Self-driving bus involved in crash less than two hours after Las Vegas launch

It took less than two hours for Las Vegas’s brand new self-driving shuttle to end up in a crash on Wednesday – thanks to a human.

The autonomous bus made its debut on public roads around the so called Innovation District in downtown Las Vegas in front of cameras and celebrities, dubbed America’s first self-driving shuttle pilot project geared toward the public. But within two hours it had already been involved in a minor crash with a lorry. No injuries were reported.

Jenny Wong, a passenger on the shuttle at the time of the crash, told local news station KSNV: “The shuttle just stayed still. And we were like, it’s going to hit us, it’s going to hit us. And then it hit us.

“The shuttle didn’t have the ability to move back. The shuttle just stayed still.”

Las Vegas police officer Aden Ocampo-Gomez said the truck’s driver was at fault for the crash and was cited for illegal backing.

“The shuttle did what it was supposed to do, in that its sensors registered the truck and the shuttle stopped to avoid the accident,” the city said in a statement. “Unfortunately the delivery truck did not stop and grazed the front fender of the shuttle. Had the truck had the same sensing equipment that the shuttle has, the accident would have been avoided.”

The oval-shaped shuttle can seat up to eight people and has an attendant and computer monitor, but no steering wheel or brake pedals. Developed by French company Navya, it uses GPS, electronic kerb sensors and other technology to find its way at no more than 15mph.

Before it crashed, dozens of people had lined up to get a free trip on a 0.6-mile loop around Fremont East, Las Vegas, including Nascar driver Danica Patrick and magic duo Penn and Teller. City spokesman Jace Radke said the shuttle took two more loops after the crash.

The year-long pilot project, sponsored by AAA Northern California, Nevada and Utah, is expected to carry 250,000 people. The AAA said human error was responsible for more than 90% of the 30,000 deaths on US roads in 2016, and that robotic cars could help reduce the number of incidents.

Google sibling Waymo announced on Tuesday that it is launching a fully autonomous Uber-like ride-hailing service with no human driver behind the wheel in Phoenix, Arizona in the next few months, making it the first such service accessible to the public without no one to take control in an emergency.

A Common Contraceptive Is Linked to a "Stunning" Reduction in Cervical Cancer Risk

One of the longest-lasting and most effective forms of female contraception may be offering an unexpected health benefit to the women who use it.

A new analysis of intrauterine devices (IUDs) has found women using the contraceptive were significantly less likely to develop cervical cancer, with IUDs reducing incidences of the cancer by approximately one-third.

"The pattern we found was stunning. It was not subtle at all," says preventive medicine specialist Victoria Cortessis from the University of Southern California.

"The possibility that a woman could experience some help with cancer control at the same time she is making contraception decisions could potentially be very, very impactful."

Cortessis and fellow researchers reviewed data from 16 observational studies monitoring more than 12,000 women, identifying both participants' use of IUDs and their incidence of cervical cancer, which is the fourth-most common cancer in women worldwide.

What they found was that among women who took part in the studies, those using IUDs were 36 percent less likely to get cervical cancer than women who didn't use the contraceptive.

Of course, meta-analyses like this are only observational in nature – neither the new research nor the studies it draws from are demonstrating any kind of causative effect.

But, nonetheless, it's a striking, unexpected result that the researchers say definitely warrants further investigation.

"It looks real. It smells real," Cortessis told Live Science.

"[B]ut to be really convinced, we need to go back and do studies to find a mechanism."

What that mechanism is exactly, nobody's sure, but the team speculates the placement of an IUD may somehow stimulate an immune response in the cervix, leading the body to protect itself against any existing human papillomavirus (HPV) infection – the virus that causes more than 70 percent of all cervical cancer cases.

"[Previous] data say the presence of the IUD in the uterus stimulates an immune response, and that immune response very, very substantially destroys sperm and keeps sperm from reaching the egg," Cortessis explained to HealthDay.

"It stands to reason the IUD might influence other immune phenomenon."

Another hypothesis is that when IUDs are removed from the body, a scraping effect could take out infected cells at the same time, which could potentially help lower the risk of cancerous tissue developing.

Regardless of what makes the reduced cancer risk happen, the sheer size of this gap seen in the data means it's something health researchers will want to look into.

"I would be shocked if it's not a real phenomenon," Cortessis told Time.

"We need to figure out what's going on mechanistically and do some fine tuning and see what kind of use could prevent cervical cancer and integrate that with contraceptive counselling."

The researchers are keen to emphasise that their findings shouldn't be taken as a recommendation that women should use IUDs to lower their chances of getting cervical cancer.

The best way to do that is to have regular cervical screenings and be vaccinated against HPV.

"Screening is everything," Cortessis told Newsweek.

"If a woman has one lifetime screening visit in her entire life, her risk is much lower."

The findings are reported in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

HOW NOT TO STAY ALIVE Funny photographs reveal why women REALLY live longer than men

SCIENTISTS have wondered for decades why women live longer than men – and now we know why.

Hilarious photos have emerged of blokes wantonly risking their lives to complete a manual task, speed up boring jobs or to just show off.

JAM PRESS

27

A welder stupidly used his blow torch to light a cigarette

A dare devil hung off a skyscraper using only his feet, while a welder lit his cigarette using a blow torch.

Meanwhile, a decorator stood precariously on top of a door frame while painting a ceiling.

As a man used his pal as a ladder while drilling a hole in his ceiling.

This images will have you chuckling and cringing in equal measure.

Bumpy ride

JAM PRESS

27

Hanging in the balance

JAM PRESS

27

Food for thought

JAM PRESS

27

He's a live wire

JAM PRESS

27

Wood you believe it?

JAM PRESS

27

A little help from my friends

JAM PRESS

27

Tree-mendously bad idea

JAM PRESS

27

No bright spark

JAM PRESS

27

Clean up your act

JAM PRESS

27

Flaming stupid

JAM PRESS

27

Top of the ladder

JAM PRESS

27

He's got some bottle

JAM PRESS

27

Wrong frame of mind

JAM PRESS

27

Hole in one

JAM PRESS

27

Playing with fire

JAM PRESS

27

Fall from power

JAM PRESS

27

Not a bright idea

JAM PRESS

27

Water silly thing to do!

JAM PRESS

27

All mouth and no trousers

JAM PRESS

27

Sofa so good

JAM PRESS

27

Wine down

JAM PRESS

27

This is not a drill

JAM PRESS

27

Jump the gun

JAM PRESS

27

Wheel-y daft

JAM PRESS

27

Brush with death

JAM PRESS

27

Car crash waiting to happen

JAM PRESS

27

Meanwhile, parents have shared their most epic fails… from dropping their kids to one VERY awkward drinking mishap.

These are the 13 secret parenting fails every mum is guilty of.

And, these pictures show the hilarious things that happen when you run out of common 

Common Over-The-Counter Medicine ‘Increases Risk Of Cancer Eight-Fold’

Scientists have discovered how over-the-counter tablets, taken by millions of Britons, dramatically increase the risk of stomach cancer.

A study conducted by the University of Hong Kong and University College London found, people who regularly use proton pump inhibitors, known as PPIs, are eight times more likely to develop the cancer.

The common drugs are used to treat acid reflux and are twice as likely to cause stomach cancer – a risk which soars to eight-fold after three years of taking the pills.

Pexels

It’s estimated five million bottles and packets of the drugs are prescribed each year in England, to treat the condition known as gastroesophageal reflux – a severe form of heartburn.

In addition to this, thousands more buy them over the counter at pharmacies, corner shops and supermarkets without the need of a prescription.

Although they’re not recommended for long-term use, the scientists fear because the pills are so easily available, people can easily take them for years without any medical supervision.

Pexels

The researchers suspect the pills stimulate a hormone known as gastrin, which triggers the growth of cancerous cells.

The new study involved 63,000 people in Hong Kong who were treated with antibiotics which killed bacteria known as H. pylori – which is linked to stomach cancer, at the start of the research.

They were then tracked for an average of seven years and due to the antibiotics, the scientists ruled out the bacteria developing the cancer.

Pexels

Those who took the pills at least weekly were found to be more than twice as likely to develop the cancer compared to those who didn’t use the drugs.

Daily users saw their risk increase 4.5 times and the longer the people took the drugs, the more the risk grew, soaring to 8.3 times for those who took the pills daily for at least three years.

Those who took an alternative treatment known as H2 blockers saw no increased risk.

Pexels

The study said:

The patients were monitored on average for 7.5 years until they either developed stomach cancer, died or the study concluded, which was at the end of December 2015.

During this time, 3271 (5%) people took PPIs for an average of nearly three years and 21,729 took H2 blockers.

In all, 153 (0.24%) people developed stomach cancer after triple therapy.

None tested positive for H. pylori at the time, but all had long standing gastritis which is inflammation of the stomach lining.

Taking PPIs was associated with a more than doubling (2.44) in the risk of developing stomach cancer, while taking H2 blockers was not associated with a heightened risk.

The scientists also stressed although the increased risk is indeed dramatic, only a few people get stomach cancer.

In their research, out of the 63,397 people studied, only 153 actually developed the disease.

Pexels

The study calculated how from their results, for every 10,000 people who take PPIs, an estimated eight people a year will develop stomach cancer, only four more than if none were taking the pills.