milk
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I tried Silk’s dairy-inspired Nextmilk and wasn’t fooled
Silk's Nextmilk is a plant-based milk that's tailor-made so that "you don't miss the dairy."
Hitting the Books: The genetic fluke that enabled us to drink milk
In her latest book, Life as We Made It, author Beth Shapiro takes readers on a journey of scientific discovery, explaining how symbiotic relationships between humans and the environment around us have changed — but not always for the better.
Willow's CES booth will double as a safe space for breast-pumping moms
CES is just around the corner and that means two things: the opportunity to get up close and personal with exciting new tech, and horrifyingly long lines for the men's bathroom. It's no secret that tech is still a very male-dominated industry, and to highlight the inequality that continues to abound, breast pump brand Willow is aiming to replicate the famous bathroom queues at its booth, which it is turning into a comfortable pumping space for conference-going moms.
IBM-powered DNA sequencing could find bacteria in raw milk
Babies love milk. Adults love milk-based products. You know what else loves milk? Good and bad bacteria. It's the ideal medium for bacteria growth and could cause various food-borne illnesses, especially if consumed in raw, unpasteurized form. Researchers typically just test the milk supply in the US for specific pathogens or harmful bacteria and viruses, but IBM and Cornell University want to take things a step further. They plan to create new analytical tools that can monitor raw milk -- that's milk straight out of the udder -- and instantly detect any anomaly that could turn out to be a food safety hazard.
ICYMI: The USDA created milk-based cling wrap
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: MIT's Self Assembly Lab came up with a phone that can be put in something that looks like your old rock tumbler and snap together by itself, with the force of magnets. And scientists at the US Department of Agriculture created food packaging clingwrap made of milk protein that's both biodegradable and edible. We wanted you to see the bagpiping Charmander and also the Indiegogo project with a tiny bear. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Samsung shuts down its streaming video service after just one year
So many video streaming services, so little time. Samsung's Milk Video appears to be finding it a tough crowd to break into and has announced on the app's Google Play listing that it'll be shuttering the service come November 20 -- which should have been the app's first birthday. Until then, the app will continue to offer up the likes of movie trailers, live music shows and content made by the likes of College Humor and Buzzfeed. If that sounds an awful lot like Youtube, then you can probably see the issue. Samsung maintains that its Milk music service will continue to run for the time being -- which is a completely different fight.
3D-printed bottle caps will let you know if your milk goes bad
If you're not a fan on the ol' smell test to see if milk has spoiled, you might soon be in luck. Researchers from the University of California at Berkley and National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan created a "smart cap" for food storage containers that can detect spoilage. Using 3D-printed electronics, the lids house circuits and passive wireless sensors that are capable of determining if milk or juice has spoiled when it comes in contact with the lid. The components can detect changes in the liquid due to the presence of bacteria and transmit details wirelessly in real time. This means that you could potentially use a mobile app to check the freshness of food before you decide to buy it, for example. The group of engineers sees other uses for the technology too, including so-called smart implants that can relay pressure and drug concentrations to an external device. [Image credit: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Samsung's Milk media apps migrate to smart TVs and the web
Samsung spent a good chunk of 2014 launching and nurturing its (very oddly named) Milk music and video streaming services. At the time, we asked the obvious question: Do we really need more of these things? Like, honestly? The Korean tech titan never fully proved its case, but that hasn't stopped it from pushing Milk further and further out there. Now Samsung's bringing those services where they've never gone before -- specifically, televisions and the web.
Samsung's streaming video service comes to US Galaxy phones today
Over eight months after releasing Milk, its own take on streaming music, Samsung's unleashing an online video service in the US called Milk Video. Just as its music service seemed to take on competitors like Spotify and Rdio, its movie counterpart is similar to options such as YouTube and Vimeo, with a few differences here and there. Much of the free app's content comes from partnerships like Funny or Die, Vevo, The Onion and CollegeHumor, and the list of videos is curated by Samsung and placed into category-specific feeds, such as tech, comedy and music; you can also set up your own personal feed that's comprised of stuff you and your friends like. There's also a social aspect, in which you can follow brands, users and groups and see which videos they repost, and you'll be able to share your favorites on Twitter or Facebook.
Report: Kevin Rose moving within Mountain View, now a partner at Google Ventures
Have you been wondering what Digg co-founder, Kevin Rose, has been up to since joining the Mountain View team a couple months back? Well, AllThingsD is reporting that Mr. Rose has left his duties as senior product manager of Big G's social network in order to make a move to the company's investment firm, Google Ventures. According to the report, the switch has now been confirmed by an undisclosed Ventures spokesperson, although no further details were given at this time. The move itself isn't exactly a surprising one, given Rose's previous, and hefty history of venturing into startups within the industry. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments section below.
AllThingsD: Google diggs Kevin Rose (updated)
You might know Kevin Rose from his days at TechTV, as the cofounder of the social news website digg.com, or from his awesome drunken (and sometimes quotable) ramblings on his former video podcast diggnation. However, per AllThingsD, it appears that Rose, and perhaps a bunch of his cohorts at his latest gig, Milk, have been poached to work at the Google mothership. That comes merely a day after Milk shuttered its first product, Oink -- an app enabling users to rate experiences rather than venues, think Yelp but for things. As to what Rose and any coworkers that come with him will be doing once in Mountain View is currently unknown, but unfortunately it looks like Milk's headed to the deadpool, folks. Update: TechCrunch has it on good authority that Google is indeed picking up the entire Milk team. Also of note, was an alleged bidding war for the team with Facebook.
The Soapbox: Actually, it IS a land of rainbows and unicorns
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. My neighborhood is a perfect representation of the general MMORPG community. I walk my dogs around the block twice a day, so I have seen probably much more than any other community member would ever guess. You'd be surprised how much you miss if you don't get out and walk around the block. The cast of characters is always there: there are the old men who rise at precisely Retired o'Clock only to stand on their front lawns with hands in pockets, griping about the price of milk. I walk by and I can tell they want me to participate. Sure, they'll mention how pretty my dog is and might even ask how I'm doing -- but I know what they really want to talk about. Misery might love company, but frankly I think drinking milk is disgusting. There is one nimble old man, however, who jogs around the entire block at least twice a week. He's tall and lanky, but that doesn't stop him from flapping around the area in his too-old-for-those shorts. Let me be honest: Every time I see him, I fantasize that he is holding up his middle finger at those gripey old men as he passes them by. Meanwhile, most people are in their houses, laughing at the television and eating dinner. They are happy with life but busy living it. They don't say much and rarely leave the house.
Researchers create sour milk alarm
Finally, the days of ruined breakfasts and tossed cups of coffee will be a thing of the past, thanks to work being done by researchers in the US and China. Scientists have discovered a simple chemical reaction that can sense if your 2 percent has lost its charm before you get it home and crack it open. The system works by floating a small widget in the milk which can be scanned at a supermarket checkout by magnet -- the device will vibrate slowly if the liquid has thickened. The same will occur if the potentially harmful bug Staphylococcus aureus -- which can cause food poisoning -- thins the consistency of the milk. Researchers claim that the system will cost less than a penny per carton, and could also be used in fruit juices. This all sounds pretty altruistic, but as soon as you can get this into super-cheap domestic beers, please give us a call.[Via Switched]
Japanese PSP owners never eat dairy again
I love watching Japanese commercials. More so than American commercials, they teach you a lesson. This one, from Sony, shows why you should update your PSP firmware. Because if you don't, they'll keep on making more ads like this! For the love of all that is holy, please, please update your PSP firmware so that we may never see a commercial like this one here in the states.
Cow milking robots
Swedish company DeLaval specializes in "cow comfort" products including the Voluntary Milking System. You see, a cozy independent cow is a happy cow and that makes for an increase in milk yield, dig? The VMS is powered by embedded Linux 2.4.18 running on an AMD Geode GX1 200MHz processor - a single system can milk a herd of 60 cows three times a day. This gives farmers more time to kick back, relax and presumably drunk-milk their friends and pets. When the cow feels the need, she enters the stall where a laser and photo-sensor guided robotic arm searches for, cleans, and then milks each of the four teats. Milk flow, quantity and time is monitored and compared to historical data as early indicators of illness or injury. Be sure to check out the vids for plenty of hot lactating bovine action.