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In a few short days the Olympics will descend upon the Earth, and with it will come hundreds of stories of triumph and failure that you need to be able to watch—or at least talk about the next day. Your best friend is about to turn into an ice skating expert, and your brother is going to painstakingly explain the rules of luging to you. The weird winter sports are upon us, and unless you want to spend your days glued to sites like Deadspin, eagerly waiting for the next clip of a guy taking a set of skis to the nards, you’ll need a way of watching these events.

So here’s a guide on how to watch the 2018 Winter Olympics. I’ve split it up into the different forms of viewing—from live to time delay to on-demand. Remember that this year the Olympics are in PyeongChang, South Korea, which is 14 hours ahead of the Eastern Standard Time Zone (so 15 hours ahead of Central, and 17 hours ahead of Pacific). If you don’t live in one of those time zones you can see how far ahead (or behind) PyeongChang is by checking this website, or you can add this Google calendar, which will tell you when every event is taking place.

How to watch if you have cable or satellite

If you’re one of the millions of cable and satellite subscribers in the US, you have the easiest method of watching the Games this year. NBC holds the exclusive rights to broadcasting the Olympics in the US, and claims it will be live streaming 1,800 hours of Olympic winter sports over the two weeks of the Games.

The streams will be in HD and available via NBCOlympics.com on your Edge, Safari, Chrome, or Firefox browser. If you prefer to watch the streams on your TV, phone or tablet you can do so via the NBC Sports app available from the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Comcast X1, or Samsung TV.

The only thing required, besides solid internet, is the login for your cable, satellite, or telco subscription so you can prove to NBC you pay your carrier fees.

If you’d prefer to watch the games the old-fashioned way, with NBC curating them and deciding what events are and are not worth your time, then you can catch the (almost) 24/7 broadcasts available on NBC, CNBC, NBCSN, USA, and the Olympics Channel.

How to watch if you have no internet but do have some rabbit ears on your TV

If you are me circa 1996 and are lacking high-speed internet and cable, but you do have access to broadcast television, then you can catch the most popular events by tuning into NBC’s broadcast.

You’ll need a good antenna, and your TV will need to have a digital tuner built in (check the manual to confirm). To assure that your house can even receive NBC over the air, check out the TVFool and punch in your address. The website will not only show you what channels are available in your specific location, it will also tell you which way to point that antenna to ensure the best reception for a particular channel.

How to watch if you have internet, $40, but no cable subscription

Respect to you, my card-carrying cord cutter. You’ve survived this long without sucking at the teat of big ISP. But unfortunately, due to NBC’s stranglehold on the games in the US, your options for watching the Olympics are limited.

Your first choice is to watch what NBC airs on its local broadcast. Your second choice is to watch the streams available online; however, you’ll only get to watch 30 minutes before NBC requests you log in via your cable, satellite, or telco provider, so plan accordingly. Your third option is to hunt for illegal streams on YouTube, Facebook, or Twitch—but be advised that NBC protects its broadcast rights in the US with almost unusual zeal, and there’s no guarantee a stream will last through an entire event, let alone the whole two weeks of the games.

If you want to guarantee you’ll have access to all the events you want to watch, your best option might be to get a Hulu Live TV subscription for the duration of the Games. In fact, Hulu Live TV might be the best way to watch the Olympics, period.

If you’ve never subscribed before, a two-week trial is free and should cover you for the entire 2018 Olympics. If you have subscribed before, you’ll need to pony up at least $40 for the monthly subscription.

Hulu worked with NBC and the Olympics to create its experience, which allows you to subscribe to specific sporting events. (For example, lovers of curling can get that weird thing and only that weird thing.) You can watch them live, or DVR them automatically, and you can also watch short clips, for when someone inevitably performs some heartbreakingly triumphant feat of human spirit and everyone at work won’t stop talking about it.

Hulu gave Gizmodo a sneak peek at the layout, which will be exclusive to its app, and we were definitely impressed by the polish. The first aspect of it, where you choose your favorite sports, is live now.

But remember, it costs cash, and if you aren’t already a Hulu subscriber, that might be a bridge too far.

Subscribers of other live TV services, like YouTube TV, PlayStation Vue, and SlingTV won’t have as curated or customizable experience. Instead, you’ll need to stick with watching the games from the five available broadcast stations (your online TV login for these services, sadly, does not work with NBC’s live streaming solutions).

How to watch if you’re just plain broke

Look, we all hit hard times, and not everyone can afford $40 for a Hulu subscription or $60 for cable—at minimum. Unfortunately, NBC really does not care if you don’t have the money because its entire function on this earth is to make money.

So if you’ve got no money and really, really want to watch the Olympics, you’re going to have to get crafty. One possibility is to use a premium virtual private network (VPN), connect to a UK server to give you a UK IP address, and access the BBC stream through TVPlayer.com. As TechRadar points out, BBC won’t stream everything, but you can the Eurosport channel for less than $10. Add in a VPN subscription (the free versions are not always reliable), and you’re looking at less than $20 for the full two weeks of the Games.

Another option is to check in with your local bars to see what events they’ll be tuning to and when. NBC and its affiliates will also post the coolest clips online, so you’ll be able to at least get a taste of what’s happening—and remember, you can still watch NBCOlympics.com for 30 minutes before it demands an authentication.

If you don’t mind wading into a gray area that definitely violates someone’s terms of service, you can try bugging a family member for their cable login like you usually do for HBO and Netflix. That will give you instant access to the best version of the Olympics without the 30-minute time limit.

If you’re friends and family are as broke as you are, a VPN is too much of a pain, and standing outside a bar looking in on the happy paying customers just won’t fly, then you’ll have to resort to looking for those less than legal streams online. But again, remember, there is no guarantee on how long those streams will last. And if they’re not on a regular streaming website like Twitch (where they are a violation of the terms of service and will be quickly killed), then you may open yourself up to malware and viruses. So practice safe browsing techniques and don’t click on anything that looks big, shiny, and clickable—it’s probably something nasty.

And if all else fails, head to Twitter. Someone will absolutely be live tweeting the event you love as it happens.

via Gizmodo
Your Ultimate Guide to Watching the 2018 Winter Olympics Online

The countdown makes me gasp every time. Ten seconds until the next episode of whatever show my daughter is watching. Nine seconds. Eight. Seven. Six.

“Okay, turn it off!” I say from across the room.

“The next one is starting,” the kid says in a giddy surge of rebellion.

Three. Two. One.

I lunge to grab the remote and then hit the power button, just in time.*

Video autoplay is designed to hook us to our screens—Tristan Harris, a crusader against technology’s race to hijack our attention, compares it the “bottomless bowl,” referring to a study that found you can trick people into eating way more soup if you give them a bowl that automatically refills itself. For parents, it makes setting screen-time limits a challenge. (“What? How are you on Season 8 already?”) If you want to make sure your kids aren’t watching an infinite stream of shows featuring a British pig family or a talking yellow sponge, reclaim your power by turning the autoplay feature off. Here’s how to do it:

Netflix

1) Go to Your Account.

2) Click Playback Settings

3) Uncheck the option to“play next episode automatically.”

YouTube

On the YouTube webpage, click off blue autoplay switch in the top right-hand corner, above the Up Next videos.

*Sure, I can just turn of the TV once a new episode has started, but I admit I enjoy the race. Oh, the small thrills.

via Lifehacker
Turn Off Autoplay on Your Kids’ TV Shows 

Firefighters regularly risk their lives to save people, so we as a society should be providing them with the best designs for tools that help them in their work. One such invention, the newfangled PyroLance, takes a cue from the world of digital fabrication. With an assault rifle form factor, the PyroLance is a "transitional attack tool" that’s something like a handheld waterjet cutter.

When approaching a burning and enclosed structure, firefighters may need to breach it to fight the flames within. The problem is that breaching introduces a sudden influx of fresh oxygen to the fire within, which can lead to flashovers or backdrafts, catastrophic, potentially explosive escalations of the fire.

The PyroLance allows firefighters to remain outside of the structure and to cool the temperature inside of it–without breaching. By firing pressurized water loaded with a non-metallic (i.e. non-sparking) aggregate, the tool blasts a tiny 3mm hole through just about anything: It’ll blast through two layers of brick in 30 seconds, a concrete block in 35 seconds and 3/4" plate steel in just under a minute.

Once the hole is formed, the operator changes the jet to a spray, which fills the room as an ultrafine mist that’s still under high pressure. The reduced water droplet size contained in the mist allows it "to absorb heat and extinguish fires in record time," boasting a reduction of 900 degrees in under a minute, according to the company.

Here’s some footage of it in action. (Please note that the annotation "The powerful jet cuts a 6mm hole" is an incorrect statement added by Business Insider):

If you’re interested in the science behind how and why the PyroLance works, this video below explains further:

via Core77
High-Tech Tools for Firefighters, Part 1: The PyroLance, a Handheld Waterjet Cutter

Someday, I will see the trailer for a new Star Wars movie and not get completely gooey inside. Today is not that day. Here’s the briefer “TV spot” (don’t call it a trailer!) that aired during the Super Bowl last night.

I think my insides and outsides briefly switched places when they showed Donald Glover as Lando.

Tags: movies   Solo   Star Wars   trailers   video
via kottke.org
Solo, A Star Wars Story

GIF

Last night, we finally got our first look at the next chapter in Star Wars’ spinoff saga, the standalone Han Solo movie. Now, we’ve got an even better look at the past of one of the series’ most beloved characters, before he truly became the snarky smuggler we all know and love.

This trailer gives off a much better vibe of the film is going to be like, in comparison to the short Super Bowl spot that dropped last night—not just a chance to see more of the young Han himself (Alden Ehrenreich), but better glimpses at the new cast of characters that will be joining him and Chewbacca (now played by Joonas Suotamo) on a wild adventure that will see Han transform from cocky Corellian racer, to… well, a still cocky racer, that just happens to sit at the helm of the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.

It won’t be long until we see more: Solo: A Star Wars Story, directed by Ron Howard, hits theaters May 25.

via Gizmodo
In the First Trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story, a Familiar Legend Begins 

The next Star Wars movie is out in three months. THREE MONTHS. But up until now, we haven’t seen a single image from it. That changed during the Super Bowl, though, as Disney, finally, revealed the first look at Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Here it is.

I mean – that looks pretty great, right? Definitely has that Star Wars feel. Lando looks awesome. It gave me chills.

Directed by Ron Howard, Solo stars Alden Ehrenreich, alongside Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Woody Harrelson, Joonas Suotamo, and Paul Bettany.

Expect a full trailer Monday morning.

Solo: A Star Wars Story opens May 22.

via Gizmodo
There Is Now Official Footage From Solo: A Star Wars Story

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Comic for February 04, 2018

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Unicorns gorge as investors dish up bigger rounds, more capital

Injecting small amounts of two immune-stimulating agents directly into solid tumors in mice eliminated all traces of cancer, including distant, untreated metastases, according to a new study.

The approach works for many different types of cancers, including those that arise spontaneously, the study finds.

The researchers believe the local application of very small amounts of the agents could serve as a rapid and relatively inexpensive cancer therapy that is unlikely to cause the adverse side effects often seen with body-wide immune stimulation.

Dynamic duo

“When we use these two agents together, we see the elimination of tumors all over the body,” says Ronald Levy, professor of oncology at Stanford University and lead author of the study, which appears in Science Translational Medicine.

“This approach bypasses the need to identify tumor-specific immune targets and doesn’t require wholesale activation of the immune system or customization of a patient’s immune cells.”

“…we saw amazing, body-wide effects, including the elimination of tumors all over the animal.”

One of the agents is already approved for use in humans; and the other has been tested for human use in several unrelated clinical trials. A clinical trial was launched in January to test the effect of the treatment in patients with lymphoma.

Levy works in the field of cancer immunotherapy, in which researchers try to harness the immune system to combat cancer. Work in his lab led to the development of rituximab, one of the first monoclonal antibodies approved for use as an anticancer treatment in humans.

Some immunotherapy approaches rely on stimulating the immune system throughout the body. Others target naturally occurring checkpoints that limit the anti-cancer activity of immune cells. Still others, like the CAR T-cell therapy recently approved to treat some types of leukemia and lymphomas, require a patient’s immune cells to be removed from the body and genetically engineered to attack the tumor cells.

Many of these approaches have been successful, but they each have downsides—such as difficult-to-handle side effects and high-cost and lengthy preparation or treatment times.

“All of these immunotherapy advances are changing medical practice,” Levy says. “Our approach uses a one-time application of very small amounts of two agents to stimulate the immune cells only within the tumor itself. In the mice, we saw amazing, body-wide effects, including the elimination of tumors all over the animal.”

T cells lead the charge

Cancers often exist in a strange kind of limbo with regard to the immune system. Immune cells like T cells recognize the abnormal proteins often present on cancer cells and infiltrate to attack the tumor. However, as the tumor grows, it often devises ways to suppress the activity of the T cells.

The new method works to reactivate the cancer-specific T cells by injecting microgram amounts of two agents directly into the tumor site. (A microgram is one-millionth of a gram).

The first, a short stretch of DNA called a CpG oligonucleotide, works with other nearby immune cells to amplify the expression of an activating receptor called OX40 on the surface of the T cells. The second, an antibody that binds to OX40, activates the T cells to lead the charge against the cancer cells.

Because the two agents are injected directly into the tumor, only T cells that have infiltrated it are activated. In effect, these T cells are “prescreened” by the body to recognize only cancer-specific proteins.

Some of these tumor-specific, activated T cells then leave the original tumor to find and destroy other identical tumors throughout the body.

The approach worked startlingly well in laboratory mice with transplanted mouse lymphoma tumors in two sites on their bodies. Injecting one tumor site with the two agents caused the regression not just of the treated tumor, but also of the second, untreated tumor.

Light acts as precision weapon to attack cancer

In this way, 87 of 90 mice were cured of the cancer. Although the cancer recurred in three of the mice, the tumors again regressed after a second treatment. The researchers saw similar results in mice with breast, colon, and melanoma tumors.

Mice genetically engineered to spontaneously develop breast cancers in all 10 of their mammary pads also responded to the treatment. Treating the first tumor that arose often prevented the occurrence of future tumors and significantly increased the animals’ life span.

Finally, lead author Idit Sagiv-Barfi, instructor of medicine, explored the specificity of the T cells by transplanting two types of tumors into the mice. She transplanted the same lymphoma cancer cells in two locations, and she transplanted a colon cancer cell line in a third location. Treatment of one of the lymphoma sites caused the regression of both lymphoma tumors but did not affect the growth of the colon cancer cells.

“This is a very targeted approach,” Levy says. “Only the tumor that shares the protein targets displayed by the treated site is affected. We’re attacking specific targets without having to identify exactly what proteins the T cells are recognizing.”

No limits

The current clinical trial is expected to recruit about 15 patients with low-grade lymphoma.

If successful, Levy believes the treatment could be useful for many tumor types. He envisions a future in which clinicians inject the two agents into solid tumors in humans prior to surgical removal of the cancer as a way to prevent recurrence due to unidentified metastases or lingering cancer cells, or even to head off the development of future tumors that arise due to genetic mutations like BRCA1 and 2.

“I don’t think there’s a limit to the type of tumor we could potentially treat, as long as it has been infiltrated by the immune system,” Levy says.

Blood test screens for 8 common kinds of cancer

The National Institutes of Health, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the Boaz and Varda Dotan Foundation, the Phil N. Allen Foundation, and Stanford’s department of medicine supported the work.

Source: Stanford University

The post ‘Vaccine’ kills cancer in mice appeared first on Futurity.

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‘Vaccine’ kills cancer in mice

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