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Amazon May Soon Release Floating Warehouses

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Following news of an incredible holiday season, Amazon was awarded a patent that will allow for floating warehouses.

Amazon has won a patent that is will presumably decrease shipping times. Labeled as a “airborne fulfillment center (AFC),” the e-commerce giant will use airships to house products.

Basically, the AFC will flow in altitudes of 45,000 feet or higher. Amazon shoppers will then be able to receive the products through the airborne fulfillment center. This is a major advantage for Amazon. The company is constantly working on decreasing shipping times in order to remain competitive. With AFC, Amazon could supply the high flying warehouse to hold items and a drone will ship the products to customers.

Amazon Shipping
Stock Photo: PARIS, FRANCE – JAN 27, 2016: Customer hand taking the parcel as the UPS United Parcel Service from Amazon Prime (Hadrian / Shutterstock.com)

In the company’s patent description Amazon explains that the AFC can remain airborne for long periods of time. Moreover, the AFC is not limited to similar warehouses that are located in a facility. Furthermore, an AFC can travel to different areas depending upon demand making it an easier to transport products.

Amazon Drones

Amazon Prime Air
Amazon announces Prime Air – a drone delivery service. (Image Courtesy of Amazon.com)

This is not the first time Amazon has showed their interest in aviation. Amazon announced a plan to deliver packages in 30 minutes or less. The company plans on accomplishing this by using drone technology.

Then, earlier this month Amazon’s CEO announced the news via Twitter praising the shipping breakthrough for the company. Amazon was able to deliver a product to a consumer via a drone and the entire delivery process only took 13 minutes.

However, Amazon still faces strict Federal Aviation Administration rules that call for all drones to be operated by a human pilot. Consequently, this rules out algorithms or GPS technology.

Following Amazon’s patent, it is possible to believe that warehouses will be floating across the country delivering products in minutes rather than days.

Scientists Can Detect 17 Diseases Using Only a Patient’s Breath

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Scientists have detected 17 diseases by examining someone’s breath and using artificial intelligent sensors.

Morad K. Nakhleh and his team of 56 researchers from five different countries, led by the Israel Institute of Technology, published their findings in the journal of “ACS Nano”.

Researchers explained that diseases have unique chemical properties and by analyzing someone’s breath they were able to identify “chemical signatures”. In turn, they discovered diseases that the person was experiencing. Scientists examined over 1,400 patients and detected 17 unique diseases including several different types of cancers, irritable bowel syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.

Scientists accomplished this study by using a type of chemical identification machine often used in chemical experiments called mass spectrometry and artificial intelligent sensors. From there they identified the unique chemical components and their composition and linked it to information associated with particular diseases.

Ultimately, researchers were able to detect the diseases with 86% accuracy in blind experiments. But, researchers argue this type of technology and medical intervention could lead to a more personalized diagnosis and classification of diseases without expensive or noninvasive procedures.

Artificial Intelligent Breath Sensors

Moreover, these new discoveries are predicated on new technology called “artificially intelligent nanoarray” developed by Hossam Haick, professor at the Israel Institute of Technology. It’s a fast and inexpensive piece of AI technology that analyzes the chemical compounds and matches them to select diseases.

This is not the first time researchers have used this type of technology to detect cancer or other diseases. In 2014, Haitham Amal and his team of researchers published a study in the International Journal of Cancer revealing their ability to detect ovarian cancer from an exhaled breath. By examining 182 females, the study was able to detect cancer with 89% accuracy.

Then in 2015, researchers published a study in the journal of “Oncotarget” scientistes revealed their ability to determine genetic differences in breast cancers among women using the same type of technology.

This news comes as Silicon Valley’s tech titans invest heavily into AI. In fact, Amazon’s popular Internet of Things product, Amazon Echo and Amazon Dot were among the most popular items sold and shipped by the e-commerce giant. The AI product was so popular that the company was unable to keep up with the number of orders.

Gastric Bypass Surgery Linked to Longterm Digestive Issues

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A popular weight loss surgery, gastric bypass, is now linked to long term digestive issues.

Lead researcher Dr. Thomas Boerlage published the results of his study in the British Journal of Surgery. Boerlage discovered that Laparoscopic gastric bypasss surgery often causes gastrointestinal issues for patients. Boerlage examined 249 obese patients who under went the surgery and found that 70.7% of the patients in the study complained of indigestion, being unable to eat food with high fat or sugar content, and nor being able to eat red meat.

Boerlage explained that the results of the study illustrate the importance of communication between the physician and the patient. Moreover, patients considering undergoing the weight loss surgery need to understand the long-term implications of the procedure.

“With this study, physicians can better counsel their patients, both before and after surgery. It also helps patients considering a gastric bypass to make a more well-thought decision,” Boerlage explained in a statement.

What is Gastric Bypass Surgery?

Gastric Bypass Surgery Complications
Stock Photo:
ISTANBUL, TURKEY – January 11, 2016: Medical robot da vinci. Robotic surgery. (Master Video / Shutterstock.com)

Gastric Bypass surgery works by making the size of the human stomach smaller. Surgeons accomplish this through a myriad of different procedures. But, overall surgery has been able to treat morbid obesity, diabetes, and other diseases associated with weight gain.

In a 2016 study published in the ANZ Journal of Surgery researchers Benedict MacKay and his team found gastric bypass surgery to be a safe procedure. Researchers examined patients that underwentRoux-en-Y laparoscopic gastric bypass (LYRYGB) and found the weight loss surgery to be a safe procedure with a low complication rate. In addition, to a low mortality rate.

A 2014 study published in the journal of Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism researchers found the death rate for gastric bypass surgery to be similar to knee surgery. In fact, scientists reported  the mortality rate for LYRYGB to be 0.3% or 3 deaths for every 1,000 surgeries.

However, the weight loss surgery does not come without risks. A 2016 study published in the International Journal of Obesity  by researchers from Louisiana State University found that mice that underwent gastric bypass surgery activated parts of the brain typically associated with anorexia.

Eye Contact Disrupts the Brain While Talking, Study Finds

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Making eye contact and talking may be connected and affect the brain. Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan may have discovered why people avoid looking someone in the eyes while they are talking.

Researchers Shogo Kajimura and Michio Nomura published their study “When we cannot speak: Eye contact disrupts resources available to cognitive control processes during verb generation” in the journal of Cognition. In the study, researchers explain that scientists once believe eye contact and verbal communication were independent functions. Kajimura and Nomura hypothesized that non-verbal communication such as eye contact use the same resources in the brain as verbal communication.

After several experiments researchers found that there may be a interference in those functions when someone is required to make eye contact and talk. In addition, that type of non-verbal communication may affect the verbal communication process.

Researchers asked people to look at two different videos of people’s faces. Kajimura and Nomura discovered that individuals that watched a video with people making eye contact with the subject experienced a delay in verbal communication. In comparison to those who watched a video featuring people averting their eyes.

Ultimately, researchers argue that the brain is unable to focus on both communicating and eye contact. In turn, the human brain must readjust and focus on finding the correct word in a conversation.

In addition, researchers explain that in order to better understand communication, we must treat non-verbal and verbal messages the same because they may interfere or influence one another.

The interconnectivity of the human brain

Human Brain
Stock Photo: Profile of a bearded man head with symbol neurons in brain. (Lia Koltyrina/Shutterstock.com)

The brain is extremely complex and this research is among the latest of published scientific studies that show an interconnectivity of the human body and the brain. Yesterday, neuroscientists discovered emotional experiences can have a prolonged impact on memory. In addition, scientists discovered “pregnancy brain” may actually exist and prepare women for motherhood.

Apple Releases Data on its AI Research

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a buzz word in tech circles these days.  Examples include Google’s Deep Mind project and IBM’s Watson.  Both AI programs have gain notoriety for winning high-profile competitions against human players and the programs are becoming increasingly integrated in our everyday life.

One potential laggard in this space has been Apple. While the company had promised to release information on its AI research little is known about Apple’s efforts to date. That changed when Ashish Shrivastava and the rest of the AI team at Apple submitted a paper with the company’s findings to the Cornell University Library.

Apple Artificial Intelligence AI
Stock Photo: HONG KONG – MAY 5, 2015: interior of Apple store. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California (Sorbis / Shutterstock.com)

The paper outlines research into ‘Learning from Simulated and Unsupervised Images through Adversarial Training.’  This includes teaching computers how to recognize images.  Findings point to a ‘Simulated+Unsupervised (S+U)’ approach which uses images with embedded data to help computers ‘see’ object.

This represents a sea change in how researchers teach computers to see as previous approaches relied on showing computers real world objects and then trying to match that object with a library or stored images.

Granted, the paper is a bit wonkish but industry analysts noted that it might represent a breakthrough in an area which has lagged.

Steve Jobs Apple
Stock Photo: STOCKHOLM – APRIL 6: Mac with reflection of Steve Jobs in a iPhone 5 on table in room in black and white. April 6, 2014 in Stockholm, Sweden. Steve Jobs 1955-2011 (Stefan Holm / Shutterstock.com)

Another reason why the paper is notable is that the company rarely releases its findings to the tech community. The ban was in keeping with the company’s proclivity for secrecy which dates to the early-80’s when Apple and Microsoft were battling to develop the winning operating system for the personal computer market.  Apple ultimately, lost out to Microsoft when the Steve Jobs shared key details of the OS with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Apple Siri AI
Stock Photo: CUPERTINO, CA – DEC 9: Siri, the iPhone intelligent software assistant (Annette Shaff / Shutterstock.com)

In terms of real world applications, the breakthrough could be used to give Apple’s personal assistant – Siri – additional functionality.  It is also believed that the research could lead to a slew of patent applications in the space as some observers believe the company has moved well beyond the results published in the paper.  This could lead to interesting developments in the company’s like of mobile phones and tablets.

Christmas 2016 Was a Blockbuster for Amazon

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This holiday season was a record-breaker for Amazon and the news helped to lift shares of the e-commerce giant by 1.5 percent in Tuesday’s post-holiday trade. According to a statement to shareholders by Jeff Wilke, Chief Executive of the company’s consumer division, the Amazon Echo and Amazon Dot were hot sellers this year.

In fact, the devices sold so well that the company reported problems in maintaining inventory. The challenge was not production delays, rather the company had failed to predict a near nine-fold increase in sales.

Amazon Echo
Stock Photo: ORLANDO, FL – April 30, 2015: Amazon Echo, the voice recognition streaming device from Amazon, announced last year is currently shipping. (George W. Bailey / Shutterstock.com)

These voice-controlled devices help users to conduct several tasks from answering questions, controlling lights, and,when linked with other Internet of Things (IoT) devices, monitoring home security systems. While the Echo was released in 2015, sales have really taken off this year.

According to the technology research firm, Gartner, there are roughly seven billion IoT devices in the world today and that number is expected to grow to more than 20 billion by 2020. Virtual assistants or smart hubs, such as the Echo are a key step to linking the home-management devices with a centralized controller, which is then connected to a smartphone for remote use.

It is no secret that mobile is big and Amazon noted that nearly 72 percent of its customers used their mobile devices to shop online this holiday season. This represents a dramatic increase from previous years and potentially points to a change in shopping behavior amongst Amazon customers.

Amazon Mobile
Stock Photo: NEW YORK CITY – FEB 3, 2014: Electronic tablet opened to Amazon homepage. Amazon.com went online in 1995 and is now the largest online retailer in the world. (littleny / Shutterstock.com)

A key driver in the move to mobile has turned out to be the company’s Prime program.  Ken Perkins, President of Retail Metrics, noted that ‘prime customers are spending twice as much as other customers using Amazon.’ Not only does this show the success for the program it points to the fact the Prime customer see value for money when it comes to the annual subscription fee.

This is an important development for Amazon. While the company has continued to grow, it has struggled to increase its razor-thin profit margins when faced with stiff competition from brick-and-mortar retailers who have finally woken up to online shopping.

As such, the subscription model helps the company bolster customer loyalty while offering several value-added options, which have little or no cost.  The biggest of these, at least in terms of holiday shopping, is free shipping. The company noted that December 19th was the busiest day this holiday season, with Prime customer’s leading the charge.

Amazon Prime
Stock Photo: Adelaide, Australia – August 18, 2013: Browsing the ebay webpage on an ipad. eBay is one of the largest online auction and shopping websites in the world. (ymgerman / Shutterstock.com)

In addition, the use of the Echo and the smaller Dot, which relies on Alexa – another Prime service. This Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled assistant helps to plug users into the myriad of Amazon’s services such as, one-click ordering.

In doing so, Amazon is positioning itself to have an added leg up on traditional retailers while securing the home virtual assistant market against Google Home and the inevitable entrants from Apple and Microsoft.

Will Battery Issues Continue to Plague Apple In 2017?

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It turns out Samsung is not the only company facing problems with their latest generation of smartphones. Reports of problems with the batteries in the iPhone 6 first surfaced in China in October and since then a number of users around the world have complained about the issue.

Apple Battery
Stock Photo:
PARIS, FRANCE – SEP 10, 2015: Apple Computers website on MacBook Pro Retina in a creative room environment showcasing Philip Schiller from Apple talking about battery life of iPad Pro (Hadrian / Shutterstock.com)

Granted, everyone has a problem with the iPhone’s battery life. But in this case, the complaints include erratic battery level readings, batteries overheating, and even fires.  Whilst the latter has not been independently confirmed, videos of iPhones catching fire have appeared online. Users have also complained about power-saving measures, which often kill apps when they are most needed.

It should be noted that Apple is currently running a battery replacement program for some owners of iPhone 6 and 6s models. This program is tied to batches of phones, which were believed to have its batteries improperly handled during the manufacturing process.

However, this program does not apply to most users and the complaints about the iPhone battery continue unabated.  This means that most iPhone users will have to cope with unexpected shutdowns and other issues with the phone’s low-power mode.

Apple iPhone Battery
Stock Photo: Melbourne, Australia – Sep 24, 2015: Enabling low power mode on an iPhone running iOS 9. This is a new feature of iOS which helps to extend the battery life. (ymgerman / Shutterstock.com)

Given that Apple’s phones have not faced the same level of scrutiny as Samsung’s aborted Galaxy S7 it is likely that Apple will be slow to improve their battery anytime soon. While this might make fiscal sense, the reality is that the smartphone market is shifting.  Google’s Pixel phone is beating pre-release sales estimates and several players have found a niche in the high-end smartphone segment.

Consequently, the Apple/Samsung duopoly of previous years may be coming to an end and this is something that Apple might want to consider as they plan the release of their iPhone 7S in late-2017 and the iPhone 8 in 2018.

Oculus
Stock Photo: MILAN, ITALY – APRIL 18: Oculus headset on display at Fuorisalone, series of important and interesting events all around the town during Milan Design Week on APRIL 18, 2015 in Milan. (Tinxi / Shutterstock.com)

Added battery stability will prove to be an important asset especially as Virtual Reality (VR) will become an increasingly important use for smartphone. VR-enabled apps allow users to plug their smartphones into a headset to enjoy the experience. While such applications remain limited, they are likely to increase over time – a development which could bring battery life into focus.

False Reports of Bombing in Bangkok Triggers Facebook’s Safety Check

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As if the struggle with fake news has not been hard enough for the social media network this year, false reports of a bombing in Central Bangkok triggered Facebook’s Safety Check feature on Tuesday. According to the Thai-based Khao Sod (Live News) the supposed incident happened around 9:00 PM local time in Bangkok – 9:00 AM in New York.

Bangkok
Stock Photo: BANGKOK, THAILAND, SEPTEMBER 01, 2016 : View Soi Cowboy street in the red entertainment district of Nana in Bangkok, Thailand (Stephane Bidouze / Shutterstock.com)

Reports of the bombing first surfaced on Facebook and were quickly spread by followers.  At first glance, some of the reports appeared to be authentic, with one headline mimicking the BBC. Given that December is the peak of the tourist season in the Southeast Asian country, news of the bombing led to fear of the worst.

Political unrest in Bangkok

Another fact that led people to believe that the report was credible was that Thailand has become known for its prolonged political conflict. In fact political unrest ended with a military coup in 2014. The conflict, which is ostensibly between supporters of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and his opponents, has seen both parties stage massive rallies in Central Bangkok since 2005.

Bangkok Protests
Stock Photo: BANGKOK-NOV 24:Unidentified Thai protesters rally at Ratchadamnoen road to anti amnesty bill on Nov 24, 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand. It claims that Up to million Thai people gather on such day. (Blanscape / Shutterstock.com)

While most of these protests were peaceful, there were also incidents of violence including bombings and an armed intervention by the military in 2010. In addition, Thailand is home to a simmering insurgency in the country’s southernmost province and insurgents were linked to coordinated bombings in August.   

A 2015 bombing of a shrine in the city’s center shook Bangkok to its core. The blast was carried out by ethnic Uighurs protesting China’s handling of the minority in their home country. Thailand is a favored tourist destination for mainland Chinese tour groups.

Bangkok Tourism
Stock Photo:Bangkok, Thailand – April 13: Tourists shooting water guns and having fun at Songkran festival, the traditional Thai New Year, on Khao San Road in Bangkok, Thailand. (NattapolStudiO / Shutterstock.com)

This backstory led to a perfect storm for Facebook, which has announced an initiative to combat the prevalence of false or misleading news stories being circulated on the social media site. 

What went wrong?

In November, the company noted that the Safety Check system is monitored by an algorithm. The algorithm considers trending posts by users in a certain geographic area.  According to an interview given by Facebook engineer, Peter Cottle, to CNET at the time of the announcement, the probability of a ‘false positive’ was very low as the company also used a third-party service to check the results of the algorithm.

Facebook Safety
Stock Photo: Bucharest, Romania – March 16,2015: Photo of Facebook’s new updated Community Standards (RoSonic / Shutterstock.com)

However, Tuesday’s false positive warning proved that the safeguards did not work in this case. What is not clear is the reason why. In fact, the system has triggered false positives in the past. In March, the company issued a Safety Check notification to users in the U.K. and the U.S. After a reported following a bombing in Pakistan.

By Tuesday afternoon the company had issued a statement to The Verge. In the statement Facebook explained what happened.

“Safety Check was activated today in Thailand following an explosion. As with all Safety Check activations, Facebook relies on a trusted third party to first confirm the incident and then on the community to use the tool and share with friends and family.”

Amazon Echo Sales Increased by 900%

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While many analysts predicted virtual reality was going to become the biggest items this Christmas, a press release by Amazon illustrates 2016 was the year of virtual assistants.

Christmas maybe over but the party is still getting started for Amazon. The online retail shopping company reported some of the highest number of orders, sales, and Amazon Echo sales in the company’s history.

In fact, Amazon announced that 2016 was the “Best-ever season for Amazon” with the bevy of technological devices including Echo Dot, Amazon Echo, and Amazon Fire.

Amazon revealed that the Echo Dot was the best-selling item on Amazon with millions of units sold worldwide. In addition, sales of the Echo devices increased more than 900% since last year.There were so many Amazon echo orders that the company had “trouble keeping them in stock”.

So what did people do with their Amazon Echo?

Amazon echo
Stock Photo: ORLANDO, FL – December 4, 2016: Amazon Echo, the voice recognition streaming device from Amazon. Currently available in two colors, black and white for a list price of $179.99. (George W. Bailey / Shutterstock.com)

According to the press release, Echo owners asked Alexa for “hundreds of thousands” of cocktails with Tom Collins and Manhattans being the most requested drinks. In addition, “Home Alone and “Elf” were the most Alexa requested movies. And the three most requested Christmas songs? “Jingle Bells” by Frank Sinatra, “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey and “Feliz Navidad” by José Feliciano.

This news should not be that surprising as the Internet of Things is becoming more popular among US consumers. An analyst for Oppenheimer reported earlier in December that home assistants would grow to 12 million units during the holidays.

However, Amazon Echo is currently in the middle of a murder trial. Multiple outlets report Arkansas police have issued a warrant to Amazon asking for audio and other Echo related recordings for a murder trial.

Amazon Prime

Amazon
Stock Photo: SIMFEROPOL, RUSSIA – NOVEMBER 22, 2014: Amazon application on Apple iPhone 6 and Macbook display. Amazon is an American international electronic commerce company (Yeamake / Shutterstock.com)

Outside of Amazon Echo, Amazon had more than billion items shipped around the world with Prime. In addition, more people tried Amazon Prime than any other holiday season. As a matter of fact,  the fastest delivery taking place on Christmas Eve. The delivery was so fast it only took took 13 minutes. Furthermore, Amazon.com sold 36 toys per second on a mobile device during Cyber Monday.

Following the news, shares of Amazon were trading up 1.42% on Tuesday.

Legalized Recreational Marijuana Changes Washington Teens’ Views Towards Pot

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For the states that have legalized recreational marijuana, how has cannabis legalization impacted teens and kids?

In many states where recreational weed is illegal, synthetic marijuana is extremely popular in lower-class neighborhoods. In fact, synthetic cannabis is 100 times more powerful than tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical that gives marijuana its effects. But, what about the teens in communities where recreational cannabis is legal?

How does legalized recreational marijuana affect teens?

Marijuana
Stock Photo: SPRINGFIELD, OR – FEBRUARY 16, 2016: Marijuana dispensaries like this one have popped up in large number due to a law change in Oregon legalizing pot for recreational purposes. (Joshua Rainey Photography / Shutterstock.com)

Researchers at the University of California Davis School of Medicine and Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry examined marijuana legalization in a new study. After pot was legalized, Researchers found cannabis use among eighth and 10th graders in Washington increased by 2 and 4 percent, respectively.

In addition, in Washington the perceived harmfulness of pot decreased by 16.1 percent among 10th graders. In comparison to 7.2% in states that classify marijuana as an illegal drug.

Meanwhile, in Colorado, cannabis use among adolescents did not increase after legalization.

Researchers used data of over 250,00 students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades from 2010 to 2015. The researchers examined the differences of cannabis use after the drugs became legalized.

Overall, researchers argue that among eighth and 10th graders in Washington, harmfulness perceptions decreased and pot use increased following the legalization of recreational marijuana.

However, in Colorado there weren’t many changes in the perception or use of recreational marijuana among adolescents.

Researchers in the study call for communities, lawmakers, and parents to remain cautious about legalized recreational cannabis use among adolescents. In addition, scientists argue for additional funding be spent towards substance abuse programs for teens.

legalized receational marijuana
Stock Photo: BOISE, IDAHO/USA – MAY 7, 2016: woman in support of making marijuana legal at the Global Marijuana march (txking / Shutterstock.com)

“A cautious interpretation of the findings suggests investment in evidence-based adolescent substance use prevention programs in any additional states that may legalize recreational marijuana use,” researchers explained.

Drug use among teens

This news comes after a National Institute of Health study. In the study scientists found teens overall are using drugs less than previous generations. For example, nationwide weed use has declined from from 6.5 percent to 5.4 percent among eighth graders. In addition, 44 percent of 10th graders found pot as harmful.