Monthly Archives: February 2017

Premature Baby Hippo Fiona Gets a Bigger Pool – Cincinnati Zoo

One-month-old Fiona has outgrown two pools already! Now that her IV has been removed, vets have given her the okay to resume supervised pool time.   Hippos don’t actually swim.  They float and are able to hold their breath for long periods. Spending time in the pool will help Fiona build muscle and lung strength, […]

Amazon Alexa Hits 10,000 Skills. Here Comes the Hard Part

A year and a half ago, Amazon opened up its Alexa voice assistant to developers. With the Alexa Skills Kit, Alexa and its hardware hosts—the Echo, Dot, Tap, and now dozens more from third parties—became more than just speakers and digital weathermen. It became a platform, capable of supporting a full ecosystem of skills, which […]

Fasting diet ‘regenerates diabetic pancreas’ – BBC News

Can you reverse the symptoms of diabetes? The pancreas can be triggered to regenerate itself through a type of fasting diet, say US researchers. Restoring the function of the organ – which helps control blood sugar levels – reversed symptoms of diabetes in animal experiments. The study, published in the journal Cell, says the diet […]

3 Simple Ways to Make Yourself Happy Every Day, According to Neuroscience

No need to spend hours on meditation — just make these mental tweaks. Do you want to be happier? That’s a pretty silly question–who doesn’t want more happiness? Fortunately, there are simple things we can all do to raise our happiness quotient that are actually supported by scientific research. And even though brain scans show […]

Verizon offers taste of 5G as it expands network trials

We’re slowly inching toward a super-connected 5G world. Verizon said Wednesday it plans to offer “5G” service to some customers in 11 US markets by mid-2017, boasting that this rollout will be the largest proving ground yet for the next-generation wireless technology. Certain “pilot” customers in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Atlanta; Bernardsville, New Jersey; Brockton, Massachusetts; […]

AMD’s new Ryzen processor is a huge leap forward and a true competitor to Intel

AMD just officially unveiled its Ryzen desktop processor family, a chip that it says can compete with Intel’s chips at long last. AMD’s last generation of desktop chips was disappointing, and has been largely relegated to low-end computers. But Ryzen manages a 52 percent boost in instructions per cycle (IPC) over last time, which puts […]

Judge: No, feds can’t nab all Apple devices and try everyone’s fingerprints

A federal magistrate judge in Chicago recently denied the government’s attempt to force people in a particular building to depress their fingerprints in an attempt to open any seized Apple devices as part of a child pornography investigation. This prosecution, nearly all of which remains sealed, is one of a small but growing number of […]