US alters rules for funding for animals with human stem cells

Trying to avoid animals with humanized brains or reproductive tissues.

(credit: California Stem Cell Agency)

On Thursday, the National Institutes of Health announced that it was revising the rules that govern its funding of stem cell research. The rules focus on cases where human stem cells are introduced into embryonic animals, creating an embryo that's a mixture of human and animal tissues. While the rules would lift a blanket moratorium on funding for this research, they'd also tighten the regulations that were in place prior to the moratorium.

An animal that's a mixture of two different organisms is called a chimaera. While they're named after mythological beasts, creating them is rather run-of-the-mill in modern research, where chimaeras between different mouse strains are an essential part of knocking out genes to study the effects. Human-mouse chimaeras are also quite common, as we inject human tumor cells into mice to study cancer and replace the mouse immune system with a human one in order to study diseases like AIDS.

Some stem cell research would be similar in nature. For example, if you wanted to determine if it is safe and effective to use stem cells to repair cardiac injury in humans, a reasonable first step would be to see what happens when you inject human stem cells into an adult mouse that has a damaged heart.

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Experimental Firefox “No More 404s” feature shows archives versions of missing web pages

Experimental Firefox “No More 404s” feature shows archives versions of missing web pages

The web works best when nothing is ever deleted: because nobody likes clicking on a link to a website that no longer exists. But sometimes companies go out of business, servers crash, or the person responsible for publishing something to the web has second thoughts.

But future versions of Firefox may help you put the web back together in your browser. Mozilla has launched an experimental “No More 404s” to detect when the page you’re visiting is showing a 404: Not Found error message… and then it lets you visit the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to view the last-saved version of that website, if there’s one available.

Continue reading Experimental Firefox “No More 404s” feature shows archives versions of missing web pages at Liliputing.

Experimental Firefox “No More 404s” feature shows archives versions of missing web pages

The web works best when nothing is ever deleted: because nobody likes clicking on a link to a website that no longer exists. But sometimes companies go out of business, servers crash, or the person responsible for publishing something to the web has second thoughts.

But future versions of Firefox may help you put the web back together in your browser. Mozilla has launched an experimental “No More 404s” to detect when the page you’re visiting is showing a 404: Not Found error message… and then it lets you visit the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to view the last-saved version of that website, if there’s one available.

Continue reading Experimental Firefox “No More 404s” feature shows archives versions of missing web pages at Liliputing.

Verizon faces customers’ wrath over poor Internet and phone service

Verizon disputes complaints, says it isn’t abandoning copper network in Jersey.

(credit: Matt Reinbold)

Yesterday, Verizon faced complaints from customers and government officials about maintenance of its copper network in areas of New Jersey. Hearings were held yesterday by the state Board of Public Utilities (BPU) on Verizon service in rural parts of South Jersey, where the company hasn't upgraded its networks to fiber. About 200 "frustrated residents" attended and nearly 80 signed up to speak, airing their complaints for hours, according to a story on NJ.com.

Theresa Duffy-Diamond of Cedarville owns three businesses but complained that she has trouble running them because of how hard it is to make phone calls. She played a voicemail that she received—it contained "nothing but crackling sounds," the article said.

63-year-old John Dowling of Estell Manor, who suffers from a chronic lung disease and needs frequent medical attention, reported not being able to make phone calls from his landline when it rains. When he complains to Verizon, "four days later they would come out on a sunny day and say the lines are all clear," he said.

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Vive Port: HTC bringt eigenen App-Store für Vive-VR-Headset

Oculus VR hat ihn schon, HTC zieht nach: Der Vive Port wird ein Store für Entwickler und Spieler mit einem Vive-Headset. An den verkauften Apps verdient HTC künftig mit, über Steam hingegen Valve. Letztere haben ihr Tracking-System Lighthouse lizenzfrei geöffnet. (Vive, Steam)

Oculus VR hat ihn schon, HTC zieht nach: Der Vive Port wird ein Store für Entwickler und Spieler mit einem Vive-Headset. An den verkauften Apps verdient HTC künftig mit, über Steam hingegen Valve. Letztere haben ihr Tracking-System Lighthouse lizenzfrei geöffnet. (Vive, Steam)

Wirtschaftsförderung: Unister erhielt vor Insolvenz öffentliche Gelder

Nach der Insolvenz von Unister werden immer mehr Details bekannt. Jetzt gab das zuständige Wirtschaftsministerium bekannt, dass das Unternehmen mehrere Millionen Euro öffentlicher Fördergelder erhalten hat – um neue Arbeitsplätze zu schaffen. (Unister, Verbraucherschutz)

Nach der Insolvenz von Unister werden immer mehr Details bekannt. Jetzt gab das zuständige Wirtschaftsministerium bekannt, dass das Unternehmen mehrere Millionen Euro öffentlicher Fördergelder erhalten hat - um neue Arbeitsplätze zu schaffen. (Unister, Verbraucherschutz)

Google’s Android and iOS apps feature 7 Olympics-themed mini games

Google’s Android and iOS apps feature 7 Olympics-themed mini games

The Google app for Android and iOS is generally designed to let you search the web. But between now and August 21st you can also use it to play 7 mini-games inspired by the Olympics.

Just fire up the Google app and click the Google Doodle to open a list of available games. They’re each inspired by Olympic sporting events including running, biking, and swimming. They each take just a few seconds to play (but have handy re-play buttons so you can try again for a better score).

Continue reading Google’s Android and iOS apps feature 7 Olympics-themed mini games at Liliputing.

Google’s Android and iOS apps feature 7 Olympics-themed mini games

The Google app for Android and iOS is generally designed to let you search the web. But between now and August 21st you can also use it to play 7 mini-games inspired by the Olympics.

Just fire up the Google app and click the Google Doodle to open a list of available games. They’re each inspired by Olympic sporting events including running, biking, and swimming. They each take just a few seconds to play (but have handy re-play buttons so you can try again for a better score).

Continue reading Google’s Android and iOS apps feature 7 Olympics-themed mini games at Liliputing.

Skype: Auf ein Schwätzchen mit dem Chatbot

In Skype stehen jetzt verschiedene Chat-Roboter zur Verfügung, mit denen Nutzer etwa nach Flugverbindungen und Hotels suchen können. Die Konversationen verlaufen erstaunlich flüssig, auch Kontextfragen verstehen die Bots stellenweise. (Skype, Microsoft)

In Skype stehen jetzt verschiedene Chat-Roboter zur Verfügung, mit denen Nutzer etwa nach Flugverbindungen und Hotels suchen können. Die Konversationen verlaufen erstaunlich flüssig, auch Kontextfragen verstehen die Bots stellenweise. (Skype, Microsoft)

Next major Windows 10 update coming in 2017

Next major Windows 10 update coming in 2017

Now that Microsoft has released Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the company is starting to hint at what’s coming next: not much… until 2017.

While Microsoft will continue to release regular updates to Windows 10, for the rest of the year most of those updates will focus on bug fixes, security updates, and other enhancements. You’ll have to wait until next year for major new features.

Microsoft says the Anniversary Update is the “last feature update for 2016,” but that two new feature updates are coming in 2017.

Continue reading Next major Windows 10 update coming in 2017 at Liliputing.

Next major Windows 10 update coming in 2017

Now that Microsoft has released Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the company is starting to hint at what’s coming next: not much… until 2017.

While Microsoft will continue to release regular updates to Windows 10, for the rest of the year most of those updates will focus on bug fixes, security updates, and other enhancements. You’ll have to wait until next year for major new features.

Microsoft says the Anniversary Update is the “last feature update for 2016,” but that two new feature updates are coming in 2017.

Continue reading Next major Windows 10 update coming in 2017 at Liliputing.

Open Source Support: Mozilla finanziert schnellen Python-Interpreter PyPy

Als Teil seines Open-Source-Unterstützungsprogramms finanziert Mozilla den schnellen Python-Interpreter PyPy mit 200.000 US-Dollar. Mozilla nutzt Pypy für seine eigene Infrastruktur. (Mozilla, Python)

Als Teil seines Open-Source-Unterstützungsprogramms finanziert Mozilla den schnellen Python-Interpreter PyPy mit 200.000 US-Dollar. Mozilla nutzt Pypy für seine eigene Infrastruktur. (Mozilla, Python)

No major US hurricanes in 11 years. Odds of that? 1-in-2,300.

Earl is dead, now, as yet another hurricane has avoided the United States.

Hurricane Earl on Wednesday, shortly before it made landfall in Belize. (credit: NOAA)

On Thursday some meteorologists (who are by nature a cheesy lot) had an opportunity to channel their inner Dixie Chick and sing "Goodbye Earl" as yet another hurricane went into the Yucatan Peninsula to die. Most of the rest of the United States yawned—another hurricane in the Atlantic, and no harm done.

But the hurricane was remarkable precisely because of this. Earl, which attained a maximum wind speed of 80 mph before striking Belize, marked another in a long line of hurricanes that have formed in the Atlantic basin—the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico—but have not affected the United States.

Consider some of the following statistics: the last hurricane to reach the Gulf of Mexico was Ingrid in September, 2013. The current, nearly three-year-long drought for the Gulf has not been equaled since at least 1851. The drought in hurricanes that make Florida landfalls is even more pronounced. The Sunshine State, which juts into the Atlantic Ocean like a lightning rod for tropical weather, has not been hit by a hurricane since Wilma (2005). Earl was in fact the 67th Atlantic hurricane in a row to not make landfall in Florida, according to hurricane scientist Phil Klotzbach. The previous record was a mere 33 hurricanes, a streak between Hurricanes David (1979) and Elena (1985).

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