Google Partners with Glaxosmithkline on $700 Million BioElectronic Venture

Google to Partner with GlaxoSmithKline – Bioelectronics Medicines

As per a recent joint announcement, the parent company of Google will be partnering with GlaxoSmithKline – GLAXF, which is the leading pharmaceutical firm of British and would be launching new company developing bioelectronics medicines. The two companies intend to put in as much as $700 million for the next seven years in the new venture which would be named Galvani Bioelectronics.

The life science division of Alphabet, Verily would own 45% of the venture and Glaxo with 55%. Bioelectronic medicine is said to be a new field of research aimed on implanting minute devices which could change electrical signal in the nerves in treating chronic conditions. Several biological processes tend to be controlled through electrical signals which are transmitted from the nervous system to the organs of the body.

Glaxo had stated that the early-stage research in its laboratories recommend that distortions of those signalling pathways were involved in many long-term ailments comprising of diabetes asthma and arthritis. The assurance is that these devices are much more effective as well as economical for the patient than the prevailing treatments. In August 2015, Google had officially launched a standalone business devoted to life science a few days after the company had announced the corporate restructuring which had developed Alphabet and rebranded it as Verily in December.

New Technologies from Early Stage R&D to Clinical Testing

Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin had mentioned in a post announcing the new division last year that they would continue to work with the other life sciences companies in order to move new technologies from early stage R&D to clinical testing and hope to transform the way they detect, prevent and manage disease. Earlier, Alphabet had partnered with Johnson & Johnson – JNJ, in the development of enhanced robotic tools for surgeries.

 The efforts tend to be ambitious for a company which has been building its name assisting people search the Internet instead of helping doctors explore for cures. Initial attempts of improving smart contact lenses and a Star Trek-style diagnostic device had been disapproved as more of hype than reality, by some in the scientific group. However, for Google, there is real money at stake here. Verily together with Nest and Google Fiber seems to be the three businesses in Alphabet’s risky `Other Bets’ division which is said to be really generating some revenue.

Possibility for New Beneficial Modality/Old-Style Medicines/Vaccines

A net loss of around $859 million on that division had been reported by Alphabet which had also comprised of expensive activities such as self-driving cars for the quarter ending in June. Glaxo has stated that Galvani Bioelectronics would be bringing together the knowledge of drug discovery of Glaxo and development with the expertise of Verily in reducing low-power electronics, building software for clinical applications and data analytics. Initial process would be concentrated on developing miniature electronic devices in testing out the concept in humans for the first time, according to Glaxo.

Glaxo’s head of vaccines and chairman of Galvani Bioelectronics, Moncef Slaoui, stated that the treatment would work on attaching tiny electronic devices to individual nerves and if successful the approach would provide the possibility for a new beneficial modality together with old-style medicines and vaccines. Kris Famm who tends to head up Bioelectronics research at Glaxo would be the president of the new company with Andrew Conrad as the chief executive of Verily who would be on Galvani’s board.

These Robots Are Chains of Tiny Magnetic Beads

Healing with Magnets – Microscopic Surgical Robots

Healing with magnets could someday be considered as a genuine solution if the magnets tend be microscopic surgical robots. Operating the same magnetic fields which had been portrayed in controlling the swimming motion of microscopic robots, a team of engineers at Drexel University had proven the capability of assembling and disassembling chains of minute magnetic beads.

According to a study co-author, presently an associate professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Utah, Henry Fu informed Live Science that if they tend to have these simple geometries as building blocks it can be put together to make more complicated shapes which could do more things.

The expectation is to ultimately utilise these remotely controlled chains named modular microrobots, in the human body for the purpose of medical use like delivering directed medicines or performing surgeries on a small, non-invasive scale according to the researchers.

Various combinations as well as shapes of the spherical beads could mean better adaptability. Fu stated that the beads, for instance could be transported to an area in the body with ease in one configuration, though it could then be deployed into various shapes to move through various tissues or perform precise tasks.

Chains Viewed under Microscope/Remotely Operated

A researcher in the Nanorobotics Laboratory at Polytechnique Montreal, Charles Tremblay, who is not involved in the study, had informed Live Science in an email that the project seems to be a good idea. However he also commented that some of the challenges comprise of the need for visual feedback and transparent medium, to exercise the robots.

Researchers view the chains under microscope and remotely operatethe micro-swimmers by modifying an array of three solenoids, electromagnets which tend to produce controlled magnetic field and when it is rotated, the chains tend to swim through liquid. A chain of three beads just about 10 microns long, for perception, the width of an normal hair of human around 100 microns, is said to be the simplest of the micro-swimmers which the team seemed to work with. It makes them a bit bigger than bacteria which Fu had researched earlier. He comments that he had looked at the fluid mechanics of how bacteria tend to swim. The principles seem to be the same irrespective if you are a robot or a living thing.

Scratched the Surface with Proof of Principle

The researchers worked out methods of building the chains without the magnets resisting each other and disassembling the chains seems to be comparatively easy. The scientists observed that more drawn out chains seemed to swim speedier when turned at the same recurrence as the shorter one, displaying at a fundamental level that typical progresses could have various services.

 There could be various possible procedure of the globule but according to Fu they are not at the phase where they know exactly what shape is needed to get to, towards the end.Fu has stated that `you spin them around fast enough and they will fall apart’. He further added that they had just scratched the surface with a proof of principle and that is what makes it exciting. There seems to be plenty of possibilities.

How the World’s Thinnest Laptop Measures Up to the MacBook Air

HP Spectre – Thinnest Laptop – Impressive Machine

The HP’s Spectre laptop the thinnest laptop in the world is said to be only 0.3cm thinner than the MacBook Air and is considered to be one impressive machine. The HP Spectre is 1.4cm thick weighing around 1.1 kg while the 13” MacBook Air is said to be 1.7cm thick and weighs 1.8 kg. Overlooking the minor variances with regards to dimensions and weight, HP Spectre has taken the technology and the design to an incomparable level.

The MacBook tends to have simple design with all the laptops of the tech company, in silver, pink, grey or gold casing with the Apple logo towards the centre of the lid. But the HP Spectre has utilised artisan materials together with outstanding skill in the creations of an expensive looking device.

Carbon fibre and aluminium skill has been used in the device with a two-tone finish on the gold-coloured spine which is the first thing appealing to the eye. The HP logo in gold towards the centre of the lid is also attractive against the black background. The piston hinges cleverly crafted that have been used to life and lower the display, have been hidden within the laptop when the lid is closed.

Vulnerable to Fingerprints

The golden spine is said to be vulnerable to fingerprints and those with OCD could find their finish to be troublesome in keeping it spotless. While the Apple’s MacBook is driven by a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, the HP Spectre is said to have a 2,5GHz 6th Gen Intel Core i5 as well as i7 processors which means that the Spectre is somewhat faster with regards to the daily task and is also equipped better to handle additional complex things like editing images or video.

The manufacturer has utilised breakthrough hyperbaric cooling technology to ensure that the HP Spectre is capable of handling the performance provided by the i7 processor without overheating, which tends to actively draw in cool air, instead of just venting out heat.

Both the laptops are said to come with full size, backlit keyboards together with all-glass trackpad that seem to have little to no variance in its functions. Besides this both the laptops tend to have 8GB of memory and also have standard 256GB of storage that can be organized to 512GB flash storage.

Operating System Differs

The MacBook Air tends to have a slightly improved battery life of up to 12 hours while the HP Spectre seems to have only nine hours. With regards to audio, the MacBook Air has the standard stereo speakers that have been utilised by Apple.

The HP Spectre on the contrary tends to have stereo speaker custom-tuned in partnership with specialists at Bang & Olufsen. The speakers is stated to have an audio boost giving outstanding clarity as well as more dynamic sound and on using both the devices, the HP is said to be much more remarkable.

Apparently the operating system tends to differ with MacBook utilising OS X and the HP Spectre utilising Windows 10 and the connectivity provided by the devices also tend to differ. The MacBook Air has two USB 3 ports, a thunderbolt 2 port and a MagSafe 2 power port together with a headphone jack.

 The HP Spectre, on the flip side has opted for three USB Type-C ports, which is a next generation industry standard providing ultra-fast data transfer speed along with device charging and video output.

Microsoft is updating Windows 10 again, in its latest bid to win you back

Latest Update to Microsoft’s Windows 10

A latest update to Microsoft’s Windows 10 is likely to come up and the list of alterations for free paper anniversary updates to Win 10 of Microsoft could fit on a small sheet with around dozen bullet points. The changes are in the making of the digital pen to be more useful with new technology in identifying hacking attacks together with the capability of logging into a computer with a wearable device rather than a password.

Cortana, the voice-activated assistant of the company would be achieving new features with each designed to bring about the technology nearer to the same features of a real-life personal assistant according to Laura Jones a Microsoft spokeswoman. Microsoft and the PC industry are basically treating the launch of August 2 with this is mind, as just another Tuesday which according to an analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associate, Roger Kay, it is just fine and stated that Microsoft tends to be better off directing its efforts on considerable business in upgrading than teaching consumers who tend to be unaware of what version of Windows they seem to be running, with regards to an incremental upgrade. He comments that people are possibly not very excited by the same.

New Pet Projects

Since the debut of Windows 8 in 2012 when the company had spent hundreds of millions of dollars informing the world about it, Microsoft has indicated a change. Satya Nadella had taken over as the new CEO of Microsoft two years back and the Windows leadership team had been changed with the company now releasing its extensively used Word, Excel as well as PowerPoint Office software for phones as well as tables and not just PCs.

Besides this it also started releasing new pet projects initially such as computer intelligence powered camera app for iPhone of Apple. Windows too will be changing and the software behemoth has been making improvements on its promise of running Windows as a service which means that it would be sending modifications together with latest features to PC a couple of times a year. The outcome is that the PCs tend to get the latest features faster together with systematic modifications of the prevailing ones

Windows 10 Anniversary Update

Microsoft also tend to provide its Windows 10 software, free of cost to almost all who have bought a PC in the past decade, which is said to be a break from its practice of charging hundreds of dollars for the upgrades and the offer is likely to end soon. The manufacturers of PC also have informed about the alterations too.

The companies have established on communicating the experience of utilising a computer and will no longer focus on computer-equivalent of talking about horsepower all the time. The new software known as Windows 10 Anniversary Update is only a portion of the general mystery. An analyst at Gartner, Van Baker had commented that would it going to stop the tide with regards to migration from the PC to mobile devices? Absolutely not’. He then added that Windows Anniversary Update would be worth downloading.

Reach in and touch objects in videos with 'Interactive Dynamic Video'

Reach Out & Interact with Object from VR Headsets

When one could have imagined that virtual reality could not be more like reality, engineers have now found out a method wherein one could actually reach out as well as interact with the objects coming at you from the VR headsets. MIT Researchers from Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory – CSAIL have now developed an imaging technique known as Interactive Dynamic Video – IDV which enables the user to reach in and `touch’ objects in video.

Utilising the traditional cameras together with procedures, IDV tends to look at the minute, almost invisible vibrations of an object in creating video simulations which users could virtually interact with. CSAIL PhD student Abe Davis who will be publishing the work this month for his concluding study has stated that this technique enables to capture the physical behaviour of objects which provides a way of playing with them in virtual space.

By making the videos interactive, there is a possibility of predicting how objects tend to respond to unknown forces and explore new ways to engage with videos. He added that IDV tends to have several probable usages, from filmmakers creating latest types of visual effects to architects shaping if buildings are mechanically sound.

Five Seconds of Video – Information in Producing Accurate VR

He portrays an example in contrast to how the famous Pokemon Go app tends to drop virtual characters in actual setting, IDV seems to go further than that by essentially permitting virtual objects inclusive of Pokemon, to interact with their settings in particular, accurate manner such as bouncing off the leaves of a close-by bush.

He defined the technique in a paper published earlier in the year with PhD student Justin G. Chen and Professor Fredo Durand.A common way of stimulating the motions of objects is to build a 3D model but 3D modelling tends to be expensive and can be incredible for numerous objects.

Though procedures seem to prevail in tracking motions in video and magnify them, there aren’t some which can constantly stimulate objects in unknown locations. The work of Davis portrays that even five seconds of video could have adequate information in producing accurate virtual reality.

Examined Video Clips – Locate Vibration Modes

For mimicking the objects, the team examined video clips to locate vibration modes at various frequencies which each representing diverse ways that an object can move. In ascertaining the shapes of these modes, the researchers could start in predicting how these objects could move in new situations.

Doug James, a professor of computer science at Stanford University, not involved in the research has informed that computer graphics enables to use 3-D models in construction of collaborating simulation though the techniques could be complex. Davis together with his team had provided a simple and smart way of extracting a useful dynamics model from very tiny vibrations in video and has shown how to utilise it to animate an image.

Davis had used IDV on video on different objects inclusive of a bridge, a jungle gym as well as anukeleleand with a few clicks he displayed that he could push and pull the image, bending as well as moving it in various directions. Moreover he also displayed how he could make his own hand appear to telekinetically control the leaves of a bush.