Month: June 2024
A ‘Safe’ Chemical in Plastic Bottles Could Reduce Insulin Responsiveness, Increase Diabetes Risk
A new study “has found direct evidence linking a key chemical ingredient of plastic bottles to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes,” reports the Independent:
The study, published in the journal Diabetes, found that the chemical BPA used to make food and drink packages, including plastic water bottles, can reduce sensitivity to the hormone insulin which regulates the body’s sugar metabolism. The findings, to be presented at the 2024 Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, call for the US Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the safe limits for exposure to BPA in bottles and food containers. Previous studies have already shown that the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) used to make plastic and epoxy resins could disrupt hormones in humans. While research has linked BPA to diabetes, no previous study has directly assessed if administration of this chemical to humans increases this risk in adults.
The researchers administered the dosage considered safe by America’s FDA to about 20 individuals — and discovered they became less responsive to insulin after 4 days. The article includes this warning from the researchers:
“These results suggest that maybe the U.S. EPA safe dose should be reconsidered and that healthcare providers could suggest these changes to patients.”
Thanks to Slashdot reader Bruce66423 for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
A new study “has found direct evidence linking a key chemical ingredient of plastic bottles to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes,” reports the Independent:
The study, published in the journal Diabetes, found that the chemical BPA used to make food and drink packages, including plastic water bottles, can reduce sensitivity to the hormone insulin which regulates the body’s sugar metabolism. The findings, to be presented at the 2024 Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, call for the US Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the safe limits for exposure to BPA in bottles and food containers. Previous studies have already shown that the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) used to make plastic and epoxy resins could disrupt hormones in humans. While research has linked BPA to diabetes, no previous study has directly assessed if administration of this chemical to humans increases this risk in adults.
The researchers administered the dosage considered safe by America’s FDA to about 20 individuals — and discovered they became less responsive to insulin after 4 days. The article includes this warning from the researchers:
“These results suggest that maybe the U.S. EPA safe dose should be reconsidered and that healthcare providers could suggest these changes to patients.”
Thanks to Slashdot reader Bruce66423 for sharing the news.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
GPD’s double-foldable convertible laptop will come with AMD’s fastest mobile CPU, can display more pixels than a 4K monitor — and comes with an OCuLink connector
GPD Duo Dual-Screen is a 13.3-inch productivity laptop with two foldable AMOLED displays and an OCuLink connector.
GPD, best known for compact gaming devices, is launching its first full-fledged laptop, the Duo Dual-Screen. Initially teased in May 2024, we knew the device would have two foldable 13.3-inch AMOLED Aurora displays offering 10-bit color depth and 1.07 billion colors with touch and stylus input, but other details were uncertain at the time.
Now the company has revealed more on the “Engineer’s 13.3-inch Productivity Laptop.” The GPD DUO Dual-Screen is powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (a step up from the expected AMD Ryzen 7 8840U), with Radeon 890M integrated graphics, 64GB of LPDDR5x 7500MT/s RAM, and a 4TB 2280 SSD (expandable up to 16TB – 8TBx2 in the two M.2 NVMe slots).
It’s powered by an 80Wh battery with 30.2 hours of battery life and 100W PD fast charging. In terms of ports, it has HDMI 2.1, two USB-A 3.2 Gen1, USB 4, Type-C (full-featured), Type-C (DP Alt), RJ45 port, SD card slot, and an OCuLink port for direct PCIe connection with an effective bandwidth of 63Gbps. That will let you connect an external GPU. It supports Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
Foldable screens
(Image credit: GPD)
The screens fold upwards. As GPD says, “AMOLED 2 folds underneath AMOLED 1. After opening the screen, AMOLED 1 can reach a maximum opening angle of 135°, while AMOLED 2 can rotate 360° to the back of AMOLED 1.” They have a 60Hz refresh rate and WQXGA+ (2560×1600) resolution and 10-point touch. The AMOLED 2 can flip 360 degrees, turning the laptop into a tablet.
GPD says you can expand the device with two additional screens and provides a spectacular mock-up of just how that could look, which you can see at the top of the page.
You can connect your smartphone to AMOLED 2 and mirror the screen there. It also comes with two built-in AAC stereo speakers and a 2.5K HD ultra-wide webcam.
Size-wise, folded it measures just under the size of A4 – 297mm × 209.65mm – with a thickness of 24mm.
Pricing and availability haven’t been announced yet, but there’s an Order Now button at the top of GPD’s site, which will hopefully do something when clicked on soon.
(Image credit: GPD)
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The Vision Pro will get Apple Intelligence and “Go Deeper” in-store demos
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
For all its impressive technical chops, Apple’s all-singing, all-dancing Vision Pro hasn’t set the world on fire. But it’s early yet, and the company continues to throw some weight behind the headset, and reportedly has plans to add AI features to visionOS and is readying an updated approach to in-store demos.
Apple is working through the challenge of incorporating Apple Intelligence into the augmented reality interface of the headset, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported today. That could be a relief for Vision Pro owners who were disappointed that the company didn’t mention it during the AI portion of its WWDC 2024 keynote presentation.
The company is adding a new “Go Deeper” option to its in-store demos, Gurman writes. That reportedly includes testing office features and watching videos, as well as defaulting to the Dual Loop band that sends straps over the top and around the back of wearers’ heads instead of the single-strap Solo Loop band, which some find uncomfortable.
Apple will also reportedly let people view their own videos and photos, including panoramas, in the headset. Adding the sentimental touch to the demos could work out, especially once visionOS 2 comes out this fall, with its “spatialize” option to turn 2D photos into 3D ones — a feature that’s more impressive than it has the right to be (though still a little quirky with hair and glasses, like Apple’s Portrait Mode feature).
But I can imagine it going the other way if people end up looking at the wrong images. You know how looking at your iPhone photos on your computer monitor suddenly exposes all their flaws? Try looking at them when they’re the size of a wall.
But it really feels like all of this is just triage until the company releases a cheaper headset, which its expected to do at the end of next year. It’s not clear what that will look like, though, given conflicting rumors at the moment — like that it’s going with lower-res displays for a follow-up or that it actually aims to keep the high-res displays but has stopped working on the Vision Pro 2 (or not).
The common thread running through all of those stories, though, is that Apple is finding it very hard to make the headset it wants to make without it costing a hojillion dollars. It’s too early to declare the Vision Pro a dead end, but I can’t shake the feeling that without that cheaper headset, Apple doesn’t have a path forward unless it’s okay with letting the Vision Pro serve a niche market while it chases that lightweight AR glasses dream.
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
For all its impressive technical chops, Apple’s all-singing, all-dancing Vision Pro hasn’t set the world on fire. But it’s early yet, and the company continues to throw some weight behind the headset, and reportedly has plans to add AI features to visionOS and is readying an updated approach to in-store demos.
Apple is working through the challenge of incorporating Apple Intelligence into the augmented reality interface of the headset, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported today. That could be a relief for Vision Pro owners who were disappointed that the company didn’t mention it during the AI portion of its WWDC 2024 keynote presentation.
The company is adding a new “Go Deeper” option to its in-store demos, Gurman writes. That reportedly includes testing office features and watching videos, as well as defaulting to the Dual Loop band that sends straps over the top and around the back of wearers’ heads instead of the single-strap Solo Loop band, which some find uncomfortable.
Apple will also reportedly let people view their own videos and photos, including panoramas, in the headset. Adding the sentimental touch to the demos could work out, especially once visionOS 2 comes out this fall, with its “spatialize” option to turn 2D photos into 3D ones — a feature that’s more impressive than it has the right to be (though still a little quirky with hair and glasses, like Apple’s Portrait Mode feature).
But I can imagine it going the other way if people end up looking at the wrong images. You know how looking at your iPhone photos on your computer monitor suddenly exposes all their flaws? Try looking at them when they’re the size of a wall.
But it really feels like all of this is just triage until the company releases a cheaper headset, which its expected to do at the end of next year. It’s not clear what that will look like, though, given conflicting rumors at the moment — like that it’s going with lower-res displays for a follow-up or that it actually aims to keep the high-res displays but has stopped working on the Vision Pro 2 (or not).
The common thread running through all of those stories, though, is that Apple is finding it very hard to make the headset it wants to make without it costing a hojillion dollars. It’s too early to declare the Vision Pro a dead end, but I can’t shake the feeling that without that cheaper headset, Apple doesn’t have a path forward unless it’s okay with letting the Vision Pro serve a niche market while it chases that lightweight AR glasses dream.
Apple Likely Planning to Use Bigger, Lower Resolution Displays for Cheaper Vision Headset
Apple is exploring new suppliers for OLED-on-Silicon panels, likely signaling the development of a more affordable headset destined to sit alongside the Vision Pro, The Elec reports.
The Korean website has apparently detected a shift in Apple’s supply chain management for OLED-on-Silicon (OLEDoS) panels, a key component in the Vision Pro headset. Currently, Sony provides these high-resolution microdisplays, but its limited production capacity of up to 900,000 panels per year and lack of expansion plans have prompted Apple to seek alternatives for the future. Apple has apparently issued a request for information (RFI) to Samsung Display and LG Display to evaluate their capabilities in producing larger OLEDoS panels, ranging from 2.0 to 2.1 inches in size with a display density of around 1,700 pixels per inch (PPI).
These displays would be larger than those currently used in the Vision Pro and feature a lower resolution. The Vision Pro uses Sony’s OLEDoS panels featuring a 1.42-inch screen with a pixel density of nearly 3,400 PPI, employing a white OLED display with color filter (wOLED+CF) technology. This sophisticated display technology is one of the main reasons for the headset’s high price point.
At Displayweek 2024, both Samsung and LG showcased advancements in OLED microdisplay technology that could appeal to Apple. Samsung presented a 1.03-inch RGB (direct-emission) OLED microdisplay, developed in collaboration with eMagin, which promises higher brightness levels compared to the wOLED+CF method. Meanwhile, LG revealed a 10,000 nits 1.3-inch 4K OLED microdisplay, utilizing a micro lens array (MLA) to boost brightness by around 40 percent.
Apple’s interest in larger OLEDoS panels with lower resolution than those used in the Vision Pro suggests these could be intended for a new, lower-cost mixed reality headset. Apple has been rumored to be working on such a device for over a year, and the latest indications suggest that it may be designed to tether to an iPhone or Mac to eliminate the need for a costly processor. The lower-cost Apple Vision headset could launch as soon as the end of next year.Related Roundup: Apple Vision ProTags: OLED, The ElecBuyer’s Guide: Vision Pro (Buy Now)Related Forum: Apple Vision ProThis article, “Apple Likely Planning to Use Bigger, Lower Resolution Displays for Cheaper Vision Headset” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Apple is exploring new suppliers for OLED-on-Silicon panels, likely signaling the development of a more affordable headset destined to sit alongside the Vision Pro, The Elec reports.
The Korean website has apparently detected a shift in Apple’s supply chain management for OLED-on-Silicon (OLEDoS) panels, a key component in the Vision Pro headset. Currently, Sony provides these high-resolution microdisplays, but its limited production capacity of up to 900,000 panels per year and lack of expansion plans have prompted Apple to seek alternatives for the future. Apple has apparently issued a request for information (RFI) to Samsung Display and LG Display to evaluate their capabilities in producing larger OLEDoS panels, ranging from 2.0 to 2.1 inches in size with a display density of around 1,700 pixels per inch (PPI).
These displays would be larger than those currently used in the Vision Pro and feature a lower resolution. The Vision Pro uses Sony’s OLEDoS panels featuring a 1.42-inch screen with a pixel density of nearly 3,400 PPI, employing a white OLED display with color filter (wOLED+CF) technology. This sophisticated display technology is one of the main reasons for the headset’s high price point.
At Displayweek 2024, both Samsung and LG showcased advancements in OLED microdisplay technology that could appeal to Apple. Samsung presented a 1.03-inch RGB (direct-emission) OLED microdisplay, developed in collaboration with eMagin, which promises higher brightness levels compared to the wOLED+CF method. Meanwhile, LG revealed a 10,000 nits 1.3-inch 4K OLED microdisplay, utilizing a micro lens array (MLA) to boost brightness by around 40 percent.
Apple’s interest in larger OLEDoS panels with lower resolution than those used in the Vision Pro suggests these could be intended for a new, lower-cost mixed reality headset. Apple has been rumored to be working on such a device for over a year, and the latest indications suggest that it may be designed to tether to an iPhone or Mac to eliminate the need for a costly processor. The lower-cost Apple Vision headset could launch as soon as the end of next year.
This article, “Apple Likely Planning to Use Bigger, Lower Resolution Displays for Cheaper Vision Headset” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums