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Walgreens sues Theranos for a reported $140 million
Walgreens is taking Theranos to court for $140 million, according to Wall Street Journal investigative reporter John Carreyrou and a motion filed today in Delaware district court. The details of the case are secret, as the companies both signed non-disclosure agreements that could be violated if Walgreens' actual complaint were made public.
Baidu's all-electric self-driving car is a modified Chery EQ
Baidu's plan to make self-driving cars a consumer reality by 2018 just changed gears, so to speak. According to Business Insider, the company has swapped out its modified BMW 3-series test vehicles for an all-electric car designed for the Chinese market: the Chery EQ. Unmodified, the diminutive EV can drive about 120 miles on a full charge. Baidu intends to use it to further test its driverless tech in China.
Walgreens is done with Theranos
After months of screaming at Theranos to clean up its act, Walgreens has formally ended its partnership with the blood testing startup. The pharmacy chain said that the CMS' recent rejection of Theranos' recovery plan and the looming threat of sanctions forced the relationship to end. Walgreens will now close all 40 of its remaining Theranos Wellness Centers in Arizona and "transition" customers to more reliable testing methods. Such as casting bones, consulting the tree spirits or looking at your wrist and then just guessing what's wrong with yourself. Walgreens was Theranos' main source of business, and without those retail locations, it's not clear how the startup is going to survive.
Theranos lab failed to meet its own accuracy standards
Theranos' proprietary blood-testing methods failed to meet the company's own standards as often as 87 percent of the time, according to a new report. Released by the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) agency and seen in unredacted form by the WSJ, the data confirms that the company knew its finger pin-prick tests were often wrong when it used them in October, 2014. It has since pulled most of the testing done by its key "Edison" machine and can only perform a single herpes test. However, the FDA and CMS received complaints from Theranos employees that even that one was "tainted by breaches in research protocol."
Baidu will soon test its self-driving cars in the US
Chinese tech giant Baidu is planning to make self-driving cars a commercially viable option by 2018. To take another step in that direction, the company will test its autonomous vehicles on roads in the US. The plan to bring those cars stateside was announced by Baidu's chief scientist Andrew Ng this week, inviting better cooperation with the United States government and the ability leverage resources from its Silicon Valley tech center. That office, which is lead by Ng, is staffed with a number of employees tasked with the development of self-driving tech.
Facebook tests multiple News Feeds based on your interests
If you've been yearning for a way to cut through the clutter that is your Facebook News Feed, you may soon be in luck. The social network is testing multiple News Feeds inside its mobile app, as the feature is live for select users. In addition to the main feed, tabs for specific topics like Style, Travel and Headlines line the top of the interface. When you select one, the feed is distilled down to relevant posts from your friends and Pages you follow. Facebook says the feature is in the testing phase, so it could be a bit before it's open to all users.
VW's emissions shenanigans may go back as far as 2009
Volkswagen has disclosed to regulators that issues with emissions from its larger cars and SUVs may actually date back more than six years and encompass thousands of more vehicles, the EPA reported on Friday. Essentially, the company is confirming what the EPA accused it of back at the start of the month: that VW, Porsche and Audi SUVs equipped with 3.0 liter, 6 cylinder gas engines were gaming smog tests in the same manner as VW's diesel vehicles. The EPA's investigation is ongoing.[Image Credit: Getty]
Twitter tests emoji reactions for the times a heart won't do
Still bummed that tapping a heart is the only way to show your appreciation, sadness or any other reaction for a tweet? Well, that may change. Twitter user @_Ninji stumbled across emoji reactions in a jailbroken version of the social media app. Despite being included in the developer build, the feature still needs a lot of work, but it does allow users to employ the frown, party noisemaker and 100 emjois (just to name a few) to get their point across. The discovery comes right on the heels of Twitter swapping stars out for hearts when a tweet is favorited, much to the chagrin of most of the internet. Facebook recently added animated options for more appropriate reactions than a simple Like as well. Since the Twitter emojis appear to be a long way from finished, we'd surmise we'll hear more about the tiny pictures in tweets soon enough. Here's to hoping the taco and poop emoji make the cut. We've reached out to Twitter for more information, and we were sent the monkey with its hands over its mouth emoji.
EPA plans more real-world emissions tests in light of VW's cheating
Car makers like Volkswagen should have an even tougher time cheating on emissions tests than they first thought. The Environmental Protection Agency has revealed that it'll include considerably more real-world diesel emissions tests as part of its improved inspections. The on-the-road testing isn't as sophisticated as what you'd find in the lab, but it should reduces the chances that companies will fudge results. Moreover, vendors won't get a chance at optimizing for the EPA's new tests -- it's keeping its exact methodology a secret.
Chicago's mayor wants every American high school grad to know how to code
Rahm Emanuel, former Chief of Staff for the Obama administration and current mayor of Chicago, has called on the president to institute computer coding competency as a national requirement to graduate high school. "Just make it a requirement," Emanuel said during a recent Washington Post-sponsored policy event. "I am fine with Common Core. We adopted it in the city, one of the first cities to do it. I'm great. [But] you need this skill — national policy. Make it a high-school graduation requirement."
The EPA is cracking down hard on auto industry shenanigans
The smogging scandal that has enveloped Volkswagen has also left the Environmental Protection Agency with something of a black eye. So even though the EPA failed to catch on to VW's games this time, the agency is damn sure not about to let it happen again. Like, ever. "The Volkswagen violations before us now make it clear, we need to adapt and step up our oversight," Janet McCabe, acting administrator in the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, said during a press conference.
Electronic Sports League bans the same drugs as the Olympics
Sorry, everybody, but you can't get high and play Counter-Strike anymore, at least not in the Electronic Sports League. The fledgling pro gaming league announced on Reddit Wednesday that it is adopting the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances for its players. The league had announced it would ban performance enhancing drugs from competition after a team revealed that its members had consumed Adderall prior to a match in March to enhance their ability to focus.
Google tests self-driving cars in Austin, Texas
Plenty of folks in Austin, Texas have spotted Google's distinctive self-driving Lexus cars recently, and now we know why. The company revealed that it's now rolling the vehicles in downtown Austin in order to "(test) our software in different driving environments, traffic patterns and road conditions." While Google could also test its self-driving cars in Nevada and elsewhere, Austin is the first city outside of Mountain View where it's actually done so. The reason? "We've loved how much Austin embraces innovation," a Google spokesperson told the Austin American-Statesmen. She added that with Google Fiber and several company offices in the city, it was a natural fit for self-driving cars.
Google's unique self-driving cars hit the streets of Mountain View
Google has been testing self-driving cars on the roads of Mountain View for a while, but now the company's own models are hitting the streets. Last month, Google announced that its rather unique vehicles that were built specifically to drive themselves would begin testing on public roads this summer and now they're logging miles. During the trials, speeds are capped at 25 MPH and all of controls you'd usually find in a car (steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedal) are on-board in case the driver passenger needs to take over. However, these cars were designed to not have all of that stuff, so perhaps we'll see testing sans controls soon enough -- if the state of California allows, of course. The software that handles the navigating is the same tech that powered the company's fleet of Lexus SUVs outfitted to drive themselves. If you'll recall, that stable of vehicles tallied over a million miles, so the technology has quite a bit of road experience already.
Redefining the purity ring
"I know that we can't change people's behavior," says Irina Rymshina, "but in later life they may want children and they certainly don't want cancer. I think that we can help them." She's talking about Hoope, a wearable device that, it's hoped, will be able to put an STD clinic on your thumb. If successful, then you can say goodbye to the idea of having to pee in a cup to make sure that you can go out this weekend.
A drop of blood reveals almost every virus you've ever met
This stock image is just for illustration, you do not need this much blood to take the new test. Every disease that you've ever encountered is cataloged within your DNA, and now a team from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has worked out how to access that data. It's part of a project called VirScan that, it's hoped, will revolutionize medical testing and help Doctors catch illnesses long before they manifest. Even better, is that it's not even an expensive procedure, with each test slated to cost just $25 -- well, at least before your hospital slaps on their own fee on top.
FACTIONS: Origins of Malu opening early access in 'a couple weeks'
After Origins of Malu got the green light on Steam, developers went to work getting the sci-fantasy sandbox ready to release to players on that platform. All that work is about to come to fruition: Producer Michael Dunham told Massively that the early access release for the game's PvP build is only a couple of weeks away. FACTIONS: Origins of Malu is launching an invite-only closed release to ensure the systems are in check as far as user capacity, client integration, and the like today, February 1st, 2015; the EA will follow shortly after. Dunham anticipates early access to open before the 15th. To learn more about FACTIONS and future plans, read our exclusive interview with Dunham, then check out MassivelyTV on Monday, February 2nd, at 9:00 p.m. EST for a special Stream Team sneak peek of the game with devs.
Camelot Unchained offers a status update for the end of January
So, is Camelot Unchained going to have those alpha servers ready in February? That's a great question! No, really, it is; the most recent official development update makes it clear that even the staff is unsure whether they'll be ready to go, as the team is currently a bit short on programmers and is trying to make do. A lot of bugs have been fixed up and several of the items on the game's update checklist have been crossed off, though, and the team is confident that any delays will be for less than six months. The update post also contains new concept art for camouflaged archers as well as a mission statement regarding some of the systems that should be coming to the test version soon. If you can't wait to see the latest news on the game's progress, head along and check out the full update now.
Crowfall's Legionnaire is a four-legged powerhouse
Today's a series of firsts for Crowfall reveals. It's the first glimpse of the game's second announced class, the Legionnaire. It's the first look at a character who is other than human -- and is in fact a Centaur. And it's the title's first in-game environment screenshot. Crowfall has also posted a handy FAQ that goes into depth about the character creation process, teases Mac support, and eschews traditional MMO levels as a means of progression.
PAX South 2015: Slaying giants in Motiga's Gigantic
Motiga's Gigantic is one part Team Fortress, one part Dota, and one part Monster Hunter. The basic match structure will sound familiar to MOBA lovers -- two teams of five slug it out for superiority by controlling resources, leveling up, and killing one another -- but the skill-based mechanics, multiple maps, and shifting strategy priorities make the game more than a three-lane farm fest. Gigantic isn't about last-hitting or memorizing meta. Instead, it's about slaying giants and aiming true. I hopped in on a quick Gigantic match with some other press folks this afternoon at PAX South 2015, and in the midst of delivering an absolute drubbing to the scrubs (kidding!) on the other side of the table, I was able to get a feel for the game's combat system, characters, and the way its massive guardians change the way battles play out.
