All posts tagged: heart

BMW Vision Driving Experience: Heart of Joy Endurance Test

BMW Vision Driving Experience: Heart of Joy Endurance Test

Published by skeptic

The BMW Heart of Joy is a groundbreaking control unit designed to redefine the electric driving experience. Developed entirely in-house by BMW, this innovative technology integrates drivetrain, braking, energy recuperation, and steering functions into a single high-performance system. With processing speeds ten times faster than previous systems, the Heart of Joy ensures unparalleled precision, efficiency, and driving pleasure. This advanced system is set to power the next generation of BMW’s Neue Klasse electric vehicles, delivering a seamless and intuitive driving experience that combines performance with sustainability. The Heart of Joy represents a significant leap forward in automotive technology, as it consolidates multiple critical functions into a single, highly optimized unit. By streamlining the control of various vehicle systems, BMW aims to enhance the overall performance, responsiveness, and energy efficiency of their electric vehicles. This holistic approach to vehicle control is expected to set a new standard in the industry, as manufacturers strive to create more integrated and intelligent driving systems. Pricing and Availability While the BMW Vision Driving Experience test vehicle showcasing the Heart of …

Can you really die of a broken heart?

Can you really die of a broken heart?

Published by skeptic

Dying of heartbreak is a trope that often pops up in myth and fantasy. In Star Wars, Padmé Amidala may have died of a broken heart after her husband turned to the dark side, becoming Darth Vader. Shakespeare’s King Lear succumbs to heartbreak after hearing of the demise of his precious daughter Cordelia.    Drama aside, these characters might have died of takotsubo syndrome. That’s a short, intense dysfunction in a part of the heart called the left ventricle. And it can occur after extreme emotional or physical stress — making “heartbreak” both real and sometimes deadly.  A history of heartbreak  Death by broken heart has been a popular theme in fiction for a long time. Yet doctors only began recording real cases in the 1960s, says Trisha Singh. This heart doctor, or cardiologist, works at University Hospitals Dorset in England.   “It was very typically described as an elderly or a middle-aged woman who just lost a loved one,” Singh says. “A day or so afterwards, she died of heartbreak.”   Medical imaging technology has improved since then. …

Revolutionary nano-chip quickly detects earliest sign of heart attack

Revolutionary nano-chip quickly detects earliest sign of heart attack

Published by skeptic

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is revolutionizing biomedical diagnostics and therapeutics, enabling breakthroughs in biopharmaceuticals, antimicrobial resistance detection, forensic science, and homeland security. With its unique ability to detect molecular fingerprints with single-molecule sensitivity, SERS offers unparalleled potential. However, translating this method into reliable clinical tools faces significant hurdles—chiefly the reliance on electric fields for signal enhancement and unpredictable intensity fluctuations. Traditionally, SERS enhancement depends on electromagnetic fields, particularly electric fields (E-fields). While effective, the magnetic field (H-field) component remains underutilized due to the limited magnetic permeability of metals at optical frequencies. This omission underscores a missed opportunity to fully exploit electromagnetic mechanisms in SERS. Addressing this gap requires innovative solutions, such as plasmonic substrates that activate both E- and H-fields. Recent advances in photonic metamaterials present a promising path forward. Published in the journal, Science Advances, these engineered structures exhibit unique optical properties, including the ability to generate significant magnetism at optical frequencies. The heart of the invention is a tiny chip with a groundbreaking nanostructured surface on which blood is tested. (CREDIT: Will Kirk/Johns …

Whose Line Is It Anyway? star Tony Slattery dies of heart attack aged 65 | Ents & Arts News

Whose Line Is It Anyway? star Tony Slattery dies of heart attack aged 65 | Ents & Arts News

Published by skeptic

Comedian and actor Tony Slattery has died aged 65 following a heart attack, his partner has said. The actor was famous for appearing on the Channel 4 comedy improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and other series such as Just A Minute and Have I Got News For You. He had recently been touring a comedy show and launched his podcast, Tony Slattery’s Rambling Club, just a few months ago, in October. A statement made on behalf of his partner, Mark Michael Hutchinson, said: “It is with great sadness we must announce actor and comedian Tony Slattery, aged 65, has passed away today, Tuesday morning, following a heart attack on Sunday evening.” Image: Clockwise from left: Jennifer Saunders, Hugh Laurie, Emma Freud, Tony Slattery and Stephen Fry pictured in 1991. Pic: PA Born in 1959, Slattery went to the University of Cambridge alongside contemporaries Dame Emma Thompson, Sir Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. While there, he served as president of the legendary Cambridge Footlights improvisation group. Alongside Sir Stephen and Dame Emma, he was …

The Heart of Winter by Jonathan Evison

The Heart of Winter by Jonathan Evison

Published by skeptic

In his ninth novel, The Heart of Winter, Jonathan Evison crafts an intimate portrait of a 70-year marriage that feels both expansive in its timespan and wonderfully precise in its attention to life’s small, defining moments. Through the story of Abe and Ruth Winter, Evison explores how love endures not through grand gestures, but through the quiet acts of showing up day after day, year after year. The Dance of Opposites At the heart of this novel is an unlikely pairing – Ruth Warneke, a poetry-loving liberal arts student with dreams of Paris, and Abe Winter, a pragmatic business major who finds security in life insurance policies and bow ties. Their initial blind date in 1953 seems destined for failure, yet somehow these opposites begin a dance that will last seven decades. Evison masterfully weaves between past and present, showing us how young Ruth and Abe become the elderly couple facing their greatest challenge yet – Ruth’s cancer diagnosis and treatment. The narrative structure allows us to see both how much they’ve changed and how …

The Wanted star Max George recalls moment he wrote will from hospital bed before heart surgery | Ents & Arts News

The Wanted star Max George recalls moment he wrote will from hospital bed before heart surgery | Ents & Arts News

Published by skeptic

The Wanted star Max George has told of the moment he wrote his will from a hospital bed, as he was convinced he “was going to die”. In December, George revealed he had to undergo urgent heart surgery after being diagnosed with a block. In an interview with The Sun, his first since he underwent the lifesaving surgery, the 36-year-old described the moment when he thought he would die. He said: “If I could go from being absolutely on top of the world to being told ‘the bottom part of your heart isn’t working’, I kept thinking in my head, ‘Well, what if the top half stops working overnight?’” “That first night I wrote a will, I thought I was going to die,” the 36-year-old musician added. On the night of 13 December, George said his heart rate and blood pressure dropped, “I felt like I was dying,” he said. He had a pacemaker fitted by doctors during the surgery, but the former Strictly Come Dancing star said he made a will on his phone …

RuPaul says his ‘heart is broken’ following death of The Vivienne | Ents & Arts News

RuPaul says his ‘heart is broken’ following death of The Vivienne | Ents & Arts News

Published by skeptic

RuPaul has said his “heart is broken” following the death of former Drag Race winner, The Vivienne. The drag queen and TV presenter said on Instagram on Monday he joined the entire Drag Race universe in mourning the loss of The Vivienne, whom he called “an incredibly talented queen and a lovely human being”. The Vivienne, whose real name was James Lee Williams, won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019. Instagram This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Instagram cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Instagram cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Instagram cookies for this session only. Enable Cookies Allow Cookies Once Read more: The Vivienne’s …

The Wanted star Max George recalls moment he wrote will from hospital bed before heart surgery | Ents & Arts News

The Wanted star Max George to have urgent heart surgery | Ents & Arts News

Published by skeptic

Singer Max George has said he is to have urgent surgery on his heart after being diagnosed with a block. The Wanted star first revealed he was having problems last week, but has now updated fans to say he has been diagnosed with a “2:1 block” and needs an operation “way quicker than the doctors first thought”. Heart block is a condition where the heart beats more slowly or with an abnormal rhythm, according to the NHS, and is caused by a problem with the electrical pulses controlling the heartbeat. George had a scan on Monday, after being admitted to hospital five days earlier, and said on Instagram that his heart rate had not picked up. Instagram This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Instagram cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy …

Bose’s Wacky Open Earbuds Won Over My Reluctant Heart

Bose’s Wacky Open Earbuds Won Over My Reluctant Heart

Published by skeptic

After testing the Bose long term, I began to unlock niche use cases that even the best noise-canceling buds can’t match. Dog walks are blissfully better, especially with any trace of wind, which can blast your ears when using transparency mode. I used to just roll with a single bud for those situations, with one ear open for awareness. Now, I recoil at the thought of settling for mono sound on our morning stroll, even if the traffic sometimes harshes the vibe. I soon found other idiosyncratic ways in which these buds fill the gap, from working in the office or kitchen while chatting with my wife to strolling through a store or conversing with the neighbors over yard work. Why kill the tunes, when you can have it all? Bose has been working on additional ways to give its pricey buds a higher value quotient. If you’ve got a new Bose soundbar like the Smart Soundbar (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the Open Earbuds can now double as personalized surround sound speakers, creating a sort of …

Keep Me In Your Heart by Monica Murphy

Keep Me In Your Heart by Monica Murphy

Published by skeptic

Monica Murphy returns to the beloved halls of Lancaster Prep with Keep Me In Your Heart, the latest installment in her young adult romance series. This time, she brings us the story of Rowan Lancaster and Arabella Hartley Thomas—a grumpy football player with a broken ankle and a vibrant, fashion-forward girl who refuses to dim her light for anyone. The novel masterfully explores themes of parental neglect, self-discovery, and the courage it takes to be authentically yourself while falling in love. Writing Style & Narrative Flow Murphy’s writing shines particularly bright in this installment, showcasing significant growth from her previous works. Her prose is crisp and engaging, peppered with witty dialogue and emotional depth that keeps pages turning. The dual POV narrative alternating between Rowan and Arabella provides intimate access to both characters’ internal struggles while maintaining perfect pacing throughout the story. One notable strength is Murphy’s ability to craft natural, flowing dialogue that feels authentic to teenage voices without falling into cliché territory. The banter between Rowan and Arabella crackles with chemistry and wit, …