Posts by blatcho:

Yukiko Yamashita, unraveler of stem cells’ secrets

When cells divide, they usually generate two identical daughter cells. However, there are some important exceptions to this rule: When stem cells divide, they often produce one differentiated cell along with another stem cell, to maintain the pool of stem cells. Yukiko Yamashita has spent much of her career exploring how these “asymmetrical” cell divisions […]

A malicious cartoon rendering Android app that steals Facebook credentials has been downloaded 100K times and is still available on the Google Play Store (Bill Toulas/BleepingComputer)

Bill Toulas / BleepingComputer: A malicious cartoon rendering Android app that steals Facebook credentials has been downloaded 100K times and is still available on the Google Play Store  —  A malicious Android app that steals Facebook credentials has been installed over 100,000 times via the Google Play Store, with the app still available to download.

Digital banking app Dave raises $100M in a convertible note from FTX Ventures; FTX US will be the exclusive partner for any crypto offerings by Dave (Brandy Betz/CoinDesk)

Brandy Betz / CoinDesk: Digital banking app Dave raises $100M in a convertible note from FTX Ventures; FTX US will be the exclusive partner for any crypto offerings by Dave  —  FTX US will serve as the exclusive partner for any crypto offerings offered by Dave.  —  Dave (DAVE), a publicly-traded banking app …

3 Questions: Jackson Lu on the “bamboo ceiling” in some graduate schools

In the U.S., ethnic East Asians are often depicted as a “model minority” and assumed to be thriving in educational and professional terms. But reality is more complex. A new study co-authored by Jackson Lu, the Mitsui Career Development Professor in the MIT Sloan School of Management, finds that students of East Asian descent often […]

Making quantum circuits more robust

Quantum computing continues to advance at a rapid pace, but one challenge that holds the field back is mitigating the noise that plagues quantum machines. This leads to much higher error rates compared to classical computers. This noise is often caused by imperfect control signals, interference from the environment, and unwanted interactions between qubits, which […]

Cascade, which offers a single tool to centralize project management, KPIs, and outcome tracking, raises a $29M Series A led by Telescope Partners (Paul Sawers/VentureBeat)

Paul Sawers / VentureBeat: Cascade, which offers a single tool to centralize project management, KPIs, and outcome tracking, raises a $29M Series A led by Telescope Partners  —  Cascade, a strategy execution platform used by companies such as Johnson & Johnson, American Express, and AstraZeneca, has raised $29 million in a series A round of […]

The CEO of lithography machine maker ASML says chipmakers’ expansion plans will be constrained by a shortage of its critical equipment over the next two years (Financial Times)

Financial Times: The CEO of lithography machine maker ASML says chipmakers’ expansion plans will be constrained by a shortage of its critical equipment over the next two years  —  Intel admits expansion to be restricted as it works with ASML to boost capacity  —  Chipmakers’ multibillion-dollar expansion plans …

FTX launches crypto exchange services in Australia, including crypto derivatives and spot market offerings, operating out of a Sydney headquarters (Sebastian Sinclair/Blockworks)

Sebastian Sinclair / Blockworks: FTX launches crypto exchange services in Australia, including crypto derivatives and spot market offerings, operating out of a Sydney headquarters  —  FTX is hoping to get ahead of the regulatory curve by appeasing policymakers and working “proactively” with regulators

Brazil’s Supreme Court reverses its decision to ban Telegram, which it had ordered on Friday, after Telegram suddenly worked to comply with the court’s orders (New York Times)

New York Times: Brazil’s Supreme Court reverses its decision to ban Telegram, which it had ordered on Friday, after Telegram suddenly worked to comply with the court’s orders  —  Brazil’s Supreme Court blocked Telegram on Friday.  The messaging app then responded with measures to fight misinformation, and the court quickly lifted its ban.

Q&A with Margrethe Vestager on EU’s cases against Apple, Google, Meta, and Amazon, how the planned Digital Markets Act may help with antitrust enforcement, more (Adi Robertson/The Verge)

Adi Robertson / The Verge: Q&A with Margrethe Vestager on EU’s cases against Apple, Google, Meta, and Amazon, how the planned Digital Markets Act may help with antitrust enforcement, more  —  Margrethe Vestager is one of the driving forces behind tech regulation worldwide.  Appointed as the European Commission’s commissioner …

A look at the fallout between Bob Chapek and Bob Iger as Disney restructures for a world where streaming dominates and legacy distribution models fade away (Alex Sherman/CNBC)

Alex Sherman / CNBC: A look at the fallout between Bob Chapek and Bob Iger as Disney restructures for a world where streaming dominates and legacy distribution models fade away  —  Bob Iger, left, and Bob Chapek of Disney  —  April 12, 2020.  That’s the day former Disney CEO Bob Iger’s relationship …

Doctors often use Google Translate to talk with non-English speaking patients, but researchers say inaccurate results are common and can lead to serious errors (Katie Palmer/STAT)

Katie Palmer / STAT: Doctors often use Google Translate to talk with non-English speaking patients, but researchers say inaccurate results are common and can lead to serious errors  —  The patient had just undergone a cesarean section, and now was struggling to put words to her pain in her native Taiwanese.

Limestone, Tennessee residents were promised economic benefits from a bitcoin mine, but now face constant noise pollution from its computers and cooling fans (Kevin Williams/Washington Post)

Kevin Williams / Washington Post: Limestone, Tennessee residents were promised economic benefits from a bitcoin mine, but now face constant noise pollution from its computers and cooling fans  —  LIMESTONE, Tenn. — It started as a low hum one day last spring.  Then it got louder, and soon some residents said the noise was like […]

A former Apple employee is facing federal charges for allegedly defrauding Apple out of $10M+ by taking kickbacks, stealing parts, evading taxes, and more (CBS San Francisco)

CBS San Francisco: A former Apple employee is facing federal charges for allegedly defrauding Apple out of $10M+ by taking kickbacks, stealing parts, evading taxes, and more  —  CUPERTINO (CBS SF) – A former Apple employee is facing federal charges after he allegedly defrauded the tech giant out of millions …

How researchers are using self-supervised learning, a branch of AI that has proven effective for handling human language, to better understand animal sounds (Christopher Mims/Wall Street Journal)

Christopher Mims / Wall Street Journal: How researchers are using self-supervised learning, a branch of AI that has proven effective for handling human language, to better understand animal sounds  —  New kinds of artificial intelligence are enabling scientists to better understand the sounds of the animal world, from whale songs to mouse squeaks

A look at TropeTrainer, beloved Torah learning software that helped rabbis prepare kids for bar and bat mitzvahs, which became obsolete after its creator died (S.I. Rosenbaum/Input)

S.I. Rosenbaum / Input: A look at TropeTrainer, beloved Torah learning software that helped rabbis prepare kids for bar and bat mitzvahs, which became obsolete after its creator died  —  I can tell you what TropeTrainer was, what it did, and what it meant to people.  I can tell you about the person who made […]

US judge dismisses a DC AG lawsuit against Amazon, which claimed that the company maintained a monopoly by locking wholesalers into anti-competitive agreements (David McCabe/New York Times)

David McCabe / New York Times: US judge dismisses a DC AG lawsuit against Amazon, which claimed that the company maintained a monopoly by locking wholesalers into anti-competitive agreements  —  The attorney general for the District of Columbia said Amazon made merchants on its site sell at the lowest price they charged on the web […]

CEO Pavel Durov apologizes and says Telegram was unresponsive to Brazil’s Supreme Court because the court’s emails were going to the wrong email address (Mitchell Clark/The Verge)

Mitchell Clark / The Verge: CEO Pavel Durov apologizes and says Telegram was unresponsive to Brazil’s Supreme Court because the court’s emails were going to the wrong email address  —  Telegram’s founder and CEO Pavel Durov has just put out a statement about why Brazil’s Supreme Court is now suspending the app, and the reason […]

Doctors say the rise of fantasy sports apps has led to a spike in gambling addiction in India, where gambling is illegal but fantasy gaming has no clear laws (Adnan Bhat/Rest of World)

Adnan Bhat / Rest of World: Doctors say the rise of fantasy sports apps has led to a spike in gambling addiction in India, where gambling is illegal but fantasy gaming has no clear laws  —  All forms of gambling are illegal in India but there are no clear laws when it comes to fantasy […]

The state of crypto and the metaverse, as seen at SXSW, is underwhelming and pathetic, showing off only how rich its boosters are and little of social utility (Edward Ongweso Jr/VICE)

Edward Ongweso Jr / VICE: The state of crypto and the metaverse, as seen at SXSW, is underwhelming and pathetic, showing off only how rich its boosters are and little of social utility  —  The first SXSW in three years was taken over by crypto-mania fueled by marketing hype.  —  It did not really hit […]

A look at China-made hit fantasy RPG Genshin Impact, as China expands into the video game market once dominated by Japan by imitating its Japanese competitors (New York Times)

New York Times: A look at China-made hit fantasy RPG Genshin Impact, as China expands into the video game market once dominated by Japan by imitating its Japanese competitors  —  Genshin Impact, a nearly picture-perfect reproduction of Japanese fantasy role-playing games, has raked in billions of dollars …

Instacart plans to add a $0.40 fee to orders “over the next month” that goes to shoppers to help with gas prices, even if shopper’s cars are hybrid or electric (Kim Lyons/The Verge)

Kim Lyons / The Verge: Instacart plans to add a $0.40 fee to orders “over the next month” that goes to shoppers to help with gas prices, even if shopper’s cars are hybrid or electric  —  The move follows temporary surcharge announcements from Lyft and Uber  —  Grocery delivery platform Instacart announced Friday …

GM buys SoftBank Vision Fund 1’s stake in Cruise for $2.1B, increasing GM’s ownership to 80%, and says the company will invest another $1.35B in Cruise (David Welch/Bloomberg)

David Welch / Bloomberg: GM buys SoftBank Vision Fund 1’s stake in Cruise for $2.1B, increasing GM’s ownership to 80%, and says the company will invest another $1.35B in Cruise  —  General Motors Co. bought out the SoftBank Vision Fund 1’s stake in self-driving startup Cruise LLC for $2.1 billion …

Could we make cars out of petroleum residue?

As the world struggles to improve the efficiency of cars and other vehicles in order to curb greenhouse gas emissions and improve the range of electric vehicles, the search is on for ever-lighter materials that are strong enough to be used in the bodies of cars. Lightweight materials made from carbon fiber, similar to the […]