, assistant professor of information systems in the Naveen Jindal School of Management and lead author of the study.

“While the ER is supposed to be a safety net of the health care system, the overcrowding problem has strained this safety net and posits various threats,” Sun said. “For example, long waiting times and treatment delays cause adverse patient outcomes, such as high readmission and mortality rates. They also increase financial costs, reduce patients’ satisfaction and impair physician efficiency.”

In the study, published online Aug. 27 and in the

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technology articles

While mainland America struggles with covid apps, tiny Guam has made them work

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As covid-19 cases spiral out of control in the US, states are scrambling to fight the virus with an increasingly stretched arsenal. Many of them have the same weapons at their disposal: restrictions on public gatherings and enforcement of mask wearing, plus testing, tracing, and exposure notifications.

But while many states struggle to get their systems to work together, Guam—a tiny US territory closer to the Korean Peninsula than the North American mainland—may offer clues on how to rally communities around at least one part of the puzzle: smartphone contact tracing.

With no budget, and relying almost entirely on a grassroots volunteer effort, Guam has gotten 29% of the island’s adult residents to download its exposure notification app, a rate of adoption that outstrips states with far more resources. 

A collaborative effort 

Guam diagnosed its first covid cases in March, but a few weeks later, it gained international attention—and a

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technology

Zoom’s Revenue Forecast Tops Estimates Amid 2021 Concerns

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Zoom’s projected slowing revenue expansion in the current period highlights investors’ concerns that 2021 won’t be as favorable for the software maker as this year, when the company gained customers forced to work and go to school remotely. Zoom’s stock has jumped sevenfold thus far in 2020, heightening questions about whether the company is overvalued. Wall Street has fawned over the company for its accelerating sales growth, but analysts have raised questions about how long it might last.

In the fiscal third quarter, Zoom said sales increased 367% to $777.2 million from a year earlier. Profit, excluding some items, was 99 cents a share. Analysts projected revenue of $693.4 million and adjusted profit of 75 cents.

Zoom’s stock has become a barometer of the pandemic economy, rising when Covid-19 lockdowns emerge and falling on good news about vaccines. Chief Executive Officer Eric Yuan has tried to diversify Zoom’s capabilities for

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technology current events

New Episode of Gathering STEAM Features Clubhouse Network’s [email protected] Media Festival

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Mr. Ettaro interviews Jeff Arthur, Community Liaison for the Clubhouse Network in Oakland, Ca.

The latest episode of Gathering STEAM, an NCS-led course for Fairfax County Public Schools students in grades 7-12, focuses on an opportunity for students to get involved in the Clubhouse Network’s Global [email protected] Media Festival.

The festival encourages youth to create media that describe their personal experiences and gives voice to their ideas, feelings and concerns. Youth gain exposure through exhibition opportunities that showcase their perspectives.

The Clubhouse Network is an international community of more than 100 Clubhouses, 10 of which are located at NCS facilities in Fairfax County. Each Clubhouse provides a creative, safe and free out-of-school learning environment where young people work with adult mentors to explore their own ideas and develop new skills through technology.

Gathering STEAM is an authorized afterschool program and is currently available through three Fairfax County public schools

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modern technology

New technology will allow astronauts to transform salt water on Mars into oxygen and fuel

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New technology will allow astronauts to transform salt water on Mars into oxygen and fuel when they land on the Red Planet in 2033

  • The system is designed with  two sides – one splits the water to form a hydroxyl ion and the other splits it again to produce oxygen
  • It produces 25 times more oxygen than NASA’s MOXIE that is heading to Mars
  • The system would work continuously on Mars and could be used in the deep sea 

By Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

There is water on Mars, but much of it is frozen and the rest is teaming with salt – rendering it useless to future astronauts who are set to land on the planet by 2033.

Now, a team from Washington University in St. Louise has developed a system that transforms the unusable water

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camera

Amazon’s best-selling home security camera is only $19.99 for Cyber Monday

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a wooden table: Cyber Monday 2020 Camera Deals

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Cyber Monday 2020 Camera Deals
  • Google’s Nest Cam Indoor is one of the most popular wireless home security cameras on the market right now, but it’s also pretty expensive with its $130 price tag.
  • That’s why the Wyze Cam is Amazon’s best-selling model — it has nearly all the same features but costs just $25.
  • On Cyber Monday 2020, Amazon is offering this wildly popular home security camera for just $19.99… plus there’s another discount on the upgraded Wyze Cam Pan model.
  • See more of the hottest deals in Amazon’s Cyber Monday 2020 deals hub!

The Google-owned Nest Cam was instrumental in creating and popularizing the wireless home security camera category. Everyone knows that. As the company did with its smart thermostats, Nest created a product that was wonderfully useful and remarkably easy to set up. Back then, the device’s $200 price tag might have

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