Amtrak put a $151 billion proposal on the table to build an ultra-high speed rail along the Eastern corridor.
From MAKE: 15-Year-Old Maker Astronomically Improves Pancreatic Cancer Test
Maryland young maker Jack Andraka isn’t old enough to drive yet, but he’s just pioneered a new, improved test for diagnosing pancreatic cancer that is 90% accurate, 400 times more sensitive, and 26,000 times less expensive than existing methods. Andraka had gotten interested in pancreatic cancer, and knew that early detection is a challenge. He gleaned information on the topic from his “good friend Google,†and began his research. Yes, he even got in trouble in his science class for reading articles on carbon nanotubes instead of doing his classwork. When Andraka had solidified ideas for his novel paper sensor, he wrote out his procedure, timeline, and budget, and emailed 200 professors at research institutes. He got 199 rejections and one acceptance from Johns Hopkins: “If you send out enough emails, someone’s going to say yes.†Andraka was recently awarded the grand prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his groundbreaking discoveries. [via Fast Company]
Watch Andraka talk about his improved test:
from MAKE
From Lifehacker: Embed an RFID Chip Inside Your Phone
If you use an RFID card for your transit pass or ID card at work you can embed that card right into your phone so you don’t have to carry it around. Electronics DIY web site Adafruit shows you how to do it. More »
from Lifehacker
From Lifehacker: Make a Smartphone Sound Amplifier Out of a Plastic Cup
If your smartphone’s too quiet, you can always buy some speakers. If you’d rather keep your budget to under $1, you can make your own amplifier out of a plastic cup and two bobby pins. More »
from Lifehacker
From Gizmodo: AT&T’s New Shared Data Plans Are Ridiculously Expensive
With AT&T desperately trying to move away from unlimited data plans, it only makes sense for AT&T to follow Verizon’s lead in creating ridiculously priced shared data plans. Shared data plans lets users pool together their data plan for use on multiple devices like their phone, tablet, MiFis and more but for a more ridiculous price than it should be. More »
from Gizmodo
From Gizmodo: Why There’s More to Rising Sea Levels Than Melting Ice
Most simple explanations of climate change suggest that rising sea levels are a result of melting ice in the polar regions. While that’s true to an extent, there’s a simple piece of physics behind the rising waters that you might not have been made aware of. This video helps explain why it’s thermal expansion that’s the real problem—now we just need to work out how to stop it. [YouTube] More »
from Gizmodo
From Geeks are Sexy Technology News: Smartphone Skin Cancer Dermatology
The University of Michigan recently released a new smartphone app that’s designed to help you do self-examinations for skin cancer.
The free app, called UMSkinCheck, works by taking 23 (naked) pictures of yourself and analyzing them for moles and legions. The app will also have useful information and tools associated with skin cancer.
I wonder if smartphone cameras are really of a high enough resolution yet for this to be truly effective. Of course, it’s never going to be infallible, but will this really detect skin cancer unless it’s already quite far along?
Better to have something than nothing I suppose.
[UMSkinCheck | Via Gizmodo]