Brandeis NOW: How artificial intelligence is helping scientists find a coronavirus treatment. “More than 50,000 academic articles have been written about COVID-19 since the virus appeared in November. The volume of new information isn’t necessarily a good thing. Not all of the recent coronavirus literature has been peer reviewed, while the sheer number of articles makes it challenging for accurate and promising research to stand out or be further studied. Computer science and linguistics professor James Pustejovsky is leading a Brandeis team in creating an artificial intelligence platform called Semantic Visualization of Scientific Data — or SemViz — that can sort through the growing mass of published work on coronavirus and help biologists who study the disease gain insights and notice patterns and trends across research that could lead to a treatment or cure.”
Monthly Archives: April 2020
Phys .org: Researchers offer ways to address life under COVID-19
Phys .org: Researchers offer ways to address life under COVID-19. “An international team of researchers has outlined ways to manage different facets of life under the spread of the COVID-19 virus, ranging from how we can combat racially driven bias and fake news to how we can increase cooperation and better manage stress. Its work, which appears in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, considers research stretching over the past half century to offer insights about how to address current circumstances.”
TopGear Philippines: If your kids are starting to feel cabin fever, Porsche 4Kids might help
TopGear Philippines: If your kids are starting to feel cabin fever, Porsche 4Kids might help. “If these kids have found something to immerse themselves in at home—such as books or art—then good for them (and for you). But if the kids keep asking what else they’re going to do at the start of each day, you’re in deep waters. We have a possible solution here for you, though, and it’s not the usual smartphone app, video game, or YouTube content that might first come to mind. This is Porsche 4Kids, a website filled to the brim with activities, games, and all sorts of enjoyable interactive content for children.”
SportTechie: Cornhole, the Popular Backyard and Tailgate Game, Goes Online and Global
SportTechie: Cornhole, the Popular Backyard and Tailgate Game, Goes Online and Global. “The American Cornhole League has launched ACL Virtual, a digital platform that allows athletes to remotely compete in tournaments via the internet. The platform enables international players to compete against American-based players for the first time. ACL Virtual can be accessed through the ACL Bags App. Inside the platform, players will be able to sign up for tournaments (singles, doubles, or blind-draw) and pay a registration fee. Once all players have registered for a tournament, an ACL director will notify all participants of the time they have to complete each round, which will typically be 24 hours. ”
Never lost again: Thoughts on the Google Maps revolution (UX Planet)
UX Planet: Never lost again: Thoughts on the Google Maps revolution. “Not only did Google Maps dramatically change our view of the world and transform how we find our way in it, but it created a platform that spawned billions of dollars in commerce and life-changing services. Without its easy-to-use mapping system we wouldn’t be able to call a Lyft, order takeout through DoorDash or groceries through Instacart, research reviews on Yelp, or book a hotel through Trivago or a flight through Priceline. While GPS navigation followed a convoluted path to obsolescence—an industry that became as quickly outdated as the maps on its devices—Google Maps brought the entire world to us.”
USA Today: YouTube to roll out independent fact check feature for US users
USA Today: YouTube to roll out independent fact check feature for US users. “YouTube is rolling out information panels for search results aimed at providing fact checks for its users in the U.S. The fact check feature, already available in Brazil and India, includes independent information meant to offer additional context on a topic.”
Coronavirus: Serena Williams among stars to compete in Mario Tennis tournament (BBC)
BBC: Coronavirus: Serena Williams among stars to compete in Mario Tennis tournament. “Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka and Maria Sharapova are among the tennis stars who will compete in a live-streamed tournament of Mario Tennis Aces. Top tennis players will partner celebrities and play as characters from the game on Nintendo Switch.”
Coronavirus: France offers subsidy to tempt lockdown cyclists (BBC)
BBC: Coronavirus: France offers subsidy to tempt lockdown cyclists. “France is encouraging people to cycle to keep pollution levels low once lockdown restrictions end. Under the €20 million (£17m; $21.7m) scheme, everyone will be eligible for bike repairs of up to €50 at registered mechanics. The funding will also help pay for cycle training and temporary parking spaces.”
BBC: TikTok’s darkened skin trend accused of ‘promoting colourism’
BBC: TikTok’s darkened skin trend accused of ‘promoting colourism’. “A viral TikTok trend in India has been accused of promoting colourism. It involves users digitally darkening their skin colour and looking sad – before revealing their natural, lighter skin tone at the end and smiling. Colourism is prejudice against people who have a darker skin tone or the preferential treatment of those who are of the same race but lighter-skinned.”
Limerick Post: LSAD project to reveal the impact of design on life, culture, business and society in Ireland
Limerick Post: LSAD project to reveal the impact of design on life, culture, business and society in Ireland. “Map Irish Design, new research that examines more that 2300 design projects to reveal the impact of design on life, culture, business and society in Ireland over the past decade was recently launched.”
EurekAlert: Researcher repurposes social networking models to predict COVID spread
EurekAlert: Researcher repurposes social networking models to predict COVID spread. “Since the COVID-19 epidemic began, there has been plenty of opportunity to observe how a vast array of truths, half-truths, and falsehoods can flare up and spread like wildfire across social media, swirl around, and just as quickly get buried and forgotten. It could serve as a fascinating case study for CSL and computer science professor Tarek Abdelzaher, who for years has studied how information propagates through social media. But he and his students Chaoqi Yang and Ruijie Wang have taken a big step further. They recognized that the dissemination of information through a population of online users is closely analogous to the transmission of a virus through a population of flesh-and-blood human beings, and that realization has inspired them to repurpose their information propagation models to predict COVID-19 spread. Furthermore, they have made the findings available to the public on an interactive website.”
Fox 17: New website could help you save money on medical bills
Fox 17: New website could help you save money on medical bills. “It’s pretty straight forward and completely free to use, all you have to do is answer a few questions including your income, insurance status, and how much you owe at which hospital. In a couple minutes it will tell you if you qualify.” Applying for financial assistance is an additional step. You can do it on your own, or the site can help you for a fee of $29.
State of New Jersey: To Celebrate Earth Day, DEP Launches Online Stay-at-Home Activities, Learning Tools And Virtual Park Visits
State of New Jersey: To Celebrate Earth Day, DEP Launches Online Stay-at-Home Activities, Learning Tools And Virtual Park Visits. “Visitors can also check in on active peregrine falcon and bald eagle nests through the live webcams maintained by the Wildlife Conservation Foundation of New Jersey, as well as the group’s many other interesting wildlife video and educational offerings. New Jersey’s Division of Parks and Forestry is also bringing New Jersey’s parks to visitors virtually. Its popular #IHeartNJParks campaign now connects with the public through virtual access through its Facebook and Instagram pages ( https://www.facebook.com/NewJerseyStateParks/ and https://www.instagram.com/newjerseystateparks). The campaign posts new content each day, including a special collection of park tours and projects, interviews with experts and never published historical photos. In addition, through a series of stunning, even inspiring, videos, families can make virtual visits to popular parks and historic sites from High Point to Cape May Point.”
Buzz IE: New website launched to help teachers support students online
Buzz IE: New website launched to help teachers support students online. “A new website, ‘Teacher Support’, has been launched by Hibernia College, one of Ireland’s leading teacher-training institutions, to support Primary and Post-Primary teachers who are teaching classes online during Covid-19.”
BetaNews: Plex releases media server app Dash, and Plexamp player for Windows, mobile, macOS and Linux
BetaNews: Plex releases media server app Dash, and Plexamp player for Windows, mobile, macOS and Linux. “If the phrase ‘it really whips the llama’s ass’ means anything to you, you clearly remember the heady days of WinAmp. Now media server and management company Plex has come up with its own take on the classic software. Called — slightly uninspiringly — Plexamp, the player is available for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and Linux. The company has also released a new app for managing Plex media servers: Plex Dash. This is great news for Plex users, but there’s a slight catch in both cases.”