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Facebook investing $50 million to build metaverse
Facebook investing $50 million to build metaverse
Facebook made strides in both augmented reality and virtual reality with its Facebook Reality Labs. Now the social media platform wants to create virtual spaces and build its own metaverse.
Facebook plans to invest $50 million to create a metaverse that it says will be "a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren't in the same physical space as you." The money will be spent over two years through its XR Programs and Research Fund, with plans to work with other organizations, nonprofits, academic institutions and governments. A metaverse would need more than just Facebook to create it, the company says, and it could take 10 to 15 years to bring this idea to fruition.
Along with laying out its plans for creating a metaverse, Facebook says it will build the virtual spaces responsibly. This includes keeping individuals' privacy intact by minimizing the amount of data used, keeping people online safe, giving individuals choices for a thriving digital economy and making sure the technologies created are inclusive and accessible.
This new venture into virtual spaces by Facebook comes a week after the social media titan named a new chief technology officer. Andrew Bosworth, the current vice president of augmented and virtual reality, will be the CTO starting in October.
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Funny Business: TikTok Is Putting a New Spin on Standup Comedy
Funny Business: TikTok Is Putting a New Spin on Standup Comedy
As the lights dim, the doors fly open and the shadow of Reuben Kaye — "actress, model and," as he tells his audience every night, "the only horseman of the apocalypse to ride side saddle" — is thrown across the auditorium, stretching up the wall like something from your wildest fever dream.
With over 3,500 shows at this year's Edinburgh Fringe — the world's biggest arts festival, which runs in the capital every year for all of August — it's pretty hard to stand out if you're a performer wanting to make a name for yourself. But there are shows, and then there are the jazz-hands, capital-letters *SHOWS.*
Kaye's The Butch Is Back is definitely the latter. Whereas many Fringe shows happen in the city's rabbit warren of old vaults, upstairs at pubs and in hotel conference rooms, with very little in the way of lighting, backdrops and tech, Kaye's is a Las Vegas show in miniature. With his band, he sings, dances and interacts with the audience with rapid-fire patter and comedic timing that fills the high ceilings of the old church he performs in with hoots and screeches.
This isn't Kaye's first rodeo at the Fringe, but he returns in 2022 after two years of being restricted to his homeland of Australia with some new tricks up his sleeve. Since his last Fringe run, Kaye has found success on TikTok, where he has 203,000 followers, which has not only opened him up to new audiences, but forced him to write faster and better in a way that's transformed his shows.
"This show is pretty much a TikTok, it does not stop," he said in an interview in the bar of Fringe venue Assembly Checkpoint last week. "The opening number and the closing number are written as TikToks — line after line after line, boom, boom, boom, costume change — as quick as it can be. And it's also amazing cardio."
Reuben Kaye on stage in Edinburgh.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Kaye's act isn't the only place where TikTok has made its mark. The short-form video app's fingerprints are all over the Fringe this year, shaking up the 75-year-old arts festival with an injection of new talent and energy. Freshly TikTok-famous comedians have come to the Fringe for the first time, buoyed by their online success, while old hands are using the platform to find new audiences and experiment with material.
"The Edinburgh Fringe is all about offering anyone a stage and everyone a seat — and that's the ethos of TikTok too," said Melissa McFarlane, head of content programming at TikTok, in a statement.
TikTok, which has enjoyed an explosion of popularity over the last few years (now at over 1 billion active monthly users, compared to 2.1 billion on YouTube and 2.9 billion on Facebook), boasts a physical presence in Edinburgh as the festival's first virtual partner. The company broadcasts live on its own platform from the TikTok stage, invites creators to make use of its live studio in the heart of Edinburgh and works with performers to hone their TikTok skills.
The result: a festival with more original and unique acts for audiences, and new opportunities for a more diverse group of performers who might not have necessarily gotten a shot in this notoriously difficult business.
"It opened me up to a new demographic of people who would not have thought cabaret was for them," said Kaye. "TikTok comedians are incredibly — to use an overused phrase — diverse. They're people of color, they're queer, they're trans women and comedy has for a very long time been a white boys club."
A ball for debutantes
One of those who performed on TikTok's stage was Serena Terry from Derry, Northern Ireland, who on TikTok goes by Mammy Banter. With 1.4 million followers, Terry is popular for her sketches of parenting petulant children and teens, but until TikTok reached out inviting her to take one of its one-off standup spots she'd never performed live comedy.
"It's incredible that TikTok can create these opportunities for people who have just jumped on the app in the last few years and haven't done any standup comedy, but have established themselves in the digital world," she said. "Absolute superstars have been born at the Fringe, so it was just a no-brainer for me."
She had just two weeks to write and learn her show, but the experience has given her a taste for live performance. "It really has got me excited and it's taken me out of my comfort zone in a very good way," she said. Now she's considering bringing back a full show next year.
Other comedians who found success on TikTok during the pandemic have brought their debut shows to Edinburgh for the entire month-long run.
After dancer and choreographer Christopher Hall lost all of his work for the third time in the UK's series of COVID-19 lockdowns, he decided that it was finally time to do what he'd long dreamed of and try his hand at comedy. He'd held back from posting on TikTok, in part due to worrying what others would think, but the isolation of lockdown gave him a safety net.
"If everyone thought it was stupid, I wasn't gonna see them for at least six months," he said. "Because it just started off with zero followers, I was like, it could either blow up, or it could just be a sketchbook of ideas."
Hall wrote videos based on what he was experiencing at the time: being a millennial forced to move back in with his parents. He posted one TikTok per day and on the fifth day he scored his first viral 100,000-view hit. He now has more than 130,000 followers and is in the middle of a month-long Fringe run of a two-man comedy show Two Sour Gays, with fellow comic Mark Bittlestone.
Among those making their Fringe debuts after finding success on TikTok, many have harbored long-running ambitions of working in comedy that finally came to fruition during the pandemic.
Like Hall, sisters Chloe and Tabby Tingey had a background in musical theater before making musical comedy TikToks during lockdown. Tabby had studied musical theater at Glasgow Conservatory and Chloe had won a scholarship to study songwriting at Berklee College of Music, but both had long given up on their dreams of working in the arts by the time they moved in together during the pandemic. Everything that came next was a "happy accident," said Chloe.
Chloe and Tabby Tingey are the Sugarcoated Sisters.
Steve Ullathorne
They started making TikTok videos of Tabby weightlifting Chloe — "she's very strong, she's like an ox," Chloe said of her sister. But after discovering comedy content on the app they switched to making musical parodies, with a video of them making fun of Chicago's Cell Block Tango being their first big hit.
After winning best newcomer at the UK's Musical Comedy Awards earlier this year and racking up 401,000 followers, the pair, who collectively go by the Sugarcoated Sisters, decided to try the festival. TikTok has supported them by securing a spot on the inside front page of the Fringe brochure and putting them on digital bulletin boards.
Selling out shows
Edinburgh Fringe has a reputation for being a star maker, having launched the careers of performers and writers including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Bo Burnham and Robin Williams. But the reality for many performers is that they will shell out their savings to bring a show to the festival and then have to perform it every night to mostly empty rooms.
Micky Overman is at the Fringe for the third time.
Matt Crockett
It's especially tough for new performers who haven't already established an audience to help them sell out their rooms. "There's a lot of pressure on people coming here for the first time." said Micky Overman, a comic on her third Fringe run with her show Small Deaths. But she's noticed that debut acts from TikTok aren't struggling in the same way as others. "New people that are debuting and people who are successful online are properly selling their shows this year," she said.
The livestreams on TikTok's virtual stage have translated into real-world ticket sales, according to McFarlane. There's no way for artists to tell for sure how many people are coming to shows solely because of TikTok, but it's harder to find a spare seat at shows with those who boast huge followings. The comedian Rosie Holt, who is known for her online political satire, had to add extra performances after the whole run sold out before the festival even started — something that's almost unheard of aside from the most famous names.
"We're very charmed in the fact that our followings online seem to really translate to in-person audiences," said Hall. He and his comedy partner both have largely UK-based followings that led to near sold-out shows. It's not so easy to fill Edinburgh seats if your following is more international.
Shirley Gnome got on TikTok during the pandemic.
Shirley Gnome
Chloe and Tabby Tingey were unsure what impact their following would have on ticket sales given that only half of their audience is based in the UK. But they usually get people coming to them at the end of shows identifying themselves as followers, with one woman flying all the way from Illinois to see them live. "She stayed for four days and had a whale of a time," said Tabby.
Finlay Christie, a debut act who has regularly been selling out his show OK Zoomer after shooting to fame on TikTok (173,000 followers), described feeling "the looming specter of digital" at this year's Fringe. "You see the odd act up here who's got a following and bringing their show up here and selling out, but it still feels like you're trying to impress the gatekeepers," he said. Most newer acts have been assigned to smaller rooms, but he said he wouldn't be surprised if in the next few years they're headlining big venues.
Comedy is a notoriously difficult industry to get into, involving immense financial risk and relying on club promoters to book acts. TikTok is changing this, said Hall, as it paves the way for people of all races, sexualities, genders and socio-economic backgrounds to get a leg up in an industry that might have otherwise been inaccessible to them. It can help prove that minority acts have mass-market appeal.
Form dictating content
Comedians who have succeeded at TikTok have seen a massive influx of new interest in their work. At the Fringe, this lifts some of the need to pass out flyers. "It's not like here where you're just shouting into the wind and hoping people walk past," said Kaye.
TikTok's algorithm makes it much easier to reach people who will appreciate you, weeding out those who never would have come to see you live anyway, said Lara Ricote, who is performing her show GRL/LATNX/DEF at the Fringe for the first time. "It's like, oh, you love hard-of-hearing comedy? Guess what I do?" she said. "That difference is very cool. You can arrive at it quicker when usually it's a freakin' 25-year process to find your audience."
Lara Ricote's show is about what it's like to be Latin, hard of hearing and a girl.
Steve Ullathorne
The algorithm has delivered the Sugarcoated Sisters a following of good-humored musical theater lovers. "They're so specific and genius at tailoring the content to people who are interested in it," said Tabby. "It seems like the kind of community that they're creating around the Edinburgh Fringe on TikTok is really supportive, really engaged."
But it's not just about reeling audiences in, said Overman. It's equally valuable in ensuring that people who come to see your show and enjoy it can find more content when they look you up after. "Give them something that they come back to," she said. It's not like newer comics have Netflix specials they can point people towards, she added, but TikTok allows fans to connect with more of their content. "That's how they can become invested."
The Sugarcoated Sisters' most viral hit — an original song about Chloe's bipolar and Tabby's diabetes, which they thought might be too niche to resonate at the time of writing — is now the opener to their show. But on the whole, it's rare to see much overlap between a comedian's stage show and their TikTok presence.
If there is crossover, it tends to be that TikTok informs the live comedy rather than the other way around. "I definitely have incorporated things that were popular on TikTok back into my show," said Shirley Gnome, who found TikTok to be a great way of testing out what material was resonating best among audiences during the pandemic.
The adage that content dictates form doesn't apply to TikTok, said Kaye. It's usually the other way around. Many existing stand-up comedy acts have found success using TikTok for sketch and character-based comedy, which is somewhat out of fashion at the Fringe right now.
Milo McCabe is better known as Troy Hawke.
Steve Ullathorne
Milo McCabe, who goes by the stage name Troy Hawke, struck gold when he started making TikToks using a character he first invented eight years ago — a well-spoken greeter who stands outside of stores. McCabe is a Fringe veteran, but has returned to the Fringe this year to perform his show to sold-out rooms, with audiences who have come to ogle "the bloke from the video."
"I've had to tweak it slightly and… make it a little bit easier to digest," he said, noting his show is different from his TikToks. "That's what I've been doing in the show day by day."
Living for live
Many established comedians have yet to get on TikTok, unsure either of how to use it or whether there's an audience for them on the app.
It turns out that TikTok is an ideal medium for comedians, as it gives them full creative control of their material so they ensure their jokes land as planned. McCabe has honed his editing skills, shaving off tenths of a second here and cutting anything that sounds inauthentic until it sounds "more fluid and watchable."
Ricote is still trying to figure out a way to make TikTok work for her as someone who doesn't do characters and wants to focus on standup. To get a closeup on your face, which she understands to be better for the algorithm, it means having a tripod setup close to her and performing for the camera while also performing for the audience. At this point, she said, "it's not for the room anymore."
Posting standup on TikTok at least partly takes away the purity of the art form, said Overman. "But at the same time we would all be lying to ourselves if we were saying that we didn't want to reach a big audience. And it's right there."
For the majority of comedians wanting to make it big at Edinburgh or anywhere else in the world of comedy, finding an audience who will engage with them as they perform to sold-out rooms is always the end goal. While others on the app try to follow the well-trodden influencer pathway of acquiring enough followers to score brand partnerships, comics are largely avoiding monetizing their followings on the platform.
"For me," said Gnome, "that's not very interesting." Rather than flogging products, she is motivated by the thrill of being in front of a real audience. "I'm really live oriented… so it really all does come back to the live thing."
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Cheap and Easy Ways to Make Your New House Feel Like Home
Cheap and Easy Ways to Make Your New House Feel Like Home
Home sales in the US boomed last year, with 6.12 million units sold in 2021 -- up 8.5% from 2020. New homebuyers tend to spend approximately $10,000 on furniture, appliances, DIY fixes and renovations during the first year of homeownership, according to the National Association of Home Builders. And this is on top of all the other expenses that come with buying a new home, such as a down payment, closing costs and moving.
Decorating and designing your new space can be particularly expensive. So how can you personalize it to feel like home without spending a fortune?
Here are 11 budget-friendly and easy ways to transform your house without exhausting your budget.
Add a fresh coat of paint
"To start, the best place to create a blank slate for personalization is paint," says Olivia Mariani, head of marketing at Curbio."Painting walls is an obvious, easy way to make a home look and feel new, but painting cabinets is another great way to freshen up the appearance of a home."
To decide on a color scheme, brush up on color psychology to create the right vibe for each room. Reds tend to increase energy, while oranges promote activity and greens have been shown to relieve stress. If the walls in your home are painted in basic neutrals, consider adding some color to spice things up.
Read more: How to Choose the Best Outdoor Paint for Your Home
Painting is an easy way to personalize your space.
Getty
Hang your favorite art pieces
Empty walls can feel dull and uninspiring, so decorating your home with interesting art pieces that reflect your personal style is an easy way to transform every room. You can find affordable art (both originals and replicas) online through sites like Society6, Etsy and Artfinder.
Don't forget about the frame. Choose a frame that complements the piece, but doesn't distract from the main visual. You can also use picture lights to add coziness and charm, says Alexis Peters, a strategic interior design advisor at Real Estate Bees.
Decorate with plants
"Bring the outdoors in! Adding greenery and fresh-cut flowers will make your home feel fresh and homey," says Angela Deniston, who also serves as a strategic interior design advisor at Real Estate Bees. Adding plants to your space has been shown to boost mood, increase energy, reduce stress and improve creativity. Plants also help filter the air in your home, which keeps your immune system happy.
If you want to add plants to your home, it's worth doing some research or visiting your local nursery to learn which plants will thrive in your environment, based on light, space, and the amount of attention they need. Some plants are harmful to pets, so be sure to place them out of reach or invest in pet-friendly or faux plants.
Bring the outdoors in with a collection of houseplants.
Getty
Shop for secondhand furniture and decor
If you're decorating your home on a budget, one of the best places to get affordable decor and furniture is from friends and family. You might be surprised to find out people you know are getting rid of unwanted items in good condition that might fit well in your space.
You can also visit yard sales and estate sales in your area, which often have cheap furniture and decor. Just keep in mind that while you can score great deals at yard sales, some items may need a bit of TLC or at least a fresh coat of paint.
Upgrade rooms with new textiles
"When designing your home, don't be afraid to pile on the textiles. Pillows, throw blankets, rugs and curtains make a room more inviting and cozy," says Deniston. Not only are textiles an easy way to style every room in your home, but you can find unique and affordable pieces online at places like Wayfair, Amazon and World Market. Textiles can also help breathe new life into worn furniture pieces that you may not have the budget to upgrade right away.
When buying textiles for your house, experts recommend sticking to one color palette, mixing patterns, and layering different textures. Peters recommends, "Pick five colors you want to style your home with and don't stray." To keep things budget-friendly, mix old pieces with new ones that will give your house the look and feel you're going for.
Swap out light fixtures
If your house has outdated light fixtures that don't fit your new aesthetic, consider swapping them out. Depending on the mood you want to create in each room, lighting should either serve as a focal point or as an accent to the existing space.
Like with art, it's important to consider the size and positioning of light fixtures when redesigning your home. A 4-foot chandelier, for example, will probably look better in a large foyer than over your dining room table. You can also add dimmers to contribute to the overall mood and balance out natural light.
Although you can swap out light fixtures on your own, lamps can offer a simpler solution. "Go big or go home," says Peters. "Giant lamps can change a room. Plus, the soft light they radiate adds a warm glow to the space and makes any room look lovely and cozy."
Lighting should either serve as a focal point or as an accent to the existing space.
Getty
Don't forget about hardware and other accents
Sometimes swapping out the smallest accents can have a big impact. Upgrading your cabinet hardware, changing outlet switch covers, adding interesting door knobs, and even replacing crown molding can instantly transform the look and feel of your house.
While you can find small accents like hardware and knobs for affordable prices, if you have dozens of pieces to update, the price can add up. Repainting your hardware might be a more affordable option in this case -- you can even use metallic spray paints to make cheap, plastic knobs look more expensive. Search Pinterest, Instagram and home improvement magazines to get some inspiration for your own house. Work room-by-room to keep things manageable and start by tackling one type of accent at a time.
Don't discount the accents that aren't visible when you walk into a room, either. Adding contact paper to shelving or using drawer organizers can improve the vibe in your home. "Nothing feels better than when you open a kitchen drawer and find the cooking utensils color coordinated and in a designated spot," Peters says.
Add cozy scents to every room
Making your new home smell inviting and cozy is a simple and affordable way to upgrade your space on a budget. Candles, diffusers and room spray can help elevate your space, and different scents can evoke different emotions, moods and feelings.
For example, you might consider diffusing lavender in your bedroom to promote relaxation before bed. Seasonal scents can also make your home feel more welcoming, and they are easy to swap when you want something new.
Clean and declutter your space regularly
Although you might not consider this a home decor tip, one of the easiest ways to feel good in your new house is by cleaning and decluttering on a regular basis. A clean home can positively impact your mood, too -- 80% of people who live in a clean space are more relaxed and 60% are less stressed than their nontidy counterparts, according to a Clorox study.
Regularly cleaning your home is also very cost-effective. If you have an extra hour or two per week, you don't need to spend money on a professional cleaning crew. If you typically avoid cleaning until the last minute, you might be surprised at how much cozier you feel at home when everything is neat and tidy.
One of the easiest ways to feel good in your new house is by cleaning and decluttering on a regular basis.
Getty
Make room for your favorite hobbies
One of the biggest perks of owning a home is designing the space to fit your specific needs. To make your new house feel more like home, create spaces for the hobbies that you and your family enjoy.
If you love to paint, create a mini art studio in an unused corner, someplace for your easel and art supplies to live permanently. If puzzles are more your speed, find a cheap table to use exclusively for puzzles, keeping your dining room table clutter-free. Yoga lovers can create a quiet space with calming elements like candles and greenery for meditation and exercise.
Iihs announces 2022 top safety pick plus winners international iihs announces 2022 top safety pick plus winners pizza iihs announces 2022 top safety pick plus winners of america s got iihs announces 2022 top safety picks iihs announces 2022 top christmas iihs announces 2022 top suvs iihs announces 2022 top nfl iihs 2022 toyota corolla iihs 2022 safety picks iihs 2022 top safety pick
IIHS Announces 2022 Top Safety Pick Plus Winners
IIHS Announces 2022 Top Safety Pick Plus Winners
A few years ago, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety added a headlight requirement to get its Top Safety Pick Plus award, it knocked a ton of manufacturers out of the running. The fact is that most car headlights at that time were simply not good enough, but now carmakers are getting the hang of things, and more cars than ever are getting that coveted Plus award.
IIHS released its Top Safety Pick Plus winners on Thursday, Feb. 24, and 65 models made the cut in 10 categories. Many made it with no asterisks, but several models have added qualifiers. For example, the Genesis G70, Mitsubishi Outlander and Hyundai Santa Fe made the list but only for models built after a particular month. Others, like the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and GLE-Class, make the cut only with optional front crash protection.
Despite that, having 65 models to choose from is a massive win for the American car-buying public because it means that it's easier than ever to find a truly safe car at basically any price and in nearly any shape and size. If you want a small car, buy the new Honda Civic or Mazda3. Need a supersafe minivan? Get the Chrysler Pacifica or Toyota Sienna. The list goes on.
"Manufacturers deserve congratulations for the steady improvements they've made since we last updated our award requirements, but with US traffic fatalities expected to exceed 40,000 people in 2021, it's no time for anybody to rest on their laurels," IIHS President David Harkey said in a statement. "A key reason vehicles have continued to get safer over the more than 25 years since the Institute began our ratings program is that we have never shied away from raising the bar. The high number of Top Safety Pick Plus winners shows that it's time to push for additional changes."
In case you need a refresher on what criteria a vehicle has to meet before getting a Top Safety Pick Plus award, they need to pass all six of the IIHS' stringent crash tests: driver-side small overlap front, passenger-side small overlap front, moderate overlap front, original side, roof strength and head restraint tests. They also need frontal crash prevention systems rated as Advanced or Superior in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian tests. Lastly, they need to have at least one headlight system that ranks as Good or Acceptable.
Now, carmakers won't be able to rest on their laurels for long. The IIHS is adding two tests to the 2023 Top Safety Pick Plus criteria: an updated side impact test that uses a heavier movable barrier conducted at a higher speed and a nighttime pedestrian crash prevention test. Neither will be necessary for the basic Top Safety Pick, but to get the Plus, vehicles have to score Good or Acceptable on the former and Advanced or Superior on the latter.
Remember Chumby? Cute touchscreen gadget returns from the dead
Remember Chumby? Cute touchscreen gadget returns from the dead
The original Chumby was pretty lovable for a gadget. Chumby
The Chumby was a product of its time, which was 2008. It was cute. It had a touchscreen. It ran a series of widgets that let it act as a photo gallery, weather station, news source, calendar, and social-media feed. It bravely soldiered on all these years up until the official Chumby widget service went offline about a year ago, taking much of the device's functionality with it.
Now, the official Chumby site includes a message reading: "After a year-long hiatus, the Chumby Service has finally been completely restored. The new service is a nearly complete rewrite of the original service - it's been brought up to date with newer technologies and made faster and more efficient than ever."
Chumby pretty much got blown out of the water by the growing onslaught of smartphones and tablets. Suddenly, the Chumby seemed like a quaint, outdated toy. But there's still something appealing about it, especially the first-generation device with its squishy, squeezable body. It's just so much more huggable than a cold tablet.
So, Chumby persisted, sitting next to people's beds as an alarm clock or lingering on desks with owners who couldn't quite bring themselves to unplug and recycle the little digital creatures. CNET's Rafe Needleman got his hands on a first-gen Chumby back in early 2008. He described it as a "sweet gadget," writing, "It's not a must-have device, but few gadgets I've used are as delightful."
The revived Chumby service requires a $3 monthly subscription fee (multiple devices under the same account don't cost extra). People who want to continue using hobbled versions of their Chumbys can continue as though nothing is different. Folks who own a related Sony Dash device aren't included in all this. Sony still handles the support for those gadgets.
Chumby owners in the official forum had a variety of reactions to the news of a subscription service, though most of the Chumby faithful have expressed outright joy. "I walked through my kitchen and saw a widget running on the good ol' Chumby and was overwhelmed with memory and emotion," writes user cbreeze. User Chatty Chum enthuses, "It has been an amazing wait but well worth it! My house is now a home! Did I say WOW?!?"
Not many tech devices inspire that kind of love six years after they debut. New people interested in joining the retro Chumby crowd will have to do a bit of hunting to find a device. There's a for-sale section in the Chumby forum, otherwise the gadgets occasionally appear on eBay. With the new service launching, perhaps there will be a Chumby revival along with a renewed cult following.
Damaged liver is repaired in machine for leg damaged liver is repaired in machine for harvesting damaged liver is repaired in spanish damaged liver is repaired ingrown damaged liver is repaired a verb damaged liver is on what side damaged liver is echogenic damaged liver is heterogeneous damaged liver ischemia how to heal a damaged liver damaged liver from alcohol early signs of damaged liver
Damaged Liver Is Repaired in Machine for Three Days, Then Transplanted
Damaged Liver Is Repaired in Machine for Three Days, Then Transplanted
Back in May 2021, Swiss researchers removed the damaged liver of an organ donor, placed it in a novel machine that mimicked the human body's biology and treated it in that machine for three days. They then transplanted the newly repaired organ into a cancer patient who needed a new liver but was stuck on the painfully long organ transplant waitlist.
As of Tuesday, one year since the trailblazing procedure, the team reports that the organ recipient is still doing exceptionally well.
"The patient rapidly recovered a normal quality of life without any signs of liver damage," the research team, called Liver4Life, wrote in a paper about the medical milestone published Tuesday in the journal Nature Biotechnology.
"I am very grateful for the life-saving organ," the 62-year-old organ recipient said in a statement. "Due to my rapidly progressing tumor, I had little chance of getting a liver from the waiting list within a reasonable time." The patient's name was not released.
Dr. Pierre-Alain Clavien, who was the surgeon, stands with the patient (right) as he was discharged from hospital after the successful transplantation last year.
USZ
Typically, even perfectly viable donor livers can only remain outside the human body for about 12 hours in conventional cold storage or a maximum of 24 hours in a machine like the team's new one, dubbed a perfusion machine.
Within that time frame, doctors need to "assess, transport and implant donor grafts for human transplantation," per the paper -- not only does this greatly limit the distance these organs can travel before reaching a recipient and room for error during transport, but it also essentially rules out the possibility of repairing an organ prior to transplantation.
Damaged donor organs are often discarded, further exacerbating the organ shortage crisis. According to Organdonor.gov, well over 100,000 Americans are awaiting an organ transplant, and 17 patients die each day while still on the waitlist.
But because the Swiss researchers' new style of perfusion machine sort of acted as a second human body, it allowed the liver specimen to survive externally for three days. They first announced the concept in 2020, at the time stating that their invention can keep a liver outside the human body for one week. However, this marks the first time a liver kept in the device was successfully transplanted into a patient.
"Our therapy shows that treating livers in the perfusion machine makes it possible to alleviate the lack of functioning donor organs and save lives," Dr. Pierre-Alain Clavien, director of the Clinic for Visceral and Transplantation Surgery at the University Hospital Zurich and the surgeon who transplanted the organ, said in a statement.
Basically, this machine has a pump to serve in place of a heart, an oxygenator in place of lungs and dialysis unit in place of kidneys. It can infuse the organs with nutrients and hormones that would normally come from the intestine and pancreas, and even moves the liver to the rhythm of human breathing like a diaphragm would. Additionally, it offers a similar pressure and temperature to natural human biology. In other words, for a liver in the contraption, it's almost like it never left the body.
The perfusion machine replaces the functions of various organs in order to keep the donor liver alive outside of the body.
USZ
So in this highly regulated environment, during those three days, the team flushed the liver with antibiotics and hormonal therapies, for instance, while monitoring how well the organ functioned, like in terms of bile production and tissue strength. This went on until the liver met the standards of a "good" donor organ. Then, it was successfully transplanted into the organ recipient with his consent.
"The transplanted liver exhibited normal function, with minimal reperfusion injury and the need for only a minimal immunosuppressive regimen," the paper states. Immunosuppressive medication is vital after transplant procedures because these drugs essentially tell the body's immune system to not attack while the foreign organ gets acquainted with its new world. Without the "don't attack" warning, the body can reject the organ, deeming it an intruder.
Dr. Pierre-Alain Clavien and Dr. Philipp Dutkowski during the transplantation of the liver treated in the machine.
USZ
And beyond remarkably saving a life, the team's achievement marks a tremendous breakthrough for the field of medicine. It's direct evidence that damaged donor organs can be repaired and considered for patients awaiting transplants -- transplants that could mean the difference between life and death. Plus, it's proof that one day, transplantation doesn't necessarily have to be an emergency, time crunch procedure.
"This inaugural clinical success opens new horizons in clinical research and promises an extended time window of up to 10 days for assessment of viability of donor organs as well as converting an urgent and highly demanding surgery into an elective procedure," the paper states. Going forth, the team plans to test the procedure on other patients as well as develop the next generation of these powerful perfusion machines.
"The interdisciplinary approach to solving complex biomedical challenges that is used in this project is the future of medicine," Mark Tibbitt, a professor of Macromolecular Engineering at ETH Zurich, said in a statement.
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7 Tips to Try if You Have Trouble Putting in Contact Lenses
7 Tips to Try if You Have Trouble Putting in Contact Lenses
After plopping them in enough times, you'll get used to those sticky little domes that hug your eyeballs so you can see better (or see at all, depending on your prescription strength).
But like many daily habits, there's a learning curve to wearing prescription contacts. After all, our eyes instinctively close up when they sense danger, like a shaking, protruding finger trying to insert a piece of plastic.
Whether you're a new or returning contact lens user, here are a few tips to get this routine to feel like second nature.
Read more: Best Places to Buy Contacts Online
How to put in your contacts
First, let's start with the basics: how to get those contact lenses into your eye as comfortably as possible.
1. Thoroughly wash and dry your hands. You can often blame uncomfortable contacts on something being on the lens. To ensure you don't transfer anything into your eye and to minimize your risk of eye infections, get those hands clean. Be sure that they are dry.
2. Scoop the first contact out of the case using your fingertip, not your nail. You can gently shake the case first if either lens is stuck to the side. Then, rinse out the lens with contact solution. Do not use tap water. Plain water can allow harmful bacteria to stick to the lens and infect your eye.
3. Inspect the lens. Check that it's not torn, creased or dirty. Also, make sure it's not inside-out. When the lens sits on the tip of your finger, it should have consistent curvature around the lip. If it's flaring out, the lens is probably inside-out. Flip it the other way before you put it in your eye.
4. Put in the lens. Place the contact lens on the tip of the pointer finger on your dominant hand. Use your other hand to gently pull your top eyelid up, making it easier to get the lens into your eye without hitting your eyelid or eyelashes. Gently tap the finger with the lens on it to your eye. The moisture of your eye should be enough to transfer the lens from your finger to your cornea.
5. Adjust the lens. Blink a few times. Then, look down, up, right and left. This centers the lens on your cornea.
6. Repeat with the other eye. You know the drill.
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Caring for your contact lenses
Just knowing how to put in contacts is a key first step. But wearing your contact lenses comfortably every day hinges on you knowing how to take care of them. This is relatively easy if you have daily lenses (the ones you wear once, then toss).
However, if you wear any other type of lens, talk with your optometrist about best practices for contact care. They may recommend a specific type of contact solution.
Generally, you should take your contacts out and put them in a clean case in that solution:
Before you go to bed: Unless you have lenses specifically designed for sleeping, remove your contacts each night before bed.
Before you get wet: Whether you're hopping in the shower or going for a swim, take your contacts out first since you could lose a lens in the water. Also, the water could transfer something onto your lens or compromise the structure of the lens.
We won't dig too deeply into how to remove contact lenses here, but the basic steps are:
1. Wash and dry your hands.
2. Gently pinch the lens from the surface of your eye.
3. Put your contact lenses into a clean case filled with contact solution.
You should be replacing two things regularly:
The contact lenses themselves: Follow your optometrist's direction here, whether that means swapping your lenses out daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. Wearing them past the recommended time can lead to a buildup on the lens.
The case: Swap out the case for a new one every three months to ensure you always store the lenses in a hygienic environment. Many contact solution companies include cases with the bottles of solution they sell.
Finally, prep before you go on vacation. You might want to buy a small bottle of solution to pack in your toiletries bag. In general, when you're traveling, caring for your contacts can be extra tricky.
Read more: The Quickest Way to Keep Your Contacts Fresh While Traveling
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7 tips for beginners
If you're just starting out with contacts, here are a few things to keep in mind that can make your transition easier.
Know contact lenses are safe
When used properly (that is, taken out every night, handled with clean hands and replaced on time), contacts are a safe form of vision correction used by roughly 45 million people in the US. They're also regulated as medical devices by the US Food and Drug Administration, so you can rest assured the material you're sticking in there is safe and agreeable for your delicate eyeballs.
And know this: Contact lenses will never get stuck behind your eye, the American Academy of Ophthalmology says. That's because there's a membrane connecting your eyeball to your eyelid. So if your eyes are too dry, you insert the contact funny or there's another mishap with the lens, know your search is only temporary and you will soon be reunited with your contact lens, usually with a gentle finesse or a few drops of contact solution to loosen its hold.
Another important myth to bust, as laid out by contact retailer PerfectLens, is that contacts are uncomfortable. Once you get used to putting them in, contacts should be so comfortable you can't tell they're there. (If they are uncomfortable and you haven't been wearing them for too long, contact your eye doctor to see if you need a new brand or a different eye measurement.)
Ask your optometrist for training
These eye pros have all the best tips for learning how to wear your specific type of contact lenses. Some optometrists charge a fee for contact lens training, but there's no better way to learn how to put contacts in.
Try touching your eye
We know this goes against pretty much everything you've ever been told. But you have to get over that initial recoil you might feel. With clean hands, try gently making contact with the white of your eye.
If you can touch your eye with your finger, you can touch your eye with a contact lens. You'll probably find that the lens making contact with your eye is much more comfortable than your finger. That's because it's specifically designed to fit over your cornea, distributing pressure across your eye rather than onto a single point.
Keep your nails short and trimmed
I've had my nails "done" exactly twice and both sets of longer-than-usual nails turned a daily routine I barely have to think about into a skill to remaster, like learning how to drive in snow every winter.
If you're a regular long-nailer who's mastered the art of pinching a contact without nicking the lens, or your eye, congratulations on making it to the next level. But for beginners just getting used to inserting lenses, there's a lot less room for error and pokes when you have shorter nails.
Use both hands
Use the pointer finger of your dominant hand to hold and place the lens, but don't forget about your other hand. You can use it to gently pull up on your eyelid. If you have a reflexive tendency to try and close your eyes as you go to put your lens in, this can help.
Don't put in contacts when your eyes are red or tired
If you're just starting out, pick a time to try inserting contacts when your eyes are alert and awake, as opposed to trying to squeeze them in at 6 a.m. on a day when you're already really tired. Generally speaking, it's not a great idea to put in contacts if your eyes are feeling irritated, and you should never sleep in your contacts because that increases your risk of eye infections (some of which can lead to permanent vision loss) by six or eight times, the AAO says.
Similarly, you should use rewetting or eye drops if they're recommended by your eye doctor, the AAO says, especially if you're starting out in contacts. Drinking water will also help stave off dry eyes and ease your eyes into the transition with contact lenses.
Why are my contact lenses uncomfortable?
On that note, let's talk about what can go wrong with your contacts. If you just got them, it might take some getting used to. Note: It might feel odd, but it should never feel uncomfortable. If you continually try to wear your contacts and feel like something's stuck in your eye, talk to your optometrist. You may need a different type of lens.
If your optometrist is confident you're in the right lenses but one feels uncomfortable after you put it in, follow these steps:
Don't rub your eyes. Resist the urge. Blinking can help the lens settle into a comfortable spot, but rubbing your eye can cause it to fold. That will only make you more uncomfortable. Plus, if something is stuck between the contact lens and your cornea, rubbing it can scratch your eye.
Take it out and check it. A lot of the time, if your lens feels uncomfortable, it's because some debris is stuck to it, which is transferred to your eye when you put it in. Look closely at the lens. Even a tiny little thread or speck of dirt feels catastrophic once it contacts your eye. Also, make sure the lens isn't torn (which will make it feel like something's in your eye) or inside-out.
Check your eyes. If something was stuck to the contact, it could now be stuck to your eye. You might want to use some eye drops to flush your eye.
Try again. When you're learning how to put in contacts, it may take a couple of tries to get it right. Once you know the lens and your eye are both debris-free, try putting the lens back in.
Keep your glasses handy. Learning how to put contacts in takes time. If you're having a particularly hard time one morning, stick with glasses that day. You don't want to irritate your eye repeatedly trying to get your contacts in.
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The bottom line
You're not alone in this. It takes most people at least a couple weeks to get comfortable wearing contact lenses. Stick with it -- paying careful attention to keeping your lenses clean and debris-free -- and it should get easier with time.
If it doesn't, the lenses themselves could be to blame. Talk with your optometrist and consider your online contact lens options to find what's best for your specific eyes.
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.
