Author: lmehit

E-cigarettes’s Effect on Cells Similar to That of Tobacco Smoke | Scientific American

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Electronic cigarettes can change gene expression in a similar way to tobacco, according to one of the first studies to investigate the biological effects of the devices.

Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting on 6 April in San Diego, California, the research looked at human bronchial cells that contained some mutations found in smokers at risk of lung cancer. The cells were immortalized, grown in culture medium that had been exposed to e-cigarette vapor and their gene expression profiled

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Uber vs. Lyft: The $500 Million Battle | WIRED

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The pink mustache on the front of the car is the giveaway. Lyft isn’t like a regular taxi company. In fact, Lyft will tell you it’s not a taxi company at all. Instead, the company markets itself as a way to share rides: regular people with their own cars making their empty seats available to strangers via an app in exchange for money.

All that sharing has apparently started to add up. Yesterday, Lyft announced it had made a deal for $250 million in new financing. The company plans to use the money to expand its ride-sharing service across the U.S. and around the world after growing from two cities to thirty over the past year, says CEO Logan Green. Ride-sharing rival Uber secured about the same amount last summer. Lyft tries to distinguish itself from Uber by emphasizing the “sharing” part of ride-sharing, while Uber focuses on the “ride.” Now that the two are on more equal financial footing, the contest can truly get underway to determine which vision will decide the future of transportation — and whether sharing will really have anything to do with it at all.

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Wineist Wine Delivery | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

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European startup Wineist is disrupting the wine industry with it’s unique way of online wine tasting.

Curated premium wine tasting experience delivered to your home. Enjoy a monthly delivery of new quality wine samples, from the wine cellar to your doorstep. A new way to explore the beautiful world of wine.

Each month wine professionals, from all over the world, choose a new theme and new wines for your tasting pleasure. The Wineist package, is delivered to your home, your office or your friend’s house. Ready to be tasted.

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A Graceful Solar Eruption from NASA! | greenpacks.org

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The phenomenon of solar flares is nothing new. We are already well aware of the 11 year solar cycle that sees this fiery cosmic show ebb and flow and this has been going on for millions of years now.

Currently, we are heading towards another solar maximum; a period that sees a spike up in the solar flare and sunspot activity. And NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory has just captured what it dubs as a graceful solar eruption.

Check It Out.

Blood Moon Tetrad: Is It The End Of World, Again? | greenpacks.org

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If you are waiting in wings and have a plan to join the cozy club in heaven, now is apparently a good time. Next week signifies the start of the infamous Tetrad that will see four blood-red lunar eclipses followed by six full moons.

It is a cycle that has just started and is slated to end in September 2015. This cosmological event is so rare that NASA confirms it has happened only three times in the last 500 years.

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Are Smart Clothes the Real Future Of Wearable Tech? | Ypulse

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tech clothing2014 was supposed to be “the year of wearable tech,” but four months in, it seems clear that it’s going to take some time for wearables to go mainstream. The majority of attention is being paid to smartbands and smartwatches, and new entries to the market keep coming. Google has announced their expansion outside of Glass with smartwatch Android Wear, Nissan has unveiled a watch concept that would pair wearable tech with the car industry, Disney has made headlines with their new smartbands for guests, even Will.i.am is developing a smartwatch. The competition to be the star of tech that lives on our wrists is intense, but so far it is unclear whether consumers—even tech-hungry Millennials— are going to embrace these innovations. Research suggests that one-third of those who have purchased wearable tech abandoned their devices after just six months of use, causing some to wonder if the “next big thing” in tech is a harder sell than brands previously suspected. One of the big issues of wristband and Glass technology is that currently it is very noticeable and not necessarily stylish. We wrote that wearable tech would have to be either beautiful or undetectable to be embraced by a broader audience than the techie crowd, and the makers of these devices are heeding the warning, with Google partnering with glasses-maker Luxxotica for more fashionable Glass frames, and Intel working with Opening Ceremony and Barneys New York to create a wristband that actually looks cool.

So what will the future of wearable tech actually look like?

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Why Your Customers Abandon Online Shopping Carts | wonderbranding

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I go into the garage for a hammer.

On my way back into the house, I stop for a cold drink and remember that the kitchen trash needs to be taken out for tomorrow’s collection.

Dropping the can at the curb, I turn and notice that the landscaper forgot to turn on the drip irrigation system, so I trot over and flip the switch. I walk back into the house and realize that I forgot to put the cold bottle of water back into the fridge. I open the door and find my hammer, sitting on the top shelf, chilling next to a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

I’m glad I found the hammer. The only question is, “What did I need it for in the first place?”

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Poisoning Our Pets | Wired.com

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The antidepressant Venlafaxine sold under the brand name Effexor is a pharmaceutical success story; in a single year, U.S. doctors prescribed it more than 17 million times. It’s not without controversy. As Medline Plus points out, it’s among a group of antidepressants that were linked to suicidal behavior in children, teenagers and young adults.

But while that risk has been well reported, most people don’t know that Venlafaxine is also uniquely dangerous to household pets. Especially cats. “Cats love to eat it,” says Dr. Tina Wismer, medical director of the Animal Poison Control Center operated by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ASPCA. She speculates that it may be something about the way this particular antidepressant smells. “It’s crazy when you think about how hard it is normally to give a cat a pill. But in this case they’ll swallow multiple pills.”

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