Watching surgery in VR isn't for the faint of heart

Next month, my mom will retire as a theater nurse. For almost 40 years she's been walking into her hospital on a near daily basis, donning a fresh pair of scrubs and helping a surgical team save people's lives. I couldn't be prouder. But truth be told, I know little about her job and what actually happens when someone is wheeled inside the operating theater. In my head, it's just a nightmarish blur of sedatives, scalpels and face masks.

That's why I leapt at the chance to watch some surgery at the Royal London Hospital. Not from inside the operation room -- oh, no, I'm far too much of a scaredy-cat for that -- but through a VR headset. Doctor Shafi Ahmed, the co-founder of AR and VR firm Medical Realities, made history as the first person to live stream surgery in virtual reality. You could watch it in a browser or using a smartphone with the VRinOR app for iOS and Android. I went with the latter, slipping my Moto X Pure Edition into a beat-up Google Cardboard that's been gathering dust on my desk.

The stream on my phone went live a little late, so I missed some of Ahmed's introduction explaining the intricacies of the operation. But here are the basics: A British patient in his 70s was suffering from bowel cancer. Ahmed and his team needed to perform laparoscopic, or "keyhole," surgeryto dig inside and cut loose a section of his intestine that contained the tumor. An incision would be made to remove it, followed by some delicate patch-up work. It was a routine operation and unlikely to cause complications, but they placed a one-minute delay on the broadcast anyway, just to be on the safe side.

The first 40 minutes were a flurry of hands and instruments. Looking down toward the end of the table, I could see Ahmed with a pair of cutting forceps, carefully picking at the patient's innards. A section of the torso was clearly visible, but the poor lighting and a slightly pixelated stream meant it was difficult to make out what, exactly, happening. That wasn't helped by the four or five other people huddled around Ahmed, holding additional forceps and the all-important "telescope" camera.

I was constantly squinting and craning my neck to see the nearest monitor, which was angled awkwardly in relation to the camera rig.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on two monitors showing the camera's perspective. That's where the action was happening. Here, you could see Ahmed expertly tugging and cutting to free the tumor from its surrounding tissue. Occasionally, he would request that someone adjust the camera or reposition their tongs. I felt sick but kept my eyes on the nearest screen, watching the team quietly work.

At this point in the procedure, watching everything unfold in VR seemed a little pointless. Here I was, starting at a video feed inside a video feed. I was constantly squinting and craning my neck to see the nearest monitor, which was angled awkwardly in relation to the camera rig. A simple livestream of the camera inside the patient's stomach would, in many ways, have been more insightful, provided it was supplemented with the chatter from the operating theater.

A 360-degree video made by Medical Realities for training purposes

Those feelings evaporated, however, as soon as the team started to extract the tumor, because everything was happening in plain sight. Ahmed performed the incision, and the specimen was quickly on the table, clearly visible to everyone in the room, including myself. I didn't need to squint at a monitor anymore -- I could just watch the surgeons as they worked right in front of me. A few targeted snips and the infected colon was in a petri dish, ready to be whisked off to a laboratory. The team then took out scissors and thread, repairing and replumbing what was left of his intestines. It was fascinating to watch, and at this moment I noticed the theater nurses coming into their own. Whatever Ahmed needed, they were two steps ahead and ready with the correct utensil.

Watching the operation with Google Cardboard was a little finicky. My headset doesn't have a head strap, so it was tiring to hold it in position for a couple of hours. On a number of occasions I also noticed the headset's orientation beginning to drift. To look flat along the operating table, for instance, I would find myself staring at the floor or up at the ceiling. Eventually the app would register the problem and reset, snapping my vision back into the proper position. These moments happened with such frequency, however, that I quickly became irritated. The image quality was also pretty poor. I suspect, however, that this was because of the livestream rather than my internet connection or Cardboard headset.

Despite these technical niggles, I was enthralled by the experience. Afterward, I Skyped my mom to ask some questions about the procedure, and for the first time, well, ever, we had a conversation about her work that went beyond "it was a stressful day" or "the operation had some complications." For that alone, I'm glad I took the time to strap on a Cardboard and watch Ahmed work for a few hours. Even if it meant feeling queasy and rushing to the bathroom a couple of times.

A supernova once blasted the moon with radioactive iron

Stars are gigantic hydrogen bombs that normally produce helium with little fuss. When the hydrogen is all gone, however, they implode, causing exotic new elements to be formed by the massive gravitational pressure. If a star is just the right size (eight to 15 times our sun's mass), it will go supernova, ejecting heavy, often unique isotopes into space. Researchers have found some of those isotopes on the moon, meaning that our solar system was once hit by dust from a supernova just a few hundred light years away.

Scientists studied rocks from several NASA moon landings between 1969 and '72, including Apollo missions 12, 15 and 16. Within those rocks, they found a radioactive iron isotope called 60Fe that is created almost exclusively in supernovas. The team was able to date the isotope to about 2 million years, based on its half-life of 2.62 million years. That corresponds well with the discovery of the same isotope here on Earth from Pacific Ocean crusts.

The moon's isotopes provide a better cosmic record than those found on earth, since they're not altered by passing through our atmosphere. As a result, scientists were able to deduce an upper limit for how much 60Fe reached the moon, and further calculate where it came from. "The measured 60Fe-flow corresponds to a supernova at a distance of about 300 light years," says Technical University of Munich researcher Dr. Gunther Korschinek.

That means that a Milky Way star not terribly far away went supernova, and the material actually hit our planet. Luckily, those particles were small when they arrived, and if it happens again, we will get a heads up. Supernova ejecta travel at one-tenth the speed of light, max, so if we happen to witness a similar explosion, the consequences won't hit us for at least 3,000 years.

Get streaming video of your innards using ultrasound

Current medical implants use radio waves to talk to receivers outside the human body at a paltry 50Kb per second. Fortunately, there's a faster way! And we already use it to check on babies (and pumping hearts) in real-time: ultrasound. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have used ultrasonic waves that travel fast enough through flesh to deliver streaming video.

To simulate the human soft tissue that slows radio waves, scientists hung slabs of pork loin and beef liver in water tanks and fired data through the mixtures. They achieved 30Mb of data transfer per second — about 1000 times the maximum speed that existing bodily implants achieve via radio waves.

That 30mb/s is fast enough to stream Netflix, but the real value will be in broadcasting live video and other data from within the body. Currently, video feeds require a bulky receiver sitting just outside the body. Possible, but not comfortable.

The scientists still have to test data transmission through multiple organs, which may have different thicknesses. This might slow things down some, but we won't know until they throw more meat in front of the signal.

Google’s Chrome Web Store will boot apps and extensions violating new user data guidelines

about his move from the White House to Uber strategic adviser

Google is cleaning up its Chrome Web Store – the marketplace where you can browse for extensions and apps for its Chrome web browser. The company says it’s making changes to browser’s User Data Policy, which will now require developers to be more transparent about how they handle customer data, and which will require user consent when data is collected, among other things.

The changes come at a time when the Chrome Web Store has been targeted by malware makers, who have posted rogue extensions that do terrible things like spy on web users and collect their personal data. It also arrives in a post-Snowden era where governments, like those in the EU, are getting involved in passing user data privacy regulations and legislation.

In January, security firm Malwarebytes pointed to one rogue extension that was only pulled after a thousand downloads, as an example of the malware problem. The extension, which required elevated permissions, silently talked back to a remote server and would push ads to users after installation.

After removal, it was soon replaced by another that redirected users to a social networking site. The security firm also noted that it had seen an increase in “adware” companies using extensions to push things like free coupons, recipes, and videos, as well as those that would harvest users’ browsing habits then resell them to marketing companies for better ad targeting.

Malicious extensions, however, are not a new problem for Google. The Chrome Web Storehas faced this issue for years. In the past, Google tried to address this by disallowing users from installing extensions that weren’t hosted on the Web Store directly. In theory, this would offer more protection as extensions could be pulled down or automatically disabled.

Now Google is asking developers to follow similar guidelines as Chrome has itself with regard to privacy protections for users.

According to a blog post, this includes the following new requirements for developers:

• Be transparent about the handling of user data and disclose privacy practices

• Post a privacy policy and use encryption, when handling personal or sensitive information

• Ask users to consent to the collection of personal or sensitive data via a prominent disclosure, when the use of the data isn’t related to a prominent feature.

Yes, it’s somewhat concerning that extension developers didn’t already have to follow these basic guidelines.

The policy also prohibits collecting web browsing activity when it’s not required for an item’s main functionality. That’s an especially interesting change which could impact several businesses.

A number of companies today run networks of seemingly harmless browser extensions in order to collect browsing data for other purposes. For instance, web analytics firm SimilarWeb said in the past it had “hundreds” of plugins reaching tens of millions of end users. In some cases, those plugins would collect browsing data to offer information to users about things like web rankings or reach of the sites they’re on, but other plugins were not as obvious about their intentions. (Though it may be disclosed in those cases, most users don’t read privacy policies.)

Google says developers have until July 14, 2016 to comply with the new policy. Afterward, on July 15, those extensions and apps that violate the update User Data Policy will be removed from the Chrome Web Store.

Microsoft’s new Surface keyboard has aesthetic and sensory qualities unlike anything you’ve ever experienced

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner invests $100m to send a fleet of spacecraft to Alpha Centauri

Let’s get this out of the way: I really like the Microsoft Surface. But you know what I’ve always thought has been missing all this time? Keyboard covers that have “a blend of technology and style,” combining “Italian luxury, a Finnish minimalistic design aesthetic and durability that helps it improve with age, like a good leather jacket.”

“The intersection of fibers creates a very smooth, velvety experience”

Obviously, this is crucial, because, “The unique sensory and technical qualities of the material create a beautiful two-tone grey mélange effect, which is soft to the touch and ages beautifully, growing richer and darker over time.”

“It’s not just an accessory,” climaxes Ralf Groene, the Head of Design for Microsoft Devices in the product’s launch video.  “You live with it, and it lives with you.”

The keyboard covers are “meticulously crafted with a luxury material, sourced exclusively in Italy and used in high-end fashion, automotive and interiors,” and they’re exclusive, too: “Each Signature Type cover takes five weeks to produce,” a process that includes crimping, needle-punching and dying.

Pictures are worth a thousand words, as the saying goes. If we make a leap of assumption, there’s some accuracy in that it means the following 1-minute, 45-second video at 30 fps is another three-point-one million words’ worth of blowing smoke up its own arse:

And, with a price tag of $160, they’d better be pretty special, too.

Just when you think Microsoft has turned the ship around and are back to being a serious equipment manufacturer, they just have to go pull shit like this.

C’mon, Microsoft, you’re better than that.

A supernova once blasted the moon with radioactive iron

Stars are gigantic hydrogen bombs that normally produce helium with little fuss. When the hydrogen is all gone, however, they implode, causing exotic new elements to be formed by the massive gravitational pressure. If a star is just the right size (eight to 15 times our sun's mass), it will go supernova, ejecting heavy, often unique isotopes into space. Researchers have found some of those isotopes on the moon, meaning that our solar system was once hit by dust from a supernova just a few hundred light years away.

Scientists studied rocks from several NASA moon landings between 1969 and '72, including Apollo missions 12, 15 and 16. Within those rocks, they found a radioactive iron isotope called 60Fe that is created almost exclusively in supernovas. The team was able to date the isotope to about 2 million years, based on its half-life of 2.62 million years. That corresponds well with the discovery of the same isotope here on Earth from Pacific Ocean crusts.

The moon's isotopes provide a better cosmic record than those found on earth, since they're not altered by passing through our atmosphere. As a result, scientists were able to deduce an upper limit for how much 60Fe reached the moon, and further calculate where it came from. "The measured 60Fe-flow corresponds to a supernova at a distance of about 300 light years," says Technical University of Munich researcher Dr. Gunther Korschinek.

That means that a Milky Way star not terribly far away went supernova, and the material actually hit our planet. Luckily, those particles were small when they arrived, and if it happens again, we will get a heads up. Supernova ejecta travel at one-tenth the speed of light, max, so if we happen to witness a similar explosion, the consequences won't hit us for at least 3,000 years.

Zalora, Rocket Internet’s unprofitable Asian fashion portal, is selling off business units

The ink is barely dry on Alibaba’s billion dollar investment in Southeast Asia’s Lazada, but already we have news of another Rocket Internet divestment. Zalora, Rocket Internet’s fashion-focused site that raised over $250 million and was once on an equal footing with $1.5 billion-valued Lazada, is shedding two of its lackluster country businesses to cut down on costs, TechCrunch has learned.

Rocket Internet made big moves to fill the e-commerce void in Southeast Asia, a region with over 550 million people but no service from Amazon or eBay, when it started Lazada and Zalora in 2012. Both eyed profitability by 2015, but the two companies continue to pull in heavy losses thanks a combination of factors, including aggressive early targets and slow market growth.

Zalora, Rocket Internet’s take on Zappos, has deemed its businesses in Thailand and Vietnam surplus to requirements and it is in the process of selling both, a source close to Rocket Internet told TechCrunch.

A Zalora spokesperson declined to comment.

Alongside The Iconic, Zalora covers 11 countries across Asia Pacific, including Indonesia, Taiwan and Australia. Our source said the company is now focused on countries where it is “on the verge of profitability” and Thailand and Vietnam don’t figure in that equation. Zalora may opt to sell other business further down the line to further streamline its spending.

According to Rocket Internet’s latest financial results, Zalora’s revenue rose 78 percent to €208 million ($234 million) in 2015, but its net loss increased 36 percent to €93.5 million ($105 million.) Its finances may not be as dire as Lazada’s but, as some have noted, Zalora’s cash reserves can’t be far from depletion so cost-cutting is on the agenda.

Like Lazada, Zalora has been shopped to investors and potential acquirers for some time, our source told us. However, while Rocket Internet was seeking to exit Lazada in its entirety, it is breaking Zalora out into chunks that are for sale in specific markets. That may be because the company is part of Global Fashion Group (GFG), its group of fashion-focused e-commerce players worldwide, while there’s no obvious buyer — unlike Lazada which had Alibaba. (Zalora’s valuation is unclear because it is part of GFG, which was valued at $3 billion when it raised funding last summer.)

TechCrunch understands that a local conglomerate has agreed to purchase Zalora Thailand for just $10 million, although the deal is not closed yet. The acquirer of the Vietnam business is not known right now. (Incidentally, Rocket Internet sold Foodpanda Vietnam last year.)

The timing of these exits is particularly interesting. Japan’s Rakuten recently quit Southeast Asia — selling its Thailand-based business in the process — while Alibaba bought that majority stake in Lazada just before the company ran out of cash. Rocket Internet bagged a respectable 15X return on its investment, but other investors were left disappointed with modest exits after being sold on the ambitious vision of building Lazada into the Amazon of Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia has long sat in the shadow of larger markets like China and India, but, with over 500 million consumers and a raising middle class, it has potential to be very significant. However, with just three percent of commerce happening online, inconsistent logistics and differing cultures across the region, building a successful e-commerce business is hugely challenging and capital intensive.

These sales appear to mark a new focus for Rocket Internet in Asia. The company has spent the past few years developing companies with serious scale — like Lazada, Zalora and Foodpanda — but it recently announced a new strategy that takes it back to launching early-stage startups in the region — such as budget hotel network Zen Rooms. It isn’t just Southeast Asia where it is getting out of its more capital-intensive businesses. Beyond Lazada and Zalora, Rocket Internet sold India-based Fab Furnish this month, and it is reportedly looking for buyers to take Foodpanda India and e-commerce player Jabong off its hands.