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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Apecoin is the futuristic Dogecoin of NFTs – Travel Daily News International

Posted: May 20, 2022 at 2:08 am

Apecoin has been introduced as a token of culture for gaming and other commercial industries, empowering a decentralized community on the web front. Cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin and bitcoin were at all-time highs on the rise in 2021. The year also marked the cryptos as non-interchangeable tokens. The last year's expenditure shows around $25 billion spent on NFTs, and the impressive figure stigmatizes NFTs. People are confused about the growing flex at prices and are quite convinced about its collapse, presuming it has been a hoax.

However, 2022 has seen some radical transformation in the NFTs' survival. It has been growing lately and has evolved for the better. Last Tuesday saw a reflective shift in the domain. Creators of BAYC, NFT Collection, and Yuga Labs declared a new valuation in the prices of $4 billion, followed by a rise of $450 million to creating a metaverse. If this had been said a year ago, it would sound incoherent, but now it is the proceeding harbinger of the allotted phase in NFT.

March reflected how BAYC owners could claim around 10,000 Ape coins each, and the next scenario poses the next 1 billion ape coins to be released soon and distributed among different parties. The launch of Apecoin was also a potential launch for the investors in Bored Ape yacht Club (BAYC) and other NFT collections. Considering what the ApeCoin website of DAO says, 62% of the entire supply is added to the ecosystem fund. In comparison, 14% would be lent to launching contributors, a mere percent of 9.75 tokens is expected to be organized by the creators and designers of BAYC, 8 percent of the tokens worth will reach the Yuga Labs' founders directly, and the leftover 6.25 percent is anticipated to be given as a charity to the Jane Goodall Foundation dedicating to the preservation of the habitats of chimpanzees.

Technically, the token remains separated from the area, and it is all set to get into the realm of ApeCoin entirely. It is always advisable to buy Dogecoin due to its trending demand in the financial sphere lately, but Apecoin is expected to be the future Dogecoin of NFTs. It is considered the greatest value for all trending products that emerge from none other than Yuga Labs. The Yuga Labs includes a different play-to-get crypto blockchain game according to teams at Labs plans that is to be released later in the year with the gaming developer nWay. The ApeCoin website points to Ape as a token to support the following steps controlled and built-in by the community. This will be acting as a decentralized protocol layer based on community-led initiatives, driving the culture towards the new metaverse.

The futuristic crypto, Apecoin, has been available for trading on certain exchanges such as KuCoin, Binance, Coinbase, Huobi, FTX, and many more. Apecoin is built specifically on the Ethereum blockchain and is a token of ERC-20. A total of 1 billion such tokens are circulated for the trade market, with each of them minded proceeding on the go. The market cap of Apecoin is estimated to be 2.93 billion dollars, it is one of the newest cryptos that has been established on the block, yet it stands at rank 47 on the market capitalization leader board.

Crypto boosters have already shifted to the verge of calling iterations to the future. The internet, blockchain-integrated techniques, or social media revolution have constantly dominated financial decisions and landmarks. One can get into the layers of the web and own the data already created and understand the content properly allowed. NFTs, come into action when such a thing happens. However, NFTs are quite synonymous with digital art. Its major function revolves around certifying ownership of any virtually acclaimed asset. That asset might be any miscellaneous - a song, a game-specific, etc. These digital assets can be traded with value or money with the assistance of cryptocurrencies.

Also, metaverse serves as a tool to provide space for this usage, and the world is open to many users at one time. The NFT culture has mostly adapted to the crypto world, and Yuga Labs is a brand that has transcended the NFT culture to a great extent and legitimately possesses tools to construct the metaverse. It manages to build a cryptocurrency with a massive market cap and enough money to recruit a team of advanced-level game designers. NFTs have always been a big win in the headlines. Apecoins are mastering their transferable and fungible nature too much larger audiences.

Photo by Kanchanara on Unsplash

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African youth urged to lead change on continent – BusinessGhana

Posted: at 2:08 am

A futurist, Kwame Antwi Agyei Opoku, has charged the youth in Africa to lead the change that they want to see on the continent.

With the continents population highly dominated by the youth, he said it was time for the youth to take up leadership positions and help provide solutions for the numerous challenges on the continent.

Mr Opoku said this at the maiden Income, Impact and Influence conference held at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), under the auspices of Access Bank Limited.

He reiterated that the continent needed, at this moment, opportunities not aid, therefore, urging those in power to create windows of opportunities.

The Futurist also called on the youth to also position themselves to take advantage of these opportunities.

Those in places of power need to stop playing political games and begin to appoint people for their competencies and not necessarily their political affiliation.

We need to open doors for people who do not have a step in those doors but deserve it. We need to start listening to people for the content of their heads and not how they appear, he said.

Youth Innovation

Mr Opoku said it was about time the African youth prepared for a new era of innovation-robotics and economics, saying that these offered more potential to make an impact.

He said the youth must desist from giving excuses; move on, while using their time, particularly on social media, for profitable ventures.

The excuses won't matter. Forget about your background and get up and strap up. If you are not part of the solution, then you are absolutely part of the problem, he said.

Access Bank support

Speaking on behalf of the Managing Director of Access Bank, Olumide Olatunji, the Executive Director of Retail and Digital Banking, Pearl Nkrumah, said the bank was passionate about the youth in Africa and sought to create entrepreneurship in the youth, enable and empower them to impact their generation and also help them to influence their world.

She advised participants to use the occasion to network and access finance they would need to move forward.

I believe if we present them opportunities for their voices to be heard, provide them guidance to nurture their dreams, develop their talents and give them access to funding, most of their problems will be solved, she said.

She said that since 2014, Access Bank had provided such opportunities and empowered the youth through solo ambassador initiatives in schools, which placed the youth in organisations to help them create income they expect.

Again, she said that through the banks financial literacy programme the youth, especially women, are given the opportunity to influence their society.

Need for knowledge

Taking his turn, Mr Robert Burale from Kenya deduced that Africans tend to avoid the processes to the prize and only seek the prize.

He said that although the process to success was not the easiest, when the right knowledge is sought after, the prize could be realised.

Seek the right knowledge, work towards your purpose and harness your gift to be able to have influence.

You can never recover time but you can redeem time, he said.

For his part, Mr Thembekway reiterated the need for individuals to get helpers along the journey to success, noting that the quality of people individuals surrounded themselves with determined their future.He urged the youth to collaborate and build good relationship with people who matter.

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Austin Rotter on Why Good Content Must Be Forward-Thinking and Futuristic – The Ritz Herald

Posted: at 2:08 am

Recently, we sat down with Austin Rotter to discuss why good content has to be futurist and forward-thinking. Austin is a digital marketing strategist with over a decade of experience helping brands and entrepreneurs thrive in media relations and online branding.

Hi, Austin. Were glad to have you with us today. As you might imagine, Im quite excited to unfold this topic with you. Please tell us why you think content marketing needs an overhaul.

Austin Rotter: The main reason is that the landscape has evolved dramatically over the years. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we know many small businesses sprouted up online, and many closed their doors permanently. As an aftereffect, consumer behaviors altered a lot, affecting marketing strategies and tactics in tandem.

Now, roughly two years into the pandemic, the way people consume content has completely changed. The way brands produce content has evolved alongside, but the marketing sector hasnt been able to keep up the pace.

You hit the nail on the head there. How do you think the landscape has changed?

Austin Rotter: There are a few reasons for this. First, the way we interact with content has changed. We now have much more control over when, where, and how we want to consume some information. We can block adverts, skip TV commercials, unsubscribe from emails, download and customize the content, and much more.

The way brands produce content has also changed significantly. With the rise of social media and self-publishing platforms, anyone can be a publisher. That means theres much more noise out there, and its harder for brands to cut through the clutter.

Finally, I think the way we define content marketing has changed. Initially, it was more inclined towards creating and distributing information to attract and retain customers. Now, its gravitating towards creating and distributing content that drives conversions and sales. In this regard, many emerging brands go overboard with their claims, so thats not going to be a sustainable model in the long run.

What can we do to make our content more interactive?

Austin Rotter: One of the most crucial aspects is to ensure that our content is mobile-friendly. If youre expecting an enormous viewership that converts, this element is integral. Besides this, brands need to share information that directly answers their prospects concerns, not reams of pointless text, which they must sift through to get to what theyre looking for. When I say this, infographics, how-to guides, carousels, and videos can all prove to be a seed of success.

How can a business ascertain if its customers are happy, angry, or even hostile in response to its content?

Austin Rotter: Numbers play a pivotal role in determining the success of your content. There are a number of engagement metrics businesses can keep track of to assess how engaged their audience is. The most critical metrics include the time users spend on a page or website, their scroll depth, and social shares. If theres a sharp drop-off in any of these numbers, it could be an indication that the audience is not happy with the content.

Do you believe that harnessing technology to power content marketing is a viable strategy?

Austin Rotter: It definitely is! Technology can help you jump on the bandwagon and ensure that your content is always up-to-date. It can also help you automate many tedious processes, such as data collection and analysis.

Lastly, what would you advise folks who still rely on mass-produced content?

Austin Rotter: You direly need to rethink your strategy! Mass-produced content is no longer effective. People nowadays are looking for more personalized and targeted content. Try to understand what they want to learn about and what challenges theyre facing. Provide them with solutions that match their emotional needs. Thanks!

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to share your incredible insights with us, Austin. Ideally, it will help businesses realize why their content needs to be both futurist and forward-thinking.

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Elon Musk Warns That Humankind Will "End Up in Adult Diapers" – Futurism

Posted: at 2:08 am

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has rehashed one of his favorite talking points yet again, warning of the dangers of having fewer children, something that he says could lead to the collapse of human civilization.

At least maintain our numbers, he said during a conference in Miami earlier this week, as quoted by Insider. We dont necessarily need to grow dramatically, but least lets not gradually dwindle away until civilization ends with all of us in adult diapers, in a whimper.

He also opined that having fewer kids is better for the environment is total nonsense.

The environment is going to be fine, he said, even if we doubled the size of the humans. (We can only assume he meant doubling the size of the human population, rather than doubling the size of every individual human.)

In other words, the kids will be alright, so have more of them before we run out.

Musk provided no evidence to back up his rather controversial claims. But, in his defense, there may be at least some credibility to his predictions.

On one hand, research has shown that fewer people could drastically cut carbon emissions. According to a 2017 study, having just one fewer child had the greatest effect, compared to other lifestyle changes, to reduce annual personal emissions, cutting on average 58 tons of CO2 emissions. Ditching the car came in second,cutting 2.4 annual tons of CO2.

On the other hand, though, experts have found that living a climate-friendly lifestyle could actually outweigh the effects of having more children. Besides, carbon emissions range massively depending on where the person lives or how much they travel internationally, complicating the picture significantly.

The disparity in per person emissions is most stark between rich and poor countries, with the average Indian emitting less than a tenth of the average American or Canadian, a 2020 report by Founders Pledge, a London-based charity and think tank, concluded. Monthly emissions per person in rich countries are usually higher than yearly emissions per person in the poorest countries.

And it is true that most researchers now agreethat Earth is headed for an astonishing population decline, which could have several knock on effects. Some argue that with fewer babies being born, the carbon footprint offsets may actually be a moot point, considering well be dealing with a rapidly aging population.

In short, human-driven climate change is rapidly deteriorating the environment, and without drastic changes to our behavior, our carbon footprint will likely only rise in the short term if the global population keeps growing.

But with several countries, notably Japan and China, entering periods of natural population decline, those effects become harder to grasp.

Will humanity truly end in a whimper, as Musk has repeatedly warned, if we have fewer kids? Its might bea scenario we wont even get to see play out if we dont take drastic action to ensure that a rapidly warming planet doesnt put an end to us first.

READ MORE: Elon Musk says we cant let humankind end in adult diapers and that the environment would be fine if we doubled our population [Insider]

More on population collapse: Chinas Population Projected to Fall by Half Within 30 Years

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Q&A With Cathy Hackl, AKA ‘The Godmother Of The Metaverse’ – The Drum

Posted: at 2:08 am

The metaverse could transform commerce, fashion, social media, and almost everything in between. Its been framed as a utopian dreamworld and a dystopian nightmare. To help get a clearer idea of what the metaverse is and where it might be leading us, The Drum recently spoke with tech futurist, author and strategist Cathy Hackl.

There are few people in the world today who spend as much time thinking about the metaverse as Cathy Hackl. A graduate of Harvard Kennedy School, Hackl has quickly become one of the most influential voices in the tech world. She was recently listed by BigThink as one of the Top 10 Most Influential Women in Tech Right Now, and shes been featured in major media outlets including 60 Minutes+, Wired and The Wall Street Journal. Shes published two books, which explore various impacts of emergent technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Shes also the author of a newsletter called Metaverse Weekly and the host of two podcasts, one of which is focused on the intersection between marketing and the burgeoning metaverse.

All of this has earned her a sobriquet: The Godmother of the Metaverse.

The Drum recently spoke with Hackl via Zoom to learn more about the current state of the metaverse and what the future may have in store.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How did the nickname the Godmother of the Metaverse come into being?

[Reddit co-founder] Alexis Ohanian tweeted last year, asking which women and folks he should be following in web3. My friend Andrew Schwartz, who works at Nikes metaverse team, listed a few people and then he tweeted: Oh, and dont forget about Cathy Hackl, shes the Godmother of the Metaverse. So [that was] the first time anyone ever used that. And someone took a screenshot, they sent it to me, and people started using the term. I wear it as a badge of honor, to be honest.

Youve described VR as being a single point of entry into the metaverse. Looking five to 10 years out, how pervasive do you think the metaverse will be in the life of the ordinary person, and what do you think the most popular point of entry into that metaverse will be?

Whatever comes after the mobile phone. For many of us, that vision is glasses AR or spatial computing. But not necessarily VR. So I think whatever comes after the mobile phone and occupies our time will be the most important entry point.

Because theres Ready Player One, and people see the movie or read the book, they feel like thats the metaverse thats the vision that theyve been sold. Thats a pretty dystopian view. Thats the whole point of a sci-fi novel like that one ... its presenting a dystopian view of the future. We dont want that kind of world. Right? I always say: I think the future is less Ready Player One, and more seamlessly blending virtual and physical.

So for me, VR is one of the enabling technologies. Its an entry point into how were going to experience the future of the internet. Its not the only one ... So [in] five to 10 years, depending on on how fast things are built ... what I envision is glasses that replace our phones. And maybe eventually those glasses are able to go between VR and AR ... eventually the idea is that one device will do both. But that is a very hard thing to solve. I think people underestimate how hard it is to put a supercomputer on someones face. Thats extremely hard to do, from the battery life, to the optics, to the field of view, to the weight, [to] the ergonomics, the design of it.

So when is that? Im not sure. Well have to see.

So is it fair to say that youre not envisioning a future in which were all walking around wearing giant, uncomfortable VR headsets, and that well eventually have wearable technologies that are sleeker, less cumbersome and more fashionable?

I call it the Ray-Ban moment when we have glasses that we actually want to put on because they look great [and] we like them ... Are we gonna be walking around with bulky VR headsets? No.

There appears to be a dichotomy emerging between the corporations that are working to build the metaverse, such as Meta, and the dyed-in-the-wool web3 idealists mostly coders and creators who are working to build the metaverse in the name of of decentralization. In other words, to take the power to control the flow of information out of the hands of big tech companies.

How do you see that dichotomy evolving over time? Is there room in the world of web3 for both camps?

One of the reasons that Meta might be spending so much money at Reality Labs [and] obviously, theyre backtracking a little bit is because, I believe, that they understand that the ad revenue model that made them what they are in web2 is probably not going to be an effective [model] as we head forward ... When I envision the future, I am working toward an open, decentralized metaverse. That is the ultimate goal. Thats what I think is going to be really wonderful and great.

That being said, is the future all open and decentralized? I dont know. There possibly is going to be some walled gardens over here that people might want to go into for some reason or another ... Are we all wanting to work toward an open and decentralized metaverse where theres more transparency, where you own your data through the blockchain? Yeah, I hope so. Is it all going to be open and decentralized? Im not sure ... So thats what I would envision.

When we talk about specifically Meta ... theyre gonna have to, in some ways, play nice with the web3 community in the open and decentralized space if they want to move away from those ad revenue models that theyve been so focused on in web2. Web3 and the metaverse are not the same thing. Theyre intrinsically linked, but theyre not interchangeable. For me, web3 is how people ... are connected in this future of the internet. [The] metaverse for me is how you experience it. So from a hardware perspective, I feel like Metas playing more on the experience side than they are over here, but theyre gonna have to play in web3 [where] things are connected, and theyre gonna have to play nice there.

Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the overall impacts that the metaverse will have on society?

Im neither utopian or dystopian. Im in the middle. I believe that technology will make society better, but there will be a lot of challenges ... I dont think this is going to slow down ... We need to have hard conversations today about where were heading, so we can start getting ahead of the game.

Will there be challenges that we didnt foresee? Yes. Im sure therell be horrible things potentially that we dont even know are gonna happen, because theres no way for us to get ahead of that. But we can have some conversations right now around data, around privacy, around biometric data, around keeping kids safe in these spaces. There are things that we can [do] now to have those very uncomfortable conversations and to try to [figure out how we can] solve for something thats not even here.

Whats one point of confusion related to the metaverse that you frequently encounter?

Theres so many differing opinions on it. Is it one metaverse? Or is it multiple metaverses?

This is how I explained it to myself: [theres] the capital M Metaverse, like that greater vision of the metaverse, and then within that greater vision theres metaverse platforms [those are] metaverses [with a] lowercase m. Thats, I think, still up for debate.

The big thing for me is moving away from the hype of words such as metaverse and NFTs ... and having people just sit down and think about this [as] the future of the internet. How did the internet change your life in web1? How did social media and the connectivity of everything that came with that change it? Where are we heading? Hows [that] going to change as we head into this new iteration of whats coming?

[We need to step] away from the terms because ... they carry some baggage at times. I think a lot about things like virtual air rights. If things are within eyesight and earshot of me, who owns that, who can post there, what can I hear, what can I see? Right? In the future that were heading into, the internets gonna be all around me, so I think therell be a lot of considerations and a lot of things to think about.

Another misconception and oh my gosh, this drives me nuts is when I hear someone talk about the real world versus this other part. Its the physical world and the virtual world. Because if you ask any kid what theyre doing in Roblox and Fortnight, [theyll say] theyre playing with their friends. And those are real friends, even though theyre gaming. My sons first concert was Lil Nas X in Roblox its very real to him. He talks about it in first-person. Right? During the pandemic, you had Zoom Hanukkah or Zoom Christmas. And just because it happened on Zoom didnt make it less real. You werent there physically, but you still have those memories.

[We need to change] how we sometimes talk about where were heading; its not [the] world versus the virtual world, its [the] physical world and [the] virtual world. Its not a versus.

For more, sign up for The Drums Inside the Metaverse weekly newsletter here.

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Best Fathers Day Gifts of 2022 – Futurism

Posted: at 2:08 am

Dads: As old as the hills, rustic as the smell of gasoline or maybe just that guy who taught you 782 different ways to make spaghetti with butter and parmesan. When Fathers Day rolls around and its time to honor your dad, you may find yourself thumbing through the gift rack at the mall, vacantly searching for another printed tie. But never fear: whatever sort of father youve got, we have the gift picks that will get your dad as excited as the day he got his first bicycle.

Because no father is the same, we included a wide variety of gifts on this list. We have gifts for the artistic, the outdoorsy, the techy, and the tabletop gamer. We made sure that every item on this list is something we can stand behind. Many are items we own and love, and others weve thoroughly vetted. Whatever your pick, youll be sure to land something special.

Best for the Outdoorsy Dad: Black Diamond Storm 400 Best for the Tabletop Gamer Dad: Wingspan Best for the American-Made Dad: 118 Products: Hikers Backpack Best for the Artistic Dad: Grovemade Pencil Kit Best for the Musical Dad: Orba by Artiphon Best for the Beach-Loving: Rumpl Everywhere Towel Best for the Dad Who Commutes: Troubadour Bag Best for the New Father: Panasonic Baby Monitor Best for the Handy Dad: Arrow Shed Best to Keep Tabs on Dad: ElliQ Best for the Diver Dad: Garmin Marine Quatix 7 Series

Key Selling Point: Black Diamond makes headlamps that are reliable enough for years of use, and bright enough to justify leaving the Maglight at home.

When I bought my Black Diamond, the salesperson told me that theyd worn theirs around the world; flash to now and I can say the same thing. Ive traveled with mine on multiple backpacking trips and relied on it for endless nights of camping.

This simple headlamp is made right. Running on four AAA batteries, the Black Diamond features a bright LED lamp that emits up to 400 lumens on its highest setting. Brightness is easily adjusted by holding the on/off button. The stretchy band keeps the light consistently fastened onto your forehead, where it angles with a clicking mechanism. The Storm series comes with strong IP67 water and dust proofing that ensures it will keep glowing, even if your dad takes a spill from the kayak. This is a great gift for any dad who loves solid camping gear, or outdoors adventuring, but also distinguishes itself as a great headlamp for any hobbyist who works on precise projects and could use some extra illumination such as car mechanics or model-train builders.

Key Selling Point: The runaway-hit tabletop board game that will have your dad spotting grebes and purple gallinules everywhere he goes bird up.

Can you distinguish a cormorant from a merganser? Perhaps you wouldnt think youd care to; but thats subject to change with Wingspan. Wingspan is the sensational tabletop board game that has you collect birds and pair them to create the most productive habitat. With 170 lavishly illustrated bird cards that each include game mechanics and powers related to that birds real-world traits, Wingspan is both a birders dream game, and one of the most compelling and addictive engine-building strategy games out there. Play birds in the forest, grasslands, or wetlands, collect food, lay eggs, and accumulate a flock. The game usually takes one to three hours, and can be played with up to five people, or alone. Theres also an app version, for those whod rather bird on their tablet or computer. It should be stated that I am completely addicted, as are my dad and mom so this one comes with the highest personal recommendation.

Key Selling Point: From their home in North Carolina, this all-American-made store delivers exceptional-quality niche goods.

Perhaps most famous for their line of handmade raw selvedge denim created in the original home of Levis denim, White Oak Mill in North Carolina, Hudsons Hill delivers exceptional American-made goods. This Hikers Backpack is a classic Americana piece thats as reliable as the aesthetics it was modeled on. Made of original 1940s U.S. Army tent duck fabric, the backpack is durable and classic. Its finished with leather, metal hardware, and cotton military webbing. Its a perfect daypack for a dad who likes to get away into the hills for the afternoon, but makes just as good of a gift for a father who totes their sketch pad and watercolors wherever they go.

Key Selling Point: This pencil kit is as distinguished as it is high quality.

The shine of light on compressed graphite theres something ineffable about a pencil drawing. Any artist will appreciate a great pencil set, whether theyre sketching from Caravaggios at the National Gallery, or doodling in the margins of memos at work. The Grovemade Pencil Kit is a statement piece. The collection features 12 top-quality cedar Blackwing pencils, a beautiful walnut stand, and an aluminum sharpener outfitted with a German steel blade. Even after dad gets through the 12 included pencils, the sharpener and pencil stand makes for a striking addition to their desk that will last them a lifetime.

Key Selling Point: This electronic instrument looks like a miniaturized Hang drum, but functions as a highly capable midi controller thats as fun as it is powerful.

Electronic instruments are getting more and more varied. The Orba by Artiphon is one of the most fun digital midi controllers weve seen on the market. This small spherical controller interacts with your computers electronic music software in novel ways, working as a synth, looper, and midi controller that pairs touch buttons, with tilts, shakes, and bumps, for a truly reactive musical device. Pairing with the Orba app, its intuitive enough to make a good gift, yet powerful enough to make a strong addition to any serious musicians arsenal.

This is a great novelty piece for a musical dad that already seems to have everything in their collection, thats fun enough for a casual musician, and portable enough for a musician on the road. All in all its a great electronic music piece for anyone whos musically inclined.

Key Selling Point: This bright microfiber towel is just as good for beach days in the sun as it is for packing into your dads next camping trip.

A splash of color for the beach paired with hyper-absorbent microfiber that folds down to a tiny size: the Rumpl Everywhere Towel is the perfect accompaniment to days by the water. Designed to nod to the aesthetics of the 1960s and 1970s, this is a towel you cant miss. Because microfiber is so absorptive, these towels also make great outdoor products for backpackers, and fold up to slip into a daypacks side pocket. The Rumpl is a great gift for any dad gearing up for a summer spent on the beach or messing about on boats.

Key Selling Point: This vegan leather travel bag is understated and elegant; its laptop pocket will make sure he keeps his things protected.

Sometimes the best gifts are those for travel. The Troubadour Bag is a deeply stylish travel bag with a European sensibility. The bag is designed with clean lines, excellent quality materials, and all the right pockets. It nails the elements needed in a bag meant for travel. Even the name Troubadour denotes the intended use, this is a bag for those on the move. If youre looking for gifts for him, you cant get classier than the Troubadour.

Key Selling Point: This baby monitor is a wonderful tool for any new parent who wants to keep tabs on their newborn.

Good tech gear can make your life as a parent so much easier. Need a movie night but want to keep tabs while the baby sleeps? The Panasonic Baby Monitor is a powerful and secure baby monitor system that ensures you can keep an eye on your sleeping infant from anywhere in the home. This discreet camera comes with multiple points of control, allowing you to pan, zoom, and tilt. It also streams night vision, and sends you alerts if the baby wakes or calls out. Unlike so many home camera systems, Panasonic uses a secure DECT network to transfer video, so that no one can connect to the camera without the included screen. The system also has the capability to expand to four cameras for growing families.

Key Selling Point: This steel outdoor tool shed makes a perfect workshop or storage space for the handy dad who likes to keep his tools and equipment close.

Ready for mechanics, carpenters, gardeners, wood workers, or even perhaps fletchers the Arrow Shed is an easily assembled steel shed thats perfect for your handy dad. Shipping with a gable roof that ensures water will roll off, a finished rust-resistant exterior, and 43 square feet of storage, the shed is further accessorized with numerous add-ons, including various shelving kits. The 8 x 6 foot shed ships at 189 pounds, so be sure that you have the space and power to assemble it before you buy.

Key Selling Point: An excellent tool for aging parents, ElliQ keeps parents connected to family with photos, enables them to easily book appointments and interact with the web, and interacts with them throughout the day in a friendly way.

Part motivational tool, part interactive digital personality, part connectivity hub, ElliQ is a great tool for the aging parent. Filling many of the roles of an iPad and Alexa, ElliQ is a home companion that helps older adults who might live alone navigate their days and the wider world. ElliQ can be used to book rides, schedule appointments, upload photos, send messages, and video call. It also interacts, telling jokes, spinning trivia, and engaging in small talk. If your dad is living alone this fathers day consider ElliQ as a means to help him navigate his world and keep him company.

Key Selling Point: This admiral-grade smartwatch is equipped with all the features a boat enthusiast needs.

If youre after unique gifts for your seafaring dad, then look no further than the Garmin Marine Quatix 7 Series. This admiral-grade smartwatch is decked out with all the features hell need for fooling around on boats. With a silicone band and a crystal face, the watch is sturdy, and is rated for 10 atmospheres of pressure (100 meters). The watch has a battery life of 6 days in always-on mode, and up to 16 days in normal mode.

The Garmins controls are easy to operate, and youll want them to be with such a host of digital features. The watch is capable of standard smartwatch tasks, such as sending and receiving texts, as well as heart rate monitoring, however, it shines on the water. The watch uses multi-band frequency support that allows it to sync with multiple navigation satellite systems beyond GPS, such as Galileo, keeping dad on track in isolated areas where GPS doesnt penetrate. This feature syncs beautifully with the Quatixs stunning array of maps, including freshwater maps of the United States, global coastal maps, topography, ski slopes, and golf course maps. Beyond maps, the watch connects to multiple systems on your boat, allowing you to monitor wind, and water depth, set waypoints, and even operate autopilot.

With so many features the Garmin Marine will be a beloved tool for any water enthusiast, whether a surfer pairing it with digital surf gear, a diver checking maps underwater, or a captain steering their boat across the Sargasso Sea.

Fathers Day is a great chance to honor our dads with something special. Whatever you choose, personalized gifts are sure to be a hit: that might be a gift to augment their musical chest of curiosities, such as the Orba by Artiphon. A Hikers Backpack made of classic American-made materials is a great choice for those who appreciate quality craftsmanship. We recommend Wingspan for the father who has an interest in games or birds; we think its a great gift for anyone who wants to bring the whole family together. The Black Diamond is an excellent choice for a gift for a dad who likes to spend his time outdoors, while the pricey Garmin Marine Quatix 7 Series is the best gift for the dad whos dedicated to boating. Whatever you choose, make sure its something that youre excited about giving, it doesnt have to be expensive to be good, it just needs to be special, in the end thats the most important part of fathers day building your relationship with your dad.

This post was created by a non-news editorial team at Recurrent Media, Futurisms owner. Futurism may receive a portion of sales on products linked within this post.

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Mapping out the human genome – VA’s Office of Research and Development

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In VAs Million Veteran Program, researchers are mapping the human genome by using genotypinga process that spells out several hundred thousand data points, one-by-one. (Photo for illustrative purposes only Getty Images/alanphillips)

May 19, 2022

By Mike Richman VA Research Communications

"The importance of this cannot be overstated. Using TOPMed's imputation panel vastly enriches MVP's genetic database."

Since 2011, more than 875,000 Veterans have donated their DNA to the VA Million Veteran Program (MVP). In the program, VA researchers are sequencing Veterans' genomesa complete set of genetic materialto better understand how genes, lifestyles, and military exposures can affect a persons health and risk for illness.

Centrifugation helps scientists extract DNA from a Veteran's blood sample and prepare the DNA for genetic analysis, either through genotyping or whole genome sequencing.

Centrifugation helps scientists extract DNA from a Veteran's blood sample and prepare the DNA for genetic analysis, either through genotyping or whole genome sequencing.

Researchers map the genomes using genotypinga process that spells out several hundred thousand data points, one-by-one. To fill in any missing data, scientists look to genomes where all data points have been fully sequenced. These genomes are used as a reference to determine the missing letters.

MVP has created whole genome sequences for over 140,000 Veterans. However, it takes time to process this large amount of data and make it available for research. It takes even more time to develop a calculation toolcalled an imputation panelto determine the missing data points that remain when genotyping is complete.

In efforts to find a more accurate and cost-effective method for predicting missing genomic data points, VA investigators found a potential interim solution just across town in Bethesda, Maryland: a genomic research program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

As part of that solution, MVP has been collaborating with NIH to use a reference panel for imputation.

The panel is run by TOPMedthe Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine Program. The program, funded by NIHs National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), aims to generate scientific resources that will improve the understanding of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders and advance precision medicine, an approach in health care that takes into account a persons gene variants and his or her environment and lifestyle to find the right treatment.

Since 2014, TOPMed has collected the entire genome sequence of more than 100,000 people. Scientists created a new reference genome and imputation panel based off these whole-genome sequences.

This first-of-its kind imputation panel offers far more statistical accuracy than any previous imputation panels. In that way, it will help scientists develop better treatments specific to a persons genes and environment.

MVP wanted to find a way to use this tool to improve its genetic database, now one of the largest in the world. The database supports the work of more than 500 researchers across VA. With better genetic data, the researchers can uncover new genetic markers associated with disease in Veterans that could someday revolutionize their health care. As such, MVP leaders set out to strike up a partnership with their colleagues in Bethesda.

In 2018, TOPMed and VA began discussions with the goal of using this new imputation panel to re-do genetic analysis on DNA shared by hundreds of thousands of Veterans in MVP.

The importance of this cannot be overstated, says Dr. Phil Tsao, MVPs co-principal investigator in data generation and access. Using TOPMeds imputation panel vastly enriches MVPs genetic database. Over 500 researchers use MVP data to find new genetic markers related to health and illness in Veterans. With better data, they can make better findings. With better findings, we can offer Veterans better care with more laser-focused accuracy.

The TOPMed reference genome for this imputation panel was selected with racial and ethnic diversity in mind. This means VA can make much more accurate sequencing predictions for people who come from non-European ancestry. This is critical for MVP, since approximately 30% of the more than 875,000 Veterans in MVP are from non-European descent.

To be able to more accurately assemble their genome means the research we do on non-European Veteran populations will be much more thorough, says Dr. Sumitra Muralidhar, the director of MVP. That means we can discover new, never-before-known genetic markers connected with health and disease in Veteran populations of non-European descent.

In 2020, VA acquired the TOPMed imputation panel from NIH, and researchers began methodically re-analyzing and updating more than 650,000 genomes from Veterans who provided blood samples when they joined MVP. In December 2021, the update was complete and the new, upgraded data on hundreds of thousands of Veterans became available to research.

Due to our collaboration with TOPMed, we have better genetic data now, which will hopefully lead to findings of new genetic markers for diseases, specifically in diverse Veterans, Muralidhar says. The end result will hopefully be new discoveries and better treatments, as well as a better understanding of the biology of diseases. That way, we can offer more precise treatments for diseases and other health conditions.

Now that MVPs genetic data is updated with TOPMeds reference panel, any findings from MVP data can becompared and validated with findings from other research based on genomes that were also imputed using TOPMeds reference panel.

Use of the TOPMed reference panel in MVP, which is one of the worlds largest genomic biobanks, allows for more collaboration between NIH and VA scientists to cross-validate each others analysis results, says Dr. Saiju Pyarajan, director of the Center for Data and Computational Sciences at the VA Boston Healthcare System. The more people around the world who have been compared to the same reference sample, the more were able to drastically increase the confidence in the conclusions or results from these genomic analyses. This is wonderful for the future of precision medicine.

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Isabls rapid whole-genome analysis opens the playbook for cancer treatment – TechCrunch

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Every cancer is unique because every person is unique, and one of the most important weapons in any cancer battle is information. Isabl offers that in abundance through rapid sequencing of cancer cells entire genomes, potentially showing which therapies will and wont be effective within days. The company has received a breakthrough designation from the FDA and raised $3 million to bring its approach to market.

The last 10 years have brought numerous medical advances due to the commoditization of genomic processes from sequencing to analysis, and cancer treatment is no exception. In fact, because cancer is (though it is a simplification) a genetic mutation that has gotten out of hand, understanding those genes is an especially promising line of research.

Panel tests look within the DNA of cancerous cells for mutations in a selection of several hundred genes known to affect prognosis and clinical strategy. For instance, a cancer may have certain mutations that render it susceptible to radiation treatment but resistant to chemo, or vice versa its incredibly helpful to know which.

Isabl co-founder and CEO Elli Papaemmanuil explains that however helpful panel tests are, theyre only the beginning.

These tests have been designed very carefully to look for the most common mutations, and they have revolutionized cancer diagnosis for patients with common cancers, she said. But patients with rare cancers and what we define as a rare cancer is still a third of patients dont benefit from them.

Even many with common cancers may find that their condition does not involve mutations of these most predictive genes. The relevant genes are somewhere among the other two billion base pairs current tests only look at about 1% of the genome.

While the technology exists to look at that other 99%, it has historically been expensive and slow compared with panels, and analysis of the resulting large body of data was likewise difficult and time consuming. But Isabls tests show that its definitely worthwhile.

Image Credits: Isabl

It turns out that whole-genome sequencing can detect many more clinically relevant findings results we can act on today. And what weve done is develop a platform that lets us summarize it in a way that doctors can read and use, in a day, Papaemmanuil said. They call it a clinically actionable whole genome and transcriptome test, or cWGTS.

The company was formed out of research Papaemmanuil did at Memorial Sloan Kettering, a cancer care and science nexus in New York. You could see all these successes from panel testing, then all these patients who werent benefiting. But in my lab we had the tech and the know-how, she recalled. They collected and combined three different data sets: the germline (i.e., patients) genomes; the tumors genome and also its transcriptome, essentially what the body produces from transcribing the DNA.

This gives a really full picture of the profile of the tumor, she said. Rather than having a classifier or a model that annotates the mutations [i.e., an automated panel test], we have analytics that integrate those three layers to interpret the role of the mutation and its relevance to each tumor type.

Though it does own the whole process from sampling to report, Isabls key advance is data based and therefore there is no technical obstacle to making this solution available today. And weve demonstrated we can do it at scale, Papaemmanuil said. But in the medical world, just because its possible doesnt mean its permitted. The FDA has granted the technology with breakthrough status, which is a fast track but even the fast track is slow in the federal government.

While full clinical approval is probably 3-5 years away, thats much faster than the 5-10 years estimated by the industry for this type of application. But research, both for validation and other purposes, is ongoing, having just published the main paper proving out the process today in Nature Communications. (Though this study focuses on pediatric and young adults cancers, the technique is not limited to those demographics.)

The seed round is very much to let us do the roadmap its a good starting point for getting the necessary evidence and approvals, Papaemmanuil said. Were already partnering with cancer centers to do studies, and most importantly, to hear from oncologists on what they need and how theyd like the data.

From left, Isabl co-founders Andrew Kung, Elli Papaemmanuil and Juan Santiago Medina. Image Credits: Isabl

The $3 million round was led by Two Sigma Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, BoxOne Ventures and other firms. Papaemmanuils co-founders are CTO Juan Santiago Medina and Andrew Kung.

She also made it clear that Isabls research would be conducted openly We have a very strong scientific foundation and will be active in publishing the work. The data needs to be both published and made accessible in a form that will enable further research, she said. The self-reinforcing play of producing and identifying predictive data could prove an incredibly valuable resource across many disciplines.

Isabl is an example of the power of a more or less pure data play in an industry more frequently associated with advances in the lab though of course it took a lot of lab work to produce in the first place. But when automation of key processes, in this case DNA transcription, enables a huge uptick in data capture, theres always value to be found in it. In this case that value could save many lives.

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Navigating From the Genome to the Clinic Using ‘Cell Maps’ – University of California San Francisco

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Nevan Krogan, PhD, speaks with research associate Antoine Forget, PhD, and specialist Rasika Vartak in his lab. Image by Noah Berger

Breast cancer, COVID-19, and autism may seem unrelated, but they share some surprising connections. Some of the same genes that are mutated in breast cancer also get hijacked by COVID-19, and some other genes mutated in cancer are also implicated in autism.

Commonalities like these have led Nevan Krogan, PhD, director of UCSFs Quantitative Biosciences Institute, to examine in detail the effects of a handful of genes that seem to play an outsize role in a wide array of diseases.

Those effects rely on proteins, for which genes are the blueprints. When a gene is mutated, so is its protein.

Our genome is relatively static, but proteins arent, said Krogan. Theyre constantly interacting with other proteins in different contexts that change over time.

Many conditions involve dozens of mutations, he added. Seeing the full landscape of a persons disease means piecing together how each of those mutated proteins contributes to it.

More than a decade ago, Krogan began employing sophisticated quantitative approaches to create cell maps that compare thousands of these protein-protein interactions, or PPIs, in healthy and diseased cells across a range of mutations in cancer, autism, and infectious disease.

He believes that zeroing in on these PPIs can elucidate how mutations disrupt cell functions and uncover entry points for safer and more effective treatments.

Already, collaborations between Krogan and researchers in the U.S. and around the world have revealed how mutations in different genes sometimes bungle the same cellular pathways, illuminating connections between diseases that may look quite different at the genetic level.

In other cases, the same gene is implicated in more than one disease: a mutation at point A may contribute to cancer, while a mutation at point B may create a predisposition to a psychiatric disorder.

Were finding the Achilles heels of the genome, Krogan said. By going beyond DNA and looking at these networks of protein interaction, were able to connect dots that we didnt even know existed before.

To find those dots and draw the lines between them, Krogan, along with his collaborators, use his cell maps to see exactly how a specific mutation in a particular gene translates into changes in protein interactions.

A gene called PIK3CA, for example, is involved in a sizable percentage of cancers, as well as autism and other brain disorders. There are hundreds of known mutations in PIK3CA, each of which has a specific effect on the protein machinery.

Krogan has catalogued not only how each of these mutations leads to disease but also how PIK3CAs various pathways play out in healthy cells, allowing him to identify the intersection where each of these mutations throws the cells protein interactions off track.

Achieving this granular approach involves overlaying large sets of data and finding patterns that pinpoint the molecular moment when a cellular process goes awry. Krogans teams use mass spectrometry to weigh the protein molecules and combines it with other methods that assess the proteins structure. Advanced computational techniques are needed to crunch the enormous amount of data involved.

These maps can help provide a prognosis based on proteins resulting from the mutations found in a particular patients genes; help clinicians choose one treatment over another; and reveal where a drug might be able to stop a disease without interfering with other healthy cell functions.

While some researchers have studied PPIs associated with individual gene mutations, Krogan has spent his career investigating them on a massive scale. Theres great value in looking at the big picture, he said. It makes these analyses exponentially more powerful.

Krogan likens the protein maps to a computer-generated geographic map. You can zoom out to see a large area, then zoom in to see local detail, then zoom back out again to put that detail into context.

Being able to see those varying levels of detail can potentially help researchers identify FDA-approved drugs that could be tested for unexpected applications, said Krogan. These cell maps are an entirely new way of looking at disease and drug discovery.

Ultimately, Krogans goal is to enable researchers to apply artificial intelligence to these maps, so they can predict a patients prognosis and the best combination of drugs to treat them.

Once we understand this underlying biology, attacking the disease becomes so much more straightforward, Krogan said. Were perfectly positioned to build this bridge from the genome to the clinic for a whole range of disorders.

Were at the cusp of such great things.

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An architect of the landmark Human Genome Project looks back – USC News

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In the early 1980s, a quiet revolution sparked to life in Los Angeles.

Michael Waterman, then a recently hired professor of mathematics at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, had published a new algorithm with colleague Temple Smith that determined similar regions of protein or DNA sequences. The Smith-Waterman algorithm would serve as a foundational piece of an emerging field of study, computational biology and bioinformatics.

Forty years later, Waterman is considered a father of quantitative and computational biology and his work forms the basis of numerous seminal studies, including the landmark Human Genome Project. The results of his work enabled researchers to analyze and identify long strings of genetic code, profoundly impacting molecular biology and medicine, cancer treatment and biofuel development and changing the way we view life on Earth. He will be recognized for his contributions to the field at the USC Computational Biology Symposium 2022 beginning Thursday.

But when he first proposed applying mathematical models to biological systems, peers didnt know what to make of his work.

We submitted my first paper in this area to a journal and it was roundly rejected.

Michael Waterman, University Professor Emeritus

We submitted my first paper in this area to a journal and it was roundly rejected, infuriating my co-author. Part of the rejection was that they felt the paper satisfied neither the biologists nor the mathematicians, said Waterman, a University Professor Emeritus at USC. Papers that attempt to address the spaces between subjects are usually worthless except when they arent.

I was convinced this was really going to be an area with important insights. I had no idea where we were going. But what started to get people interested was the Human Genome Project.

The launch of the Human Genome Project the international research effort to determine the DNA sequence of the entire human genome in the early 1990s exploded our understanding of biology and foreshadowed the increasing importance of computing in the natural sciences. Waterman developed two algorithms essential to the projects success. The Lander-Waterman algorithm accelerated physical mapping of genetic sequences, while the earlier Smith-Waterman algorithm serves as the foundation of computation genetics and remains the standard for gene and protein analysis.

The popularity and importance of the project thrust Waterman into the spotlight and earned him numerous accolades, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Canada Gairdner International Award and elections as a foreign member of the French Acadmie des Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

I was a scientist who didnt publicize himself and didnt give too many talks on my research, but the Human Genome Project transformed me, he said. I started giving talks to mathematicians about biology and talks to biologists about what math could do for them. All because there werent that many people doing this research. Of course, today its thousands, if not tens of thousands of people.

When Waterman joined USC in 1982, he found a nascent genetics program and an administration open to developing an interdisciplinary research approach. His computational molecular biology group within the Department of Mathematics resulted in the creation of the worlds first PhD program in computational biology and bioinformatics. Nearly 40 years later, in 2021, USC Dornsife College announced the creation of the Department of Quantitative and Computation Biology. It hosts some of the top researchers in the field, including Remo Rohs, Geoffrey Fudenberg, Mark Chaisson and others, and their success puts the future of the field in good stead, Waterman said.

Professor Watermans legacy at USC are many firsts.

Remo Rohs, USC Dornsife professorof quantitative and computational biology

Professor Watermans legacy at USC are many firsts the first PhD program in computational biology and bioinformatics in the world and one of the first undergraduate majors in quantitative biology [QBIO] in the country, said Rohs, professor of quantitative and computational biology and founding chair of the Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology. I enjoy seeing that the QBIO undergraduate students still have a special place in professor Watermans heart I think they will be his proudest university achievement.

Now we have an academic unit so whatever the future of the field, its in their hands rather than being diffused, Waterman added. I like the group of young faculty that are in the department now they are the future, and they have written some really excellent articles and books. It excites me to see them doing so well.

This year marks two major milestones for Waterman. He rings in his 80th birthday and will be honored at the USC Computational Biology Symposium. Celebrating the 40th anniversary of quantitative biology and bioinformatics at USC, the symposium will feature Waterman and other luminaries in the field.

Waterman remains abreast of the latest developments in computational biology, regularly sitting in on departmental meetings and offering insights. He is especially interested in the analysis of molecular dynamics within cells, which fittingly marries biology and physics to allow scientists to more fully understand how cells operate.

Biology is one of those subjects where the more you learn, the more complicated it gets. Im not somebody who just drills down into pure math, he said. Pure math interests me less now than interacting with the world and its reflections.

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