A new treatment approach for kidney cancer has shown promising results in a phase I clinical trial.gettyA new personalized immunotherapy treatment called a cancer vaccine has shown promising results in a phase I trial in people with kidney cancer.The results from nine patients treated at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA were published in Nature and showed that all patients remain cancer-free three years after treatment.Cancer vaccines do not work like vaccines for infectious diseases such as Covid-19 or measles, which are generally given to people pre-emptively to reduce the chance of them getting sick, or seriously ill from viruses, bacteria or other microorganisms. Cancer vaccines are given to people who already have cancer and prompt the immune system to attack the tumor.There have been cancer vaccines which have shown promising results in other types of tumors, but this is one of the first significant results in kidney cancer, which is often difficult to treat and has a high rate of recurrence after treatment.In the case of the Dana-Farber trial, all patients had surgery to remove the bulk of their tumors. Samples from these tumors were analyzed in a laboratory and a cancer vaccine developed for each individual patient focused on specific characteristics of their tumor that should provoke the immune system called neoantigens. The patients were then infused with the vaccines, causing their immune systems to attack any remnants of tumor left after surgery.This approach is truly distinct from vaccine attempts in kidney cancer," said David A. Braun, MD, PhD first author of the paper in a press release. We pick targets that are unique to the cancer and different from any normal part of the body, so the immune system can be effectively steered towards the cancer in a very specific way. We learned which specific targets in the cancer are most susceptible to immune attack and demonstrated that this approach can generate long-lasting immune responses, directing the immune system to recognize cancer, added Braun.MORE FOR YOUAlthough the results should be interpreted with caution as the trial only involved a small number of patients, people with later stage kidney cancers have a high risk of their tumors recurring. So that all patients in the trial remain cancer free three years after treatment is a promising sign.Unlike many standard chemotherapies which work for a certain amount of time that the patient is taking the drug, immunotherapies such as cancer vaccines train the immune system to continue recognizing tumor cells, minimizing the risk of recurrence as the immune system retains memory of the tumor and remains poised to attack should cancer cells start growing again.Cancer treatments also often come with a host of short and long-term side effects, some which can be serious. But the trial reported no significant side effects from the treatment, another positive sign.We believe this work can form a foundation for the development of neoantigen vaccines in kidney cancer, said Braun.

OmniHuman sample videos demonstrate the scope of both human and animal movement. OmniHuman screenshot by Leslie KatzTikTok owner ByteDance has unveiled OmniHuman-1, an AI system that can generate lifelike videos of people talking, gesturing, singing, playing instruments and more all from a single photo.OmniHuman significantly outperforms existing methods, generating extremely realistic human videos based on weak signal inputs, especially audio, reads a research paper on the tool published Sunday on online open-access archive arXiv. It supports image inputs of any aspect ratio, whether they are portraits, half-body or full-body images, delivering more lifelike and high-quality results across various scenarios.On the OmniHuman-1 project page, researchers share sample videos showcasing the tools capabilities. Examples demonstrate hand and body movements seen from multiple angles, animated characters, animals and historical figures brought back to life.In one crisp black and white video, Albert Einstein speaks in front of a blackboard, punctuating his words with hand gestures and subtle facial expressions: What would art be like without emotions? It would be empty, he says. What would our lives be like without emotion? They would be empty of values.Its as if weve gone back in time to watch the famed theoretical physicist deliver a university lecture, only the footage looks like it was filmed today.Theyre very impressive, Freddy Tran Nager, a clinical associate professor of communications at USCs Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, said in an interview after viewing the sample videos. If you were thinking of reviving Humphrey Bogart and casting him in a film, Im not sure how they would look. But on a small screen, especially on a phone, these are impressive.MORE FOR YOUThe tool places ByteDance, and therefore TikTok, squarely in the crowded and competitive race to create the best, most realistic-looking footage of AI-generated humans. These digital figures are popping everywhere as virtual influencers who promote products, government officials helping citizens navigate social services and faux versions of celebrities who can entertain and interact with fans or concerningly, appear in fake political endorsements.Tran says he could envision systems such as OmniHuman being used in educational settings by both teachers and students: I would like Marilyn Monroe to teach me statistics. Because of OmniHumans connection to TikTok, he could also envision it eventually being used by burned-out content creators who turn to virtual versions of themselves for a respite.Or, he said, TikTok can say, You know what? Now we can just create videos on our own. Who needs the human beings?Samantha G. Wolfe, an adjunct professor at NYUs Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, also sees both the promise and potential peril of tools like OmniHuman.Creating something from just a picture and making it look like its really talking and really moving is fascinating from a technological standpoint, but it could have a lot of potential negative consequences too, she said in an interview. Pretend versions of business leaders or political leaders saying something that isnt accurate can have a huge influence on a business, or a huge influence on a country.As AI-generated videos grow more sophisticated, so do the risks, Wolfe said. When it starts to look more and more like reality, more and more like humans actually doing it, the likelihood of people believing it becomes so much greater, she said.The ByteDance team trained OmniHuman on more than 18,700 hours of human video data, combining multiple types of inputs, such as text, audio and physical poses, though ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment for more specifics on the training data.OmniHuman isnt the first AI tool to generate videos from a single photo, but what sets it apart in Nagers eyes is the amount of training data the team behind it has access to. If you created a TikTok video, he said, theres a good chance youre now in a database thats going to be used to create virtual humans.

Why it matters: As more high-end games require hardware-accelerated ray tracing, users continue disparaging the technology over its high computational cost and significant performance hit. One of Nvidia's new software features coming to its RTX 50 series graphics cards aims to reduce that cost while improving visuals, starting with Alan Wake 2. Tests show that RTX Mega Geometry, a new Nvidia technology recently added to Alan Wake 2, increases framerates and improves image quality in heavily ray-traced scenes. Although Nvidia primarily promotes its latest functionality to sell the newly released RTX 50 series GPUs, older RTX 20 and 30 series cards have shown significantly pronounced improvements from Mega Geometry.Eurogamer reports that the feature overhauls the interaction between ray tracing and BVH structures to improve performance by lightening the burden on CPUs, GPUs, and VRAM. Depending on the resolution, CPUs like the aging AMD Ryzen 5 3600 or Nvidia's RTX 2080 Ti and 3080 can receive frame rate boosts ranging between 10 and 30 percent with path tracing enabled.The improvement often occurs because Mega Geometry can use up to 300MB less VRAM than older ray tracing APIs. In situations that previously pushed mid-range GPUs just above their VRAM limits, RTX Mega Geometry can help clear the bottleneck. The technology increases efficiency by changing how rays interact with triangles.Mega Geometry is also more accurate with objects that animate or frequently change polygon counts when players move the camera, making it ideal for Alan Wake 2's mesh shading implementation. Thus, ray tracing looks better when applied to swaying vegetation, tessellated surfaces, or other moving objects. Although RTX 40 and 50 series cards see no performance benefit from the feature, they still experience improved image quality at no additional cost.Unsurprisingly, RTX Mega Geometry is exclusive to Nvidia GPUs, but the fundamental concept can work on any graphics card that supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing. Intel and AMD will likely introduce similar functionality.Alan Wake 2 received Mega Geometry in version 1.2.8. This update also introduced DLSS 4 multi-frame generation and the new AI transformer model that reduces visual artifacts. Mega Geometry kicks in automatically after installing driver version 572.16. // Related StoriesThe update also includes a new "Ultra" setting for ray-traced reflections. The above video demonstrates how the game now renders reflections within reflections.

Choose your answer and the correct choice will be revealed. Correct Answer:Sony TV8-301Here's the story behind itSony launched the world's first non-projection, fully transistorized television, the TV8-301, in May 1960, about six years after Texas Instruments and Regency introduced the first transistor radio. Unlike traditional vacuum-tube televisions, which were bulky, fragile, and power-hungry, the TV8-301 was designed for portability and convenience. It featured an 8-inch black-and-white display, an anti-glare visor, a carrying handle, and two 6V lead-acid batteries in the back quite a deviation from vacuum-tube designs.The Sony TV8-301 was priced at $249.95 at launch (approximately $2,500 in 2025 dollars), which was too expensive for the average consumer, limiting its commercial success. It was also prone to malfunctions, particularly with its early transistorized circuits, which were still evolving in durability and efficiency.Despite these drawbacks, the TV8-301 played a crucial role in Japan's rise as a dominant force in television manufacturing, paving the way for future advancements in compact and solid-state electronics. Sony eventually discontinued the model in 1962, but its pioneering design set the stage for future portable TVs.Other Early Milestones in Television History:For those curious about other early television innovations, the Westinghouse H840CK15 was the first consumer all-electronic color television sold and released in the U.S. in March 1954, narrowly beating the RCA Victor CT-100 to market by a few weeks.Philco Safari (1959) Before the TV8-301, the Philco Safari was the first all-transistor TV ever sold, but it used a projection system rather than a direct-view screen. It had a compact design, making it portable, but its small screen and dim projection limited its practicality.Regency TR-1 (1954) Not a television but a significant precursor to transistorized consumer electronics, the Regency TR-1 was the first commercially available transistor radio. It proved that transistors could replace bulky vacuum tubes, paving the way for smaller, more energy-efficient devices like the TV8-301.Panasonic TR-005 Orbitel (1970s) A later development in transistorized TVs, the Panasonic TR-005 Orbitel was known for its space-age design, featuring a round, dome-like screen that resembled a helmet or space capsule. Though not the first transistor TV, it became an icon of 1970s consumer electronics.

Owning a portable projector is one of the best ways to enjoy movies, shows, and video games on the go. And if youve been thinking about investing in one of these lens-equipped bad boys, allow us to direct your attention to the incredible TCL A1, an HD powerhouse that happens to be on sale:For a limited time, when you purchase the TCL A1 Google TV Projector through Amazon or Walmart, youll only pay $380. The full MSRP on this model is $500. Its one of the best projector deals weve seen in a while, so take advantage of the offer while you still can!At 10.37 inches tall, 5.02 inches wide, and 7.56 inches from front to back, it doesnt get much more portable than the TCL A1. Capable of projecting a 1080p HD picture as small as 45 inches and as large as 120 inches, the TCL A1 delivers exceptional SDR brightness, rich colors, and solid contrast levels. And thanks to TCLs auto level, focus, and keystone technology, the only thing youll need to do is plug into a wall outlet!RelatedWhen it comes time to stream Netflix, the TCL A1 features Wi-Fi connectivity and a built-in Google TV smart hub. Not only will you have access to popular entertainment apps, but youll also be able to use Chromecast to beam content from your phone or tablet to the projector. The A1 also includes an HDMI 1.4 input and a USB-A connection for viewing media from a flash drive or external hard disk.Its hard to say how long this offer is going to be on the table, so if youve been waiting for a great opportunity to buy a portable projector, nows your chance! Take $120 off the TCL A1 Google TV Projector when you purchase today. And if you want to see what other discounts TCL is offering this week, we recommend taking a look at our roundup of the best TCL TV deals, too.Want even more savings on top tech? Check out our lists of the best Amazon deals and best Walmart deals!Editors Recommendations

Harrison Ford is not concerned with the commercial failure of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.In true Harrison Ford fashion, the 82-year-old used a two-word response when asked about the films poor box office result.S*** happens, Ford told The Wall Street Journal Magazine.Recommended VideosReleased in June 2023, Dial of Destinygrossed $384 million worldwide, falling well short of Lucasfilms expectations. For comparison, the fourth Indiana Jones movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, grossed over $786 million in 2008. Dial of Destiny carried a budget of $387 million, making it one of the most expensive films of all time. Disney later reported a $130 million loss on the fifth Indiana Jones movie.Please enable Javascript to view this contentDespite the underperformance, Ford is proud that he donned Indiana Jones hat and whip one last time.I was really the one who felt there was another story to tell, Jones explained in the same interview. When [Indiana] had suffered the consequences of the life that he had to live, I wanted one more chance to pick him up and shake the dust off his ass and stick him out there, bereft of some of his vigor, to see what happened. Im still happy I made that movie.Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | Official TrailerDial of Destinys director, James Mangold, gave a different reason for the disappointing box office haul, citing a disconnect between an aging hero and the younger audience.You have a wonderful, brilliant actor whos in his eighties, Mangold told Deadline about Dial of Destinys financial debacle. So Im making a movie about this guy in his eighties, but his audience on one other level doesnt want to confront their hero at that age. And I am like, Im good with it. We made the movie. But the question is, how would anything have made the audience happy with that, other than having to start over again with a new guy?StreamIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destinyon Disney+.Editors Recommendations

Google is eliminating its goal of hiring more employees from historically underrepresented groups and reviewing some diversity, equity and inclusion programs, joining other tech giants rethinking their approach to DEI.

X CEO tells investors that the financial health of social-media company is improving.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art devotes an exhibition to the contemporary American painter, best known for her portrait of Michelle Obama.

The pianist leads his ensemble in two suites of his own and the final commissioned work of the great jazz composer Carla Bley on a magisterial new album.