iPhone Pro 12 Camera Analysis

Halide has published an excellent article on the image processing technology behind the latest iPhone Pro range.

------------

CRISPR genome editing destroys cancer cells

Medical Press reports: [edited]

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have demonstrated that the CRISPR/Cas9 system is very effective in treating metastatic cancers. The researchers developed a lipid nanoparticle-based delivery system that specifically targets cancer cells and destroys them by genetic manipulation. The system, called CRISPR-LNPs, carries a genetic messenger (messenger RNA), which encodes for the CRISPR enzyme Cas9 that acts as molecular scissors that cut the cells' DNA.

"This is the first study in the world to prove that the CRISPR genome editing system can be used to treat cancer effectively in a living animal," said Prof. Peer. "There are no side effects, and a cancer cell treated in this way will never become active again. The molecular scissors of Cas9 cut the cancer cell's DNA, thereby permanently preventing replication."

Prof. Peer and his team chose two of the deadliest cancers: glioblastoma and metastatic ovarian cancer. Glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of brain cancer, with a life expectancy of 15 months after diagnosis and a five-year survival rate of only 3%. A single treatment with CRISPR-LNPs doubled the average life expectancy of mice with glioblastoma tumors, improving their overall survival rate by about 30%.

------------

Fairchild K-17 Camera

Petapixel reports: [edited]

This camera was used for aerial photography during World War II. Mounted on the front of the camera is a 610mm f6 lens.

The Fairchild K-17 was designed by Fairchild Camera and Instrument and manufactured under license for the US Air Corps by Folmer Graflex in Rochester, New York in the early 1940s. It shot 9×9-inch (22.86×22.86cm) photos on 9 1/2-inch wide roll film.

While these cameras were normally clamped into mounts, a pair of handles and a viewfinder could be fitted for hand-held operation. What “hand-held” meant is subject to interpretation, as with a 200 foot roll of film, the A-5 film magazine used with the K-17 weighed 30 pounds. A complete K-17 with 12″ lens cone and a full magazine weighed about 55 pounds. With a 24″ lens instead of the 12″, the weight climbed to 75 pounds.

------------

iPhone 12 Pro Max Camera

Austin Mann's review of the iPhone 12 Pro Max's camera is a good place to start if you need convincing that phone cameras are getting very close to the quality of their 'separates' cousins.

------------

Using drones to plant trees

Fast Company reports: [edited]

On land north of Toronto that previously burned in a wildfire, drones are hovering over fields and firing seed pods into the ground, planting native pine and spruce trees to help restore habitat for birds. Flash Forest, the Canadian startup behind the project, plans to use its technology to plant 40,000 trees in the area this month. By the end of the year, as it expands to other regions, it will plant hundreds of thousands of trees. By 2028, the startup aims to have planted a billion trees.

The drones can work more quickly and cheaply than humans planting with shovels. Flash Forest’s tech can currently plant 10,000 to 20,000 seed pods a day; as the technology advances, a pair of pilots will be able to plant 100,000 trees in a day. By hand, someone might be able to plant 1,500 trees in a day.

------------