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Apple jack ax ushers in a voice-driven world

While some fans opposed the widely anticipated move – one online petition urging Apple to keep the headphone jack drew more than 300,000 signatures – equipment suppliers and experts heralded a change in how users will interact with their devices. Axing the jack, they say, paves the way for discreet, bean-sized earbuds that can simultaneously translate, filter out unwanted noise or let us control other devices by voice – and drive up the value of the so-called ‘hearables’ market to $16 billion within five years. It’s the vision of the futuristic 2013 movie “Her”, where a human has a love affair with a disembodied voice in his ear.

U.S. judge will not block California school vaccination law

(Reuters) – A federal judge on Friday refused to block a California law tightening vaccination requirements for schoolchildren in the state. The measure eliminated the so-called personal beliefs and religious exemptions from California’s school vaccination law, meaning that only children with a valid medical excuse could forego vaccinations for such childhood diseases as measles and polio. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Diego last month, asked for an injunction to stop the requirements from going into effect, but Judge Dana Sabraw ruled that state legislatures have a “long history of requiring children to be vaccinated as a condition to school enrollment,” and not allowing personal or religious exemptions.

Expert group says embryo genetic modification should be allowed

Research involving genetic modification of human embryos, though controversial, is essential to gain basic understanding of the biology of early embryos and should be permitted, an international group of experts said on Wednesday. The statement was issued by members of the so-called Hinxton Group, a global network of stem cell researchers, bioethicists and policy experts who met in Britain last week. “However, we acknowledge that when all safety, efficacy and governance needs are met, there may be morally acceptable uses of this technology in human reproduction, though further substantial discussion and debate will be required,” the group said in a statement.