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Researchers from the University College London have done what celebrity chefs and Italian nonnas could only dream of: they've made the world's thinnest spaghetti. This culinary-sounding accomplishment, published in Nanoscale Advances, has yielded strands of starch nanofibers that are just 372 nanometers wide, which is invisible to the naked eye and is even smaller than some wavelengths of light. "The world's thinnest spaghetti" sounds silly, but starch can actually have important applications in medicine. For instance, nanofiber starches could help wounds heal when used in bandages, since they'd be able to keep out bacteria while allowing moisture through. Rather than going through the energy-intensive process of refining their own plant cell starch for nanofibering, these chemists decided store-bought was fine and made their strands directly from flour. Their version of the nanofibers were created with a process called electrospinning, where an electric charge pulls a flour and liquid mixture through extremely small metal holes into threads that are just nanometers wide. Extrusion through a die is literally the same way you'd make conventional spaghetti to accompany your bolognese or your meatballs, only at a much, much smaller scale. There's still a lot of study to be done before the product will be appearing in the doctor's office, but this is a step toward more sustainable starch nanofibers. And while I would pay good money to watch chefs try to explain invisible pasta on a reality show, electrospinning almost certainly won't become the new molecular gastronomy hotness. As co-author Professor Gareth Williams of the UCL School of Pharmacy put it: "I don't think it's useful as pasta, sadly, as it would overcook in less than a second, before you could take it out of the pan."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/chemists-have-created-the-worlds-thinnest-spaghetti-201509365.html?src=rss
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The 4K Chromecast with Google TV streaming stick is down to $40 on Amazon as part of a Black Friday sale. Thats a savings of 20 percent, or ten bucks for the math wizards out there. We called the 1080p version of this device a great little streaming dongle and that certainly holds true for the newer 4K model. It supports HDR and is compatible with just about any TV with an HDMI port. Once plugged in, it streams via Wi-Fi. The model also allows users to view live TV in 4K. This works with a bunch of different live TV providers, like YouTube TV, Pluto TV, Sling TV and Philo. It ships with a voice remote embedded with Google Assistant, allowing people to bark orders regarding what stuff they want to watch. As with most streaming sticks, users can cast stuff from their phones or tablets. Theres also the option to build a kid-friendly profile, complete with family-friendly content and robust parental controls. However, there is one caveat here. This model is likely on the way out. The company looks to be prioritizing the recently-released Google TV Streamer, which drops the dongle design in favor of a wedge. This one boasts more storage and a faster CPU than the aforementioned dongle. The company also shoehorned some AI in the new device because thats what everyone must do now. However, the Google TV Streamer costs $100. Id go for the $40 Chromecast myself. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/black-friday-deals-include-the-4k-chromecast-with-google-tv-for-40-194854930.html?src=rss
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As people leave or deactivate their X accounts, there's been meaningful growth for alternative platforms like Meta's Threads and underdog Bluesky. Despite the huge gap in both user numbers and funding between the two, Threads seems to be borrowing from Bluesky's feature set to prevent it from becoming competitive. The Verge reported that Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced that Threads algorithm is getting a rebalancing to prioritize content from people you follow and less recommended content from accounts you dont follow. Which is pretty much how Bluesky does things. @mosseri/Threads Threads also started offering users a custom feeds tool as a way to stay way ahead of Blueskys sudden growth. (Custom feeds are a feature Bluesky has offered its users since May of 2023.) The feature lets users pin topics to their home feeds. Its not known if the new algorithm change will affect the For Your custom feed. Bluesky passed the 20 million user milestone on Tuesday. That number may still pale in comparison toThreads 275 million users but Mosseris announcement indicates Meta wants to remain the more enticing option for the estimated 550 million users still on X, should they eventually seek greener pastures.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-will-prioritize-accounts-you-follow-instead-of-randos-191529420.html?src=rss
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