Science News-"Immunoswitch" Particles May Be Key to More-Effective Cancer Immunotherapy

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Medical News "Immunoswitch" Particles May Be Key to More-Effective Cancer Immunotherapy Scientists at Johns Hopkins have created a nanoparticle that carries two different antibodies capable of simultaneously switching off cancer cells' defensive properties while switching on a robust anticancer immune response in mice. Experiments with ... – Johns Hopkins Medicine ACS Nano; DGE-1232825, 2T32CA153952-06, F31CA206344, R01-CA108835, R21-CA185819, P01-AI072677 Embargo expired on 07-Jun-2017 at 08:00 ET Women with Past Adverse Childhood Experiences More Likely to Have Ovaries Removed, Study Shows ROCHESTER, Minn. —Mayo Clinic researchers report that women who suffered adverse childhood experiences or abuse as an adult are 62 percent more likely to have their ovaries removed before age 46. These removals are for reasons other than the presen... – Mayo Clinic BMJ Open Embargo expired on 07-Jun-2017 at 09:00 ET Type of Sugar May Treat Atherosclerosis, Mouse Study Shows Studying mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that a natural sugar called trehalose revs up the immune system’s cellular housekeeping abilities. These souped-up housecleaners then are able to reduce ... – Washington University in St. Louis Nature Communications Embargo expired on 07-Jun-2017 at 05:00 ET Researchers Identify a Key Controller of Biological Machinery in Cell’s ‘Antenna’ St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital discovery of a regulatory enzyme working at the primary cilium could lead to treatments for the brain tumor medulloblastoma – St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Cell Reports, June 2017 Embargo expired on 06-Jun-2017 at 12:00 ET Anti-Nausea Drug Could Help Treat Sleep Apnea An old pharmaceutical product may be a new treatment for obstructive sleep apnea, according to new research presented today by University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern University scientists at the SLEEP 2017 annual meeting in Boston. – University of Illinois at Chicago Sleep 2017 Embargo expired on 06-Jun-2017 at 14:05 ET MD Anderson and Hitachi to Collaborate in Research for Treatment of Oropharyngeal Cancer of the Head and Neck The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Hitachi Healthcare Americas Corporation, have today announced that they have entered into an agreement to collaborate on research for a unique randomized clinical trial comparing the outcomes and ... – University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Embargo expired on 07-Jun-2017 at 09:00 ET Michigan Heart Surgery Outcomes Improved After Medicaid Expansion, Study Finds Expanding Medicaid coverage is associated with better outcomes for heart surgery patients, according to a study led by University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers. – University of Virginia Health System Annals of Thoracic Surgery, May-2017; UM1 HL088925; T32 HL007849; R01 HS022535 Can Routine Hysterectomy Lead to Problems with Constipation or Bladder Control? In a controversial study published in Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, researchers from Ankara University, Turkey, found that hysterectomy had an increased negative impact on women, including constipation and incontinence. In an accompanying rebutt... – Diseases of the Colon and Rectum Journal Diseases of the Colon and Rectum, March 2017 includes video Promising New Treatment Option for Chronic Plaque Psoriasis The study tested the efficacy of tildrakizumab, an antibody that targets only a very specific immune system pathway. More than 60 percent of all patients who received the active medication showed improvement, compared to less than 10 percent of pati... – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center The Lancet Global Warming May Cause Spike in Asthma, Allergy Symptoms A new study finds that exposure to a widespread outdoor fungus can increase cell damage (oxidative stress) in the airways. This spike weakens the airways’ barrier defense system that, when functioning normally, removes infection- and allergy-causin... – American Physiological Society (APS) Warren Alpert Foundation Honors Five Pioneers in Cancer Immunology Scientists recognized for seminal discoveries in cancer’s ability to thwart immune surveillance that paved the way to immune-based cancer therapies – Harvard Medical School New Target Found to Attack an Incurable Brain Tumor in Children A study published in Molecular Cancer Research reveals that a tumor suppressor gene p16 is turned off by a histone mutation (H3.3K27M), which is found in up to 70 percent of childhood brain tumors called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). This ... – Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Molecular Cancer Research, May 2017 Researchers Report Encouraging Results From Combination Therapy in Hodgkin Lymphoma The authors of a phase II clinical study report that combination therapy with brentuximab vedotin and gemcitabine in patients is “highly active" regimen for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma. – Roswell Park Cancer Institute Research Study Gives New Insight Into How Cancer Spreads A research study led by University of Minnesota engineers gives new insight into how cancer cells move based on their ability to sense their environment. The discovery could have a major impact on therapies to prevent the spread of cancer. The same r... – University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering Nature Communications, May 22, 2017 How Neurons Use Crowdsourcing to Make Decisions When many individual neurons collect data, how do they reach a unanimous decision? New research from the Santa Fe Institute's collective computation group suggests a two-phase process. – Santa Fe Institute Frontiers in Neuroscience Roswell Park’s Dr. Kunle Odunsi Gives Update on Ovarian Cancer Immunotherapy Study at ASCO Annual Meeting Dr. Kunle Odunsi of Roswell Park Cancer Institute presented an update about an ongoing clinical trial involving T-cell engineering to treat advanced ovarian cancer at the ASCO Annual Meeting in Chicago. – Roswell Park Cancer Institute Anti-Heroin Vaccine Found Effective in Non-Human Primates This is the first vaccine against an opioid to pass this stage of preclinical testing. – Scripps Research Institute Journal of the American Chemical Society, June 2017; UH2DA041146; R01DA026625; K99DA037344; F31DA037709 Roswell Park-Led Research Updates Data on Lenalidomide Maintenance for Patients with Multiple Myeloma Dr. Philip McCarthy of Roswell Park Cancer Institute presents updated findings on CALGB/ECOG 100104 study of lenalidomide maintenance therapy for multiple myeloma, adjusting data to account for crossover effect. – Roswell Park Cancer Institute ASCO Annual Meeting, June 2017 Predictive Tool Developed by Roswell Park-OmniSeq Team Accurately Reflects Response to Checkpoint Inhibition Roswell Park and OmniSeq report that a custom algorithm they developed based on a 54-gene signature accurately predicted response to anti-PD-L1 treatment in 90% of the cases they analyzed. – Roswell Park Cancer Institute ASCO Annual Meeting 2017 #NoTobaccoChat: A Twitter Discussion on Changing the Default Approach to Tobacco Dependence The University of Kansas Cancer Center and Children’s Mercy Twitter #NoTobaccoChat focused on changing the way healthcare providers treat tobacco dependence. – University of Kansas Cancer Center Clinical Benefit of Clot Retrieval Now Proven Up to 24 Hours After Major Ischemic Stroke Results of an international, randomized controlled research study show that mechanical thrombectomy, which is an endovascular treatment to remove a stroke-causing blood clot in the brain, is effective in some patients even when performed within 6 to ... – Rush University Medical Center Cancer Cells Send Signals Boosting Survival and Drug Resistance in Other Cancer Cells Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine report that cancer cells appear to communicate to other cancer cells, activating an internal mechanism that boosts resistance to common chemotherapies and promotes tumor survival. ... – University of California San Diego Health Science Signalling Tulane Researchers Help Find Possible Explanation for Unparalleled Spread of Ebola Virus The world may be closer to knowing why Ebola spreads so easily thanks to a team of researchers from Tulane University and other leading institutions who discovered a new biological activity in a small protein from the deadly virus. – Tulane University Journal of Virology, June 2017 Insomnia Associated with Increased Risk of Suicidality People who suffer from insomnia are three times more likely to report thoughts of suicide and death during the past 30 days than those without the condition, reports a new meta-analysis from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the Unive... – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania NUS Researchers Identify Potential Target for Treatment of Aggressive Brain Cancer Researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore have discovered that the BCL6 protein could potentially be used as a marker to predict clinical outcomes of patients suffering from Glioblastoma Multif... – National University of Singapore Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Mining the Data Mother Lode One of the newest entities with the Penn Institute for Biomedical Informatics, the Health Language Processing Lab combines social media content with other sources of health information in a unique way aimed at understanding how people use language to... – Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Statins Can Cause Disabling Muscle Disease For some patients, statins cause necrotizing myopathy, a form of the rare, chronic, debilitating condition idiopathic inflammatory myopathy, also known as myositis. – Myositis Association Alexa Now Delivers Mayo Clinic News via Amazon Echo Just ask, and with voice activation, you can receive the latest in medicine, research and wellness from Mayo Clinic. Content originating from Mayo Clinic News Network is now available on Amazon Echo-enabled devices. – Mayo Clinic Cancer Research Institute to Bring Together Cancer Patients, Leading Immunotherapy Manufacturers, and Highland Falls Community Members for Second Annual Answer to Cancer Sponsored by Bristol-Myers Squibb Day-long endurance event starting at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, focused on cancer immunotherapy research – Cancer Research Institute UIC Launches Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine will launch a new center that will focus on understanding tissue regeneration and pioneering future developments in stem cell biology as a means to repair diseased organs and tissues. – University of Illinois at Chicago Alternative to Blood Thinners Available for Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Rush University Medical Center is offering a new, implantable cardiac device to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, providing an alternative to the long-term use of blood thinners. – Rush University Medical Center Science News Oyster Shells Inspire New Method to Make Superstrong, Flexible Polymers Columbia Engineers developed a technique inspired by the nacre of oyster shells, a composite material that has extraordinary mechanical properties, including great strength and resilience. By changing the crystallization speed of a polymer mixed with... – Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science ACS Central June 7 2017 Embargo expired on 07-Jun-2017 at 08:00 ET Mini-Flares Potentially Jeopardize Habitability of Planets Circling Red Dwarf Stars Solar flares and associated eruptions can trigger auroras on Earth or, more ominously, damage satellites and power grids. Could flares on cool, red dwarf stars cause even more havoc to orbiting planets, even rendering them uninhabitable? To help answ... – Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) American Astronomical Society #230 Embargo expired on 06-Jun-2017 at 11:15 ET New Diode Features Optically Controlled Capacitance Researchers have developed a capacitor with a metal-insulator-semiconductor diode structure that is tunable by illumination. The capacitor, which features embedded metal nanoparticles, is similar to a metal-insulator-metal diode, except the capacitan... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Embargo expired on 06-Jun-2017 at 11:00 ET Similar Lipids Cluster in Soybean Cell Membrane Model Researchers have developed a detailed computational model of the soybean plasma membrane that provides new structural insight at the molecular level, which may have applications for studying membrane proteins and may be useful for engineering plants ... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Embargo expired on 06-Jun-2017 at 11:00 ET Dissolving the Challenge: Open-Source Approach Provides Faster, Better Solubility Predictions Despite the importance of predicting solubility, it is not an easy matter. One approach, using “brute force” simulations, requires long computing times. Other techniques, while faster, fail to predict accurate solubility values. This week in The ... – American Institute of Physics (AIP) Embargo expired on 06-Jun-2017 at 11:00 ET Jackpot! Cosmic Magnifying-Glass Effect Captures Universe's Brightest Galaxies Boosted by natural magnifying lenses in space, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured unique close-up views of the universe's brightest infrared galaxies, which are as much as 10,000 times more luminous than our Milky Way. The results are being p... – Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) American Astronomical Society, Jun-2017 Embargo expired on 06-Jun-2017 at 15:15 ET Celestial Boondocks: Study Supports the Idea We Live in a Void A new study by a UW-Madison undergraduate not only firms up the idea that we exist in one of the holes of the Swiss cheese structure of the cosmos, but helps ease the apparent disagreement between different measurements of the Hubble Constant, the un... – University of Wisconsin-Madison American Astronomical Society June 6, 2017 Embargo expired on 06-Jun-2017 at 15:15 ET Wine Descriptions Make Us More Emotional About Wine Research by the University of Adelaide has shown that consumers are much more influenced by wine label descriptions than previously thought. – University of Adelaide Food Research International Random Numbers: Hard Times Ahead for Hackers Whenever we need to communicate in secret, a cryptographic key is needed. For this key to work, it must consist of numbers chosen at random without any structure – just the opposite of using the birthdate of our favourite pet. But, for a human, it ... – Université de Genève (University of Geneva) Physical Review Applied Engineer Unveils New Spin on Future of Transistors with Novel Design A researcher with the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas has designed a novel computing system made solely from carbon that might one day replace the silicon transistors that power today’s e... – University of Texas at Dallas Nature Communications, June-2017 Can You Hear Me Now? When trying to be heard, humans and animals raise their voices. It’s a split-second feat, from ear to brain to vocalization. Now we know just how fast it happens in bats: 30 milliseconds, a tenth of the time it takes to blink an eye. – Johns Hopkins University Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, Jun-2017; IOS-1010193 ; IOS-1460149; RGP0040; LT000279/2016-L9; N00014-12-1-0339; FA9550-14-1-0398 includes video Meals on the Go: The Physics of Whales’ Eating Habits A Saint Louis University scientist hopes that a greater understanding of how whales feed will shed light on how they have evolved to the enormous sizes seen today. This new knowledge also will aid conservation efforts for whales, most of which are en... – Saint Louis University Medical Center Sensing the Nanoscale with Visible Light New findings show that features more than 100x smaller than the optical wavelength can still be sensed by light. This could pave the way for major new applications in sensing, including measuring nanometric defects in computer chips and photonic devi... – American Technion Society Science, June-2017 Does The Sex Of A Cell Matter In Research? A Tulane endocrinologist has co-authored a guide in the latest issue of Cell Metabolism to help scientists who study obesity, diabetes or other metabolic diseases better account for inherent sex differences in research. – Tulane University Cell Metabolism, June 6, 2017 Hiding in Plain Sight: New Species of Flying Squirrel Discovered A new study published May 30 in the Journal of Mammalogy describes a newly discovered third species of flying squirrel in North America — now known as Humboldt's flying squirrel. It inhabits the Pacific Coast region of North America, from southern ... – University of Washington Journal of Mammalogy, May 2017 World Environment Day Is an Opportunity for Territory to Plan for a Wild Future In celebration of World Environment Day today, Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (WCS Canada) has released, “Securing a Wild Future: Planning for Landscape-scale Conservation of Yukon’s Boreal Mountains,” —a report mapping how best to cons... – Wildlife Conservation Society History of Sandia Labs Rocketry Told in Award-Winning Film, ‘It Really Is Rocket Science!’ Sandia National Laboratories tells the history of rocket testing and aerospace work at the labs through a new documentary, "It Really Is Rocket Science!" – Sandia National Laboratories Yeast Study Examines How Cells Respond and Adapt to Heat Stress A University of Arkansas biologist is studying heat-stress response in yeast to help determine the role of protein acetylation in cells – University of Arkansas, Fayetteville The California State University Joins Coalition to Maintain U.S. Leadership on Climate Change The following statement can be attributed to California State University Chancellor Timothy P. White: – California State University (CSU) Chancellor's Office Cancer Immunotherapy Researcher Brings Team to Houston Methodist Houston Methodist is launching the Center for Immunotherapy Research under the leadership of Shu-Hsia Chen, Ph.D., a cancer immunotherapy researcher recruited from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. – Houston Methodist Gulf of Mexico Alliance Announces Coastal Resilience Awards The Gulf of Mexico Alliance is pleased to announce eight of ten Coastal Resilience Awards to community projects in four of the five U.S. Gulf States. The awards total $347,334 and are supported by a grant from the NOAA Office for Coastal Development.... – Gulf of Mexico Alliance Penn State Joins International Phytobiomes Alliance Penn State University joined the International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research as a sponsoring partner, both organizations announced on June 6. – International Alliance for Phytobiomes Research Follow the Fantastic Voyage of the ICARUS Neutrino Detector The ICARUS neutrino detector, born at Gran Sasso National Lab in Italy and refurbished at CERN, will make its way across the sea to Fermilab this summer. Follow along using an interactive map online. – Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) includes video Honeywell UOP and Argonne Seek Research Collaborations in Catalysis Under Technologist in Residence Program Researchers at Argonne are collaborating with Honeywell UOP scientists to explore innovative energy and chemicals production. – Argonne National Laboratory Louisiana Scholar Named Chair of Geosciences, Geological and Petroleum Engineering at Missouri S&T Dr. David Borrok, a professor of geosciences and director of the School of Geosciences at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, has been named chair of geosciences and geological and petroleum engineering at Missouri University of Science and Tec... – Missouri University of Science and Technology Lifestyle & Social Sciences Digital Game Intervention Improves Mental Health and Educational Outcomes of Syrian Refugee Children Digital games can effectively teach refugee children much-needed skills – including a new language, cognitive skills, and coding – while also improving their mental health, finds research by New York University, the City University of New York, a... – New York University Poverty . . . An Equal Opportunity ‘Disrupter’ of Student Success 55 school districts analyzed statewide in Center for Urban Education Leadership report. – University of Illinois at Chicago Women Still Dealing with the ‘Celluloid Ceiling’ on Indie Films Too A new study out of San Diego State makes clear that female directors, producers, writers, and other roles are still underrepresented on independent movies shown at film festivals nationwide. – California State University (CSU) Chancellor's Office Bringing Native Students into STEM Fields A program to increase the number of Native Americans enrolling in engineering school in South Dakota has received National Science Foundation funding to evaluate and continue the ongoing program. Hands-on learning projects developed to address needs ... – Oglala Lakota College, South Dakota School of Mines, and South Dakota State University Create Art From Nature: How to Make Paper, Brew Plant Dyes and More Make paper from plant leaves and petals, dye an old shirt with flowers, or create a leaf print on fabric with some tips from the UAB Department of Art and Art History’s Doug Baulos. Expert Available – University of Alabama at Birmingham UVA Darden Launches Online Project Management Course on FutureLearn The University of Virginia Darden School of Business has partnered with the online learning platform FutureLearn to launch a new project management course. – University of Virginia Darden School of Business includes video West Texas Native Chosen to Lead Texas Tech School of Law Jack Wade Nowlin takes over after serving as the senior associate dean of the University of Mississippi School of Law. – Texas Tech University Rutgers University Ranks 21st Among Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents in 2016 Rutgers University ranks 21st among the Top 100 Worldwide Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents in 2016, according to a new report published by the National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners Association. – Rutgers' Office of Research and Economic Development Business News Is “Doing Good” Bad for a Company’s Bottom Line? Yes, Says FAU Study. Companies that try to “do good” are likely to find that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is bad for their bottom lines, according to a new study from FAU’s College of

Leaked NSA Docs Show Vote Hacking Issues

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Leaked NSA Docs Show Vote Hacking Issues Raised by the Green Party's 2016 Presidential Recount Were Real By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet Leaked NSA documents show Russians could access voting infrastructure. What impact they had is unknown. READ MORE» Diving Deep Into Radical Thought During the Hippie Era By Danny Goldberg, Akashic Books In Danny Goldberg's new book, he explores the world-famous "Be In," the giant talent of Allen Ginsberg, and 1967, the year of the "Summer of Love." READ MORE» All of Trump's Tweets Are Now Official Documents By Kali Holloway, AlterNet A new Twitter account is giving the president's social media missives their proper place. READ MORE»

How Advertising Targets Millennial Liberals for Profit By Alissa Quart, The Guardian Banking on a coveted demographic that is increasingly in the bluest cities, brands are "trying to make their toilet paper save the world." READ MORE» 20 Questions Betsy DeVos Flagrantly Dodged During Her Latest Senate Hearing By Alexandra Rosenmann, AlterNet The education secretary struggled to defend her draconian budget cuts. READ MORE» How Republicans Will Try (and Fail) to Upstage Comey By Jefferson Morley, AlterNet GOP game plan for the Russia hearings: smear Obama, demonize Samantha Powers and change the subject. READ MORE» Listen: Nobel Winner Bob Dylan Releases Remarkable Speech on How His Words and Songs Relate to Literature By Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet Dylan connects his inspiration and his craft to the literary and cultural canon. READ MORE» Could Direct Primary Care Be a Key Part in Solving America’s Health Care Crisis? By Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez, AlterNet Doctors say it reduces paperwork and frees up time to interact with patients. READ MORE» Why Does the Washington Post Want Disabled People to Suffer More? By Dean Baker, FAIR The paper invented a problem with disability benefits to fit their false, predetermined narrative. READ MORE» Trump Funneled Money Intended for Kids' Cancer Treatment to His Own Businesses By Brad Reed, Raw Story Kletocracy at the expense of sick children. READ MORE» With Obama Gone, Survivalists Find New Ways to Sell the Apocalypse By Brian Tashman, Right Wing Watch Many thought the end was nigh under Obama. People who profit off them have had to adapt under Trump. READ MORE» Why Hoping for a Big Democratic Win in 2018 Could Be a Death Trap for Progressives By Andrew O'Hehir, Salon There's no pathway to power outside party politics -- but let's try to avoid being delusional. READ MORE» Israeli Companies Are Making a Killing off Technology Perfected Over 50 Years of Occupation By Alex Kane, The Indypendent The Palestinian territories have become a testing ground for new weapons and surveillance tactics, which are then exported to other countries. READ MORE» You Decide: Was the Manchester Bombing a Case of Blowback Against the British Government? By Nafeez Ahmed, Insurge Intelligence Read the facts and come to your own conclusion. READ MORE» Culture Shift: Oakland Leads the Way in Making School Lunches More Sustainable By Melissa Hellmann, Yes! Magazine Surprising results when Oakland overhauled its lunch menu by serving less meat and more fruits and vegetables. READ MORE» Workers Beware! Under Trump, Reaganomics Is Back and Worse Than Ever By Jeff Madrick, The Washington Spectator It's likely to lead to stagnating wages and growing inequality for another four years. READ MORE»

Vodafone to stop its ads appearing on fake news and hate speech sites

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Vodafone is to introduce a tough new global policy to prevent its advertising from appearing on fake news and hate speech sites.

The telecoms company, which spends close to £400m of its £750m annual global ad budget on digital ads, is thought to be the first to move beyond relying on Google and Facebook’s automated technology.

Working with Google, Facebook and ad agencies, it is setting up a “whitelist” of sites on which its ads can run.

 Advertisers should follow Vodafone’s lead after Facebook and Google failures

Nils Pratley

 

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“It is relatively easy to blacklist certain sites, such as those relating to porn and gambling, but it is difficult to exclude content that is – in editorial terms – at odds with an advertiser’s own principles and beliefs,” said Matt Peacock, group director of corporate affairs at Vodafone.

“When it comes to making a judgment about a site or channel focused on fake news or hate speech, what’s needed is a human judgment, an editorial assessment. It’s not possible to rely on algorithms alone. For that reason, we’ve concluded that the best way to ensure brand safety is to use a whitelist approach.”

Vodafone’s whitelist will feature sites it has identified as “highly unlikely to be focused on harmful content”.

“Hate speech and fake news threaten to undermine the principles of respect and trust that bind communities together,” said the Vodafone chief executive, Vittorio Colao. “Vodafone has a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion; we also greatly value the integrity of the democratic processes and institutions that are often the targets of purveyors of fake news. We will not tolerate our brand being associated with this kind of abusive and damaging content.”

The whitelist will be reviewed regularly to make sure it is “appropriate and neither too broad nor too narrow”.

Vodafone’s definition of sites peddling hate speech has been updated to include those that “deliberately intend to degrade women or vulnerable minorities”.

Its definition of fake news sites includes those “presented as fact-based news (as opposed to satire or opinion) that has no credible primary source (or relies on fraudulent attribution to a primary source) with what a reasonable person would conclude is the deliberate intention to mislead”.

The company said an outlet will only be blocked from its whitelist if its “predominant purpose” is hate speech or fake news, meaning it will not move to block tabloid or extreme rightwing or leftwing publishers if they occasionally are at odds with its new rules.

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Vodafone stressed that its rules do not cover the type of content its customers can access.

Facebook, which has toughened its own policies on fake news on its site, said Vodafone’s new policy would work hand in hand with its own efforts.

“We welcome Vodafone’s new global rules,” said a Facebook spokesman. “We work closely with all of our advertiser partners to ensure that they have control over where their ads appear on our platform, and vigorously enforce our community standards which include policies against hate speech, violence or extremist content.”

Both Google and Facebook have moved to introduce tools to stem the spread of false information and minimise the chances of advertising appearing next to inappropriate content.

However, there is evidence that these are not 100% effective.

“While automated advertising is a powerful tool in a small minority of instances it can also lead to unintended and potentially harmful outcomes including advertising appearing next to offensive content,” said Vodafone. “Additionally, automated advertising technologies can have the effect of generating revenue for outlets focused on hate speech and fake news.”

Facebook said it would “continue to work with all advertisers to help them deliver great advertising experiences that drive business results”.

Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Maybe the Aliens Aren’t Hiding, they’re Sleeping, Waiting for the Universe to Get Better

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Matt Williams द्वारा When you consider that age of the Universe - 13.8 billion years by our most recent counts -  and that which is "observable" to us measures about 27.6 billion light years in diameter, you begin to wonder why we haven't found signs of extra-terrestrial intelligence (ETI) beyond our Solar System. To paraphrase Enrico Fermi, the 20th century physicists who advanced the famous Fermi Paradox - "where the heck are all the aliens?" Naturally, Fermi's Paradox has attracted a lot of theoretical explanations over the years - which include ETI being very rare, humanity being early to the Universe, and the aliens being extinct! But a new study by a team of scientists from the Future of Humanity Institute (FHI) offers a different take on this age-old paradox. According to their study, the key to answering this question is to consider the possibility that the aliens are engaged in "aestivation". Essentially, aestivation is a prolonged state of torpor that organisms enter into during a particularly hot or dry period. Similar to what hibernating animals do during the winter, this state is designed to keep creatures alive until more favorable conditions emerge. And when applied to the cosmos, this concept could explain why one of the key things astronomers have been looking for - i.e. activity - has been lacking. The study was led by Anders Sandberg, a research associate to the Oxford Uehiro Center for Practical Ethics, the Oxford Center for Neuroethics, and the James Martin Research Fellow at FHI. Cryptically titled, "That is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lie: the Aestivation Hypothesis for Resolving Fermi’s Paradox", their study considers the possibility that advanced alien civilizations might be difficult to find because they are sleeping right now. This is not the first time Sandberg has addressed questions arising out of the Fermi Paradox. In a previous study, he and Stuart Armstrong (also a research associate with the EHI and one of the co-authors on this study) extended the Fermi Paradox to look beyond our own galaxy, addressing how more advanced civilizations would feasibly be able to launch colonization projects with relative ease (and even travel between galaxies without difficulty). In the end, they concluded that civilizations from millions of galaxies should have been able to reach us by now, which only serves to bring the Fermi Paradox into greater focus. If these early civilizations are around, why are they not visible to us? The reason for this, they claim in this new study, has to do with the thermodynamics of computation. According to this basic rule, the cost of a certain amount of computation is proportional to the temperature it generates. For some time, astronomers and cosmologists have been aware that the Universe is steadily cooling down over the time. Not only is star formation in galaxies slowly dying out over the course of billions of years, but even the cosmic background radiation is becoming colder. Artist's conception of city lights on an alien planet. Credit: David A. Aguilar (CfA) As such, it makes sense that ancient and advanced civilizations would want to wait for cooler conditions to prevail. Sandberg explained to Universe Today via email: "The core idea is that if advanced civilizations mainly or solely care about computation, then it is rational for them to wait until the Universe is much older than now. The reason is that the energy cost (which will eventually limit how much computation you can do) is proportional to temperature, and this means that the far future is vastly more hospitable than the hot present. If this were true, we have a nice explanation for the apparent absence of big old civilizations. It would also lead to observable consequences: a reduction in processes that waste resources they would want in the late eras." Timing is a key feature to this hypothesis. Much like the theory that humanity may have arrived early to the Universe, this theory states that the lack of detection has to do with species being in different places in their biological/technological evolution. In this case, the aestivation period of early civilizations has coincided with the subsequent rise of humanity as an space-faring and technologically-adept species. Herein lies another reason why ancient civilizations might want to take a cosmic nap. Given how long life needs in order to emerge - humanity took roughly 4.5 billion years to get to where it is today - then it stands to reason that ancient civilizations might want to skip ahead a few eons in order to let new races emerge. Ever since it was first announced in 2015, there has been speculation as to what could account for the dimming of KIC 8462852. Credit: SentientDevelopments.com "There is an entropy cost to irreversible logical operations, including error correction," said Sanders. "So unless there is some magical energy source or entropy sink, if you want to do as much computation as possible you should wait until the cosmic background radiation levels off. In addition, civilizations may want to go to the future if they want to meet other, independently evolved civilizations. If intelligence is rare in time and space but aestivates to the far future, then it will meet there." Of course, the aestiation hypothesis (much like the Drake Equation and the Fermi Paradox) is based on a few assumptions about what ETI would be capable of. These include: There are civilizations that mature much earlier than humanity. These civilizations can expand over sizeable volumes, gaining power over their contents. These civilizations have solved their coordination problems. A civilization can retain control over its volume against other civilizations. The fraction of mature civilizations that aestivate is non-zero Aestivation is largely invisible. In other words, the hypothesis assumes the existence of civilizations that are more advanced than humanity which is based on the notion that they have had billions of years to develop elsewhere in the Universe. These civilizations would be higher on the Kardashev Scale (between Level II and III) by now, meaning that they had evolved to the point where they could harness the energy of entire star systems and perhaps even galaxies. Also, it assumes that these civilizations would have become space-faring races that had expanded to occupy parts of the cosmos that lie well beyond their own star systems. Ultimately, those civilizations that have chosen to become dormant would therefore be invisible to us since they are not currently traveling between stars and galaxies, smashing up planets to create megastructures, or consuming entire stars for fuel. You know, the kind of stuff we think mega-civilizations would do. Which naturally raises the question, how might we be able to detect such civilizations at rest? To this, Sandberg has a few possible suggestions, ones which ETI-hunters may want to heed: "Look for galaxies that either move out of the way of galaxy collisions or towards big clusters by ejecting mass or energy in one direction, or have an unusually low number of heavy blue-white stars, or otherwise avoid losing gas to interstellar space. Or, try launching a self-replicating space probe to pave the universe and see if somebody stops you." As with all things having to do with aliens and ETI, a measure of guess-work is required here. And some would naturally argue that it is also possible that advanced civilizations are not subject to the same limitations we humans are, which would limit our ability to speculate here. In the end, we humans are required to theorize about what we don't know based on what we do - aka. the "low-hanging fruit" approach. The findings reported in the study were also the subject of a talk that took place at the second annual meeting of the UK SETI Research Network (UKSRN), which took place on September 11th and 12th, 2014, at Birkbeck College in London. Further Reading: arXiv