CDC/ Cynthia Goldsmith

Zika virus

Your monthly roundup of infestations, contagions, and controls.

In infectious disease news

Zika virus is all over the news, thanks to a pandemic spreading across South and Central America. Most symptoms are relatively benign, but health officials worry the virus may be linked to rare birth defects and other complications, although the connection is far from certain. For now, mosquito control is the only way to curb the virus, although it isn’t necessarily easy to thwart the suckers. Vaccine R&D is underway but may take years. For more, read Maryn McKenna at her Germination blog; Helen Branswell at Stat; David Quammen at National Geographic; and Julia Belluz at Vox.

Flint, Michigan can’t catch a break. In addition to revelations about lead in the drinking water, the city also had a spike in Legionnaires’ disease.

The World Health Organization declared West Africa Ebola-free earlier this month, but another case then popped up in Sierra Leone.

Kai Kupferschmidt has a piece at Science about a scary, little-known infection from a soil bacterium called Burkholderia pseudomallei, sometimes called the “Vietnamese time bomb.”

And another little-known disease called mycetoma got some much-needed attention. Read Amy Maxmen’s piece at NPR (actually from late December). The WHO recently announced it’s considering adding the “flesh-eating, bone-destroying disease” to the organization's neglected disease list.

In vaccine news

Brian Resnick has a nuanced piece at Vox about the complications in eradicating polio. It turns out that, as cases dwindle thanks to vaccination programs, the biggest threat of infection actually comes from those same vaccines.

Scientists may be making progress on a universal Ebola vaccine.

And a whooping cough outbreak raises questions about the effectiveness of the pertussis vaccine. (Although these questions aren’t exactly new.)

In agriculture news

The Environmental Protection Agency published work suggesting a neonicotinoid called imidacloprid may be hurting bees. Nathanael Johnson has a good take at Grist.

Our bananas are still under attack from a fungus called Tropical Race 4. Read more from Dan Charles at NPR.

And agricultural giants including DuPont Pioneer are investing in CRISPR technology, which will have applications for pest control. Read more by Katrina Megget at ChemistryWorld/SciAm.

In creepy crawly news

New research shows that we have a lot of six-legged roommates. Check out this infographic at Vox breaking down what’s there, as well as this piece by Ed Yong at the Atlantic. But don’t worry: most of the insects aren’t pests and won’t bother you too much.

Bed bugs are getting even harder to kill: new research shows that the suckers have now developed resistance to neonicotinoids, one of the few insecticides that can be legally sprayed in bedrooms in the U.S. Read more at BBC.

And the ticks that spread Lyme disease are spreading across the U.S. Great. Check out the disturbing trend on this map at Stat.

Sungwon Baik, VOA, via Wikimedia Commons

North Korea's General Satellite Control Center

North Korea, an international pariah state known equally for its reckless nuclear program and its population's mass starvation, announced today that it plans to launch a satellite into space later this month. Despite its hobbled economy and diplomatic isolation, this won’t be the first satellite launch for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

They claimed success with a rocket launch in April 2012, though it was a separate launch in December 2012 that put a satellite in space, if only briefly, before it tumbled back down to earth. Following last month’s claimed test of a hydrogen bomb, their new launch may demonstrate a new technological success, though it is just as likely to sustain fears about an eventual nuclear-capable missile in Kim Jong-un’s hands.

Scientific space programs have long given cover for missile development. North Korea is hardly alone in this, though their failures are remarkable (and the frequent subject of satire). Some of this has to do with North Korea’s hyperbolic presentation, which can bury signs of real technological progress in hour-long propaganda videos. Taking it seriously, the United States urged the United Nations to condemn the launch, and Japan is casually deploying anti-missile rockets in downtown Tokyo.

Xavier Harding

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

The Galaxy S7 Edge has just been confirmed by Samsung. The S6 Edge (pictured above) gives hints for what to expect from the upcoming Samsung flagship device

The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge release date has yet to be announced ahead of Mobile World Congress 2016 this year, the annual smartphone and portable device conference held in Barcelona, Spain (February 22-26 this year). But that hasn’t stopped the internet’s rumor machine from pumping out new details. Now the existence of the upcoming Galaxy S7 Edge has been revealed by none other than...Samsung itself.

The hawk-eyed Galaxyclub.nl blog today spotted the fact that Samsung's own developer page makes mention of the Galaxy S7 Edge. And it's still up if you're quick about it. After heading to this page, simply click on Look and make your way down to the Edge section.

Samsung Developer Page

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

Confirmation of the arrival of Samsung's Galaxy S7 Edge

Samsung

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Confirmed

Mention of the S7 Edge on Samsung Developer page

Mentions of the S7 Edge can be seen near "Edge Screen Style" underneath "Overlay Panel." As well as under "Edge Single Plus Mode" where Samsung lists which devices are supported.

While details regarding the Galaxy S7's feature list or specs have yet to be confirmed, the fact that Samsung has it on its official site all but confirms the device will eventually see a release. The company is rumored to show off its latest phones at MWC this year over in Barcelona, but it remains to be seen what Sammie-users will receive.

With Google rumored to be doubling-down on smartphone hardware, this could be one of the last flagship Android devices to come from Samsung. Though with Samsung's Tizen operating system still in its relative infancy, the scenario may be farther off than we think.

Marco Rubio 2016/Facebook

Marco Rubio celebrates third-place finish in 2016 Iowa Caucuses

Marco Rubio came in third place in the contest, getting 23.1 percent of the votes, compared to Ted Cruz's 27.6 percent, and Marco Rubio's 23.1 percent.

It wouldn't be election 2016 without at least one bizarre conspiracy theory about cyber fraud. As the first official tallies emerged from the snowy banks of the Iowa caucuses last night, with results showing Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in a clear second place to the suddenly surging Republican Senator Ted Cruz (and only a few points ahead of third place Senator Marco Rubio), some supposed Trump supporters took to Twitter to accuse Microsoft of rigging the caucus against Trump using the hashtag #MicrosoftRubioFraud. A sampling:

Where did they get this idea? Well, according to Fusion, it spawned from the website 8chan, a freewheeling, user-generated image and messaging board in the style of the better-known and controversial 4chan.

The theory stemmed from some of its advocates tying together several observations:

1.) Marco Rubio did well in the Iowa caucuses, coming in a strong third and almost matching Trump's second place finish, better than some expected.

2.) Microsoft is Rubio's second-largest source of campaign donations (to the tune of through individual donations and company political action committees, according to OpenSecret, an advocacy group dedicated to illuminating money trails in politics).

3.) Microsoft and another startup called Interknowlogy, designed and hosted the state of Iowa's caucus reporting apps and cloud platform for both Republican and Democratic parties.

Furthermore, while the Iowa caucus votes were being tallied last night, some users took to Twitter to complain that Microsoft's apps and election results website were inaccessible, as USA Today reported.

All of these factors led some to tweet, using the hashtag #MicrosoftRubioFraud, and otherwise discuss online the theory that Microsoft somehow altered its election results tallying software to make it appear as the Rubio received more votes than he actually did on the ground, and that Trump received less. Some blogs also parroted this theory, including the conspiracy-minded Infowars.

Case-closed, right? Except for the fact that Microsoft says it didn't happen. As a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to Popular Science and other outlets:

"We’re pleased to be a part of the technology solutions used for the Iowa Caucuses. The mobile apps worked without issue. National interest in the Iowa Caucuses was high, and some who attempted to access websites may have experienced delays which were quickly addressed."

Also, the company doesn't exactly have a strong motive. Disclosure filings indicate that Microsoft has given almost equally to Republicans and Democrats in the latest election cycle, and previously given much more to Democratic candidates and causes. Also, if the company were really trying to rig the caucus, why didn't Rubio come in first?

Still, it must pain Senator Marco Rubio to read such accusations about his electoral appeal on Twitter. After all, he's said before that the social network is among his favorite things in life.

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson

Amazon Books

Despite Jeff Bezos'recent celestial achievements, it seems Amazon will still be investing in brick and mortar.

The e-commerce giant will be building 300-400 physical bookstores, according to Reuters UK, following its flagship Seattle store which was announced in November 2015.

At first, this move might seem like more than a few steps in the wrong direction. Remember Borders?

The sentiment is pretty well encapsulated by PopSci reporter Kelsey D. Atherton.

But on second glance, the move might not be what it seems. As we reported yesterday, Amazon Prime Air's drone plans are seeing some movement in Europe. But, they would need places to launch from and recharge, especially in rural and suburban areas. The drones will need to be able to fly more 10 miles, carrying a package up to 5 lbs, and fly that distance in less than 30 mins. All this points to distributed infrastructure across the country.

Today, Amazon announces that infrastructure.

Coincidence? Maybe, but probably not. After all, why would the leading seller of e-readers invest so heavily in a medium that contradicts one of their own products?

DOE

Plutonium-238

NASA is running out of plutonium. The space agency uses Pu-238 to fuel many of its deep space missions, including New Horizons, Voyager, the Curiosity rover, and the Mars 2020 rover. These long-lasting batteries were the byproducts of nuclear weapons manufacturing, and now that the world is making less of those, NASA's stockpile of plutonium fuel is dwindling.

In December, the U.S. made its first fresh plutonium in almost 30 years. It was a relatively small amount--1.8 ounces, compared to the 8.8 pounds that a rover like Curiosity requires--but it's a start. In 2016, the Department of Energy (DOE) aims to produce 12 ounces of the stuff.

At today's meeting of NASA's Outer Planets Assessment Group, Rebecca Onuschak from the DOE explained how the government plans to get better at making plutonium for deep space missions.

For starters, they're going to upgrade a lot of the equipment that's being used to produce Pu-238 at the Los Alamos, Idaho, and Oak Ridge national laboratories. This includes new furnaces, thermal vacuum chambers, and hot presses.

Although the DOE used a new process to manufacture its plutonium, some of the hot presses they're using were built in the 1950s, Onuschak said, joking that they're "vintage."

Upgrading the equipment will make creating plutonium safer and more reliable.

The agency is also looking at new ways to improve and scale up the process. "We're trying to make it as nimble as it can be," said Onuschak.

Right now the DOE is looking into a new process that could potentially double their plutonium output, while creating a higher-quality product. It's also cheaper. The secret appears to be in using "a pure neptunium dioxide pellet clad in zircaloy."

Over the next year or so, DOE will figure out how to make these pellets, then bombard them with radiation to see if they work as expected.

Legend Of Zelda in Unreal Engine 4

Legend Of Zelda

Legend Of Zelda in Unreal Engine 4 could hint at what a Zelda game powered by a modern day smartphone would look like. Though controls would be a bit tough...

Nintendo may not be willing to spill details on its upcoming NX console, but it continues to drop hints regarding its mobile strategy. The gaming giant first revealed plans to take back some of its lunch being eaten by smartphone games almost a year ago, and has since put out a mobile Pokémon title and said to expect its communication app Miitomo in March.

By releasing its own titles for iPhone and Android (developed with the help of third-party mobile software firm DeNA), Nintendo could serve the mobile market at low cost to its own operations, while staying focused on games for its dedicated (and more expensive) consoles.

The Japanese gaming company offered a bit more insight into the next gaming app Nintendo fans could expect. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal today, while Nintendo saw a drop in quarterly profit, it cleverly distracted by mentioning that we can expect a mobile app starring one of its “best-known characters.”

And unlike the upcoming Miitomo, “the second game won't be another communication app,” quotes WSJ.

Nintendo wasn’t willing to get much more specific than telling us one if its timeless mascots would make its way to an app. Unlike Miitomo, the unnamed Nintendo character could bring a mobile game with it to iPhone and Android devices. Gamers could see a Super Mario or Legend Of Zelda title make its way to their smartphone, or it could be one of the less popular game characters like Donkey Kong, Ness, Starfox, Kirby, or Metroid's Samus Aran (no offense, guys).

While Nintendo may not own Pokémon outright, Pikachu and the other pocket monsters are closely associated with the company's gaming consoles. Along with Pokémon Shuffle appearing on iOS and Android last fall, the long-awaited Pokémon Go, an augmented reality title, is making its way to gamers in 2016 as well.

The release date doesn't get much more specific than that unfortunately, but at least the trailer looks cool. With the franchise's 20th anniversary being celebrated this month with events for fans and a new Super Bowl ad, Pokémon may be building hype for in time for Go's launch.

But there are more question marks surrounding Nintendo's app to follow Miitomo. While going with a game starring Mario or Link could get many interested in downloading the company's app, a Nintendo-mobile application is purchase-worthy in its own right. The opportunity to breathe new life into old series' remain a possibility. With little to go off of, fans Wii U and 3DS fans will have to wait and see.

CDC/ Cynthia Goldsmith

Zika virus

The first case of the Zika virus being transmitted through sex in the U.S. has been confirmed by the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) and the Dallas County Health Department in Dallas, Texas (DCHHS).

According to the press release put out today by Dallas County, the person became infected with the virus after having sexual contact with a person who got the Zika virus while travelling to a country where the virus was present.

The Dallas County Health Department isn't divulging the person's name or other identifying details out of confidentiality, but notes "There are currently no reports of Zika virus being locally-transmitted by mosquitoes in Dallas County," and "advises recent travelers with Zika virus symptoms as well as individuals diagnosed with Zika virus protect themselves from further mosquito bites."

This is the first time someone has been infected with Zika within the U.S. While at least 31 people in the U.S. have been confirmed to have Zika, they had all recently travelled to Zika-stricken countries and been infected there before returning to the U.S. There are no reports yet of Zika being transmitted through a mosquito within the U.S.

While health officials still say the most common means of getting infected with Zika is through mosquitoes, transmission through sexual means is not completely unheard of.

Earlier this month, the New York Times reported two case studies, one from 2013 and one from 2008, that suggested the virus could be transmitted through sex. In the press release, health officials advised that like all sexually transmitted infections, “Next to abstinence, condoms are the best prevention method.”

Yesterday, W.H.O officials announced that Zika and its possible association with neurological and other health conditions constitutes a global public health emergency. This move could likely help pool resources and research to fight the outbreak.

Immediately, researchers and public health officials worldwide are investigating the link between Zika and the surge in microcephaly, a typically rare condition that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological condition often triggered by viruses that can cause paralysis. These comorbidities were the main reason to sound the alarm and initiate a public health emergency.

While there have been some reports of a vaccine in the works, no vaccine or treatment currently exists for the virus which causes mild flu-like symptoms in about 20 percent of those infected.

Creative Commons / Wikipedia

Nexus 4

Google's Nexus 4 was one of the company's many Nexus devices--meant to be a sort of flagship phone for Android users

Google’s Android operating system for mobile devices has over a billion users. But the first company in Google’s alphabet isn’t stopping there. The search company that recently surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable wants to add even more users to Android. Mainly by taking back control of the operating system by making its own smartphones.

One of Android’s greatest strengths is also its greatest weakness: for better or worse, Google’s smartphone OS is free to install on any device. But in a recent report, the company wants to begin crafting its own Android hardware—controlling the mobile Google experience from top to bottom.

The Information reports that Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai and his team have told colleagues that the company would like to take greater control over the Nexus smartphones, which are made by third-party manufacturers like Samsung, LG, and Huawei, but run Google’s software. An official Google phone could lead to fewer sales for them all.

Google's strategy is not a new one by any means. We’ve seen it employed in all of Apple’s products, but most notably the iPhone, and the folks at Google have no doubt heard just how much money the iOS smartphone rakes in on its own for the company. When a product starts entering the “billions per quarter” mark, competitors are sure to take notice.

And Google has, even in the past. The search company’s initial attempt could be seen in the Nexus program. Nexus phones are meant to showcase the capabilities of stock Android—a pure version of Google’s software with no carrier or hardware-maker bloatware. The devices, made by select hardware partners, were marketed as phones for developers to test their apps on, though many saw the phones as Google’s flagship handsets. The most recent releases include LG’s Nexus 5x and Huawei’s Nexus 6p.

More recently, the rumored Android Silver was meant to address the issue of Google not making its own hardware. The Silver phone was meant to provide a premium option to take on Apple’s iPhone. While the smartphone would present a higher admission price, it would—presumably—offer a more premium experience via build quality, high-end specs and the stock Android experience. Unfortunately, the program has been scrapped.

With Google revisiting its plan to put together its own phones, there’s a chance it could sour relationships with their current Android hardware makers. But, it could mean to an overall greater experience for users of Google’s smartphone platform. As we’ve seen with the iPhone, having control of both hardware and software can lead to a reliable and fluid phone experience by cutting down on bloat and making sure each piece of the software works well with the rest. Now that Google has surpassed Apple as the world’s most valuable corporation, there may be no better time for Alphabet’s standout company to start competing with Cupertino at its own game.

AeroVironment

PUMA AE Drone

Here pictured in Alaska used to check a BP pipeline.

Few places on Earth are as inhospitable as Antarctica. Perhaps the bottom of the sea, or inside a lava lake, but of all the places that people can technically survive, Antarctica’s pretty rough. Sustaining the research at McMurdo station is a civilian-headed effort with military components. Multiple American services and the Coast Guard work together to run Operation Deep Freeze, a recurring resupply mission. This year, to scout for their icebreakers, the Coast Guard brought along drones.

According to drone maker AeroVironment, this year’s resupply mission, which left from Tasmania on December 30, 2015 and reached McMurdo Station on January 18, 2016, was the first ever to feature drones helping the Coast Guard in the Ross Sea. There, they navigated romance subplots with Rachel scouted the icy waters of the relatively hospitable (for Antarctica) but still pretty bad route to the station. Using drones instead of other aircraft means at minimum there are no lives at risk if something goes wrong.

The team used the hand-tossed Puma AE drone, which weighs 13.5 pounds and can fly for over 210 minutes, at a range of just over 9 miles. It streams video, including in infrared, and AeroVironment boasts that it’s “capable of landing on the ground or in fresh or salt water.” So even if it does get lost at sea, there’s a good chance it can be recovered.

That’s almost as impressive as the icebreakers themselves, massive ships made to turn stubborn frozen waterways into clear paths. Read more about a Norwegian icebreaker here.

Peter Hartree/FlickrCC by SA 2.0

Bárðarbunga Volcano

Bárðarbunga Volcano erupting in Iceland.

Q: Can we predict volcanic eruptions?

A: No.

But... it would be really great if we could. Researchers are looking for all kinds of variables (heat, pressure underground, gasses released, tremors, etc) that might indicate that an eruption is immanent. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and other organizations monitor volcanos constantly, because while there are tell-tale signs that magma is on the move inside a volcano, volcanoes don't follow a set script. They can still erupt unpredictably after a period of calm, or subside back into slumber after rumbling a bit.

A new paper published recently in Nature Geoscience makes the case that in order for us to accurately predict when a volcano might erupt, we essentially need to do a background check on the volcano in question and piece together a pattern of behavior. By analyzing rocks that were erupted by the Italian Campi Flegrei volcano long ago, the researchers can piece together what kinds of signs might best indicate a future eruption. It's CSI: Volcano.

On a broader scale, this is nothing new. One of the basic tenants of geology is uniformitarianism, the idea that "the present is the key to the past". The basic physical processes at work in the world haven't really shifted in the past 4.5 billion years: wind and water erode rocks as volcanos spew out lava and tectonic plates separate and crash into each other. By looking at what's happening in the world around us, we can understand what happened in the past.

That brings us to the corollary to uniformitarianism, which notes that the past is also the key to the future. So to understand what might happen at a particular volcano, you might need to look back at that volcano's past.

In this case, researchers found gas bubbles trapped in crystals of a mineral called apatite. Their analysis showed that the gases entered the magma (molten rock under the ground) pretty late in the game, after a lot of magma had already built up, but just days or weeks before the eruption. This could mean that looking for a sudden buildup of gas at this particular volcano could be a good way of figuring out when it might erupt, and give the people living nearby a chance to evacuate.

This doesn't mean that looking for gas buildup will indicate an eruption at all volcanoes around the world. In a blog post, study author David Pyle writes:

This still doesn’t provide us with a simple way to predict the eruptions of any volcano. But it does show how taking a forensic look at the deposits of past eruptions at a specific site offer a way to help identify the monitoring signals that will give us clues to future behaviour. And this moves us a step closer to being able predict when an eruption is likely.

Just to reiterate: there is currently no way to predict volcanic eruptions. But, we sure are hoping that one day, we might be able to get a little bit of an advanced warning.

Screenshot by author, from YouTube

Robot Tentacle In Water

Bones are a constraint. Sure, the rigid structures give us everything from from powerful legs to crushing teeth, at the modest cost of limiting the movements the body can make. This matters less to humans, as we’ve adapted our world pretty well to accommodate the constraints of our bones, but it matters a lot for robots, who often struggle and stumble when forced into a rigid, human frame. There is another, gentler way: instead of making robots that imitate the rigid bodies of humans, we can make them soft, with flexible tentacles like an octopus.

Tentacles work just fine under water, with buoyancy doing much of the fighting against gravity that rigid bones do on land, so under water is a natural place to test such a robotic limb. This one, from Matteo Cianchetti of the BioRobotics Institute in Italy, is one of ten soft robot designs competing in the RoboSoft Grand Challenge at the end of April. The robots will have to race across a sand pit, open a door by its handle, grab a number of mystery objects and avoiding fragile obstacles while under water. It’s a first coming of age for the young but growing soft, weird side of robotics.

With gusto, researchers have made many, many robotic tentacles over the years, from strong gripping ones to tiny squishy ones. Many tentacles rely on inflation to change shape, with different fluids pumped in and out of their tubular lengths. Some others just flop around for fun. They’ve crawled around in water-filled tanks and gently lifted flowers without crushing them.

Underlying all of these weird limbs is future possibility; soft tentacle arms with fine motor skills could make good surgical tools. While soft robots can do many things besides surgery, like play beer pong or keep walking after a car runs them over, surgery is a highly practical use for the promising technology.

Watch a short video about soft robots from Nature below:

Dubuc Motors

Dubuc Tomahawk

The year 2016 is starting to feel a bit like 1916, given the number of new, niche car companies that are popping up. Tesla did it, so why can’t everyone? Companies like Arcimoto, Elio, Jannarelly, and Faraday Future are all inching ever closer to production models built outside the traditional automotive manufacturing system. Now we can add Dubuc Motors to that list.

Dubuc is set to make a four-seat all-electric supercar called the Tomahawk in North America. Its rounded, sporty design is noted for being an “American look,” and it’s got scissor doors for maximum super car cred. Dubuc engineers are aiming for a 160 mph top speed, a 0-60 mph time of about 3 seconds, and a range of 300 miles or so.

There’s not much power train detail on the web site, though we do know that there will be two electric motors, one front and one rear, giving it a sporty all-wheel drive function. The Dubuc Tomahawk also has a flat undercarriage, which suggests that the batteries will be arranged under the floor for improved front-rear balance.

The car is already making appearances at auto shows, and the very interested can either put down a $5000 deposit to own a Tomahawk when it rolls off the line in 2017, or they can reserve stock in the company itself. The total price of the car will be $110,000, putting it in the price range of the now-defunct Tesla Roadster.

Speaking of Tesla, Dubuc is calling the Tomahawk “the first long range, luxury, electric vehicle that was designed and engineered for sports car lovers.” The Tesla Roadster of 2007, for comparison, had a top speed of 130 mph and a range of about 250 miles. The current Model S P85D can do 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds in Ludicrous mode and has four seats and all-wheel drive.

The Tomahawk’s design screams supercar, and its numbers push the envelope in the right direction toward longer range and more fun driving dynamics, but it’s hard to be first in what is becoming a crowded field.

John Chae

Google wants the world to use its Artificial Intelligence

Google searches might get a lot smarter than they already are.

Amit Singhal, Google's head of search, announced he will be retiring at the end of February, and will be replaced by John Giannandrea, the current head of Google's machine learning and artificial intelligence push.

Giannandrea (who told PopSci about his plans for the future of Google's A.I. in the fall) was brought into Google in 2010, after the company acquired his startup Metaweb. That technology became the underlying structure of Google's knowledge graph, which uses machine learning to pull in information and answers based on user searches.

If you ask Google about a date in history, the knowledge graph will look for it and display it above any links. Same with a notable person (e.g. actor and politician), movies, weather forecasts, famous places and tourist attractions, and other Google-able information. In theory, these shortcuts are supposed to save you time.

Google

Example of weather forecast results from Google's Knowledge Graph

If you type in "forecast" in Google, it will automatically display something like this for your area, without you having to click through.

Giannandrea also oversees research for projects like Google's self-driving car, photo recognition in Google Photos, and voice recognition.

But Giannandrea is no stranger to search, also overseeing the integration of machine learning into Google's search algorithm, called RankBrain.

Even as Google has already implemented machine learning into search, this is a signal that there might be more changes on the horizon. After all, machine learning requires an immense amount of data, and now Google's foremost A.I. research manager is now at the helm of indexing the entire known internet.

Fitbit

Fitbit Alta

The Fitbit Alta is the company's sleekest 2016 wearable

Among wrist wearables dedicated to tracking one's fitness, Fitbit's are among the most popular. Trackers like the Fitbit Flex and Charge provide workout enthusiasts with a subtle option, while the latest Fitbit Blaze more closely resembles a smartwatch. The latest addition to the family, the Fitbit Alta, looks to provide an even more visually appealing option for the company's 2016 wearable devices.

Fitbit's new $130 Alta device will offer similar tracking to what we've seen in older products from the company like the Flex and Charge. Step-counting and sleep-tracking will join reminders to move and SmartTrack, a feature the company claims will automagically detect how you're working out, and measure it accordingly.

And like the Charge and Blaze, Fitbit's Alta will display notifications for phone calls, text messages and calendar alerts on the device's OLED screen. The Alta will work with iPhones, Android devices and even Windows Phones.

Fitbit

Fitbit Alta

Fitbit Alta color options

The Alta is visually much different than the company's first release of the new year, the Fitbit Blaze.

Along with being much sleeker and more subtle, the Alta eschews the Blaze's smartwatch look — for better or worse. While the Alta may be just enough for some people, features like the FitStar app we tried out at CES 2016 won't be feasible on a device whose screen is this small.

Despite not having workouts depicted on your wrist, the automatic exercise detection of the could prove useful enough for some. The Alta is also cheaper than Fitbit's Blaze, at around $70 less.

While the Blaze chases after marketshare from wearables like the Apple Watch or various Android Wear devices, the Fitbit Alta signifies a return to form for what made the fitness tracker so popular in the first place. Simple bracelets that those who are interested in staying in shape could satisfy the needs of those not wanting to dive into owning a full-fledged smartwatch. The casual, fitness-focused user hoping to be a Fitbit now has a worthy 2016 option.

The Fitbit Alta goes on sale today for $129.95 and starts shipping in March 2016.

William K. Hartmann

Theia-Earth Collision

An artist's interpretation of what the collision between the two planets might have looked like.

Soon after the Earth coalesced in the early solar system, it was hit by another planet, Theia. The collision formed the moon, but researchers are still trying to piece together exactly what happened, including what happened to Theia. For years, researchers have thought that Theia might have smashed into Earth at an angle, strong enough to obliterate Theia into little bits and create the moon. But that might not be the case. Instead, a recent study suggests that Earth might actually be a chimera of the two planets.

A new paper suggests that instead of a simple sideswipe that crushed Theia into smaller pieces that formed the moon, the impact was more of a head-on collision that was so forceful that it thoroughly mixed Theia and the Earth together, giving both Earth and the newly formed moon a unified geological signature.

The 'giant impact hypothesis' has been floating around since the 1970's, but researchers are still arguing over the exact nature of the collision. Unfortunately, there are no instant replay cameras that date back to that moment in time, so researchers have to content themselves with the next best thing: rocks.

By analyzing rocks from both the Earth and the moon, the researchers found that there was essentially no difference between their oxygen isotopes, indicating the possibility that Theia and the Earth mixed together. The finding directly contradicts results from another paper in 2014 which found evidence that the moon had a distinct isotopic signature, supporting the sideswiping hypothesis.

"We don’t see any difference between the Earth’s and the moon’s oxygen isotopes; they’re indistinguishable,” Edward Young, lead author of the new study said

Why care about the difference between oxygen isotopes on the Earth and the moon? Scientists have long been puzzled by the idea that the Earth and the Moon had very similar geological signatures. The 2014 finding provided researchers with an explanation that fit into the computer models of an oblique collision. If Theia impacted the early Earth at an angle, scientists would expect the Moon to be more like Theia, and the Earth... more like Earth.

A study last year found that it was possible for Theia to be almost a twin to Earth which makes the weird similarity between the geology of the Earth and moon fit with the sideswipe theory. But this new theory is simpler, suggesting that instead of bouncing off each other like pool balls, Theia and Earth got mixed together like cake batter, spinning off the moon (made of the same mixture) in the process.

Researchers will continue to try to reconstruct the planetary collision in the future, and there will probably be a lot more conversation and controversy within the planetary geology community before a consensus is reached.

In the meantime, it's pretty amazing that Earth withstood an impact that completely totaled another planet, and got a moon in the process. Well done, Earth.

Screenshot by author, from YouTube

Shuty MP-1 3D Printed Gun

All 3D-printed guns are young guns. The weapon as a distinct category didn’t exist before May 2013, when Defense Distributed’s single-shot Liberator blasted them into existence. Before the Liberator, people printed parts and incorporated them into existing guns.

After the Liberator, designers expanded beyond its single-shot design. Now, a YouTube user with the handle Derwood is showing of a 3D printed semi-automatic weapon dubbed the Shuty-MP1.

Evolving from single-shot pistols to semi-automatics the first time took roughly 600 years, though with the existence of bullets and modern gun-making know how, it's not terribly surprising people were able to make the transition for printing guns in just two and a half years. That means Derwood’s gun, made mostly of 3D-printed plastic parts, can fire an entire magazine of 9 mm bullets, ejecting spent bullet casings as it advances the next round into the chamber.

Still, in some ways, Derwood’s gun isn’t quite as impressive as the revolvers we’ve seen before. As Wired reports:

But unlike other 3-D printed weapons that have spooked gun control advocates and raised thorny First and Second Amendment questions, the Shuty-MP1 is far from a fully printed firearm. Derwood’s “95 percent printed” description may apply to the overall material that makes up the gun. But unlike some other 3-D printed guns, he didn’t attempt to build the most complex moving parts or stress-absorbing elements from plastic; its store-bought Glock barrel, hammer, firing pin, bolts, and springs are all metal.

That makes the Shuty-MP1 in many ways like the partially 3D-printed guns that predate it, where a printer makes some of the parts and combines them with off-the-shelf models. And even then, this is more proof-of-concept, and not a weapon someone would actually want to use. According to Derwood, the plastic holding the barrel starts to melt after about 18 shots.

Watch Derwood assemble the gun below:

The human brain is known for its signature folds, which curve in and out in a convoluted pattern. This folding enables us to stuff our rather large brains inside our skulls and reduces the distance between the neurons and circuits that transmit information within the brain. But until now, how this folding happens hasn't been easily explained. Now, using a 3D-printed gel model of a fetal brain, a group of researchers showed that simple physical forces cause the brain to pull and fold into its signature roadmap-like curves. Their work was published this week in the journal, Nature Physics.

Back in 1975, scientists surmised that our brains formed this way not because of biochemical reactions--another theory--but simply by the laws of physics. At the time though, they couldn’t figure out a proper experiment to prove their theory. Now a group of researchers came up with a fun experiment to demonstrate the forces at work.

First, they created a 3D-printed gel model of a developing fetus’s smooth brain, before the folding happened. The model consisted of two gel layers; an inner layer to mimic the white matter and then an outer elastomer gel to coat the inner layer, acting as the outer cortical grey matter. Together, the two layers mimic brain growth. After they placed the model in the solution, the fetal gel brain quickly formed into the characteristic folds, just as the researchers suspected. As the different layers of gel expanded, even slightly, they generated compression forces that forced the outer layer to draw back.

Mahadevan Lab/Harvard SEAS

Scientists used this 3D-model of a fetus' developing brain to show how our brain develops its weird folds.

The researchers also created a computer simulation of the forces at work. They write that this is likely what is going on in the brain as well. As the brain’s cortex--the outer layer of the cerebellum--starts to expand, it comes under significant pressure. This pressure makes the brain mechanically unstable and forces the outer layer to fold, generating the creases.

This theory could help us to better understand not only brain development, the researchers say, but also how it can go wrong and lead to certain types of brain disorders. "Brains are not exactly the same from one human to another, but we should all have the same major folds in order to be healthy," says Jun Young Chung, an engineering professor at Harvard and co-author of the paper, in a press release. "Our research shows that if a part of the brain does not grow properly, or if the global geometry is disrupted, we may not have the major folds in the right place, which may cause dysfunction in the brain. "

Is it a disco ball? A glowing hairball? An orb-like alien with tendrils?

Nope, that's our sun.

In this video from NASA, solar researcher Holly Gilbert explains a gorgeous dynamic computer model of the Sun's magnetic fields. The pink and green lines are open magnetic field lines, extending into space, while their counterparts, the white closed magnetic field lines emanate from and then circle back towards the sun's surface.

In addition to just being fascinating, understanding how the Sun's magnetic field works can help us better prepare for solar storms, or coronal mass ejections, events that can disrupt the function of electrical grids, GPS devices, and other technology here on Earth.

Researchers hope that computer models like this one, combined with observations from satellites, and even Cubesats will help make predicting and preparing for those events easier.

Aaron Randall

The Megabite app turns your boring food into an exciting smiley face.

It's a problem as old as time. You want to make a smiley face out of your food, but you don't want to get your hands dirty.

Enter Megabite. The app, which is currently only available as source code, analyzes a picture of food and then transforms each food item into a nose, ear, mouth, or eye to form a smiley face.

The software first figures out where the plate is in the picture, then individual items, and then rotates them to fit into specific "face" templates.

These templates are an arrangement of rectangles, and the software sorts and places food items into each rectangle by how long or wide they are. A piece of bacon is longer than it is wide, so it could be a mouth or an ear.

Here's a gif, courtesy of Megabite maker Aaron Randall.

If you're truly committed to digitally rearranging your breakfast, the code, for iOS, is available on Randall's GitHub page.