SPACEX REVEALS MYSTERY MOON PASSENGER, AND HE’S A BILLIONAIRE
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been talking up its plans to shoot tourists around the moon since early 2017. It’s finally starting to feel a little more real as Musk announced the company’s first paying passenger on Monday. The deep-pocketed space explorer is Yusaku Maezawa, a 42-year-old Japanese billionaire and founder of online fashion mall Zozotown. Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa speaks about his moon mission through SpaceX. Musk previouslyhinted the passengerfor the next-generation BFR (politely known as the Big Falcon Rocket) might be Japanese. Maezawa has plenty of money to devote to this moon shot. He famously dropped over $110 million (£84 million, AU$154 million) on a painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat in 2017.
Read moreGOOGLE AI TOOL IDENTIFIES A TUMOR’S MUTATIONS FROM AN IMAGE
The algorithm can distinguish between different kinds of lung cancer, and could speed up a patient’s diagnosis by weeks. The image shows the process by which an AI tool analyzes a slice of cancerous tissue to create a map that tells apart two lung cancer types which require different treatments, with squamous cell carcinoma in red, lung squamous cell carcinoma in blue, and normal lung tissue in gray. For decades, doctors have relied on the well-trained eyes of human pathologists to give their patients a cancer diagnosis.
Read moreTHE WHAT-IF TOOL: CODE-FREE PROBING OF MACHINE LEARNING MODELS
How would changes to a datapoint affect my model’s prediction? Does it perform differently for various groups–for example, historically marginalized people? How diverse is the dataset I am testing my model on? The What-If Tool, showing a set of 250 face pictures and their results from a model that detects smiles. Exploring what-if scenarios on a datapoint. Comparing counterfactuals. Comparing the performance of two slices of data on a smile detection model, with their classification thresholds set to satisfy the “equal opportunity” constraint. Detecting misclassifications: A multiclass classification model, which predicts plant type from four measurements of a flower from the plant. The tool is helpful in showing the decision boundary of the model and what causes misclassifications.
Read moreIT’S HARD FOR DOCTORS TO UNLEARN THINGS. THAT’S COSTLY FOR ALL OF US.
Procedures live on even after they’ve been proved ineffective. It can lead to harms and wasted resources. Part of a doctor’s tool kit is learning new things, but also unlearning some things. The second part may be harder than the first. We know it can be hard to persuade physicians to do some things that have proven benefits, such as monitor blood pressure or keep patients on anticoagulants. But it might be even harder to get them to stop doing things.
Read moreEU APPROVES CONTROVERSIAL COPYRIGHT DIRECTIVE, INCLUDING INTERNET ‘LINK TAX’ AND ‘UPLOAD FILTER’
The European Parliament has voted in favor of the Copyright Directive, a controversial piece of legislation intended to update online copyright laws for the internet age. The directive was originally rejected by MEPs in July following criticism of two key provisions: Articles 11 and 13, dubbed the “link tax” and “upload filter” by critics. However, in parliament this morning, an updated version of the directive was approved, along with amended versions of Articles 11 and 13.
Read moreCARNEGIE MELLON RESEARCHERS DEVELOP NEW DEEPFAKE METHOD
Deepfakes, ultrarealistic fake videos manipulated using machine learning, are getting pretty convincing. And researchers continue to develop new methods to create these types of videos, for better or, more likely, for worse. The most recent method comes from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, who have figured out a way to automatically transfer the “style” of one person to another. The first example seen—Oliver to Colbert—is far from the most realistic manipulated video out there. It looks low-res, with certain facial features blurring at certain points. It’s almost as if you’re trying to stream an interview from the internet
Read moreRESEARCHERS IDENTIFY MOLECULE WITH ANTI-AGING EFFECTS ON VASCULAR SYSTEM
A molecule produced during fasting or calorie restriction has anti-aging effects on the vascular system, which could reduce the occurrence and severity of human diseases related to blood vessels, such as cardiovascular disease, according to a study led by Georgia State University. In this study, the research team explores the link between calorie restriction (eating less or fasting) and delaying aging, which is unknown and has been poorly studied. The findings are published in the journal Molecular Cell.
Read moreUBC BREAKTHROUGH OPENS DOOR TO $100 ULTRASOUND MACHINE
Engineers at the University of British Columbia have developed a new ultrasound transducer, or probe, that could dramatically lower the cost of ultrasound scanners to as little as $100. Their patent-pending innovation—no bigger than a Band-Aid—is portable, wearable and can be powered by a smartphone. Conventional ultrasound scanners use piezoelectric crystals to create images of the inside of the body and send them to a computer to create sonograms.
Read more‘GROUND-BREAKING’ DIABETES INSULIN DRUG TRIALLED IN CARDIFF
A ‘ground-breaking’ drug that helps people with diabetes re-grow insulin-making cells has been developed. About 19,000 people live with Type 1 of the condition in Wales and 90% have less than 5% of these cells left. This means they have to inject insulin but it is hoped the new drug will mean patients may not have to in the future. The trials are being conducted by researchers at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and two people have already been given the drug. The new drug could mean they are no longer dependent on injecting it and this will potentially reduce many of the problems associated with the chronic disease.
Read moreREPORT: BILLIONAIRE SACKLER FAMILY, ACCUSED OF ENCOURAGING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC
The Sackler family owns Purdue Pharma, which created the infamous opioid painkiller OxyContin Richard Sackler and his billionaire family, who have been blamed for fosteringthe nation’s ongoing opioid epidemic, owna second pharmaceutical company. The Sacklers are the owners of Purdue Pharma, which created the addictive opioid painkiller OxyContin. But the family alsoowna second company based in Rhode Island, Rhodes Pharma, according to a Financial Times report released Sunday.
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