NEW RESOURCES

Medical Plastics News: FDA-approved medical devices and clinical trials database launched. “The National Institute for Health Research’s Innovation Observatory (NIHRIO), based at Newcastle University, has launched a comprehensive database of searchable clinical trials drawing from 11 of the largest clinical trial registries in the world; as well as medical devices, diagnostics and digital applications information from the FDA database.”

The Financial Brand: Introducing the World’s First Interactive Directory of Digital-Only Neobanks. “Tired of scouring the web as you try to keep up with all the neobanks, challenger banks and digital-only banks out there? Check out The Financial Brand’s new Neobank Tracker — powered by Nymbus. This is the world’s largest interactive, searchable index listing hundreds of digital-only banks and innovative fintechs providing financial services directly to consumers and businesses.”

Arizona State University: Practical tools from award-winning ASU program made accessible online to parents of bereaved children. “The practical tools that are now available on the new website promote four key aspects of bereaved parenting. The foundation is self-care: parents’ ability to be kind to themselves during this time when they are grieving. The second tool teaches simple activities parents can use to help build stronger bonds with their children. The third involves basic communication tools to help children open up and share more. And the fourth focuses on tools to help parents respond in a way that helps children feel understood.”

Habitat: A New Digital Tool to Help Co-ops and Condos Cut Carbon Emissions. “The website features maps that allow the public to see the location of all 40,000 buildings in the five boroughs that must meet new emission limits, as well as the energy-efficiency letter grades of buildings that are required to provide benchmarking information on their annual energy and water consumption. The annual letter grades were inaugurated last year. The website also answers frequently asked questions and shares resources to help with building retrofits, including information about compliance metrics, adjustment programs and financial assistance.”

TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Indian Express: Google I/0 2021 keynote: How to watch livestream and what to expect. “Instead of a large, in-person event, this year’s I/O will be a virtual event, thanks to the ongoing pandemic. The event will see the launch of Android 12 and likely updates to Google’s core services, and there’s a possibility of an unveiling of new Pixel hardware. Google I/O runs from May 18-20. Here’s what’s to expect from the annual developer conference, how you can watch, and the top I/O rumours about what Google has up its sleeve.”

USEFUL STUFF

Washington Post: You have the right to film police. Here’s how to do it effectively — and safely. “Smartphones now allow citizens to film and even live-stream their own police encounters, yet the act of recording can put people at risk in highly charged situations. Many Black Americans are tired of having to document each time a police officer kills a Black person to prove it happened. And while the surge in smartphone evidence has fueled calls for reform, one reason [Darnella] Frazier’s video stands out is because it was so rare in actually leading to the conviction of an officer. So how can and should you use your phone to bear witness? I spoke with lawyers, police, activists, photojournalists and technologists to get their advice on how to best record the police, both legally and technologically.”

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

CNET: QAnon channels are deleting their own YouTube videos to evade punishment. “Disappearing videos are usually the realm of Snapchat or Instagram Stories, which self-destruct by design after 24 hours. The vanishing QAnon video is something different, a tactic used by peddlers of disinformation that’s designed to help extremist channels evade YouTube’s policies and escape violations that would get them shut down.”

BBC: The app that lets you pay to control another person’s life. “When writer Brandon Wong recently couldn’t decide what takeaway to order one evening, he asked his followers on social media app NewNew to choose for him. Those that wanted to get involved in the 24-year-old’s dinner dilemma paid $5 (£3.50) to vote in a poll, and the majority verdict was that he should go for Korean food, so that was what he bought.”

Pro Video Coalition: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gets Cooke Archive. “Cooke Optics, the award-winning manufacturer of precision lenses for film and television, has transferred the Cooke Archive, an historic collection dating from 1886, and that covers covers development of lens design for photography and film through the 20th century, to a new permanent home at the Margaret Herrick Library, the main repository of research materials of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, located in Beverly Hills, California.”

RESEARCH & OPINION

IGN Middle East: Experimental AI Tool Makes GTA 5 Look Stunningly Photorealistic – Here’s How. “As part of the Intel ISL research group’s Photorealism Enhancement project, the new machine learning tool helps make computer-generated images more realistic by analyzing each frame of the game animation and comparing that to real-life images before applying enhancements based on them. In a video demonstration, Intel ISL shows some regular gameplay of Grand Theft Auto 5 before switching over to its tool’s output, which analyzes the gameplay footage and uses machine learning to make it look more photorealistic.”

ScienceDaily: How smartphones can help detect ecological change. “Mobile apps like Flora Incognita that allow automated identification of wild plants cannot only identify plant species, but also uncover large-scale ecological patterns. This opens up new perspectives for rapid detection of biodiversity changes.”

OTHER STUFF I THINK IS COOL

PC Magazine: Watch NASA’s Historic Ingenuity Helicopter Flight on Mars in 3D. “If you thought watching NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter fly across the Martian sky last month was exciting, you’re in for a real treat. Engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration rendered the historic third flight in 3D, lending what the agency called ‘dramatic depth’ to the short trip—as the chopper lifts into the air, zips off screen, and returns moments later for landing.” Good morning, Internet…

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