Wednesday Web Watch for January 7, 2015
Writing for SingularityHUB, Peter Diamandis highlights 11 deceptive to disruptive technologies that “will go big in 2015,” leaving 2014 in the dust. The Happy New Year list interestingly includes bitcoin, along with smart-everything and genomics. Click here for details about the big eleven.
Tuesday Triple Trivia for December 16, 2014
3 Questions. 3 Hints. 3 Answers. Every Tuesday. 1. What technology can finally tell the difference between the Doublemint gum twins? Hint: Answer: back in 2004, available forensic tools could not differentiate between DNA belonging to identical twins. Fast-forward ten years: a genetic test able to make the distinction has been developed and, for the […]
Wednesday Web Watch for December 10, 2014
With the help of a new sequencing system, geneticist J. Craig Venter predicts about five million human genomes will be sequenced by 2020. In a recent article, Singularity Hub‘s Jason Dorrier highlights genomics’ goals which, in addition to boosting the number of genomes sequenced, includes gathering phenotype data — i.e., the observable expression of one’s […]
Wednesday Web Watch for December 3, 2014
This past June, a healthy baby boy was born in California. Not so unusual. What was unusual is that this baby’s entire genome was privately sequenced before his birth using a tissue sample, a high-speed DNA sequencing machine and free online software. In an article entitled For One Baby, Life Begins With Genome Revealed, published in […]
Tuesday Triple Trivia for December 2, 2014
3 Questions. 3 Hints. 3 Answers. Every Tuesday. 1. Headed out for pizza and not sure what to order? No problem. Let this technology figure it out in 2.5 seconds: Hint: Answer: Pizza Hut’s “Subconscious Menu” (currently still in test mode) works by syncing a customer’s eye movements to a computerized tablet. The tablet then […]
Tuesday Triple Trivia for November 18, 2014
3 Questions. 3 Hints. 3 Answers. Every Tuesday. 1. What technology, described as a “black box” for humans is headed to court? Hint: Answer: no, we are not talking about the personal injuries allegedly caused by wearing a Fitbit. Here we are talking about Fitbit data being used to support a personal injury claim. A […]
Wednesday Web Watch for November 12, 2014
Personalized medicine is getting noticed at Google. In Genetic Literacy Project Christina Farr reports that the company recently announced it will begin offering pricey DNA tests, as part of its health benefits program, in January 2015 to employees and family-members fighting cancer. Test results will assist oncologists in providing tailored drug treatments based on a […]
Tuesday Triple Trivia for November 11, 2014
THANK YOU. 3 Questions. 3 Hints. 3 Answers. Every Tuesday. 1. What military technology has reduced ground-to-air coordination time from 60 minutes to six? Hint: Answer: the Pentagon’s top research division, DARPA , and military defense contractor Raytheon expect to test a new system designed to greatly improve air-ground coordination and reduce targeting time for close […]
Tuesday Triple Trivia for October 28, 2014
3 Questions. 3 Hints. 3 Answers. Every Tuesday. 1. What recent retraction once again emphasizes that the grass is not always greener over there? Hint: Answer: looking for a weight loss solution? Don’t bother with Dr. Oz’s publicized Green Coffee extract. A paper, based on a study alleging promising weight-loss results has been retracted by […]
Tuesday Triple Trivia for October 21, 2014
3 Questions. 3 Hints. 3 Answers. Every Tuesday. 1. What event is linked to genetic modifications affecting a particular European nation? Hint: Answer: researchers have discovered epigenetic modifications in subjects who lived through World War II Nazi Germany, passing behavioral disorders, such as magnified reaction to stress, on to their offspring (just like mice). Thus, […]