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Tech & Science Daily speaks to Andrew Parfery, programme manager at the Venture Builder incubator at the University of Edinburgh, about the new device that could mean the end of ‘awkward’ smear tests.
Postdoctoral student Sânziana Foia’s company, Papcup, was part of the 2023 cohort of the VBI programme, an incubator that helps PhD students and researchers from across the UK develop their business ideas and grow start-ups.
Papcup works by looking for signs of cancer-causing HPV by analyzing a small smear of blood that women can take at home.
Foia is now gauging interest in the system via a website where she can place pre-orders, demonstrating to potential investors and the NHS that there is demand for the device.
NHS data shows that around a third of women in the UK currently miss their smear test each year due to concerns such as pain, embarrassment, fear and body consciousness.
Vittorio Tantucci, senior lecturer in linguistics at Lancaster University, explains the findings of his research which shows that Britons are increasingly copying each other’s speaking styles, but there is a clear divide between social classes.
The tendency for some people to reuse words used by the people they speak to is a phenomenon known as resonance.
Resonance in conversations is an important sign of social inclusion because it indicates that the people involved strive to make the other person feel “heard.” However, a consistent absence of it during a conversation can indicate a lack of commitment.
And the rest
Ready for Wimbledon? We have all the new generative AI features that IBM is rolling out for the tournament.
Scientists are ‘radioactive’ rhino horns to tackle poaching, and Apple is warning all 1.46 billion iPhone users with a ‘mass’ alert that appears to be about Google Chrome.
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Here’s an automated transcript of today’s episode:
Hello, I’m Rochelle Travers and this is The Standard’s Tech and Science Daily podcast.
Coming soon: Game, Set, Match, the new generative AI features coming to Wimbledon.
Let’s start.
A new device called Papcup could mean the end of uncomfortable pap smears.
This company, Papcup, ended up at the Venture Builder incubator.
It was founded by someone named Sânziana Foia, and she developed a non-invasive cervical cancer screening product that can be used at home.
That’s Andrew Parfery, program manager at the Venture Builder incubator at the University of Edinburgh.
What it basically does is it allows you to take a smear of your menstrual blood and have it analyzed in the device that she developed and within 15 minutes you get the results of the test.
The days of having to go somewhere, undergo an invasive procedure and then wait weeks for the results are hopefully over.
Postgraduate student Foia’s company, Papcup, was part of the 2023 cohort of the VBI programme, an incubator that helps PhD students and researchers from across the UK develop their business ideas and grow start-up companies.
Foia is now gauging interest in the system via a website where you can order in advance.
This will help her demonstrate demand for the device to potential investors and the NHS.
NHS data shows that currently around a third of women in Britain miss their smear test every year due to concerns such as pain, embarrassment, anxiety and body consciousness.
Sânziana is currently fully in the prototype phase and clinical trials will of course follow.
But she’s at the point now where she’s now looking for investment from investors who can accelerate the pace at which she can get through these next phases and bring this to market to make an impact.
Andrew says the Papcup is a great example of how VBI can help academics and hopes it will encourage more people to apply for their next class.
The idea is that this programme is designed for PhD students and academic staff, researchers at universities in the UK.
What we really want to do is help and support them to bring that innovation, idea or discovery into the real world.
So we’re open to applications especially until July 15 to help people looking at innovations in health and social care.
Research has shown that British people are increasingly copying each other’s speaking styles.
When we talk to each other, we are constantly imitating each other.
We use similar gestures, our accents come together, let alone looks, facial expressions.
And the most interesting thing is that we reuse each other’s words and expressions very often in interaction.
So this is something that is characteristic of human communication, it’s something that we do all the time.
This is what Vittorio Tantucci, senior lecturer in linguistics at the University of Lancaster and first author of the study, says.
The tendency for some people to reuse words used by the people they speak to is a phenomenon known as resonance.
What we did discover in this article, however, is that this tendency, a tendency we call resonance, has increased dramatically in certain classes of British society over the past twenty years.
According to Vittorio, over the past twenty years a clear divide has emerged in the way people from different classes interact.
What we found is that people in higher social classes, such as those who work in business, higher education or related sectors, reuse each other’s language and expressions much, much more.
People from lower social classes, such as retirees and low-paid workers, still seem to have the same conversational style as in the 1990s.
Resonance in conversations is an important sign of social inclusion because it indicates that the people involved strive to make the other person feel heard.
However, if this is not the case during a conversation, it may indicate a lack of commitment.
We all know that there is a very strong divide between classes in British society, and this could widen that divide even further.
If the language spoken by people working in certain sectors of British society tends to converge and thus become markedly different from the language spoken by people in other sectors, then people from different sectors may perceive this difference when they interact with each other.
The final countdown to Wimbledon has begun.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club and IBM are expanding their use of generative AI for this year’s championships with some impressive new features.
This year we’re introducing a brand new feature called Catch Me Up.
This way, fans can see stories about their favorite players as the tournament progresses.
That’s Kevin Farrar, Head of Sport Partnerships at IBM UK.
One of the key things and challenges around the work we’ve done with Wimbledon is ensuring that the results from the generative AI are reliable.
It’s clear that the Wimbledon brand is very important to them and we need to make sure we get the right balance between tradition and heritage, and innovation and technology.
However, it has been confirmed that Wimbledon will not use AI commentary during the tournament, following widespread criticism of the feature last year, including from BBC Pundit and former British number one Annabel Croft.
On Monday, July 1, the spectacle will kick off during the most prestigious tennis tournament.
Let’s move on to the ads.
Coming soon: why scientists make rhino horns radioactive… And Apple is targeting Google Chrome.
Welcome back.
Scientists are making rhino horns radioactive to prevent poaching.
A team from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa has begun implanting tiny radioactive chips into the animal’s horns.
They say the radioactive material will render the horn useless and actually poisonous for human consumption.
However, the dose does not pose any risk to the rhinos themselves or their environment.
The animals also do not feel any pain from the chips. A total of 20 rhinos will be part of the pilot project.
In addition to the radiation detectors installed at ports and airports, border agents often also have portable radiation detectors.
And finally, Apple has issued a huge warning to all 1.46 billion iPhone users that appears to be aimed at Google Chrome.
The tech giant has placed billboards around the world promoting its Safari search app, saying it is a browser that is actually private.
The ad didn’t mention Google Chrome by name, but Alphabet did reveal earlier this year that it collects data from everyone who uses Chrome.
It is also the most downloaded search browser for smartphones, surpassing Safari by more than 2 million.
The billboards have been spotted in London, Paris, San Francisco, Singapore and Australia.
You’re in the know, come back at 4pm for The Standard podcast for all the latest news and analysis.
Tech and Science Daily is back on Monday at 1pm.
See you then!