5:21 PM
Missouri researchers have developed a photoacoustic device that can detect cancer cells way before they can become tumors. They are starting commercial production of the device that can be used in clinical trials to get FDA approval for early diagnosis of melanoma and other cancers. Currently, doctors use CT or MRI scans for melanoma cancer detection that cost thousands of dollars--a faster and cheaper screening method like this is good for both patient and doctor:
http://munews.missouri.edu/news-releases/2012/0105-mu-researcher%E2%80%99s-photoacoustic-device-finds-cancer-cells-before-they-become-tumors/
Only 20% of Chinese cities have satisfactory air quality according to air-quality monitoring data available for the first time. The photos showing the air over Chinese cities make an amazing contrast to the photos of cities with clean air...
http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/01/only-one-in-five-chinese-cities-have.html
UCSF researchers discovered that a tiny flatworm (with an amazing ability to regenerate) found in ponds and rivers around the world does not have a key cellular structure called a "centrosome", which scientists have thought was essential for cell division. Every animal ever examined (huge mammals to tiny insects) has centrosomes in their cells until this discovery:
http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/01/11260/flatworm-flouts-fundamental-rule-biology
There used to be significant concern that terrorist groups would be able to use social media sites (Facebook YouTube, Twitter, etc.) to attract new members...but it appears those concerns are overblown because terrorist recruitment doesn't seemed to have increased at all since they started using social media:
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/29/144342062/terrorists-struggle-to-gain-recruits-on-the-web
Canadian man was 90 minutes into his 2 hour drive to the US border when he realized he had forgotten his passport. He was allowed to cross into the US by showing a scanned copy of his passport on his iPad:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/flash-of-an-ipad-gets-man-past-border-security/article2290029/
Three years after the TV networks had to switch to digital over-the-air transmission, the first white space communications device has been approved for operation:
http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/01/first-white-space-radio-communication.html
Study found that 1% of smartphone users consume HALF of all downloaded data, with capacity issues that are causing major problems for mobile operators around the world expected to get worse in 2012:
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/press-releases/arieso-reveals-latest-trends-smartphone-data-use
The study also found that Apple's voice recognition software (Siri) has resulted in iPhone 4S users to use almost twice as much data compared to iPhone 4 users, making the capacity problems for wireless operators even worse. Verizon is dealing with this by getting more 3G spectrum (via recent deals they made) and getting 5+ mil subscribers onto their LTE network (leaving 3G data bandwidth for iPhone users). I hope that Sprint and AT&T have similar plans in place this year while they are also rapidly trying to get their LTE networks online:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-06/apple-s-voice-recognition-siri-doubles-iphone-data-volumes.html
HTC had a 25.5% drop in 4Q profit, its first quarterly profit drop in 2 years. Samsung has been winning over HTC in the Android smartphone wars and it should be noted that Samsung's profit rose 73% in the 4Q:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/htcs-q4-profit-drops-nearly-26-samsungs-profit-soars/2012-01-06
Leap Wireless announced plans to launch session-based data services for its tiered data pricing plans, which will allow customers to purchase faster data speeds for short periods of time:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/leap-launch-session-based-data-transactions-top-tiered-pricing/2012-01-05
Splashtop Remote Desktop is the free Android App today from Amazon--this sure seems like a good way to get full access to any PC via an Android phone/tablet:
http://www.droid-life.com/2012/01/06/splashtop-remote-desktop-free-today-in-the-amazon-appstore-normally-4-99/