Journal

Does this foreshadow a new space age of health spa tourism?

When astronaut Scott Kelly returned to earth a few days ago after being in space for 340 days, he could brag about a few other things than just being the person who has achieved the longest space flight for an American. Kelly returned to Earth taller and younger than he would have been if he’d never left. As CNN reports, Kelly came back to Earth two inches taller than he was when he left. His increased height isn’t due to bone growth, however. Being up in space where there is no gravity exerting force on the human body means that a person’s spine can stretch out by as much as three inches.

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The technology could one day serve as the basis for a product that embraces the physical book, while adding cool digital content on top.

Technology that would bring the experience of reading a book into the 21st century—and not by replacing the book with a computer—was patented today by Google, according to filings posted today at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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The service had less than 54,000 pay TV subscribers at the end of 2015—and growth is slowing.

Research firm MoffettNathanson has issued a scathing report saying Alphabet is having serious subscriber and growth issues with the pay TV service part of its Google Fiber offerings, reports Re/code. The report says Fiber had just 53,390 pay TV subscribers at the end of 2015. That’s up from 30,000 at the end of 2014, but growth is slowing. In the last six months of 2014, Fiber’s pay TV service grew 136%, but in the last six months of 2015 it only grew 78.8%.

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Known for his bold claims, entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong says that immunotherapies can tackle cancer as well as infections.

What do breast cancer, lung cancer, and Zika virus have in common? They can all be treated with the same medications, claimed biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong at a genetics conference in San Diego on Thursday. The doctor doesn’t shy away from bold statements based on preliminary data and was met with adoration as a kickoff speaker at the Future of Genomic Medicine conference—a science-heavy gathering at the Scripps Institution of geneticists, oncologists, data scientists, and other experts.

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The surprising move comes at a time when Apple is battling with the FBI over the necessity of encryption.

It’s come to light that Amazon quietly disabled encryption on all of its Fire OS devices with its latest major software update. The revelation comes at a time when Apple is in an unprecedented legal battle with the FBI and a heated debate over the very importance of encryption technology in every user’s life. The disabling of Fire OS’s encryption happened with the update to the company’s Fire OS 5 software that runs on the Kindle Fire, Fire Phone, Amazon Fire HD, and Amazon Fire TV Stick, reports The Verge.

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Medical professionals debate whether war metaphors are helpful or harmful to patients.

At the Future of Genomics Conference in San Diego, physicians repeatedly referred to cancer as a “battlefield” or a “war.” By implication, they were the soldiers fighting the disease on the front lines of care.

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What happened this week? Here’s our quiz for March 4, 2016.

Did you follow the news this week? Research says that one of the best ways to solidify new information is to be tested on it. Here’s a chance to bolster your knowledge of current events—and earn a special emoji badge.

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Weather permitting, of course. And SpaceX says it doesn’t expect the at-sea landing to be successful.

Today at 6:35 p.m. EST, SpaceX hopes, at last, to make its fifth attempt to launch and then land, its Falcon 9 rocket on an at-sea platform. The launch attempt has been delayed for a multitude of reasons over the last nine days, including bad weather, heavy winds, and even a boat roaming into a safety zone.

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Anne Wojcicki is committed to resuming the personal genomics company’s test for pharmacogenetics and disease risks.

Anne Wojcicki is the first to admit that she has tunnel vision. The battle-weary CEO of 23andMe knows exactly where her company needs to be in the next five years.

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The DOJ’s desire for a “backdoor” to encrypted data is understandable, but its way of getting it looks calculated, secretive, and two-faced.

More than 40 tech companies, trade groups, and privacy advocates filed amicus briefs this week in support of Apple in its dispute with the FBI over San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook’s iPhone. The government won a court order in February demanding that Apple create a custom OS for the phone that would allow law enforcement to bypass security features and break into the device. Apple has refused.

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