Sentient machines with empathy and morality are coming. We urgently need to make some life-and-death decisions about their rights

New Scientist combines mixology with science fiction to produce recipes for the finest drinks in this – or any other – universe, from Bantha Milk to Ambrosia

Frustrated Southwest Airlines customers have been forced to wait in long lines for a second day as the airline tries to solve a technical problem with its electronic booking system. In the meantime, passengers are being told to prepare for delays. Katharine Jackson reports.

Japan's Nintendo said Thursday it sold 21 million Switch units in the year ended March, smashing its forecast of 19.5 million units, with hit title Animal Crossing: New Horizons shifting 13.4 million units in its first six weeks. Ciara Lee reports

Aides to U.S. President Trump say their 2020 campaign will now be focus on two themes: Trump is the only candidate who can resurrect the economy and that Democrats will not be as tough on China, a country Trump is blaming for the pandemic.

Title: Switch From U.S. to African Diet May Lower Colon Cancer Risk in Blacks
Category: Health News
Created: 4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/29/2015 12:00:00 AM

Title: High-Pitched Sounds May Trigger Seizures in Cats
Category: Health News
Created: 4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/29/2015 12:00:00 AM

Title: Could a Cellular Tweak Someday 'Switch Off' Gray Hair?
Category: Health News
Created: 4/28/2016 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/29/2016 12:00:00 AM

Title: Many Smokers Switch to Vaping While Pregnant, But Safety Issues Remain
Category: Health News
Created: 4/29/2019 12:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 4/30/2019 12:00:00 AM

Shih-Jung Hsu and Bo Cheng

In the presence of wind or background image motion, flies are able to maintain a constant retinal slip velocity via regulating flight speed to the extent permitted by their locomotor capacity. Here we investigated the retinal slip compensation of tethered blue-bottle flies (Calliphora vomitoria) flying semi-freely along an annular corridor in a magnetically levitated flight mill enclosed by two motorized cylindrical walls. We perturbed the flies’ retinal slip via spinning the cylindrical walls, generating bilaterally averaged retinal slip perturbations from -0.3 to 0.3 m·s^–1 (or -116.4 to 116.4 deg.·s^–1) When the perturbation was less than ~0.1 m·s^–1 (38.4 deg.·s^–1), the flies successfully compensated the perturbations and maintained a retinal slip velocity by adjusting their airspeed up to 20%. However, with greater retinal slip perturbation, the flies’ compensation became saturated, as the flies’ airspeed plateaued, indicating that they were unable to further maintain a constant retinal slip velocity. The compensation gain, i.e., the ratio of airspeed compensation and retinal slip perturbation, depended on the spatial frequency of the grating patterns, being the largest at 12 m^–1 (0.04 deg.^–1).

Glycine riboswitches utilize both single- and tandem-aptamer architectures. In the tandem system, the relative contribution of each aptamer toward gene regulation is not well understood. To dissect these contributions, the effects of 684 single mutants of a tandem ON switch from Bacillus subtilis were characterized for the wild-type construct and binding site mutations that selectively restrict ligand binding to either the first or second aptamer. Despite the structural symmetry of tandem aptamers, the response to these mutations was frequently asymmetrical. Mutations in the first aptamer often significantly weakened the K_1/2, while several mutations in the second aptamer improved the amplitude. These results demonstrate that this ON switch favors ligand binding to the first aptamer. This is in contrast to the tandem OFF switch variant from Vibrio cholerae, which was previously shown to have preferential binding to its second aptamer. A bioinformatic analysis of tandem glycine riboswitches revealed that the two binding pockets are differentially conserved between ON and OFF switches. Altogether, this indicates that tandem ON switch variants preferentially utilize binding to the first aptamer to promote helical switching, while OFF switch variants favor binding to the second aptamer. The data set also revealed a cooperative glycine response when both binding pockets were maximally stabilized with three GC base pairs. This indicates a cooperative response may sometimes be obfuscated by a difference in the affinities of the two aptamers. This conditional cooperativity provides an additional layer of tunability to tandem glycine riboswitches that adds to their versatility as genetic switches.

Metabolism and development must be closely coupled to meet the changing physiological needs of each stage in the life cycle. The molecular mechanisms that link these pathways, however, remain poorly understood. Here we show that the Drosophila estrogen-related receptor (dERR) directs a transcriptional switch in mid-pupae that promotes glucose oxidation and lipogenesis in young adults. dERR mutant adults are viable but display reduced locomotor activity, susceptibility to starvation, elevated glucose, and an almost complete lack of stored triglycerides. Molecular profiling by RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, and metabolomics revealed that glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathway genes are induced by dERR, and their reduced expression in mutants is accompanied by elevated glycolytic intermediates, reduced TCA cycle intermediates, and reduced levels of long chain fatty acids. Unexpectedly, we found that the central pathways of energy metabolism, including glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and electron transport chain, are coordinately induced at the transcriptional level in mid-pupae and maintained into adulthood, and this response is partially dependent on dERR, leading to the metabolic defects observed in mutants. Our data support the model that dERR contributes to a transcriptional switch during pupal development that establishes the metabolic state of the adult fly.

Peripheral somatosensory input is modulated in the dorsal spinal cord by a network of excitatory and inhibitory interneurons. PTF1A is a transcription factor essential in dorsal neural tube progenitors for specification of these inhibitory neurons. Thus, mechanisms regulating Ptf1a expression are key for generating neuronal circuits underlying somatosensory behaviors. Mutations targeted to distinct cis-regulatory elements for Ptf1a in mice, tested the in vivo contribution of each element individually and in combination. Mutations in an autoregulatory enhancer resulted in reduced levels of PTF1A, and reduced numbers of specific dorsal spinal cord inhibitory neurons, particularly those expressing Pdyn and Gal. Although these mutants survive postnatally, at ~3–5 wk they elicit a severe scratching phenotype. Behaviorally, the mutants have increased sensitivity to itch, but acute sensitivity to other sensory stimuli such as mechanical or thermal pain is unaffected. We demonstrate a requirement for positive transcriptional autoregulatory feedback to attain the level of the neuronal specification factor PTF1A necessary for generating correctly balanced neuronal circuits.

One of the most dramatic changes you can make to effectively boost value of your home is giving your kitchen some renovations.

Developer Mirari & Co. announced the science-fiction action platformer Dark Light for Windows PC via Steam Early Access on May 8 and later for the Nintendo Switch when the game leaves Steam Early Access. 

Mirari & Co. is looking to release the game within one year of the Steam Early Access release, however, it depends "on how we are taking players suggestions and advice to shaping the game."

View the latest trailer of the game below:

Here is an overview of the game:

Dark Light is a science-fiction action-platformer with unique gameplay. Explore an apocalyptic cyberpunk world full of supernatural beings. Encounter and defeat creatures of darkness invisible to the naked eye, detected only with the light source from your drone. Experience the horror and feel their presence as they surround you.

As a Dark Hunter you were dropped into a wreaked world. To survive, you need to equip yourself, fight your way through, and collect ‘shards’ from killing supernatural creatures to reinforce your energy. Through survival, you will explore the mysterious dark zones of the apocalypse world.

Key Features:

• Cinematic quality graphic, detailed characters and environment design, and vivid animation with lush visual effect.
• A variety of range, melee, and throwable weapons; unique items; and multiple ways to upgrade weapons, special equipment, and the player to shape your own character skills.
• Non-linear map structure for you to choose your own path to explore the dark zones. Encounter horrifying supernatural enemies, fearsome bosses, and friendly NPCs, and fight with invisible creatures that can only be seen in a special light source.
• Detect invisible enemies and reveal hidden paths with the special light source from your drone.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443411/sci-fi-action-platformer-dark-light-launches-may-8-for-steam-early-access-later-for-switch/

IMGN.PRO announced Kholat will launch for the Nintendo Switch via the eShop on May 14. The game first launched for Windows PC via Steam in June 2015, for the PS4 in March 2016 and for the Xbox One in June 2017. 

View the Nintendo Switch announcement trailer below:

Here is an overview of the game:

Narrated by one of the most popular British actors, Sean Bean and powered by Unreal Engine 4, Kholat is an exploration adventure game with elements of horror, inspired by a true event known as the Dyatlov Pass incident – a mysterious death of nine Russian hikers, which led to countless, unconfirmed hypotheses. The player will plunge directly into the boundless scenery of the inhospitable Ural Mountains with the task to find out what really happened. In the course of events, you may come across more speculations than expected…

The game has won “GameConnection Europe 2015” awards for “Best Story / Storytelling” and “Best Desktop / Downloadable” game.

Dyatlov Pass incident was a real story that happened in winter of 1959. Nine hikers went for a trip to the northern part of Ural Mountains, which ended fatally. Bodies of expedition’s crew were found scattered on slope of Kholat Syakhl.

Russian investigators closed the case stating that “a compelling unknown force” had caused the deaths.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443414/kholat-launches-may-14-for-switch/

Nintendo has released its latest hardware and software figures for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS through March 31, 2020. Shipments figures for the Nintendo Switch reached 55.77 million units, while the Nintendo 3DS hit 75.77 million units shipped. As for lifetime software 356.24 million Switch games have been shipped and 383.11 million 3DS games. 

For the quarter Nintendo shipped 3.28 million Switch units and 45.59 million Switch games, as well as 0.07 million 3DS units and 0.89 million 3DS games. 

Nintendo forecasts it will ship 19 million Switch units in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021.

Here are the top 10 best-selling Switch first-party titles:

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 24.77 million
2. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 18.84 million
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 17.41 million
4. Super Mario Odyssey – 17.41 million
5. Pokemon Sword / Pokemon Shield – 17.37 million
6. Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! / Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee! – 11.97 million
7. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 11.77 million (first 11 days) / 13.41 million (first six weeks)
8. Splatoon 2 – 10.13 million
9. Super Mario Party – 10.10 million
10. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 6.60 million

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Full Article - https://www.vgchartz.com/article/443417/switch-shipments-reach-5577-million-units-as-of-march-31-animal-crossing-new-horizons-sells-12-million/

Personally, I welcome whatever reality TV drivel Twitch dreams up to feed our insatiable appetite for content.

This week Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) went live with its first 5G trial areas in Sydney. The telco is using 700MHz spectrum at a number of 5G-ready sites around the Parramatta area. In addition to being the only major company to confirm that it won't charge extra for 5G in Australia, it will also offer global 5G roaming... if and when we're allowed to leave the country again. More »

She’s also learning to iron.

Alice comes up with a billion dollar idea. Manny teaches us about the exciting future of Dolby Atmos. Chris gets demoted. And Anna Marie runs...

While Nintendo tries to own the news cycle this week, we have a bigger story. There is apparently a non Final Fantasy character in World...

Nintendo is selling a lot of Switches. The convertible console has been a lifesaver for people sheltering in place around the world. COVID-19-induced travel restrictions and the long-awaited arrival of Animal Crossing: New Horizons have proven to be a perfect storm for the three-year-old platform. New numbers out from NPD this morning shed some light […]

Twitch is doubling down on esports in this new era of social distancing as a number of traditional sporting events have been cancelled. The company this week introduced a new esports directory on its site that will make it easier for viewers to find live matches, information on players, games with active competition leagues, a […]

A couple of weeks ago, we noted some new NPD numbers pointing to a very good March for the Switch. Nintendo’s financials this week bear out the predicted surge in popularity for the three-year-old console. The company has sold 21 million Switch units in the past year, handily beating a 19.5 million forecast; 6.2 million […]

Saar Gur is adept at identifying the next big consumer trends earlier than most: The San Francisco-based general partner at CRV has led investments into leading consumer internet companies like Niantic, DoorDash, Bird, Dropbox, Patreon, Kapwing and ClassPass. His own experience stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic spurred his interest in three new investment […]

There are all sorts of ways the home cook can help conserve precious energy, this recipe for vegan coconutty ‘cheesecake’ being a case in point

Reducing waste in the kitchen isn’t just about saving food: the time and energy it takes to cook food are also important resources that are easily squandered.

The best way to save energy, besides loving your leftovers, is by cooking less: swap out a cooked element of your meal for a nutritious vegetable salad or raw dish (such as today’s coconut and lemon “cheesecake”); or make one-pot wonders that don’t use multiple cooker rings. And when you do need to cook more, make extra portions for the freezer.

Continue reading...

Bitcoin is about to undergo a scheduled technical adjustment as the number of new coins awarded the computer wizards who "mine" the cryptocurrency will be cut in half, but forecasting which way its price will move afterward is more complicated now.

Follow our live coronavirus updates HERE Coronavirus: the symptoms

Oscar-winning illustrator and film director Gene Deitch has died at the age of 95.

Spies with medical qualifications have been switched from fighting terrorism to join the national fight against coronavirus, the head of MI5 revealed today.

Boris Johnson could ditch the Government's "stay at home" slogan ahead of an expected easing of restrictions next week, it has been reported.

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned yet since its been going on for a few days now.  Great game.  Price before GCU.

 

Slay the Spire (PS4) - $8.99

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/slay-the-spire-standard-edition-playstation-4/6379879.p?skuId=6379879

 

Slay the Spire (Switch) - $21.99

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/slay-the-spire-standard-edition-nintendo-switch/6379876.p?skuId=6379876

PM Studios online store is back and they made a new sale featuring new reprints, overall deals and restock on rare out-of-print titles from Limited Run Games.

 

https://twitter.com/PMStudiosUSA/status/1253401043414781959

 

Also all orders over $49.99 will get Cytus Alpha Limited Edition Original Soundtrack CD for free with the Coupon "FREEGIFT".

 

Kinda sick move they did now.

 

https://www.pm-studios.com/store

 

Edit: Price list.