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Now you can get dumped by an app, and the scary future of relationships
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Breaking up has never been easier to do. With the help of a new app, your significant other can be dumped via text, Facebook post, tweet or prerecorded call from a Scottish man. - photo by Shelby Slade
Breaking up has never been easier to do. With the help of a new app, your significant other can be dumped via text, Facebook post, tweet or prerecorded call from a Scottish man.

The app, Binder, has removed the complicated its not you, its me talk and replaced it with a text, continuing the trend of using technology to automate and simplify relationships.

Ian Greenhill, co-creator of the app, said the app was created as a joke, but it reflects the trend in putting relationships online with apps like Tinder, according to Betsy Morais for The New Yorker.

I think Tinder works so well because its quite shallow, Greenhill told Morais. Its a simple thing. You know what youre getting. And then you get to know the person better.

Tinder, which connects you with other users in your area, has 50 million users and makes 12 million matches a day, Nick Bilton reported for The New York Times.

Unlike other dating services, Tinder focuses on photos rather than long-drawn-out profiles of people in your area. You can then either decide whether you would like to connect with them or not. If they would also like to connect with you, you can start a conversation.

Research shows when people are evaluating photos of others, they are trying to access compatibility on not just a physical level, but a social level, Tinders dating and relationship expert Jessica Carbino said. They are trying to understand, Do I have things in common with this person?

Photos cause 90 percent of the actions on dating sites, comedian Aziz Ansari wrote for Time.

This is basically the same as meeting people at the grocery store or a singles activity, but on a faster scale with a larger group of people at hand, Ansari wrote. Its essentially what our ancestors did for many years on steroids.

I think Tinder is a great thing, anthropologist Helen Fisher told Time. All Tinder is doing is giving you someone to look at thats in the neighborhood. Then you let the human brain with his brilliant little algorithm tick, tick, tick off what youre looking for.

Not only can you start and end a relationship through an app, but you can keep it alive with one, too.

HeroBoyfriend, a new app not yet available to the public, gives its male users date ideas, calendar notifications of important relationship dates and advice on sweet talking their partner, according to Julia Carpenter of The Washington Post.

While dating sites have been common for many years, the romance part building the relationship was 100 percent up to the user.
Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.