Wednesday briefing: Google Pixel 2 and Home Mini photos leak
Leaked photos appear to show Google's new phones ahead of next month's launch, depression affects 24 per cent of teenage girls in the UK
Google Pixel 2 XL images have been leaked to Droid Life
Your WIRED daily briefing. Today, leaked photos appear to show Google's new phones and devices ahead of next month's launch, depression affects 24 per cent of teenage girls in the UK, modern roads may not be equipped for climate change and more.
1. Google Pixel 2 XL photos and details leak
A raft of images and details of Google's forthcoming hardware have been leaked to Droid Life ahead of Google's October 4 launch event (TechCrunch). These include the LG-made Pixel 2 XL, which will be available in a black and white colour scheme, with 64GB and 128GB versions respectively priced at $849 and $949. Further leaks provide a glimpse of the HTC-made Pixel 2, which is coming out in blueish, black, and white versions at $649 and $749 price points, and what appears to be the new Google Home Mini smart home assistant speaker, which is reportedly set to cost $49 and has a pleasingly rounded, pebble-like shape with a fabric top.
2. Depression affects 24 per cent of teenage girls in the UK
Figures from a study by the National Children's Bureau reveal that 24 per cent of 14-year-old girls and 9 per cent of 14-year-old boys are affected by depression (BBC News). The figures are based on findings from the 10,000-strong Millennium Cohort Study and reveal that depression disproportionately affects children from poorer homes. National Children’s Bureau chief executive Anna Feuchtwang said: "This study of thousands of children gives us the most compelling evidence available about the extent of mental ill-health among children in the UK. With a quarter of 14-year-old girls showing signs of depression, it’s now beyond doubt that this problem is reaching crisis point".
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3. Modern roads may not be equipped for climate change
A US study has found that current road-building techniques are ill-equipped to cope with the impact of rising global temperatures and changing regional climates (Ars Technica). The key culprit is the asphalt surface and the materials used to temper it to cope with varying levels of heat and cold, with the intention of preventing it from melting when it gets hot or cracking in response to extreme cold. The USA is still relying on temperature figures from 1964 to 1995 to assess the requirements for roads, which is seeing the life expectancy of roads intended to last 20 years drop by three or four years. Meanwhile, the EU has been researching and adapting infrastructure projects to meet the challenge of a changing climate, although much of this work is still in the planning stage.
4. Bored with your Fitbit? These cancer researchers aren't
A growing number of medical researchers from flocking to Fitbit for use in clinical studies of everything from arthritis to sleep apnea to cancer (WIRED). Since 2012, scientists have published 457 studies using Fitbit device data, nearly half of them in 2017 alone. According to a recent analysis in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, that puts the company well ahead of its competition. In clinical trials that used consumer activity monitors, a full 83 percent outfitted trial participants with a Fitbit. For research funded by the USA's National Institutes of Health, that number rose to 95 percent. Some researchers, like Sheri Hartman, a psychologist at the University of California San Diego, gravitate toward Fitbit devices because they deliver information without being burdensome for her patients – breast cancer survivors struggling with brain fogginess and other cognitive declines following treatment. By the end of the study, published in Cancer, they found that women who wore Fitbits were exercising for about 14 more minutes per day than those in the control group. And importantly, the more-active Fitbitters scored higher on an objective measure of cognitive processing speed. While it was the only one of nine examined areas of brain function that showed significant improvement, Hartman says the results are promising. "Breast cancer survivors have the highest rate of cognitive decline after treatments than any other types of cancer patients," she says. "We haven’t had a lot of good recommendations for them. But now we can say exercise looks like it works". It was a small study, but Hartman has a larger one planned to see if the results hold up.
5. Bosch and Nikola team up to build hydrogen-electric HGVs
German engineering giant Bosch has partnered with US electric truck startup, the Utah-based Nikola Motor Company (Ars Technica). The forthcoming Nikola One and Nikola Two HGV tractor units will use Bosch's recently released eAxle system, which combines a motor, power electronics and transmission for front or rear axle installations, as well as other Bosch software and control systems. The hydrogen-electric trucks are being designed to travel almost 2,000 kilometres on a single tank of hydrogen and are set for release in 2020, along with a network of refuelling stations.
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6. Video: barn owls regenerate cells to avoid hearing loss
New research has shown that, despite the piercing screeches they're capable of, the hearing of barn owls (Tyto alba) doesn't deteriorate with age (Science). While, in the case of mammals such as humans, the fine hair cells in the inner ear are lost through time and aging, the hair cells in birds' ears regenerate – something that could in future help treat human hearing loss. The researchers trained both old and young barn owls to fly between perches in response to an auditory cue and found that there was little difference between the ability of old and young owls to hear cues at different intensities.
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7. Review: Amazon Fire HD 10 gets 1080p screen and hands-free Alexa
Amazon's new Fire HD 10 has fixed its predecessor's most glaring issues – the most important of which is the introduction of a full HD 1080p IPS display – while reducing the price to an impressive £149 (WIRED). It even has a hands-free integration of Alexa, instead of the touch-to-talk of other Fire devices. The 10.1-inch 1920x1200 pixel IPS screen is colourful, bright, and has excellent viewing angles. It's laminated to the glass too, making it clear and easy to read. Internally, the Fire HD 10 is has a 1.8GHz, quad-core MediaTek processor that promises to be 30 percent faster than the tablet's last iteration. Battery life has been given a boost to a claimed 10 hours of mixed usage, there's 2GB of memory, and storage has been increased to 32GB, with a microSD card slot if you need extra capacity. Really, the only reason not to buy the Fire HD 10 is if you're not enamoured with Amazon services. Sure, the Amazon App Store has essential apps like Spotify and Facebook, but without access to the full Google Play Store, many simply aren't available (technically minded people can sideload any missing Android apps, however).
8. Valve adds histogram score charts to combat review bombing
Valve has taken steps to help mitigate the use of negative 'review bombing', used against games whose creators have managed to rile an online mob (PC Gamer). Unfortunately, rather than actually doing anything to stop the practice, which was recently used against Firewatch when its developer prevented popular YouTuber PewDiePie from using its content due to his repeated racism, Valve has instead added a histogram chart view that will show a game's scores over time and thus highlight blips in the game's score. This puts the onus on customers to do their own research, as Valve observes: "As a potential purchaser, it's easy to spot temporary distortions in the reviews, to investigate why that distortion occurred, and decide for yourself whether it's something you care about. This approach has the advantage of never preventing anyone from submitting a review, but does require slightly more effort on the part of potential purchasers".
9. Modders reveal long lost Silent Hill monsters
The original PlayStation version of Silent Hill was packed with uncanny creatures that equipped a generation of gamers with enough nightmare fuel for a lifetime, but now an enterprising modder has discovered some never-used creature assets hidden in the game's character folder, almost two decades after its 1999 release date (Kotaku). Unpacking the contents and patching them into the game, roocker666 found five fleshy, unsettling creatures vaguely inspired by nature, ranging from hideous butterflies to frankly weird ostrich-like things.
10. Get Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee and Back to Bed for free
Classic cinematic puzzle-platformer Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee is free on GOG.com and – if you prefer Steam keys – also free on the Humble Store right now to promote their respective sales (Eurogamer). Meanwhile, if you prefer your free games with a more artistic bent, award-winning Dali-esq puzzler Back to Bed is free on Steam for Windows, macOS and Linux until Thursday to promote Bedtime Digital Games' forthcoming release, the lovely looking Figment.
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