Month: June 2018

Impact Lab > 2018 > June
Alternative Transportation, Elon Musk, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Elon Musk’s Boring Company wins Chicago airport high- speed train bid

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Elon Musk’s Boring Co. is the winner in a bid to build a multibillion-dollar high-speed express train to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. The result gives the young company a big boost in legitimacy as it tries to get transportation projects underway in Los Angeles and Washington.

The company beat out a consortium that included Mott MacDonald, the civil engineering firm that designed a terminal at London’s Heathrow Airport, and JLC Infrastructure, an infrastructure fund backed by former basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson, people with knowledge of the matter said. The city is expected to announce the news as soon as Thursday, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk’s Boring Company wins Chicago airport high- speed train bid”

Analysis, Big Problems, brains, Genetics, Latest Trend

IQ scores are falling and have been for decades, new study finds

The research suggests that genes aren’t what’s driving the decline in IQ scores

“It’s not that dumb people are having more kids than smart people,” researcher says

(CNN) — IQ scores have been steadily falling for the past few decades, and environmental factors are to blame, a new study says.

The research suggests that genes aren’t what’s driving the decline in IQ scores, according to the study, published Monday.

Continue reading… “IQ scores are falling and have been for decades, new study finds”

Health & Fitness, Hot Issues, Latest Trend, Legalized marijuana

CBD is changing the health industry

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CBD is legal, and has been taken off the WADA Prohibited Substances List.

In February 2008–ten years ago this past winter–Thomas Vanderham, a mainstay in freeride mountain biking, crashed badly in Utah while filming for The Collective’s third movie, “Seasons.” With most footage bagged for the spring release that year, his crew was trying to add on in the ninth hour. The crash put a stop to Vanderham’s expanded part–there wasn’t enough footage from the trip to put it in the film–and according to his doctors, it nearly put a stop to his riding, too.

Continue reading… “CBD is changing the health industry”

Big Problems, Healthcare, Hot Issues, Medicine

This is why Xanax is blowing up in America

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From the explosion of ADHD meds to the economic crisis to the Trump presidency, this dangerous trend didn’t come out of nowhere.

It’s not exactly breaking news that Xanax has been having something of a moment. Famous musicians, at least until prominent voices like Lil Xan (yes, even him!) and Chance the Rapper began swearing off the stuff, have long been inclined to hype it. And Xanny bars have been touted across social media and even in old-school graffiti for some time now. The number of adults prescribed drugs in the class that includes Xanax (alprazolam)—known as benzodiazepines—rose by 67 percent between 1996 and 2013. Over the same period, the amount of these drugs that was actually dispensed more than tripled, according to a 2016 study.

Continue reading… “This is why Xanax is blowing up in America”

Science & Technology News

AI cancer detectors

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Researchers suggest artificial intelligence is now better and faster at detecting cancer than clinician.

An AI system developed by a team from Germany, France and the US can diagnose skin cancer more accurately than dermatologists. In the study, the software was able to accurately detect cancer in 95% of images of cancerous moles and benign spots, whereas a team of 58 dermatologists was accurate 87% of the time.

Continue reading… “AI cancer detectors”

Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Medicine, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

Gastric bypass “surgery in a pill” points to inspired new treatment for diabetes

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While gastric-bypass, or bariatric, surgery can be a very successful weight-loss treatment option for those suffering from obesity, it has also been seen to be extraordinarily effective in reversing type 2 diabetes. An exciting new study from a team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital has now demonstrated an oral agent that can potentially mimic the effects of bariatric surgery to reduce post-meal blood sugar spikes.

For some years, researchers have identified a connection between gastric-bypass surgery and the reversal of type 2 diabetes. The exact mechanism at play is still unclear, but it seems to operate independently of the weight loss that comes as a consequence of the procedure. One recent study comprising 20,000 patients found that gastric bypass surgery completely cured 84 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes.

Continue reading… “Gastric bypass “surgery in a pill” points to inspired new treatment for diabetes”

Crime Prevention, drones, Law Enforcement

A single police drone has seriously impacted crime in a Mexican city

Drones are finding a place in so many industries lately that it’s not much of a surprise that police departments have also been testing the technology for crime-fighting operations.

The city of Ensenada in Mexico, for example, has recently achieved positive results using just a single quadcopter, Wired reported this week. The flying machine has helped to cut overall crime in the city by as much as 10 percent, including a 30-percent drop in burglaries.

Continue reading… “A single police drone has seriously impacted crime in a Mexican city”

Automation, Latest Trend, Robotics

This coffee bar employs futuristic robotic baristas to make and serve your coffee — and it signals how people are warming up to the automation trend

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The baristas at Cafe X can make two drinks in under a minute and will get your order right every time.

They’re also not human.

The robotic coffee bar employs assembly line-style robots to build your coffee orders for you, making Cafe X a player in San Francisco’s automated eatery scene that’s also gaining traction across the country.

Continue reading… “This coffee bar employs futuristic robotic baristas to make and serve your coffee — and it signals how people are warming up to the automation trend”

Crazy Stuff, Human Behavior

How people fake their own death — and why

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The Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko who faked his own death isn’t alone.

Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko was recently found lying face down on the floor of his apartment in Kiev, Ukraine, blood seeping through his T-shirt. He was quickly driven away by an ambulance, pronounced dead, and delivered to a morgue.

But the three bullet holes were fake, and the blood came from a pig — Babchenko was alive.

Continue reading… “How people fake their own death — and why”

AI, Big Problems, Human Behavior, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News

How data scientists are using AI for suicide prevention

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The Crisis Text Line uses machine learning to figure out who’s at risk and when to intervene.

When horrible news — like the deaths by suicide of chef, author, and TV star Anthony Bourdain and fashion designer Kate Spade, or the 2015 Paris attacks — breaks, crisis counseling services often get deluged with calls from people in despair. Deciding whom to help first can be a life-or-death decision.

Continue reading… “How data scientists are using AI for suicide prevention”

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