Gene Jeanie: Scientists and farmers are hoping to combat a destructive fruit fly that has spread to every continent, save Antarctica, with a gene drive. Drosophila suzukii (a relative of that other Drosophila) utilizes a serrated organ to slice into plants and lay its eggs inside of them. Needless to say, this does nothing to enhance them. Scientists are unsure whether the specific gene drive — MEDEA — will be effective, unfortunately. http://bit.ly/2HUcx3u
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In the eye of the beholder: Augmented Reality apps are still in their infancy but developers are quickly finding new and challenging ways to apply it. One such app turns the Jackson Pollock room in the Museum of Modern Art in New York into a virtual pop-up gallery. Alternate artworks take over. Pollocks disappear or are altered in mind-bending ways. How this “augments” the art in the room, I’m not sure. Maybe that’s not the point. It certainly does alter the experience in the room. But if that’s the case, it would be just as augmenting in the restroom. http://bit.ly/2Fgdrok
Hunger pains: Researchers writing in Cell, have shown that pain and hunger share the same neural pathway. According to the study, hunger can often override the dull aching feeling of chronic pain. However, acute pain — much sharper than its chronic counterpart — takes precedence over hunger. One reason why this may prove to be the case in an evolutionary sense lays in the fact that acute pain may signal a threat to the organism. https://go.nature.com/2HXsHcm
Weekly baseball injury report: Shohei Ohtani’s blistered finger. Miguel Cabrera’s aching back. Ryan Braun’s calf. They all feature in Inside Injuries’ MLB Roundup for Week 3 of the season. Maybe they all might want to skipping a few meals and try playing hungry? http://bit.ly/2HWtVod