<b>A Steem essay discusses Stanford researchers who engineered protein messengers to fight tumors and promote neurological regeneration</b>; Harvard researchers study the lockdown driven rise of "<i>cloud kitchens</i>"; <b>Researchers suggest that females may live longer than men due to differences in immune systems</b>; IBM ends facial recognition programs out of concerns about racial profiling; and <b>an article suggests that 50 state attorneys general may pursue break-up of Google's ad technology business.</b>
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<h1><center>Curating the Internet: Science and technology digest for <div class=phishy>June 9, 2020</div></center></h1>
<h3>Administrivia</h3>
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<center><b><i>Fresh and Informative Content Daily: Welcome to my little corner of the blockchain</i></b></center>
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<tr><td><h5>Straight from <A HREF=https://theoldreader.com>my RSS feed</A></h5></td><td><h5>Whatever gets my attention</h5></td></tr>
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<h6>Links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.</h6>
First posted on my Steem blog: <A HREF="https://steemit.com/@remlaps/popular-stem-curating-the-internet-science-and-technology-digest-for-june-8-2020">SteemIt</A>.
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<h6> pixabay license: <a href="https://pixabay.com/es/photos/gl%C3%B3bulo-blanco-celular-gl%C3%B3bulo-543471/">source</a>.</h6>
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<li> <b><i>Steem</i></b> @rt-international:<A HREF="/@rt-international/scientists-reengineer-one-protein-to-fight-cancer-or-to-regenerate-neurons">Scientists reengineer one protein to fight cancer or to regenerate neurons</A> - Bioengineer, <A HREF="http://cochranlab.net/people/"></A> from Stanford University has a long career reengineering protein messengers, called <A HREF="https://everipedia.org/wiki/lang_en/Ligand">ligands</A>. These messengers are known to regulate many major organs in our body, including lungs, blood vessels, and bones. Extending research from 2019, the team recently reported success at engineering a single ligand to accomplish two unique purposes, these purposes include regeneration of neuronal cells and inhibition of lung tumor growth. As of yet, the technique has only been successful in rats, but the team is hopeful that it may eventually provide revolutionary new defenses against illnesses including cancer, osteoporosis and atherosclerosis. The engineering is accomplished by carefully adjusting the shape of the ligancs in order to "unlock" specific and targeted therapeutic benefits. Some of Cochran's previous work in this area is already undergoing human trials for the treatment of kidney and ovarian cancer. (A 10% beneficiary setting has been applied to this post for @rt-international)</li><br>
<li> <A HREF="https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/coronavirus-careers-cloud-kitchens-are-now-serving?cid=wk-rss">Coronavirus Careers: Cloud Kitchens Are Now Serving</A> - <b>Subtitle</b>: <i>Cloud kitchens are restaurants built around food delivery rather than sit-down service, and they are increasing in popularity as COVID-19 disrupts the industry, write <A HREF="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenaye/">Lena Ye</A> and <A HREF="http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/profile.aspx?facId=24276">Geoffrey Jones</A>.</i> As government lockdowns and social distancing requirements continue to disrupt the restaurant industry, more and more restaurants are shifting their focus from sit-down service to food delivery. This has led to the rise of the "<i>cloud kitchen</i>", a commercial facility that is specifically built for meal delivery. These kitchens save on overhead because they don't have requirements for brick & mortar dining areas, and they partner with services like "<i>Uber Eats, Postmates, Grubhub, and DoorDash</i>" for delivery. This evolutionary turnaround is interesting because those delivery services started by providing services to restaurants, and now the restaurants are providing the service to the delivery firms. Because they don't need to be located in prime locations, and they don't need to have real estate for seating customers, estimates for a cloud kitchen vs. a full-service restaurant in New York City is $100,000 as opposed to $1,000,000-$1,500,000. Although the operation benefits from a lower cost, the marketplace is still challenging and businesses are still working to get it right. In the mean time, competition is intense, and delivery times can be highly variable. Additionally, these businesses struggle to build an emotional connection with their customers.</i></li><br>
<li> <A HREF="https://www.sdu.dk/en/nyheder/forskningsnyheder/vildtlevende-hunner-lever-laengere-end-hanner">Female lifespan is longer in wild mammal animals than in humans</A> - On average, the lifespan for mammalian females is about 18.6% longer than for mammalian males. In humans, the difference is only 7.8%. This article reports that the difference arises because females have lower risk of mortality during adulthood. It also suggests that a common explanation, that males engage in riskier behavior, doesn't explain the gap. Instead, the difference may be because females have better immune systems. -h/t <A HREF="https://lemire.me/blog/2020/06/06/science-and-technology-links-june-6th-2020/">Daniel Lemire</A></li><br>
<li> <A HREF="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/06/09/1002947/ibm-says-it-is-no-longer-working-on-face-recognition-because-its-used-for-racial-profiling/">IBM says it is no longer working on face recognition because it’s used for racial profiling</A> - In <A HREF="https://www.ibm.com/blogs/policy/facial-recognition-susset-racial-justice-reforms">a letter to Congress</A>, the firm's CEO, Arvind Krishna said that IBM is opposed to the use of technology, "<i>for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms.</i>" He also called for national dialogue on whether or when to use facial recognition for law enforcement purposes. As a result, he said the firm will stop developing or selling facial recognition software. It's not clear whether this action will nudge competitors into taking similar actions. A cynical person might wonder if IBM already intended to exit the product line and current events provided them with a way to do it while simultaneously generating good will from the public.</li><br>
<li> <A HREF="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/05/states-lean-toward-pushing-to-break-up-googles-ad-tech-business.html">States are leaning toward a push to break up Google’s ad tech business</A> - Fifty states and the Department of Justice have been investigating Google over alleged anti-trust violations. According to this article, they have not officially decided whether to combine their efforts, but the states are leaning towards breaking up Google's ad technology business. When the states file their expected law suits, they have many other remedies at their disposal, and courts have always been reluctant to impose break-ups because of the harm that it does to consumers. However, government regulators have been successful in forcing break-ups in cases like Standard Oil in 1911 and AT&T during the 1980s. On the other hand, Microsoft and IBM both fought through antitrust lawsuits without being split up. Google said they continue to cooperate with the investigations and that they are currently subjected to intense levels of competition from rivals like Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T. -h/t <A HREF="https://www.osnews.com/story/131881/states-are-leaning-toward-a-push-to-break-up-googles-ad-tech-business/">OS news</A></li><br>
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