Month: April 2021

Enlarge / The coronavirus spike protein that mediates coronavirus entry into host cell. (credit: Design Cells / Getty Images)

We've always needed to limit the total SARS-CoV-2 infections for reasons beyond the immediate risk they pose to the infected. Each new infected individual is a chance for the virus to evolve in a way that makes it more dangerous—more infective or more lethal. This is true even when an individual has a completely symptom-free infection. The more the virus replicates, the more mutations it will experience and the greater chance that something threatening will evolve.

One of the disturbing discoveries of the past year has been that it's not just the human population we have to worry about. SARS-CoV-2 has been found in a number of species, notably cats and mink, that we spend a lot of time around. It has even spread from there to the wild mink population, and the virus has jumped back and forth between humans and farmed mink. These animal reservoirs provide added opportunities for COVID to evolve in ways that make it more dangerous to us—perhaps via mutations that allow it to adapt to the new species.

A group of German researchers has now tested some of the mutations that have appeared in viruses circulating in mink populations, and the news is mixed. One specific mutation makes the virus somewhat less infectious to humans but reduces the probability that antibodies raised against the virus will recognize it.

Enlarge (credit: John Lamb / The Image Bank / Getty Images)

EU regulators have proposed strict curbs on the use of facial recognition in public spaces, limiting the controversial technology to a small number of public-interest scenarios, according to new draft legislation seen by the Financial Times.

In a confidential 138-page document, officials said facial recognition systems infringed on individuals’ civil rights and therefore should only be used in scenarios in which they were deemed essential, for instance in the search for missing children and the policing of terrorist events.

The draft legislation added that “real-time” facial recognition—which uses live tracking, rather than past footage or photographs—in public spaces by the authorities should only ever be used for limited periods of time, and it should be subject to prior consent by a judge or a national authority.

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  (Almost) everything about the new M1 iMac in a nutshell. [credit: Apple ]

Apple announced iMac updates today at its event in Brooklyn, New York. As expected, the updates improve the desktop's performance with new processors while maintaining the design we've known iMacs to have for the past couple of years.

Apple says the new system was designed from the ground up around the M1 system on a chip (SoC), allowing for a much smaller motherboard and cooling system than that seen in the company's earlier Intel-powered iMacs. The new iMac's overall volume is down by 50 percent and comes in at only 11 mm thick, with a single sheet of glass across the entire front of the device.

The iMac comes with a 4.5K Retina 24-inch display with very small bezels, resulting in a device not much larger than earlier 21-inch iMacs. The new displays also include TruTone technology, which dynamically adjusts color temperature in response to changes in the surrounding ambient light.

Enlarge / Promotional image of Crypto on Venmo. (credit: Venmo)

The PayPal-owned Venmo service will let users buy, sell, and hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies within the Venmo app, the company announced today. "Customers will have the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrency using funds from their balance with Venmo, or a linked bank account or debit card," the announcement said.

Users will be able to buy or sell bitcoin, ether, litecoin, and bitcoin cash. The feature is rolling out to some users today and "will be available for all customers directly in the Venmo app within the next few weeks."

When it becomes available, users can get started "by clicking on 'Crypto' in the Venmo menu at the top right in the app," the announcement said. Crypto purchases can be made for as little as $1, but each purchase has a minimum fee of 50¢. Each user is limited to $20,000 in cryptocurrency purchases each week and $50,000 during each 12-month period.

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  The new iPad Pro. It looks just like the old iPad Pro. [credit: Apple ]

Apple took the virtual stage at its "Spring Loaded" event today to announce an update to the iPad Pro. The big surprise is that the new iPad Pros have the M1 SoC, just like full-blown Mac computers.

Apple says the eight-core CPU will deliver 50 percent faster performance compared to the previous iPad Pro, and the eight-core GPU delivers up to 40 percent faster graphics performance. Storage is faster, too, with a 2x performance improvement, and there's a new 2TB configuration.

The USB-C port is being upgraded with Thunderbolt compatibility, allowing the iPad to power additional displays with up to 6K resolution and other accessories. There's also optional mmWave 5G onboard. The new front camera is a 12 MP wide-angle lens. A tracking feature called "Center Stage" will automatically pan a video-chat image to keep you in the frame as you move around.