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TechScribbler Long time science an tech writer and editor, also knowledgeable about the dark arts of politics

"The exact reason these molecular changes cluster at the mid-40s and 60s is unclear. But the study’s authors say their f...
17/08/2024

"The exact reason these molecular changes cluster at the mid-40s and 60s is unclear. But the study’s authors say their findings show that from your 40s, people stand to gain particular benefits from taking care of their health. This includes getting regular medical checkups — at least twice a year once you hit your 40s, Shen suggested — as well as making lifestyle adjustments.........................Researchers hope to better understand the factors driving these molecular changes, Shen said. “If we can find the drivers of these changes, we may even be able to find ways to slow or even reverse the drivers of the aging at these two time points.”

Take this for what it is: More informatoin on how we age, and how we can better age, not some window into the ludicrous anti-aging/immortality "theories" that are circulating now. We are, still, all going to die. It's how best to live until that happens.

Scientists observed two massive molecular shifts during midlife in the human body. They say it underscores how uneven the aging process can be.

“….. we are taking “big risks” by pushing ocean ecosystems into crisis. It is a sentiment shared by most oceanographers,...
16/08/2024

“….. we are taking “big risks” by pushing ocean ecosystems into crisis. It is a sentiment shared by most oceanographers, who fear that we tend to forget just how much humanity depends on the oceans.”

For decades, the oceans have absorbed much of the excess heat caused by greenhouse gases. The latest observations suggest they are reaching their limits, so how worried should we be?

The new study, which involved experts from Curtin University in Perth, Australia; the University of Adelaide; Aberystwyt...
14/08/2024

The new study, which involved experts from Curtin University in Perth, Australia; the University of Adelaide; Aberystwyth University; and UCL, aimed to find out more by examining the stone’s chemical composition and the age of minerals within it ---------- The astonishing finding that the megalith, which is known as the “altar stone”, was transported by prehistoric people from at least as far as present day Inverness, and potentially from the Orkney islands, “doesn’t just alter what we think about Stonehenge, it alters what we think about the whole of the late Neolithic”

Monument’s largest ‘bluestone’ moved more than 450 miles – a discovery researchers say rewrites relationships between Neolithic populations

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/23/republicans-coup-kamala-harris-election-2024?CMP=share_btn_urlNo...
23/07/2024

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/23/republicans-coup-kamala-harris-election-2024?CMP=share_btn_url

None of this is -- depressingly -- surprising. But it gives a good layout of what the core of Republican (should I call them that anymore?) attacks on Harris are and are going to be. If you can stomach it, read this and prepare for the sh*t-slinging the MAGAlicans will to indulge in.

Trump supporters are already readying the stage to cast doubt on any election result that is not a victory for them

"Airplanes have been described as “two million parts flying in close formation,” and a lot can go wrong with them. Succe...
13/07/2024

"Airplanes have been described as “two million parts flying in close formation,” and a lot can go wrong with them. Successive flights subject these parts to cycles of intense stress and relaxation, during which small defects, unavoidable in the manufacturing process, can lead to tiny cracks. Once a crack grows long enough, as one did at the base of Southwest 1380’s fan blade, adjacent components can break off. Aircraft designers therefore need to predict the maximum stress that components will have to endure."

Interesting. I thought the science and engineering aspects of cracks in various materials was relatively settled. Maybe the core science is, but the engineering needed to make materials under stress a lot safer apparently isn't. And there's the human side to consider.

"As an important defense against failures, a machine or structure should be subjected to physical tests, but such testing can be expensive and may not always be feasible. Once a part is being used, it should be periodically inspected, which is also expensive."

In the society we live in, testing and inspection should be paramount. It's supposed to be, but as we've seen from recent dramatic failures, as detailed in the story, it often enough isn't. One way around this could be more extensive simulation, and that's coming along but isn't all there yet.

This is a good piece. It's long, so it needs a little stamina, but it's worth the time.

Better predictions of how cracks grow can make machines and structures more reliable

13/07/2024

Supertoxic rodenticides can accumulate in birds, mammals, and insects, even killing some. Scientists want to understand the damage—and limit it

I'm dubious about this coming. on fast, simply because of the effort and time this will require. Certainly in developed ...
10/07/2024

I'm dubious about this coming. on fast, simply because of the effort and time this will require. Certainly in developed countries there are many other priorities to tackle when it comes to public health. However, as a (garble, garble, garble) years old fart, I'd at least like to see it show some promise in the next few years. It won't mean much for me, most likely, but younger generations could see the inevitable medical problems associated with aging alleviated. Vaccinology has come on by leaps in the past few years, so my caution may be wiped away soon by this author's optimism -- here's hoping.

It may soon be possible to vaccinate ourselves against the diseases of old age, keeping our body and brain healthier for longer

10/07/2024

Welcome to the new era of AI brains.For more than a decade, scientists have been creating artificial brain tissue, known as brain organoids, in the lab and integrating them with computer chips.• A new study in China took this idea one step further and even implanted the organoid in a humanoid-like...

"The claim is that online misinformation researchers are trying to silence conservative voices. The evidence suggests ju...
07/07/2024

"The claim is that online misinformation researchers are trying to silence conservative voices. The evidence suggests just the opposite.......The real problem some politicians have with the research is that it can blunt ideological campaigns to mislead the public."

Academics researching online misinformation in the US are learning a hard lesson: Academic freedom cannot be taken for granted. They face a concerted effort—including by members of Congress—to undermine or silence their work documenting false and ...

07/07/2024

It may soon be possible to vaccinate ourselves against the diseases of old age, keeping our body and brain healthier for longer

01/07/2024

It’s a scientific advance that allows for a smoother gait and enhanced ability to navigate obstacles.

This is a great piece, for several reasons. It points up the factors that matter for a Southwestern community, riven by ...
26/06/2024

This is a great piece, for several reasons. It points up the factors that matter for a Southwestern community, riven by the same political chasms that threaten the rest of the country. A tale of Republicans, Democrats, MAGA people, but also just a story about how people are trying to cope day-by-day in a largely rural area that frets about land and water rights, with wells running dry. All the cast of characters that apply, in some way, for much of the rest of the country.

It's also simply a well-written piece, where the writer paints a vivid picture of the state of affairs there, in a wholly engrossing way. Things I agree with, things I don't, but told in a way that takes you into the middle of a struggling community of human beings, rather than hack characters. Journalism that actually means something.

Conspiracism and hyper-partisanship in the nation’s fastest-growing city

"When it comes to bacteria, climate change is affecting so many things on a macro scale. It has an impact on the health ...
25/06/2024

"When it comes to bacteria, climate change is affecting so many things on a macro scale. It has an impact on the health of livestock, which are often totally overfed with antibiotics and are a huge reservoir of antibacterial resistance. People are relocating more because of the heat – increased human mobility has been linked with greater AMR. And climate change has been linked with more natural disasters, which are particularly concerning because they disrupt clean water supplies and so we see more outbreaks of AMR bacteria in the gut."

Within scientific communities there's been an understanding for some time now about the dangers of anti-microbial resistance, but that hasn't penetrated the general public's consciousness yet to any degree. But AMR is a threat globally, and as we know from COVID there's no such thing as a wall or barrier that can keep it out. And what about the private sector and drug companies taking the lead?

"The easiest answer is that there’s almost no return on investment in these products compared with something like weight loss drugs or cancer drugs. Those are huge markets where people are making billions and billions of dollars. Antibiotics aren’t cash cows. There is legislation in the US that is aimed at creating some incentives for pharmaceutical companies to come on board. I’m hopeful that will change things, but it isn’t a great scenario."

People don't realise just how bad our antibiotic resistance problem is, says Jeanne Marrazzo, the top infectious disease specialist in the US

24/06/2024

In a changing climate, extreme wildfire events are becoming far more common and more intense, according to a new analysis.

When notable people die, there's often a raft of comments published about them. Most of them are disposable and quickly ...
24/06/2024

When notable people die, there's often a raft of comments published about them. Most of them are disposable and quickly forgotten, they don't make an impact. These, about Donald Sullivan, are the kind that stick with you because they do provide something memorable about the man.

He was one of those irreplaceable people in the movies who seemed to be in everything, and for him that was certainly true of the 60s and 70s, and afterwards where he'd turn up in support and "minor" roles. Off camera he was, also, apparently a magnetic and fun person.

Quirky. I'd love to have known him one-on-one. I've been lucky to have come across people like him, and some of them are still around, thankfully. They make life worthwhile.

He was a screen icon who could transform a film. Co-stars and directors of the great actor, who died last week aged 88, recall his warmth, erudition – and love of filthy jokes

22/06/2024

A low-cost, ultralow-field whole-body MRI scanner that doesn’t require shielding aims to close the global gap in MRI availability

15/06/2024

I've noticed more and more articles recently pointing out that people are using AI to put out stuff that people claim is original, and for doing such things as making copies of masterful art and claiming it as real.

So, please note that you will never see anything on this site, or others I contribute to, that will be AI aided and labeled as a product of my talent (or lack of it) without me saying so upfront.

In particular, you will never, under any circumstance, see any writing published under my name that's AI generated. I'm a writer and get my rocks off through writing. Why the hell should I let an AI have all that fun?

15/06/2024

"The nanoparticles developed for this new treatment are similar to those which have been used for the Covid vaccine......They have proven to be safe for patients, and they are also very efficient when it comes to transporting genetic material”.....their advantage is that they also specifically target the tumour cells, “thus activating the response of the immune system only against them and reducing the side effects compared to other conventional therapies such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy."

This, once again, illustrates some of the massive strides that science is making against the worst illnesses, and how work on one threat -- in this case the COVID virus -- informs a completely different area of research and therapy. With the caveat that this approach is still being tested.

10/06/2024

We deserve a solid foundation of data — not retracted studies — to make smart policy decisions.

05/02/2023

“My toddler has accidentally used Siri more than I have intentionally used Siri.”

"Ordinarily, light transmits the same in both directions: if I can see you, you can see me. Now, however, researchers ha...
30/01/2023

"Ordinarily, light transmits the same in both directions: if I can see you, you can see me. Now, however, researchers have created a device that uses travelling sound waves to break this symmetry, thereby reducing unwanted optical phenomena such as backscattering. The new device is the first to produce this beneficial effect for selective optical vortices, which are used in optical communications, and it could also have applications for optical tweezers and vortex-based lasers."

New technique could advance optical communications that encode information in the orbital angular momentum of light

The title tells all, and the trend only points to worse things to come.
11/01/2023

The title tells all, and the trend only points to worse things to come.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration logged 1,331 tornadoes, massive drought and 18 billion-dollar disasters.

If this pans out, it could greatly increase the resolution of images caught by telescopes such as Hubble and Webb, some ...
10/01/2023

If this pans out, it could greatly increase the resolution of images caught by telescopes such as Hubble and Webb, some of which are trying to reach back to just after the Big Bang.

Starlight received at different telescopes could be made robust to noise using near-term quantum devices

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