Ten bucks — that’s what many on-demand music streaming services like Rhapsody and Spotify cost per month. But — according to Recode – Apple thinks $10 is too damn high, so it’s already talking to music labels in an effort to bring Beat Music’s price down and entice users to choose it over its rivals. Back when an Apple exec shot down rumors that the company’s sunsetting Beats Music, Recode said that while the service will stay, there might be major changes coming — this cheaper pricing might be one of them. It’s now up to Cupertino to convince these corporations (it’s reportedly sussing out a new set of rights with music labels, even as you read this) to sign on the dotted line. Unfortunately, you won’t be seeing any of these big Beats Music upgrades until next year, so you’ll have to pony up a few more $10 bills for now.
Let’s face it: colonoscopies are pretty unpleasant. But what if you could eat a spoonful of yogurt to check for cancer rather than enduring that procedure? MIT professor Sangeeta Bhatia is working on engineered bacteria that detects colorectal cancer. After the nanoparticles pass through the digestive system, a urine sample shows results on a reactive paper — similar to that of a pregnancy test. In addition to being much less invasive, the high-powered yogurt method doesn’t require a lab full of equipment, making it an attractive alternative for poor locales. Here’s to hoping scientists figure out a better way to get through a root canal next.
[Photo credit: Deb Lindsey for The Washington Post via Getty Images]
Twitter has just awarded MIT’s Media Lab with $10 million (to be completed over the course of five years) to pore over, analyze and scrutinize every public tweet ever made, all for the sake of science. This new MIT project called Laboratory for Social Machines (LSM) will study patterns of online communication through social media. The researchers then plan to build data visuals and develop mobile apps and other tools (such as one that journalists can use to monitor trends), based on what they learn from studying the social network. According to Bloomberg, one of the project’s major plans is to look into social media’s power to generate negative energy a lot better than it does positive energy.
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Facebook came under a ton of fire this summer when it revealed that it’d manipulated some peoples’ news feeds in an experiment to track mood changes. Well, The Social Network took note and has recently announced it’s changing how experiments will be performed and from here on out, Zuck and Co. will give researchers clearer guidelines to follow. Meaning, in part, that if a study drills down on a particular demographic or relates to something its users would consider “deeply personal” (i.e. feelings or moods), before the research begins it has to go through what Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer calls an advanced review process. That review process will be handled by senior-level employees from the social behemoth’s engineering, research, legal and privacy-and-policy teams.
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At first glance, coffee that’s result of animal’s bowel movements sounds pretty gross. But for anyone who’s actually tasted brew from those poop beans (or a beer that features them), the process takes a backseat to the taste. And it makes for one of the most expensive cups of joe in the world. Well, a pair of scientists are skipping the civet’s digestive tract when it comes to the flavors of the Indonesian Kopi Luwak coffee, opting for a fermentation process to achieve similar results. A company called Afineur has developed a two-day process that’s “inspired by” the civets’ work rather than recreating it exactly. It does, however, reduce the bitterness of the coffee and modify aroma just like the small animals do. Fermentation also adds another variable that can be tweaked to fine-tune flavor profiles — on top of bean selection and roasting techniques. When Afineur’s coffee goes one sale later this year, the price per pound should be between $50 and $100 — cheaper than the several hundred dollar figure that civet-digested beans demand. Of course, you’ll still need to decide on a brewing method once you’re able to snag a bag.
[Photo credit: SONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images]
So, how did Thom Yorke’s latest music-distribution venture go? Pretty well, it seems. The Radiohead-frontman’s second solo album, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, achieved over a million downloads in six days via BitTorrent Bundle, according to the peer-to-peer network’s blog. Exactly how the numbers break down is a bit nebulous, though. BitTorrent says that those million downloads also include the freebie single and video as well as the $6 album, noting to Consequence of Sound that precise sales numbers were being withheld at Yorke’s request. Still, it’s a little exciting to see that Bundles could be a viable way for musicians to earn a living — especially when streaming services are well-known for less-than-favorable pay-outs and business practices. Let’s just hope this success isn’t limited to acts with Yorke’s inherent star-power. After all, even Trent Reznor went back to a traditional record label after toying with total independence.
[Image credit: Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP]
Wondering what it’s like to get behind the wheel of Lexus’ high-performance 2015 RC F sports coupé? Now you can find out — well, sort of. The company has built a virtual reality RC F using the car’s actual steering column, foot pedals and an Oculus Rift DK2 headset. It calls the setup the Lexus RC F Rift, naturally, and it’ll be at select auto shows across the nation for the next several months. The player can race the car around a virtual track, but it’s not clear if the VR test drive is an accurate representation of how the real vehicle handles. At the very least, it’s a novel way to get a feel for the car’s interior, and a good look at how companies outside of the gaming industry may use virtual reality technology in the future.
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Elon Musk left a lot of people wondering what, exactly, Tesla’s upcoming “D” will be. Is it a brand new car? A self-driving vehicle? As it turns out, it may be something much more familiar-looking. Tesla Motors Club forum member Adelman has posted a photo of what looks like an unannounced Model S P85D — that is, another high-end variant of Tesla’s current luxury EV. It’s not clear just what that suffix would mean, although most of the speculation points to an all-wheel drive, dual-motor upgrade borrowed from the soon-to-arrive Model X SUV. That could make the Model S quicker (or at least, better-suited to tough road conditions) than the already speedy P85 trim level you see on the road today. Whatever’s under the hood, you’ll likely know the full story in about a week.
Both the Argentine and the UK police have nabbed bad guys with the help of drones in the past, but what about American cops? Well, the police department in Grand Forks, North Dakota, for one, is putting its drone to good use — just recently, the city’s cops have caught four underage men who’ve been pulled over for drunk driving using a quadcopter called Qube. The teenagers reportedly ran into a cornfield after being pulled over, but instead of giving chase, the cops flew their trusty Qube to find them amidst rows upon rows of corn.
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Roku has unveiled its latest shot in the increasingly-crowded set-top box wars: screen mirroring. Even Microsoft and Firefox OS are lining up to challenge Google’s Chromecast and Apple’s AirPlay, so Roku had to compete somehow. Launching in beta, Roku’s version of the tech works from (some) Android, Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 devices, and broadcasts to Roku 3 or the Roku Streaming Stick. There’s no mention of the word ‘Miracast‘ but that appears to be the tech in use. If your Roku has the latest update (rolling out over the next few weeks) it should show up as an option to pair, and have a connection good enough to display presentations, emails or even video.
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