Science 2.0
Another Raw Dairy E. Coli Outbreak - Half The Victims Are Pre-School Kids
Raw milk is known to be 700X more likely to cause a foodborne illness. Since evangelists for bacteria in food often hide illnesses to protect their beliefs it may be even higher.
Cheese will be safer, if it is aged long enough. Which means you are not dealing with a company that is in a financial panic. Like RAW FARM-brand raw dairy products.
When Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was a lawyer for Natural Resources Defense Council and investor in solar gimmicks, he was adored by Democrats who shared his beliefs that science was a vast right-wing conspiracy. When he joined the Trump administration, some followed him and embraced his MAGA agenda(1), but many turned on him because he joined a Republican.
Cheese will be safer, if it is aged long enough. Which means you are not dealing with a company that is in a financial panic. Like RAW FARM-brand raw dairy products.
When Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was a lawyer for Natural Resources Defense Council and investor in solar gimmicks, he was adored by Democrats who shared his beliefs that science was a vast right-wing conspiracy. When he joined the Trump administration, some followed him and embraced his MAGA agenda(1), but many turned on him because he joined a Republican.
Categories: Science 2.0
Why Longevity Research Has Been Stuck For Decades
In the 1960s and '70s there was a great deal of optimism about science - including tackling aging. In the following decades not much progress was made. There were studies and experiments, like low calorie efforts, but those were in mice and mice studies are only exploratory. We can't ethically wean human babies on a starvation diet, we don't make any decisions on animal models, no drug has ever been approved on those because mice are not little people.
Due to lack of progress, some argue that resilience, not longevity, should be the therapeutic endpoint. Lifespan is the wrong objective so people in the field have been targeting the wrong way.
Due to lack of progress, some argue that resilience, not longevity, should be the therapeutic endpoint. Lifespan is the wrong objective so people in the field have been targeting the wrong way.
Categories: Science 2.0
Pilot Study: Fibromyalgia Fatigue Improved By TENS Therapy
Fibromyalgia is the term for a poorly-understood condition where people experience pain and fatigue while moving but have no testable inflammation or damage. Because fatigue is a non-specific symptom, fibromyalgia becomes a 'diagnosis of exclusion', where pain persists but testable conditions are ruled out. It is said to affect about four percent of the population.
Categories: Science 2.0
A Chess Study Requiring Backpropagation
The following position is a win for white. But how?
It seems like white is able to grab a knight for free. However, that would be not a wise idea, as the c4 pawn would then be free to run down to become a queen. You can easily convince yourself that 1.Nxd8? c3! wins for black. White also has its own knight en prise in the starting position, so a move not involving a knight move will result in its demise. E.g., 1.Kb6 seems a desirable attacking move to make, but 1....dxc6 2.dxc6 Nxc6! again turns the tables.
It seems like white is able to grab a knight for free. However, that would be not a wise idea, as the c4 pawn would then be free to run down to become a queen. You can easily convince yourself that 1.Nxd8? c3! wins for black. White also has its own knight en prise in the starting position, so a move not involving a knight move will result in its demise. E.g., 1.Kb6 seems a desirable attacking move to make, but 1....dxc6 2.dxc6 Nxc6! again turns the tables.
Categories: Science 2.0
Environmental Groups Back In Court To Help Fellow Rich White People
The Usual Suspects of the anti-science movement, Center for Biological Diversity(1), Environmental Working Group(2) and more, are back in court to try and force California to accept that money is magic and rich homeowners with solar panels should be paid for electricity they send to the grid - at full retail price.
It sounds ridiculous. Imagine if a customer buys a vegetable your farm grows says they should have the right to force you to buy vegetables they grow in their garden at full retail price from them. Not the price you get, the full retail cost.
You'd laugh. You have tractors and employees and materials. Liabilities. Even more ridiculous, you helped give them the money for the land they used to grow the vegetables.
It sounds ridiculous. Imagine if a customer buys a vegetable your farm grows says they should have the right to force you to buy vegetables they grow in their garden at full retail price from them. Not the price you get, the full retail cost.
You'd laugh. You have tractors and employees and materials. Liabilities. Even more ridiculous, you helped give them the money for the land they used to grow the vegetables.
Categories: Science 2.0
Co-Design Of Scientific Experiments
Next Monday, or Tuesday at the latest, you will find a new bulky paper in the arXiv. Titled "On the Co-Design of Scientific Experiments and Industrial Systems", the work is authored by over 80 colleagues. I directed them as co-chair of WG2 of EUCAIF (with Pietro Vischia) in assembling a view of the state of the art of the techniques and the issues connected with the simultaneous optimization of hardware and software of scientific experiments in fundamental physics. Complementing that is a parallel look at a few representative tasks in industrial settings.
Categories: Science 2.0
Batteries Are Stuck In The 1990s Because Solid-State Batteries Keep Short-Circuiting
The electric car industry is held back by reliance on conventional energy. Despite spending trillions of dollars on mandates and subsidies, solar and wind alternatives have made little difference in the share of energy filled by natural gas and oil.
Some of that is economics. A subsidy prevents innovation because it props up the status quo, and environmentalists and the politicians they support remain opposed to nuclear power, but some is plain physics. Lithium-ion batteries are stuck in the 1990s because there are real challenges to be overcome in the next generation.
Some of that is economics. A subsidy prevents innovation because it props up the status quo, and environmentalists and the politicians they support remain opposed to nuclear power, but some is plain physics. Lithium-ion batteries are stuck in the 1990s because there are real challenges to be overcome in the next generation.
Categories: Science 2.0
Dogs Have Been 'Man's Best Friend' For 14,000 Years
The bond between humans and dogs is one of the oldest stories in anthropology. It may also be a cautionary tale for other animals, though the organic, holistic, free-range, ayurvedic, shade-tree grown dog food is probably pretty good.
A new study of bones recovered from Gough’s Cave and Pınarbaşı says we may have been dressing pets up in funny outfits even farther back. Evidence shows they were actually accompanying us on walks over 14,000 years ago, even before agriculture created the spark of civilization.
A new study of bones recovered from Gough’s Cave and Pınarbaşı says we may have been dressing pets up in funny outfits even farther back. Evidence shows they were actually accompanying us on walks over 14,000 years ago, even before agriculture created the spark of civilization.
Categories: Science 2.0
Is This The D'Artagnan Made Famous In 'The Three Musketeers' By Dumas?
“I have lost D’Artagnan, in whom I had every confidence,” wrote King Louis XIV to his Queen Consort, Maria Theresa of Spain, after he received news that his right-hand man, Charles de Batz de Castelmore, the Earl of Artagnan, was killed during the siege of Maastricht in the summer of 1673.
D’Artagnan would become famous thanks to an 1844 serialized novel by Alexandre Dumas, in which he was instead a young Gascon peasant who becomes a friend to Athos, Porthos, and Aramis in the King's Musketeers and saves King Louis VIII from various intrigues. It was such a hit that it made Un pour tous, tous pour un (one for all, all for one) part of the worldwide lexicon and it's been turned into dozens of films, including its greatest, Richard Lester's 1974 version.
D’Artagnan would become famous thanks to an 1844 serialized novel by Alexandre Dumas, in which he was instead a young Gascon peasant who becomes a friend to Athos, Porthos, and Aramis in the King's Musketeers and saves King Louis VIII from various intrigues. It was such a hit that it made Un pour tous, tous pour un (one for all, all for one) part of the worldwide lexicon and it's been turned into dozens of films, including its greatest, Richard Lester's 1974 version.
Categories: Science 2.0
No Danger, How A Stranger Can Be A Game Changer - A New Book About Making 'Small' Talk
The future career arc for my house is a library bed-and-breakfast. It will be just like it sounds; every bedroom is also a library, as is the house. Except not a government library, with sterile walls and floors that echo, the whole thing will be comfortable.
Because some readers are less social than others, when they reserve a room people will be able to choose to designate Book Club or Book Worm. If they just want to be left alone, they are book worms so they'll get the polite basics. Warm but not outgoing, read in a comfy chair in front of the fireplace in peace. If they are book club, they can talk to me and have coffee and such.
Because some readers are less social than others, when they reserve a room people will be able to choose to designate Book Club or Book Worm. If they just want to be left alone, they are book worms so they'll get the polite basics. Warm but not outgoing, read in a comfy chair in front of the fireplace in peace. If they are book club, they can talk to me and have coffee and such.
Categories: Science 2.0
Travel With Two Infants
The other day I traveled with Kalliopi and our two newborns to Padova from Lulea. After six full months in Lapland - a full autumn and winter, in fact - I needed to get back to my original office, and take care of other business at what has become my second home now. Meanwhile, travel has become considerably more complicated for me: traveling with two infants is no easy matter.
Categories: Science 2.0
High Meat Consumption Linked To Lower Dementia Risk
Older people who eat large amounts of meat have a lower risk of dementia and cognitive decline than they should have with a gene that some link to increased risk.
The gene that has been linked to increased risk is Apolipoprotein E, which plays a role in the transport of cholesterol and fats in the brain and blood. The gene exists in three main variants: epsilon 2, 3 and 4. Since each person inherits two APOE genes, one from each parent, giving six possible genotypes): 2/2, 2/3, 2/4, 3/3, 3/4 and 4/4. In Sweden, where the study was done, approximately 30 per cent of the population are carriers of the gene combinations APOE 3/4 or APOE 4/4.
The gene that has been linked to increased risk is Apolipoprotein E, which plays a role in the transport of cholesterol and fats in the brain and blood. The gene exists in three main variants: epsilon 2, 3 and 4. Since each person inherits two APOE genes, one from each parent, giving six possible genotypes): 2/2, 2/3, 2/4, 3/3, 3/4 and 4/4. In Sweden, where the study was done, approximately 30 per cent of the population are carriers of the gene combinations APOE 3/4 or APOE 4/4.
Categories: Science 2.0
Medical Marijuana No Better Than Placebo
"Medical" marijuana is legal in many places but often just an excuse to buy recreational drugs, as shown in uptake data that 60 percent of pain patients are older women while 75 percent of medical marijuana prescriptions are for young men.
Categories: Science 2.0
Electric Cars Hand Honda Their First Loss in 70 Years
Communist dictator-funded social activists are scrambling to do damage control again after Honda has followed GM, Hertz, and many others in declaring a giant loss due to their electric car business.
Because they assumed that every future President would be like Joe Biden and continue to mandate and subsidize it. That didn't happen. The Trump team surprised a lot of people by winning again in 2024 and while some of the decisions made by his employees have been opposed to legitimate science and health, he was not wrong on solar and electric cars.
Paid flaks kept saying electric cars are taking over the world, solar powering it was surpassing "fossil" fuels(1), it was cheaper than conventional energy, and better for the environment.
Because they assumed that every future President would be like Joe Biden and continue to mandate and subsidize it. That didn't happen. The Trump team surprised a lot of people by winning again in 2024 and while some of the decisions made by his employees have been opposed to legitimate science and health, he was not wrong on solar and electric cars.
Paid flaks kept saying electric cars are taking over the world, solar powering it was surpassing "fossil" fuels(1), it was cheaper than conventional energy, and better for the environment.
Categories: Science 2.0
California Taxpayers Forced To Prop Up $2 Billion Ivanpah Solar Disaster
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System "concentrated" solar thermal plant in the Mojave Desert is by any measure an unmitigated disaster.
The party that is now claiming they are rescuing the Ivanpah they mandated to exist was scheduled to be closed this year - because it's low costs were always a pipe dream and it's maintenance estimates were the optimism no scientists believed.
But California ignores scientists. We ignore them on 80,000 Prop 65 cancer warning labels on harmless products, we ignore them on pesticides, and we ignore them on energy.
The party that is now claiming they are rescuing the Ivanpah they mandated to exist was scheduled to be closed this year - because it's low costs were always a pipe dream and it's maintenance estimates were the optimism no scientists believed.
But California ignores scientists. We ignore them on 80,000 Prop 65 cancer warning labels on harmless products, we ignore them on pesticides, and we ignore them on energy.
Categories: Science 2.0
Weekend Science: Why Don't Young People Want To Date?
Younger man, Generation Z according to marketing groups who invent new generations every 10 years, have a lot less interest in dating than in years past.
It could be that they feel besieged in culture. When sociologists blame the "Johnny Bravo" cartoon, which caricatured masculinity by having him get dunked on by women every episode, for toxic masculinity, you know we have a cultural militancy problem.
It could be that they feel besieged in culture. When sociologists blame the "Johnny Bravo" cartoon, which caricatured masculinity by having him get dunked on by women every episode, for toxic masculinity, you know we have a cultural militancy problem.
Categories: Science 2.0
Rosie The Riveter Was Born On This Day In 1920 - Or Not
Rosie The Riveter was born on this day in 1920.
Well, one of them.
And maybe on this day. All of those diet claims about centenarians and their lifestyles could be suspect if so many are fraud or clerical error the data are meaningless. No one is even sure when Rose Will Leigh, the original archetype for "Rosie the Riveter", was born.
The B-24 Liberator bomber consisted of 450,000 parts held together by 360,000 rivets of 550 different sizes. It weighed 18 tons. During World War II, Henry Ford's Willow Run plant in Michigan produced 8,685 of them, thanks to 42,000 employees working around the clock.
Well, one of them.
And maybe on this day. All of those diet claims about centenarians and their lifestyles could be suspect if so many are fraud or clerical error the data are meaningless. No one is even sure when Rose Will Leigh, the original archetype for "Rosie the Riveter", was born.
The B-24 Liberator bomber consisted of 450,000 parts held together by 360,000 rivets of 550 different sizes. It weighed 18 tons. During World War II, Henry Ford's Willow Run plant in Michigan produced 8,685 of them, thanks to 42,000 employees working around the clock.
Categories: Science 2.0
Long Before The Inca Colonized Peru, Natives Had A Thriving Trade Network
A new DNA analysis reveals that long before the Incan Empire took over Peru, animals were being transported across the Andes, a trek that also involved rainforests, highlands and deserts.
The analysis was of parrot feathers discovered at Pachacamac, Peru, a religious hub that is far outside the birds’ native rainforest range. The burial feather assemblage included the Scarlet Macaw, Blue-and-yellow Macaw, Red-and-green Macaw and Mealy Amazon. DNA sequencing, isotope chemistry and computational landscape modeling says the western side of the Andes was just as inhospitable to these species one thousand years ago as it is today.
The analysis was of parrot feathers discovered at Pachacamac, Peru, a religious hub that is far outside the birds’ native rainforest range. The burial feather assemblage included the Scarlet Macaw, Blue-and-yellow Macaw, Red-and-green Macaw and Mealy Amazon. DNA sequencing, isotope chemistry and computational landscape modeling says the western side of the Andes was just as inhospitable to these species one thousand years ago as it is today.
Categories: Science 2.0
The Creepy Uncanny Valley Of Targeted Online Marketing
Personalized online ads must work for the same reason advertising must work; it wouldn't be a trillion-dollar industry if it didn't work. Even supplements and organic food are only $140 billion, and those are really popular things that don't work. Advertising is not popular at all but good luck succeeding without it.
Yet there are limits for what people accept without being uncomfortable. In robots and animation, that has long been termed the 'uncanny valley' - where something is not lifelike enough to look real but too lifelike to be acceptable. Some digital marketing has its own uncanny valley; where it becomes unsettling. Examples are people who say they mentioned something in the presence of their Amazon Echo and then ads on Facebook began to target them.
Yet there are limits for what people accept without being uncomfortable. In robots and animation, that has long been termed the 'uncanny valley' - where something is not lifelike enough to look real but too lifelike to be acceptable. Some digital marketing has its own uncanny valley; where it becomes unsettling. Examples are people who say they mentioned something in the presence of their Amazon Echo and then ads on Facebook began to target them.
Categories: Science 2.0
Teens Are Getting Much Less Sleep Than In The Past
A new paper says teens are not getting enough sleep and a lot of parents with teenage children may disagree. Others reflexively blame phones and tablets.
It isn't a new concern, though. Nor is technology new in getting blame. In 1905, The Lancet published a study saying that kids in British boarding schools were getting less sleep than was healthy, and the reason was the new popularity of affordable lighting. “Late to bed and early to rise is neither physiological nor wise,” the authors wrote.
By the 1950s, the concern was in culture again, this time due to radio and television keeping children up. In all instances, overstimulation, mental health, and poor academic achievement is invoked.
It isn't a new concern, though. Nor is technology new in getting blame. In 1905, The Lancet published a study saying that kids in British boarding schools were getting less sleep than was healthy, and the reason was the new popularity of affordable lighting. “Late to bed and early to rise is neither physiological nor wise,” the authors wrote.
By the 1950s, the concern was in culture again, this time due to radio and television keeping children up. In all instances, overstimulation, mental health, and poor academic achievement is invoked.
Categories: Science 2.0