Eating from plastic takeout containers may significantly increase the chance of congestive heart failure, a new study finds, and researchers suspect they have identified why: changes to gut biome cause inflammation that damages the circulatory system. The novel two part, peer-reviewed study from Chinese researchers adds to mounting evidence of the risks associated with eating Read more about Eating from plastic (takeout) containers can increase heart failure risk[…]

I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this but everything seems to be going down the tubes quite fast. And not fun tubes, like at a waterpark. The “ending in shit” kind. The issues are complicated, the reasons diverse, but there are a few culprits who have been making themselves extremely visible. Alongside those Read more about I knew one day I’d have to watch powerful men burn the world down – I just didn’t expect them to be such losers[…]

Meta isn’t stopping at moderation changes. According to both Axios and The New York Times, the company is also pulling the plug on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. That includes removing diversity hiring goals, eliminating the chief diversity officer position and no longer prioritizing minority-owned businesses as vendors, per The Times‘ reporting. When asked to Read more about Meta’s right-wing surrender to Trump also includes an end to DEI programs and trans Messenger themes[…]

Meta is abandoning the use of independent fact checkers on Facebook and Instagram, replacing them with X-style “community notes” where commenting on the accuracy of posts is left to users. In a video posted alongside a blog post by the company on Tuesday, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said third-party moderators were “too politically biased” and Read more about Meta to get rid of fact-checkers, turn Facebook into a kind of X for Trump[…]

[…] In 2022, Doctorow coined the word “enshittification”, which has just been crowned Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year. The dictionary defined the word as follows. “The gradual deterioration of a service or product brought about by a reduction in the quality of service provided, especially of an online platform, and as a consequence of Read more about ‘What many of us feel’: why ‘enshittification’ is Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year | Oxford names ‘Brain rot’ (out of a very poor list)[…]

Education should promote deep inquiry and individual autonomy, but often, it has been used as a vehicle for indoctrination. That’s what Agustina S. Paglayan, a UC San Diego assistant professor of political science in the School of Social Sciences and the School of Global Policy and Strategy, argues in her new book, “Raised to Obey: Read more about Mass education was designed to quash critical thinking, argues researcher[…]

Tiny fragments of microplastics are making their way deep inside our bodies in concerning quantities, significantly through our food and drink. Scientists have recently found a simple and effective means of removing them from water. […] In some cases, up to 90 percent of the NMPs were removed by the boiling and filtering process, though Read more about There’s a Surprisingly Easy Way to Remove Microplastics From Drinking Water – boil it (preferably in hard water)[…]

“Habits play a central role in our daily lives, from making that first cup of coffee in the morning, to the route we take to work, and the routine we follow to prepare for bed. Our research reveals why these automatic behaviours are so powerful — and how we can harness our brain’s mechanisms to Read more about Researchers discover new cognitive blueprint for making and breaking habits[…]

Formula 1 drivers have urged the sport’s governing body to treat them like adults after Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were punished for swearing. The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) has also criticised FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem for his “tone and language” when addressing the topic. An open letter from the GPDA said: “There Read more about Formula 1 drivers ask FIA to treat them like adults after swearing punishments[…]

[…] RSV vaccination provided approximately 80 percent protection against severe disease and hospitalization, Intensive Care Unit admission and death due to a respiratory infection as well as similar protection against less severe disease in adults who visited an emergency department but did not require hospitalization, ages 60 and older. Of this population, those ages 75 Read more about Big data, real world, multi-state study finds RSV vaccine highly effective in protecting older adults against severe disease, hospitalization and death[…]

Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and the University of California, Santa Cruz, have discovered the secret to regulating our internal clock. They identified that this regulator sits right at the tail end of Casein Kinase 1 delta (CK1δ), a protein which acts as a pace setter for our internal biological clock or the natural 24-hour Read more about Scientists discover a secret to regulating our body clock, offering new approach to end jet lag, sleep quality[…]

František Bartoš University of Amsterdam DOI: https://doi.org/10.15626/MP.2023.3987 Replicable and reliable research is essential for cumulative science and its applications in practice. This article examines the quality of research on dishonesty using a sample of 286 hand-coded test statistics from 99 articles. Z-curve analysis indicates a low expected replication rate, a high proportion of missing studies, Read more about The Untrustworthy Evidence in Dishonesty Research[…]

Countries with greater inequalities — whether economic, pollution or disease-based — exhibited older brain ages, according to a study published in Nature Medicine, involving the University of Surrey. The pace at which the brain ages can vary significantly among individuals, leading to a gap between the estimated biological age of the brain and the chronological Read more about Your brain ages at different paces according to social and physical environments – especially fast with greater inequality[…]

Scientists have discovered a mutation in SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that plays a key role in its ability to infect the central nervous system. The findings may help scientists understand its neurological symptoms and the mystery of “long COVID,” and they could one day even lead to specific treatments to protect and clear Read more about Spike mutations make it even easier for SARS-CoV-2 infect the brain[…]

The elimination of damaged cell components is essential for the maintenance of the body’s tissues and organs. An international research team led by the University of Bonn has made significant findings on mechanisms for the clearing of cellular wastes, showing that strength training activates such mechanisms. The findings could form the basis for new therapies Read more about Strength training activates cellular waste disposal[…]

New research from Oregon Health & Science University reveals negative health consequences for people who are overweight and ignore their body’s signals to sleep at night, with specific differences between men and women. The study published this week in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. “This study builds support for the importance of good Read more about Good sleep habits important for overweight adults, different effects for men and women[…]