I hope this invention is a great success: The project is the creation of Boyan Slat, a 24-year-old Dutch college dropout who raised more than $30 million on a five-year quest to build an ocean-cleaning machine. His inspiration dates to … Continue reading →
…comes up with some interesting results that might disturb advocates of low-carb diets: In a large cohort of adults living in four diverse US communities, with more than two decades of follow-up, mid-life dietary patterns marked by both low carbohydrate … Continue reading →
This one may even be true: Two completely drug-resistant versions of the venereal disease [gonorrhoea] have been found and identified – with fears rampant unprotected sex could rigger an epidemic. Doctors have been unable to treat patients with antibiotic ceftriaxone … Continue reading →
26-year-old Scott Michael Johnson was a securities analyst who worked at the investment banking company Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, located in the World Trade Center. On 9/11 he was killed, but only now has the New York City medical examiners’ … Continue reading →
Ninety percent of plastic waste that enters the water comes from rivers in Asia and Africa: As governments around the world rush to address the global problem of plastic pollution in the oceans, researchers have now pinpointed the river systems … Continue reading →
The power of a mitochondria injection: In animal studies at Boston Children’s Hospital and elsewhere, mitochondrial transplants revived heart muscle that was stunned from a heart attack but not yet dead, and revived injured lungs and kidneys. Infusions of mitochondria … Continue reading →
Food for cosmic thought [hat tip: commenter “Mrs Whatsit”). I don’t really buy the application of the multiple personality template to the universe as a whole. I have, however, read a number of fascinating articles recently on the idea of … Continue reading →
One can hope. Regular readers of this blog may recall that I’ve written several times about sepsis. It’s a topic I really knew nothing about until I lost a loved one to it, and then I lost another. They both … Continue reading →
Basically, it was part of the anti-vaccine hysteria. Where I live, Lyme disease is a very real possibility if you go outside in the countryside or even suburbia. People have to dress with great care to avoid it, and I … Continue reading →
Maybe someday: In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced an attempted redefinition of the word “planet” that excluded many objects, including Pluto. We think that decision was flawed, and that a logical and useful definition of planet will include … Continue reading →
…than are dreamt of in your philosophy: The individual galaxies in galaxy clusters are held together by dark matter, according to the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. During the universe’s first few million years, dark matter (and normal matter) began to … Continue reading →
Google has a new director of AI: The new AI boss at Google is Jeff Dean. The lean 50-year-old computer scientist joined the company in 1999, when it was a startup less than one year old. He earned a reputation … Continue reading →