List of All Articles with Tag 'ci'

A world without Google would almost be akin to a world without water or air. Indeed, the internet behemoth’s power is so great that it’s even become its own verb. And sure, there are other search engines, but when have you ever heard someone say: “Let me just Bing that”? Yet, it turns out the iconic tech company could have had a very different fate had it stuck to its original name. That’s right, Google hasn’t always been Google. And at its inception back in 1996, it had a somewhat more risqué title. It was called… BackRub. Yep, BackRub. According to Standford University computer scientist David Koller, who wrote about the brand’s genesis back in 2004, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin came up with the search engine's first name as a nod to its analysis of the web’s “back links”. However, a year after BackRub was born, Page and his officemates – including fellow graduate students Sean Anderson, Tamara Munzner, and Lucas Pereira – discussed a number of possible alternatives to the massage-evoking moniker. According to Koller, the final, fateful brainstorming session occurred one day in September of that year. “Sean and Larry were in their office, using the whiteboard, trying to think up a good name - something that related to the indexing of an immense amount of data,” he recalled. “Sean verbally suggested the word ‘googolplex,’, and Larry responded verbally with the shortened form, ‘googol’ (both words refer to specific large numbers). “ Anderson then searched the Internet domain name registry database to see if the newly suggested name was still available to use. But, since “Sean is not an infallible speller”, “he made the mistake of searching for the name spelt as ‘google.com,’ which he found to be available,” Koller continued. “Larry liked the name, and within hours he took the step of registering the name ‘google.com’ for himself and Sergey.” And the rest, as they say, is history. Sill, 25 years on from that simple domain name registration that would go on to change the world, people have shared their bewilderment that “BackRub” could have become a household name. “I could die without knowing that this was Google's old name,” one X/Twitter user commented. “What were they smoking back in 90s??” asked another. Meanwhile, a third responded with what we’re all now thinking: “Tbh I need a backrub.” At least the tech titans can now give themselves a pat on the back for a job well done with “Google”. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an increasing area of concern for health experts and scientists are concerned that the popular food sushi could be spreading it. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology were interested in looking at the health implications of sushi, which is considered pretty standard fare in the country. Dr. Hyejeong Lee, who recently completed her PhD at the Department of Biotechnology and Food Science at NTNU, investigated different varieties of Aeromonas bacteria in seafood products that aren’t processed in a way that reduces bacteria, such as sashimi (raw fish) and cold-smoked fish. Lee explained: “The goal was to gain more knowledge about Aeromonas in this type of seafood – both the bacteria’s role in the deterioration of the product and in causing disease. Furthermore, we wanted to see if raw seafood can spread antibiotic-resistant bacteria.” While Listeria monocytogenes is the most well-known bacteria that can cause illness from unprocessed seafood, the prevalence of Aeromonas in similar products is an increasing worry for scientists for another reason. This is because Aeromonas bacteria frequently exchange genetic material with other bacteria in the sea, which means they can inherit and spread resistance to antibiotics before ending up in sushi. Lee explained: “Some strains of Aeromonas can also spread antibiotic resistance from one type of bacteria to another. Eating seafood infected by resistant bacteria is a likely way these bacteria can spread from marine animals and environments to humans.” Resistant bacteria are foreseen to be a big problem in the future, with the worst-case scenario being that few or no antibiotics will work at treating them. Experts believe it is important that antibiotic resistance is seen as a broad approach that is seriously considered in all aspects of society. Anita Nordeng Jakobsen, associate professor at NTNU’s Department of Biotechnology and Food Science, explained: “To combat the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it is important that we adopt a broad approach that looks at animal and human health, food production and the environment together in order to achieve better public health.” Still, Lee was quick to emphasise that the risk of getting sick from Aeromonas is very small, especially for healthy people. But, she stressed: “Aeromonas is often ignored when we talk about food safety. I think my research highlights that the food industry needs to pay more attention to these bacteria." Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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