Following its CES 2019 announcement of the Radeon VII GPU, AMD unveiled its third generation of Ryzen desktop processor. The new Ryzen isn’t scheduled to launch until mid-2019, but it will support the Radeon VII.
According to CNET, AMD demoed the new Ryzen during the company’s CES keynote presentation. Using the new Radeon VII, the Ryzen played Forza Horizon 4 with a consistent 100 frames per second at 1080p. "This system is the most advanced PC gaming hardware in the world, together in one system–third gen Ryzen, [and] Radeon VII," said AMD president and CEO Lisa Su. During CNET’s CES coverage, they saw the new Ryzen go up against and slightly outperform the Intel i9-9900K on a Cinebench multicore test. Both CPUs performed similarly, but Ryzen used much less power.
The Radeon VII is the world’s first 7nm gaming GPU, which Su claims to be the most powerful GPU that AMD has ever built. At CES, Su demonstrated how Devil May Cry 5 would play on the Radeon VII, which she explained runs "well above" 60 frames per second at 4K resolution. In comparison to AMD’s previously most powerful GPU, the Vega 64, the Radeon VII runs most games with an average 25 percent performance boost. Some games see even greater improvements, such as Battlefield V, which receives a 35 percent boost.
AMD’s Radeon VII is scheduled to release February 7 and cost $700, but it also comes bundled with the remake of Resident Evil 2, The Division 2, and Devil May Cry 5. No exact date has been announced for the third generation Ryzen CPU, nor a price point.
We’ve seen a couple of attempts at marrying screens with attire to create endlessly customizable fashion, but so far none have actually made it to market. At first glance, the Pix Backpack looks like another one of these intriguing accessories that never escapes the concept stage. The Kickstarter pitch promises a backpack with a retro-aesthetic display you manipulate using — you guessed it — a mobile app. The app features a library of images, animations, widgets and even games that populate the low-res color screen, or you can make your own pixel art through a simple editor. The Pix Backpack isn’t just a quirky idea destined for the halls of vaporware, though.
Checking it out on the CES show floor, the thing is a fully developed product that’s around a month from launching. From a purely functional point of view, the backpack is a good shape and crafted from nice, robust material. It’s a bit big for kids but the Pix peeps are working on a smaller model after this one goes to market. There are a bunch of internal pockets to stop your stuff from jumbling around, and the LED display that’s disguised by a layer of fabric doesn’t seem to add any extra weight to the accessory.
There doesn’t appear to be any obvious ‘catch.’ All the electronics are waterproof, and the display itself is completely flexible and generally life-proof. Sure, the app isn’t as fully featured as the original crowdfunding pitch promised yet — a Tetris clone is the only working game right now, for instance — but it all just… works. You do have to provide your own power source, but I’m told a standard 10,000mAh mobile charger will keep the display live for five to six hours, and the type of person the backpack will appeal too probably has one of those on them at all times anyway.
The Pix’s cost might end up being the major sticking point. With early adopter pricing available through the backpack’s Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns a distant memory, anyone wanting to pick up one online a month or so from now will have to cough up $260 for the privilege. You may think the idea of lugging around a customizable screen is nonsensical, of course, but if you’re the multicolored kick-wearing type, this could be another way for you to wear your personality.
Your genome is sort of like a library—with each gene an instruction manual for making proteins. Bad news is, you can’t return a book and take out a new edition. But the technique of gene therapy allows you to revise your copy of the book, so to speak…giving you the ability, potentially, to make new and different proteins.
Now scientists have experimented with a new way to make text revisions—by inhaling the changes. They tested the concept by having mice breathe in genetic material called messenger RNA, or mRNA. For the test, the mRNA included instructions to manufacture luciferase—the stuff that lights up in fireflies.
The researchers packaged the mRNA with a degradable polymer, to trick the mice’s lung cells into accepting the package. And once the cells gobbled it up, they began to glow—proving that inhaling mRNA is an effective way to kick-start the production of new and novel proteins, like the firefly enzyme.
The scientists also repeated the experiment in mice whose cells had been genetically engineered to turn permanently red if they received a copy of mRNA—making it possible to count the proportion of cells affected by a dose. The proof of concept is in the journal Advanced Materials. [Asha Kumari Patel et al., Inhaled Nanoformulated mRNA Polyplexes for Protein Production in Lung Epithelium]
Of course, the point isn’t to make mice glow. Instead, one idea is to use this technique to help cystic fibrosis patients. People with CF have a genetic mutation that causes a buildup of sticky mucus in their lungs. Several of the study authors work with a publicly traded biotech company called Translate Bio, which is conducting phase 1 and 2 trials to determine if inhaling messenger RNA could provide a genetic fix for cystic fibrosis. Regardless of the particular case of CF, the luciferase example shows that inhalation genetic therapy could be an inspiration.
A new method of X-ray scanning will allow for the visualization of many more biological molecules, providing critical information about what is inside molecules to scientists who currently can only access their outer shape or envelope. Such information could be a major boost to studies of viruses, for example.
Thanks to the new method, this image of a biomolecule reveals its intricate internal structure in orange, red and yellow. Until now, scientists would only have been able to see the blue outline. (Image courtesy of Nature Methods)
With existing techniques, you can only see the outline of the virus, but this method allows us to see inside the virus molecule to understand how the genetic information is arranged, potentially giving new insight into how the virus injects this genetic information into its host.”
The method has solved the phase problem for a particular molecular determination technique called solution scattering. The phase problem is where critical information about the phase of a molecule is lost during the experimental process of making a physical measurement.
Most molecular structures today are solved using X-ray crystallography, where the structures scatter intense X-rays in patterns consisting of hundreds of thousands of unique pieces of information, which are used to ultimately reveal the structure at high-resolution.
The problem is that more than 75% of molecular structures do not readily form ordered crystals that diffract well. That means many molecules are difficult to visualize in three dimensions.
Biological molecules can exhibit dynamic motions that have an impact on how they function, but those motions are missing when structures crystallize, resulting in the loss of important biological information.
One way around this obstacle is to use a technique called solution scattering in which X-rays scatter off of molecules floating in solution instead of arranged in a crystal. Solution scattering allows the molecules to move dynamically in their natural states, enabling the visualization of large-scale conformational dynamics important for biological function. However, as the molecules tumble in solution, they scatter the X-rays in many different orientations, losing most of the information, typically yielding only 10 to 20 unique pieces of data. Until now, such little information only yielded low-resolution outlines of the particle shapes.
The researchers developed an algorithm that enables reconstructing the three-dimensional electron density of a molecule, similar to a 3-D reconstruction of the brain produced by a CT scan. However, this algorithm uses only the one-dimensional data from solution scattering experiments. It enables seeing the internal density variations of the molecules instead of only the envelope of the particle shape in order to better understand the molecular structures in solution.
The new method is based on the well-known mathematical technique called iterative phase retrieval, which is a computational technique that provides a way to solve the phase problem. The phase problem is akin to having a camera that accurately records all the intensities of each pixel, but scrambles where those pixels are, based on a complex mathematical equation. So, you’re left with a useless image of scrambled pixels.
Scientists have typically worked to decode that mathematical equation by changing the image a little bit to make sure it looks approximately as they expect. For example, in a landscape photo, the blue pixels depicting the sky should naturally be at the top. Solving the phase problem is like decoding the equation and being able to place all the pixels where they’re supposed to be, reconstructing the original image.
However, this process changes some of the intensities, so you correct them based on the original scrambled image. This method cycles through the process iteratively, gradually improving the phases with each cycle, ultimately retrieving the final phases, solving the phase problem and reconstructing the desired image.
This allows scientists to reconstruct not only the three- dimensional phases but also the three-dimensional intensities that are lost in solution scattering experiments as the molecules tumble randomly — and all from one-dimensional experimental data.
For more information, contact Ellen Goldbaum at 716-645-4605, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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Wandersong is a side-scrolling rhythm adventure game that is—pardon my language—charming as all heck. Its combination of inventive mechanics and comedic, heartfelt writing have caused many to fall in love with it, myself included. And for five months Steam wasn’t sure it was a real game.
As part of Valve’s ongoing effort to weed out an infestation of “fake games” on Steam, it instituted a “confidence metric” that limits features like trading cardsand achievements, both of which have been big breadwinners for sketchy developers, until Steam can algorithmically determine that a game’s the real deal.
In many cases, this takes a handful of days, if even that. But Wandersong has been out since September of last year, and until just a few minutes ago, if you checked its Steam page, you’d have find a little note that read “Steam is learning about this game” with a list of limited features.
Initially, its developers chalked this up to a percentage of positive reviews so large that Valve’s data-hungry math monster didn’t know what to make of it.
“Wandersong’s Steam reviews are so good that Valve doesn’t necessarily believe it’s a real game, and still haven’t enabled many basic features for us in case it’s a bot trick,” the game’s developers wrote on Twitter this morning, noting that this is why players haven’t been able to feature the game on their Steam profiles. “BUT IT’S REAL.”
This would have been a funny story, but it turned out that the real answer was more mundane. After talking about his game’s plight on Twitter earlier today, Wandersong creator Greg Lobanov heard from Valve, and he passed Valve’s email along to Kotaku. In it, the Steam team said that they were “surprised” to see the “Steam is learning about this game” note on Wandersong’s store page, because based on the metrics they measure—which, they said, do not include reviews—it should have passed the test with flying colors.
Valve then discovered the real culprit: a bug that prevented store pages from updating. Wandersong and a handful of other games had, in fact, survived Steam’s scrutiny and earned the ornery old storefront’s trust, but it wasn’t registering. This was why Wandersong could release trading cards despite ostensible limitations, but couldn’t be featured in Steam users’ profiles.
A Valve representative confirmed the bug to Kotaku and said that they “believe we will have a fix later this evening.” It appears that fix—or at least, a portion of it—has already gone out, as Wandersong is now in the clear.
Lobanov, who says he learned from Valve that his game’s visibility was not impacted by the bug, is mostly just relieved that it all worked out. “I’m glad that we were able to bring what was actually an issue to light, and get it fixed,” he said to Kotaku in an email. “It would have been nice for a human to intervene before the problem grew to comedic proportions, but in the long run it didn’t impact THAT much, so I’ll choose to keep laughing about it like I was at the start.”
Congratulations to Wandersong for finally becoming a real game.
This is a short video of a woman in virtual reality (anybody know what game that is?) who drops a grenade trying to throw it, and proceeds to run for cover in real life — straight into a stone fireplace. Obviously, whatever virtual hit points she avoided in grenade damage she almost certainly made up for in real life pain, and I hope this serves as an important lesson to everyone. “And what lesson would that be?” Always dive away from virtual grenades, never run.
Keep going for the whole video.
Thanks to Linby, who agrees virtual reality related deaths are going to rise exponentially over the next few years.
Wireless carriers are supposed to keep a tight leash on your location information, but that’s not the case in practice. Motherboard has learned that network location data is reaching bounty hunters and others who aren’t supposed to have it. Effectively, it’s the result of a flawed data chain. Carriers like AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile (more on Engadget’s parent Verizon in a bit) are relatively strict, passing their info to data aggregators like Zumigo and requiring consent before those aggregators’ clients are allowed to use that data. However, things quickly get out of hand. Third parties like Microbilt have sold that data to everyone from bail bond companies to landlords, and those companies promptly use or resell it without telling the affected people.
The prices are initially low, as well. Microbilt can provide basic location info for $5 per device, and $13 for live tracking. Resellers tend to hike the price in order to turn a profit, but it’s still low enough that a determined individual could afford it. In Motherboard‘s test case, it cost $300 to get information accurate to within a third of a mile.
Many of the companies involved are backing away in light of the privacy breach. Microbilt said it required that clients obtained consent and said the Motherboard incident was an example of abuse it wasn’t aware of. It also pulled web documents relating to its mobile location offering. AT&T and T-Mobile, meanwhile cut off Microbilt’s access. “We only permit sharing of location when a customer gives permission for cases like fraud prevention or emergency roadside assistance, or when required by law,” an AT&T spokesman said. “Over the past few months, as we committed to do, we have been shutting down everything else. We have shut down access for MicroBilt as we investigate these allegation[s].”
Sprint said privacy and security were a “top priority,” and stressed that it “does not have a direct relationship” with Microbilt, but didn’t outline how its data might end up in Microbilt’s hands. Verizon, meanwhile, didn’t directly address Microbilt told Engadget that it fixed “similar issues” in the first part of 2018. That might be borne out by Motherboard‘s experience. Microbilt suggested its service would work for all carriers, but the middleman involved either couldn’t or wouldn’t search for Verizon users.
The investigation shows that location data isn’t all that closely guarded, and that determined people can get that data if they’re willing to pay. And it doesn’t take much to see why that could be a problem. Never mind bounty hunters — this could let stalkers know your rough whereabouts, or reveal politicians’ travel patterns. Until carriers can guarantee that data won’t reach the wrong hands, this represents a glaring privacy hole.
Verizon owns Engadget’s parent company, Oath (formerly AOL). Rest assured, Verizon has no control over our coverage. Engadget remains editorially independent.
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