Dec 13
Here’s a breakdown on how the new variant impacts immunity, whether from the original vaccinations, boosters or a natural infection.
Dec 13
Gathering with friends or family this year? Here’s how and when to use at-home rapid tests to screen for COVID-19 beforehand.
Dec 13
South African President Has COVID And Delegates His Responsibilities For Week
Posted in: Today's ChiliThe leader’s symptoms have been mild, his office said.
Dec 13
The comic and the NFL player are a “dead on match,” people on social media declared while watching Johnston play on Sunday.
Dec 13
Apple brought some design chops back to the iMac lineup with the 24-inch 2021 M1 models, and a pretty good dose of extra performance, too. If you’ve been looking at getting an 8-core model for productivity or creative chores but found the $1,500 price a tad much, there’s good news. The 8GB version with 256GB of storage is now available at Amazon for $1,400, the lowest price we’ve seen yet.
Buy Apple iMac M1 at Amazon – $1,400
The 2021 iMac M1 received an excellent Engadget review score for a variety of reason. With a new M1 chip also found on Apple’s MacBooks, it delivers formidable performance for activities ranging from spreadsheets to video editing to gaming. It even loads quickly, waking up almost instantly from sleep mode and getting to the desktop in around 25 seconds from a cold start. On top of that, it’s 50 percent quieter than past models.
It’s also got a fresh new design, with slimmer bezels and a more refined look. The new 24-inch, 4.5K Retina display is also excellent, thanks to the full DCI-P3 color gamut coverage and 500-nit brightness. Another nice upgrade is the new 1080p FaceTime Camera with larger image sensors and AI tricks that improve exposure, color and noise levels.
The drawbacks are few, but they include a lack of HDR on the display, a port selection limited to USB-C and the Magic Mouse and Keyboard that can be uncomfortable to use. Also, if you were hoping to pick up a colorful version of the iMac, only the silver model is on sale, alas. Still, it’s a nice little saving for deal hunters on a model we haven’t seen discounted very often.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Dec 13
NVIDIA’s Shield TV Pro is a multi-talented Android TV device that can not just stream Netflix, but also work as a Plex Server and run NVIDIA’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service. The biggest drawback is the $200 price, and it rarely goes on sale. Luckily, you can pick one up today for $180 at Best Buy, matching one of the lowest prices we’ve ever seen.
Buy NVIDIA Shield TV Pro at Best Buy – $180
The Shield TV Pro is one of the best streaming devices out there, with support for Chromecast streaming, 4K HDR Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos audio support. You also get the fast Tegra X1+ processor that can do 4K upscaling while ensuring that GeForce Now gaming works smoothly. It also comes with a comfortable triangular remote with support for voice control via Google Assistant and other services. Finally, it comes with 16GB of expandable storage so that you can stream your own content.
If the Shield TV Pro is still too much, NVIDIA’s regular Shield TV is also on sale for $130 at both Best Buy and Amazon. That model can’t work as a Plex server, but it otherwise offers the same features as the Shield TV Pro, like 4K HDR Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, along with the voice-controlled remote. Other features include a gigabit ethernet port and a microSD card slot for storage expansion.
Buy NVIDIA Shield TV at Best Buy – $180Buy NVIDIA Shield TV at Amazon – $130
Both of those products are great all-around streamers, but if you’re in the Apple ecosystem, the 2021 Apple TV 4K is still on sale for $150. As mentioned before, it’s one of the best high-end streaming boxes available thanks to the A12 Bionic processor that delivers faster performance than ever. It also supports Dolby Atmos sound, 60 fps Dolby Vision, AirPlay 3, screen mirroring and HomeKit..
Dec 13
Roughly 40% of new covid-19 cases in London consist of the recently discovered omicron variant, according to UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who made the starling claim on Monday. The news comes as the British public is urged to get coronavirus booster vaccines to help shore up protection against a disease that has…
Dec 13
MGM Resorts is letting applicants try out casino and hotel jobs in virtual reality (VR) before signing on, Business Insider has reported. It’s part of a new effort to reduce employee attrition during the “great resignation” that has caused labor shortages in the US and elsewhere during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The casino and resort group is using headsets from a VR company called Strivr that specializes in virtual training for industry health and safety, customer service and more. The idea is to let employees experience typical job activities so that they know what to expect. “It can be very difficult just to verbally explain the types of positions or show a video,” MGM Resorts’ chief HR officer Laura Lee told BI. Using VR, by contrast, lets applicants “throw a headset on and really experience the job.”
MGM plans to use the headsets at its offices and possibly career fairs, starting in January. The idea is to let potential customer service employees experience key aspects of the job, both positive and negative. For instance, the MGM Resorts VR module would include interactions with difficult guests, something that has reportedly become more common with COVID.
The negative interactions could discourage some candidates, but MGM expects that it would also allow for better hiring decisions. The use of the tech “might’ve resolved some turnover we experienced when people accepted positions and then realized it wasn’t quite what they thought it would be,” said Lee.
MGM plans to use the tech for its proposed $9.1 billion hotel, resort and casino in Osaka, Japan. It would be the first casino in the nation, so potential employees may not be familiar with typical jobs. As such, the VR option could be offered to candidates (it won’t be required) to show them customer-oriented functions like hotel check-ins and gaming operations.
VR might not be the hit everyone expected in the consumer space, but it’s certainly caught on with enterprises, particularly for training. MGM also uses Strivr’s tech for customer-interaction training with new employees, saying it allows them to fail without consequences while learning a role. “Virtual Reality gives employees the opportunity to think and correct themselves without getting stressed or worried that they did something wrong,” Lee said in a Strivr webinar.
Dec 13
Becoming an astronaut requires perfect 20/20 vision, but unfortunately, the effects of space can cause astronauts to return to Earth with degraded eyesight. Now, researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed a sleeping bag that that could prevent or reduce those problems by effectively sucking fluid out of astronauts’ heads.
More than half of NASA astronauts that went to the International Space Station (ISS) for more than six months have developed vision problems to varying degrees. In one case, astronaut John Philips returned from a six month stint about the ISS in 2005 with his vision reduced from 20/20 to 20/100, as the BBC reported.
For multi-year trips to Mars, for example, this could become an issue. “It would be a disaster if astronauts had such severe impairments that they couldn’t see what they’re doing and it compromised the mission,” lead researcher Dr. Benjamin Levine told the BBC.
UT Southwestern/NASA
Fluids tend to accumulate in the head when you sleep, but on Earth, gravity pulls them back down into the body when you get up. In the low gravity of space, though, more than a half gallon of fluid collects in the head. That in turn applies pressure to the eyeball, causing flattening that can lead to vision impairment — a disorder called spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome, or SANS. (Dr. Levine discovered SANS by flying cancer patients aboard zero-G parabolic flights. They still had ports in their heads to receive chemotherapy, which gave researchers an access point to measure pressure within their brains.)
To combat SANS, researchers collaborated with outdoor gear manufacturer REI to develop a sleeping bag that fits around the waist, enclosing the lower body. A vacuum cleaner-like suction device is then activated that draws fluid toward the feet, preventing it from accumulating in the head.
Around a dozen people volunteered to test the technology, and the results were positive. Some questions need to be answered before NASA brings the technology aboard the ISS, including the optimal amount of time astronauts should spend in the sleeping bag each day. They also need to determine if every astronaut should use one, or just those at risk of developing SANS.
Still, Dr. Levine is hopeful that SANS will no longer be an issue by the time NASA is ready to go to Mars. “This is perhaps one of the most mission-critical medical issues that has been discovered in the last decade for the space program,” he said in a statement.
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