Common Paradox Tech Blog

Conventional treatments are often ineffective for treating brain cancer, but scientists have developed a novel new method of destroying cancer cells in the brain: they tag them with metal nanodiscs and shake them to death with magnets.

Scientists at the University of Chicago and the U.S. Department of Energy have developed a process by which tiny iron-plated discs are attached to antibodies that seek out cancerous cells. Those cells end up getting tagged with the discs, and when a light magnetic field is applied, the oscillation causes the cells to self-destruct. Surrounding healthy cells are left undamaged.

The scientists working on the project emphasize that it’s still in the early, experimental phases, though they hope to begin testing on animals soon. But even if it takes several years to determine if this unique approach is viable for use on humans, it’s always heartening to see nanomaterials being applied to the difficult problems of today. [Science Daily via Kottke]

Even if you’re not the type who typically sports a tin foil hat, you’ve probably spent a bit of time wondering if all that cell phone radiation we subject our brains to is safe. Could cell phones be the cigarettes of the modern age in disguise? Apparently not if you heed the results of a new Scandinavian study which has carefully reviewed the effects of wireless phone radiation on the brain over a 30 year period, and claims cell phones are completely harmless.

The study was performed by the Danish Cancer society and was documented in the National Cancer Institute Journal which looks at brain cancer trends in Scandinavian countries. Of course some people will never be convinced cell phones are truly safe regardless of how much evidence comes to light, but for those of you still on the fence, this is a bit positive news that should put your mind at ease.

Even though they claim its safe for the brain, I would still suggest holding onto your solid lead underwear if you’re going to keep carrying around a cell phone in your pants. I haven’t seen any studies on the effects of radiation on the wedding tackle, but I’m not taking any chances.

The Scandinavians have arrived, data in tow, and those communication devices we press to our ears hundreds of times per week are safe again.

I say safe “again” because I honestly don’t know where we stand in the back and forth debate between cellphone manufacturers, Chicken Littles and these-are-bad-for-you studies from legitimate scientists.

Were cellphones safe up until now, and this data just reinforces that fact, or was the last study a doom and gloom bombshell that had us all promising to use our phones a few minutes less each day—that is until we realized we love our phones and started using them normally again a few hours later? I can’t remember, and neither can my sperm.

In any event, this latest study falls into the “safe” category. Good. And it’s a huge study. Also good. Executed by the Danish Cancer Society ad published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the final report details brain cancer rates in Scandinavian countries over the past 30 years. The result? The researchers did not find “any clear change in the long-term time trends in the incidence of brain tumours.” There was a slow increase in glioma diagnosis since the 1970s, they note, but the increase could be explained by factors outside of cellphone use. Time to use some minutes!

Regardless of the results, what I do know is that, tumor or no tumor, you’ll never catch me wearing a Bluetooth headset. We don’t need any additional data on that front. See you all next month when cellphones are bad for you again. [CrunchGear]

Reddit community member elmstreeter’s mother passed away this week, and yesterday he turned to the social news site to create a photographic memento: his last photo with his mom had her breathing tubes obscuring her face, and he wanted them removed. He wrote in a posting to the site:

My mother died of cancer yesterday. This is the last picture of us together and I wondered if anyone with mad Photoshop skills could touch up the picture and remove the oxygen cannula. I would greatly appreciate anyone who could be of assistance.

PS Hug your mom today

Touchingly, Reddit users did come to his aid, Photoshopping out the tubes and even fixing up a broken chair.

This might be the sweetest story we’ve heard all week. Nice work, Reddit users.

[via Reddit via The Daily What]

Reviews: reddit.com

Tags: trending

An ad with someone telling you to quit smoking in the cold robotic voice of a mechanical larynx is powerful imagery. This new artificial larnyx could screw up that whole angle for anti-smoking advocacy groups.

The system utilizes a palatometer, a device traditionally used in speech therapy, to track the movement of the tongue. A cluster of 118 pressure sensors collect the data and send it off to be reproduced by a small sound sythesizer that’s kept on the person. The device can also be calibrated to recognize inflection, which helps to generate a voice that is far more natural than the raspy or robotic sounds of current devices. Plus, it doesn’t require any surgical implants.

Of course, several problems need to be addressed before this technology is ready for prime time. Accuracy can be as high as 94.4 percent, but the library of recognizable words needs to be vastly increased. The system also needs to be converted to wireless and the processing speed needs to be improved. At the moment, there is a one second delay between when the word is mouthed and the sound is produced—making it seem like you are acting in a bad kung-fu movie dubbed in English. The good news is that it probably won’t be long before those issues are corrected. [Technology Review via PopSci]

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was diagnosed earlier this month with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The news was disclosed by his sister, Jody Allen, in an e-mail to employees of Vulcan, Allen’s holding company. The cancer is similar to one Allen suffered from that lead to his retirement from Microsoft in 1983.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer that occurs in the cells of the immune system. Lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, becomes abnormal, and multiply rapidly. Because these abnormal cells don’t die when they should the body is less protected from infection and disease. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can occur at any age. Nearly 66,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with this form of cancer.

Allen, who is 56, is on a bit of an unlucky streak. News of his cancer follows close on the heels of a bout with heart disease, which required a heart-value replacement. Allen is currently undergoing chemotherapy. According to his sister: "Paul is feeling OK and remains upbeat. He continues to work and he has no plans to change his role at Vulcan. His health comes first, though, and we’ll be sure that nothing intrudes on that."

Image Credit: Blogs and Bucks

There’s a creeping cancer that is gnawing its way through the monitor market of late. A debilitating and highly infectious disease that’s now approaching epidemic proportions. We speak, of course, of the inflationary process that has taken hold of quoted contrast performance. AOC’s latest 24-inch monitor, the 2434PW, is a case in point.

Proudly plastered on its bezel is a sticker proclaiming an eye-catching ratio of 60,000 to one. Stunning stuff indeed, if it were true in practice.

The problem is, it refers to what the 2434PW is capable of thanks to dynamic contrast. That’s a technology which adjusts the strength of the backlighting according to the brightness of the image data being fed to the screen. The darker the scene, the more the backlight intensity is reduced.

Superficially, this appears to make sense. But in reality it’s a pretty clumsy kludge. What it can’t do is achieve darkness or brightness at the same time. It’s one or the other.

Hence, there’s no substitute for what we would call good static contrast performance. In other words, the ability of an LCD panel to occlude the backlight when individual pixels are set to black.

Contrast is a lie?

Our advice, therefore, is to ignore any quoted contrast claims by manufacturers that are significantly higher than 1,000 to one. This can be rather tricky when manufacturers, including AOC, are coy about a monitor’s static contrast abilities.

Luckily, PCFormat has a light meter handy and can reveal the truth. In the case of this particular 24-inch 1080p panel, that truth is 793 to one. Ironically, that’s actually a pretty good showing for a monitor with a TN-type LCD panel.

In fact, anything in the region of 800 to one or better will get the job done very nicely, particularly when it comes to watching movies in a dark room.

We’re happy to report that the 2434PW does indeed achieve pretty good black levels and in turn we would encourage AOC to be much more up front about this monitor’s static contrast. This monitor has nothing to be ashamed of.

Indeed, there’s plenty more to recommend it. It’s a very rapid monitor with 2ms pixel response times making it highly suitable for a gaming rig. What’s more, the full 1,920 x 1,080 screen resolution provides plenty of desktop elbow room, along with the ability to do full justice to full high definition 1080p video content.

There’s encrypted content support, too, courtesy of an HDCP compliant HDMI port.

The stand and chassis also have an upmarket consumer electronics vibe and not a little practicality to boot, thanks to a well executed cable-tidying solution at the rear.

Overall, it looks like a lot more than £190’s worth of panel. Do not, however, get too excited. In most regards, this monitor is little better than your average TN-powered budget panel.

Overall, it’s a lot less rich and vibrant than a PVA panel and a chunk less accurate than an IPS screen.

Moreover, the difference between its default colour balance and the colour space after calibration is pretty immense. That’s fine if you have a calibration tool to hand, but a bit of a pain if you don’t.

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Paul Allen, known both as the co-founder of Microsoft and for his multitude of philanthropic pursuits, has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a form of cancer.

We don’t know much about his prognosis, though a letter from his sister says he’s “feeling OK.” Allen came down with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma back in 1983 and beat it, and we’re all hoping he can do it again. [TechFlash]

Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft along with Bill Gates, has been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, a cancer that affects the lymphocytes of the immune system, according to multiple reports. He has previously battled Hodgkin disease, another type of Lymphoma, back in 1983.

Beyond Microsoft, Paul Allen has been active as an investor, acting as chairman of Vulcan Inc. and Charter Communications, as well as being the owner of the Seattle Seahawks NFL team and the Portland Trail Blazers NBA team. He was the sole investor behind SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded spaceship to reach suborbital space.

We wish Paul the best of luck in his fight against cancer.

Tags: cancer, microsoft, Paul Allen

We’ve spent a lot of time this week discussing how we can use technology to change our bodies. But according to new research, one of the gadgets we rely on daily is already having a measurable effect on our brains.

Researchers at Örebro University in Sweden found that cellphone usage increases the brain’s production of transthyretin, a protein found in cerebrospinal fluid that cushions and protects the brain. The researchers don’t know if the increased presence of the protein is good or bad for the brain, or what kind of effects it might have in the long run.

Regardless of the effects, this observation is pretty wild. We’ve talked a lot about how gadgets will change our bodies, but how will our bodies change to accommodate those gadgets?

Maybe increased transthyretin production is brain’s last-ditch effort to fight off cancer. Or maybe it’s the first of many adaptations we’ll see as we let technology become a part of ourselves. [Wired]

This week, Gizmodo is exploring the enhanced human future in a segment we call This Cyborg Life. It’s about what happens when we treat our body less as a sacred object and more as what it is: Nature’s ultimate machine.