Stem cells are hot! They are being touted for being able to cure just about everything. Even off-the-shelf cures for cancer! There’s a lot of quack remedies out there. On the other hand, stem cells are real and so is their potential to do good things for humans. Is there some thing we can do to help these good guys along? Well, first a couple of fa...
What if the brain had a way of communicating within its own boundaries that we never suspected and knew nothing about? Well, it might just be here, see this (“Neuroscientists Say They've Found an Entirely New Form of Neural Communication”. On the face of it, it appears that the brain can communicate between different cells and neurons without any i...
Uh oh, GE just warned of another year of falling profits. It recently sold off its BioPharma unit making investors feel a bit better, until they realized things were still getting worse. GE needed to do something after cutting its dividend and reporting a huge loss. Jack Welch would be turning in his grave except for the fact that he’s alive. Do ...
I’m thinking that you think you have a brain. Nope. Actually, you have two. We all have two brains. As in two hemispheres, the left and the right. They both do very different things, although there is some overlap. The left hemisphere does logic, process, rules and analysis. The right does envisioning, emotion, empathy and social stuff. So what? In...
You can’t read anything these days without finding articles on how you gotta exercise. And it’s true. Exercise has enormous benefits, physical, mental, cognitive and so on. If you exercise you get all these massive benefits for free. So what’s not to like? Well clearly many people no like. The CDC estimates that only 20% of the population meet its ...
I guess you are all aware of the US decision to withdraw from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Weapons Treaty (INF)? In defense of the decision its clear that the Russians have flouted it for many years. So, does this make nuclear war more likely, or less? Well, Putin just threatened the US with its new hypersonic weapons if the US puts more weapons ...
Just saw an article that claims that e-cigarettes help people quit smoking. They were, it was reported, twice as effective as gum or patches. Beautiful right? But what about the fact that these people didn’t quit imbibing nicotine? They just switched to another method which is less likely to give them lung cancer. This study by the way was publishe...
Do black holes affect personality? I guess black holes are cool and fashionable right now, at least to judge by the volume of black holes news being fed to me online these days. So, I feel the need to write about black holes, not that I know the slightest thing about them. But who cares, I say. And the news, such as it might go by that name, is get...
I posted on Alzheimer’s early last year (“We urgently need a Manhattan Project for Alzheimer's!”). My thesis was that we needed more out-of-the-box thinking. So far there’s no public hints of that happening either in the scientific community or the NIH. (OK, flash release: interesting research linking gum disease with Alzheimer’s, but still way too...
Voice control is hot. Amazon announced a voice-controlled microwave late last year, in fact it actually works with Alexa, the belle that everyone wants to take to the ball. But voice stuff even now is getting to be passé. Sure, Alexa can take orders and give you replies to everyday questions. But what if Alexa knew if you were angry, skeptical or e...
I don’t have to tell you that Big Data is hot. Almost Godly really. And happiness is a perennial as old as mankind itself. Wouldn’t it be nice if they both played nice together? Why shouldn’t they anyway? These thoughts come from after reading a book by Mo Gawdat, Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy. The author is a Google executive and the ...
You might have associated UK Prime Minister Teresa May with BREXIT. But she has another distinction. She appointed the first Minister for Loneliness ever in the UK early in 2018. At the time I thought it was a weird idea. That shows you how little I know. The current fashionable buzz is about living alone and loneliness. The concern is that living ...
Science says you can be 30 years younger, read on! As a runner I keep my eyes out for uplifting articles on the effects of exercise. So recently I was greatly uplifted by this one: “Regular Exercise May Keep Your Body 30 Years ‘Younger”. And no, it wasn’t an ad, it was published in August in the Journal of Applied Physiology, by researchers at Ball...
This sounds a little weird right? But the research I am talking about has been published in a respectable journal (Journal of Neuroscience 22 October 2018, 3360-17) by a group of bona fide researchers in Sweden. So, let’s take it on trust for the moment. The research tested two groups, one of which breathed through the mouth and the other through ...
Sigh, I can’t help taking aim at AI. It’s just so fashionable and politically correct. Ask anyone in leadership positions in politics or the private sector what the future is, and they will all tell you seriously it’s all AI, OF COURSE. I have this pressing need to knock down shibboleths, even it they are good ones. So here goes. Here’s my question...
It looks like BREXIT is a mess. It’s fiendishly complicated. I already posted on this in 2016 (“BREXITed - UK Gain, EU Pain”). My thesis was that BREXIT would hurt the EU far more than the UK. Now I’ve had more time to consider the issue what’s my lowly opinion now? My opinion last time concerned the short-term, what would happen in the next 5 year...
The fires in California are tragic with a huge loss of life. I grew up in Australia in the bush and we used to get a lot of bushfires. They are very scary of course but the Australians have built up a hard core of safety knowledge based on bitter experience. I am doing this blog as a public service because I am surprised that none of that experienc...
It seems that Americans, especially millennials don’t want to drive any more or own cars. Part of the problem is that the average commuter spends three times as much time in their annual commuting that they do on vacation. Hmmm but how about those Teslas? But I get it. Muscle cars are out; electric vehicles are in. Metrosexuals for EVs right? But h...
You’ve no doubt heard that Venice is flooding due to climate change. Now we know that it’s also being flooded by tourists. As a result, the locals are leaving as the tourists ruin the city with too many people. A similar thing is happening in other tourist cities of the world. Santorini, the Forbidden City, Florence and so on an on. Tourism is rapi...
That sounds like an overly alarmist headline, right? So get this: “Hyper alarming’ study shows massive insect loss”. Apparently over the past 20 years insect populations have declined on average 50% and in some cases even higher. We’re all seeing it. Have you noticed that these days the number of love bugs plastered over your windscreen and headlig...
