Very recommendable! R.I.P.
I have to admit I was not familiar with her art until she passed away.
Sunday, August 30, 2026
Saturday, August 29, 2026
PM Modi participates in a Yoga Session in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
India's soft power! A very repetitive video!
Lifetime Tax Bill, State by State in the US
Serious stuff! Many taxpayers probably don't realize how much in taxes they pay per year or per lifetime! Just shrugging one's shoulders is not good enough. Ask for small and limited government!
Always remember, high taxes reduce individual philanthropy!
This approach is similar to the Tax Freedom Day that is announced every year. It indicates how much of the year a taxpayer works for the government.
"A new analysis of lifetime taxes in all 50 states shows New Jersey residents will pay an estimated $1.36 million over a lifetime, the highest in the country, while Florida has the lowest bill at roughly $509,000.
Nine states top $1 million, with the Northeast dominating: Massachusetts ($1.30 million), Connecticut ($1.25 million), and New York ($1.08 million) all make the list.
The average taxpayer in the U.S. will spend an estimated $762,272, a third of all estimated lifetime earnings.
The estimates assume a 45-year working life for a single filer, including federal, state, property, sales, and vehicle taxes. ..."
Top ten states
Bottom ten states
Can you slow the aging process? Study reveals which interventions might help
Good news! Again, lifestyle improvements (healthier diet, less stress, more physical exercise and so on) are confirmed to be very strong when it comes to healthy aging and long life. The way one ages is to a large extent a personal choice.
Notice this study is focused on epigenetic aging, which may or may not be a narrow focus of the complex process of aging.
"... Using a new class of DNA-based blood tests, they found that lifestyle interventions and certain drug treatments indeed appear to slow the aging process, while over-the-counter supplements don’t have much effect. ...
For their analysis, the researchers primarily used a type of blood-based biomarker known as epigenetic clocks, which estimate epigenetic or biological age by measuring the pattern of methyl groups (basic chemical structures that act like tags) attached to a person’s DNA.
As people age, these chemical tags change, previous research has shown. Successful anti-aging interventions can reverse the tags. Computer algorithms are then able to use the changes observed in these tags to estimate a person’s epigenetic “age.” ...
The researchers tested four categories of intervention: pharmacological drugs, lifestyle-based changes, over-the-counter supplements, and medical procedures. They found that lifestyle interventions, such as a combination of a healthy diet (whether it’s Mediterranean, low-carb, or low-fat) and exercise, consistently decreased epigenetic age.
Pharmacologic interventions — including metformin and semaglutide, prescription medications used for metabolic control and weight management, and anti-TNF therapies, which use biologic medications to target an immune system protein that triggers harmful inflammation — decreased epigenetic age the most. (TNF, or tumor necrosis factor, is an immune-system protein that helps fight inflammation-related injury.) ..."
From the abstract:
"Aging biomarkers can potentially allow researchers to rapidly monitor the impact of an aging intervention without the need for decade-spanning trials.
However, before the use of aging biomarkers, such as epigenetic clocks, as surrogate endpoints, their responsiveness to interventions that target aging must be tested.
Here we curate TranslAGE, a harmonized database of 51 public and private longitudinal interventional studies, and calculate a consistent set of 16 prominent epigenetic clocks for each study, along with 94 other DNA methylation (DNAm) biomarkers that can help explain the changes observed for each clock.
Using this database, we discover patterns of responsiveness across a variety of interventions and DNAm biomarkers.
For example, clocks trained to predict mortality or pace of aging show the strongest responses across all interventions and show consistent results with one another;
pharmacological and lifestyle interventions drive the strongest responses from DNAm biomarkers; and the characteristics of the study population and study duration are key factors in determining the responsiveness of DNAm biomarkers to an intervention.
Moreover, clocks with multiple subscores (that is ‘explainable clocks’) provide specificity and greater mechanistic insight into the responsiveness of interventions than single-score clocks.
These findings can help to design future clinical trials by guiding the choice of interventions and of specific subsets of DNAm biomarkers to minimize multiple testing, study duration, study population and sample size, with the eventual aim of uncovering DNAm biomarkers that can be used as surrogate aging endpoints."
Fig. 1: Current paradigms to study the responsiveness of DNAm biomarkers and their limitations.
Fig. 3: Interventions and their effects on 16 prominent DNAm biomarkers.
Tying RNA into many pseudoknots using AI
Amazing stuff! Just a charming exercise or toy academic experiments? Maybe not.
"... Another kind of molecule is employed by cells for a staggering variety of odd jobs: RNA. And determining how sequences of these nucleic acids bend and loop has proven to be a much more formidable challenge.
Especially tricky to predict are RNA pseudoknots: strands that fold and connect in complex ways ... It was precisely because of this knotty problem that a team of researchers tested the latest RNA-designing AIs by asking them to create molecules that fold into 57 pseudoknot structures. Remarkably, the platforms came up with properly folding sequences for 55 of them. ..."
From the editor's summary and abstract:
"Editor’s summary
RNA molecules can fold into intricate three-dimensional shapes that drive much of their biology, but designing new structured RNAs from scratch has remained out of reach.
Townley et al. show that complex RNA structures called pseudoknots can now be designed reliably using artificial intelligence (AI).
In a year-long competition on the citizen science platform Eterna, AI methods solved more than 95% of 57 design challenges, matching the performance of expert human players ...
Cryo–electron microscopy revealed that the molecules folded into entirely new three-dimensional architectures, sometimes featuring intricate interactions that the AI had not been instructed to build. RNA design has thus entered the deep-learning era. ...
Abstract
RNA design has been hindered by the limited accuracy of three-dimensional (3D) structure prediction. In this study, we show that intricate RNA structures can be generated with current deep learning tools through accurate de novo design of pseudoknot secondary structures.
In an Eterna competition involving 57 pseudoknots, generative artificial intelligence (AI) methods matched experienced human designers in solving most blind challenges, evaluated by single nucleotide–resolution chemical mapping, compensatory mutagenesis, and cryo–electron microscopy.
AI-generated molecules with accurate secondary structures formed well-ordered 3D folds stabilized by noncanonical tertiary interactions not modeled during design.
Success was guided by an RNet foundation model trained on prior chemical mapping data, suggesting that some difficult RNA design tasks may be tractable without first solving RNA 3D structure prediction."
OpenKnot (Eterna competition) "Many important biological processes depend on RNAs that form pseudoknots, and they are among the most conserved structures in evolutionary history. However, scientists still have much to learn about their properties, structure, and functions."
De novo design of RNA pseudoknots with deep learning (no public access)
De novo design of RNA pseudoknots with deep learning (preprint, open access)
Figure 2 The workflow of RNet.
(A) RNA native structures or
(B) simulation trajectories are transformed into networks.
(C) A machine learning-based algorithm decomposes the local and global network properties to identify binding sites.
(D) A distance-based dynamical graph algorithm can accurately describe the binding dynamical motions.
(E, F) Local and Global network properties.
(G) The diagram of the DDNC.
Some of the RNA pseudoknots
Fig 4 Cryo-electron microscopy of AI-designed pseudoknotted RNA.
(A) Secondary structure of Kissing Multiloops (target P20 in Round 3), colored by stem.
(B) AlphaFold 3 3D informed secondary structure and predicted model, colored by stem.
(C-E) For the tested designs from (C) Struct2SeQ-SHAPE,
(D) MPNN-fixbb, and
(E) gRNAde, cryo-EM derived secondary structures (top), cryo-EM maps (unsharpened) and fitted coordinates, colored by stem (bottom), show high accuracy in recovering the target pseudoknot secondary structure while also highlighting distinct topologies from AlphaFold 3 prediction and noncanonical interactions (insets under (D) and (E)).
USS Cole retired commander rips slow-walk to justice for 9/11 terrorist suspects. Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is still not sentenced to death
Indeed, it is a huge scandal that some of the trials against major suspects of the 9/11 terrorist attacks have not yet occurred.
Justice delayed is justice denied!
Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was apprehended via a special operation in Pakistan in 2003!!! Apparently, during the administration of the awful President Obama his trials were delayed due to dubious claims of torture at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
"The former commander of the USS Cole has a November court date with the terrorist accused of masterminding the suicide bombing of his ship that killed 17 sailors — but he’s incensed that justice keeps being delayed for 9/11 families. ...
A Nov. 19 trial date has been set for Saudi citizen Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri for masterminding the Oct. 12, 2000, bombing of the Cole, a guided missile destroyer, during a refueling stop in the port of Aden, Yemen. Seventeen sailors were killed in that attack, which was a prelude to the 9/11 hijackings. ...
A June 2028 trial date was announced this week for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three of his co-conspirators. Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day on Sept. 11, 2001. The terrorists will go before a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ..."
Retired Commander Kirk Lippold, USS Cole (DDG 67) from videotaped message to friends and family members of the crew aboard USS Cole following a 12 Oct. terrorist attack on the ship while refueling in Aden, Yemen.
New biobank of patient-derived tumour organoid 3D models reveals cancers’ weak spots of five different cancer types
Good news! Cancer is history (soon)! This could be a major advance!
"... The biobank is expected to have wide utility, enabling scientists to identify the genes that specific cancers depend on for growth, revealing potential weak points that could be targeted with future treatments.
The study is published alongside two complementary papers from international collaborators, reflecting a wider multi-year effort to refine organoid models and make them more accessible to the research community.
For decades, cancer researchers have relied on two-dimensional (2D) cell lines to study cancer. These workhorse models, in which cells are grown in a flat layer on laboratory plates, have provided important insights into cancer biology and remain widely used.
However, 2D models have limitations: they do not fully capture the diversity and complexity of tumours seen in patients and they have adapted to laboratory conditions over time. Researchers are therefore increasingly looking to develop next-generation models that better reflect tumours found in patients, such as organoids, to complement 2D cell lines and help address some of these gaps. ...
In a first of its kind study in organoids, the researchers went on to use CRISPR screening, a method they used to systematically switch off genes one by one to see if the cells survived, in order to map the genes that are critical to cancer cell survival across 162 of the organoid models. They identified thousands of genetic dependencies, including both common genes required by many cancers to survive, and more specific vulnerabilities linked to particular tumour types. ..."
From the abstract:
"Cancer cell lines remain foundational for research and drug discovery, yet they incompletely capture tumour diversity, lack linked patient context, and have undergone adaptation to culture.
Tumour organoids are three-dimensional cultures derived from patient tissue that offer a powerful complement to cell lines.
Here we derived and characterized 256 clinically annotated tumour organoids directly from colorectal, oesophageal, ovarian, pancreatic and gastric cancers as renewable, genetically stable models.
Extensive characterization of each model and matched patient tumour samples included whole-genome and transcriptome sequencing, and genome-wide CRISPR–Cas9 screens across 162 organoids mapped gene dependencies. Integrative analyses revealed genomic and clinical markers of dependency across common and rare subtypes, identified organoid-specific essential genes, and revealed targetable vulnerabilities following tumour evolution in paired pre- and post-treatment samples.
In colorectal cancer, functional and pharmacological interrogation of the EGFR–RAS–MAPK axis uncovered differential effects of KRAS variant alleles.
This open, publicly available resource provides a systematic map of gene dependencies in patient-derived organoids, expanding the model diversity and mechanistic insight needed to advance precision oncology."
Fig. 1: Establishment of organoid biobank and patient-linked clinical data.
Fig. 2: Genomic features are conserved between organoid and patient-matched tumour.
Drones with tiny spikes landing on and travel with and monitor the routes of Arctic icebergs
Amazing stuff! The possibilities of applying drones are limitless or the sky is the limit! 😊
Make drones land almost anywhere!
"Microspines are one of many ways to enable robots to latch onto surfaces like walls and ceilings. Now roboticists in Canada are using the mini spikes to get drones to land on a more challenging, remote surface: icebergs.
Like a spider, the Ice Dart can land on and latch onto steep, slippery surfaces such as icebergs and glaciers—an increasingly useful capability as activity in the Arctic increases. The drone can grip onto icy slopes of nearly 60 degrees, which is way beyond what most humans could manage without special equipment.
In a recent study, researchers explained how they developed the Ice Dart drone with a special landing gear that absorbs the impact of a hard landing while holding the drone in place with tiny spines that penetrate and grip the ice. ...
The researchers were motivated by a desire to allow drones to land almost anywhere in the world, since the availability of safe landing sites is one of the primary limitations on where and how drones can operate. The researchers already have a history of developing drones that can land on fast-moving trucks as well as trailers, boats, and steep roofs. ..."
Cells use a little-known molecule to protect themselves from iron overload
Amazing stuff! Biological iron is no irony! 😊
Notice the charts in this study are unusually very well done. They tell a consistent story about the function of polyamines.
"... When too much of [iron] is left free inside cells, it can trigger destructive reactions that break down DNA, proteins, and even cell membranes.
Now, ... have discovered that cells rely on an unexpected protector against this threat: small molecules called polyamines.
The researchers’ detailed findings ... reveal that polyamines act like storage lockers for iron, safely holding the metal in a non-reactive state until cells need it.
These findings solve a decades-old mystery about why cells maintain such extraordinarily high levels of polyamines and uncover a previously unknown defense mechanism that protects cells from toxic iron overload. ..."
From the highlights and abstract:
"Highlights
• Genome-wide CRISPR screen identifies polyamine-GPX4 synthetic lethality
• Polyamine depletion raises labile iron and ferritin without altering total iron
• Live-cell labile iron sensor shows inverse coupling with polyamines
• Spermine and spermidine directly coordinate Fe2+ to limit its reactivity
Summary
Polyamines are essential and evolutionarily conserved metabolites present at millimolar concentrations in mammalian cells.
Cells tightly regulate polyamine homeostasis through complex feedback mechanisms, yet the precise role necessitating this regulation remains unclear. Here, we show that polyamines contribute to endogenous buffering of redox-active iron, providing a molecular link between polyamine metabolism and ferroptosis.
Using a genome-wide CRISPR screen, we identified a synthetic lethal dependency between polyamine depletion and the key ferroptosis suppressor, glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4).
Mechanistically, we show that polyamine deficiency triggers a redistribution of cellular iron, increasing the labile iron pool and upregulating ferritin.
To directly visualize this iron buffering in living cells, we developed a genetically encoded fluorescent reporter for redox-active iron.
Live-cell analysis revealed a striking inverse correlation between intracellular polyamine levels and redox-active iron at single-cell resolution.
These findings reposition polyamines as key regulators of iron homeostasis, with implications for ferroptosis-linked disease states and cellular redox balance."
Polyamines buffer labile iron to suppress ferroptosis (no public access)
Polyamines buffer labile iron to suppress ferroptosis (preprint, open access)
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1 CRISPR screen identifies modulators of polyamine sensitivity
Fig. 2 Polyamine depletion promotes ferroptosis
Fig 3 Polyamines act independently of canonical ferroptosis regulators
Fig 4 Polyamine deficiency increases redox-active iron
Fig 5 Genetically encoded sensor for redox-active iron
Key brain circuit regulating the entry into hibernation found at last
Amazing stuff!
Notice here the emphasis is on entry into hibernation not hibernation in general.
Notice Google Search was not able to find a news release regarding this discovery neither did the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research publish one although many of the authors of this study are affiliated with the WI. That is disappointing.
"... Now, in a preprint posted on bioRxiv, researchers studying hibernating Syrian hamsters have pinpointed for the first time a brain circuit that regulates an animal’s entry into hibernation. The results reveal a “key, really, in the network” and provide “more solid [evidence] than anything we had before” of an ancient hibernation circuit within the mammalian brain ..."
From the abstract:
"Evolution of seasonal hibernation has enabled mammals to survive harsh conditions by entering a state of prolonged hypometabolism and hypothermia with body temperatures as low as 0-4°C1–6.
Despite decades of physiological studies, the genetic tools to study hibernation have remained limited and the mechanisms that induce hibernation entry are still unknown.
Focusing on the brain, we map state-dependent neuronal activity across the hibernation cycle in Syrian hamsters and identify the hypothalamic anterior preoptic area (aPOA) as a key regulator of hibernation entry.
Single-nucleus RNA and chromatin profiling provided a map of neuronal populations present in the hamster POA and enabled the discovery and design of an enhancer AAV that selectively targets hibernation-associated aPOA subpopulations.
Using this genetic approach, we show that Samd3-positive aPOA glutamatergic neurons are necessary for entry into hibernation and that their activation is sufficient to induce a prolonged hypothermic state with associated nesting behavior.
Together, we identify the first neuronal population that controls entry into hibernation, opening new avenues for investigating and manipulating the metabolic and physiological mechanisms underlying this extreme state of “suspended animation” and its potential applications in aging and disease."
Fig. 2: Identification of anterior preoptic area activity as necessary for deep torpor entry.
Hidden drivers of aggressive childhood cancer revealed
Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!
"New insights into why some children with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) develop aggressive disease despite being classified as non-high-risk have been uncovered. ...
RMS is broadly split into two different types, depending on whether the tumour contains a genetic risk marker. This marker is a fusion of two genes that are not normally connected. In patients with this marker, survival is substantially lower than in those who do not carry it, despite intense treatment.2
However, some children whose tumours do not carry the high-risk marker still develop aggressive disease, and it is unclear why this happens.
In a new study, researchers ... sought to understand why this group of non-high-risk patients go on to experience such an aggressive cancer. ...
In particular, they used single-cell RNA sequencing, which is a technique that allowed the team to examine gene activity in individual cancer cells. This revealed the true aggressive face of cancer cells that had ordinarily been classified as non-high-risk.
The team also used a method called spatial transcriptomics, which enabled the scientists to map where the cancer cells were located within the tumour, revealing how aggressive cell populations are organised within the cancer tissue.
The study revealed that aggressive tumours of children who had been classified as non-high-risk have gene expression patterns that closely resemble those of high-risk tumours, despite lacking the genetic risk marker.
They also found that children with non-high-risk tumours which behaved aggressively carry rare genetic changes that affect the same cellular pathway as high-risk tumours. This suggests that there are multiple genetic routes leading to the same aggressive tumours. ..."
From the abstract:
"Somatic mutations often predict survival in childhood cancers, as exemplified in rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), in which FOXO1 gene fusion status is a key prognostic feature.
In this study, we examined single-cell transcriptomes and discovered that cancer cells of lethal disease converge on a common cell state with a shared transcriptional landscape, irrespective of fusion status.
Nuclear transcriptomics, chromatin accessibility, spatial transcriptomics, perturbation studies, and previously published datasets validated the overarching high-risk cell state.
The convergent cell state only partially overlapped with transcriptional effects of the FOXO1 fusion and unexpectedly exhibited neural features.
Overall, these findings delineate a cell state of high-risk RMS cells that transcends conventional molecular and histologic boundaries, suggesting an overarching disease phenotype that could transform target discovery and inform clinical practice."
China’s yuan has been systematically and chronically undervalued by Chinese currency manipulation
Serious stuff! This is clearly unfair international competition!
If so, then this is another, major reason for Western countries to wake up quickly!
So maybe President Trump was also in this respect justified to impose tariffs on China.
"Yes, major financial institutions and international organizations estimate that China’s yuan is significantly undervalued.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the currency is roughly 21% cheaper than its economic fundamentals imply, while Goldman Sachs and independent trade experts place the figure even higher, between 25% and 35%.
While China historically used explicit currency manipulation, its [current] undervaluation stems from a mix of domestic economic factors and subtle state management.
The Historical Context: Deliberate Devaluation
From the 1980s through the early 2000s, China openly kept the yuan weak to fuel its rapid industrialization.
The Mechanism: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) bought up incoming foreign currency (like U.S. dollars) from exports and sold yuan to keep its own currency artificially cheap.
The Result: This accumulated nearly $4 trillion in foreign reserves by 2014, ensuring Chinese exports remained highly competitive globally." (Google Search)
"Four decades after the historic Plaza Accord, world leaders are facing growing pressure for a new currency agreement to tackle China’s undervalued yuan and massive trade surplus.
With Beijing’s export drive threatening industrial bases globally, currency intervention may be the only remaining way to force an economic rebalancing, Greg Ip argues."
Why the World Needs to Force China’s Yuan to Revalue (behind paywall, written by the Chief Economics Commentator Greg Ip, The Wall Street Journal) "China is flooding the world with cheap exports. An accord to revalue its currency might be the only solution."
750,000 Russians voted against a move of the Alexander Pushkin monument away from the Kremlin in Moscow
Is this all the apathetic and lethargic Russian Slav(e)s can accomplish given the four years of the Russo-Ukrainian War committed by the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible!
"Nearly 750,000 people voted on whether to move a nearly 40-foot-tall bronze statue of Alexander Pushkin—considered one of the country’s greatest poets. Critics viewed the trivial vote as a stark reminder of how public debate under President Vladimir Putin has been reduced to low-stakes urban planning. Ultimately, residents voted to keep the monument in place, just a short walk from the Kremlin."
"The Moscow mayor’s office website said Moscow will hold a vote on August 28, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., on whether to move the Alexander Pushkin monument to the other side of Tverskaya Street. Residents can take part either online or at one of 132 polling stations opening specifically for the vote. ..."
What’s Left of Russian Democracy? Some Say a Debate Over a Statue "Residents in Moscow got a rare taste of direct democracy when they were asked to a weigh in on a monument to Alexander Pushkin"
40-foot-tall bronze statue of Alexander Pushkin
Hubei province prominent leader issues a challenge to Xi Jinping's economic policies
Good news, if confirmed! These are rare kind of news coming out of China!
Unfortunately, it appears that Nikkei is the only news media reporting about it and it is behind paywall without naming the "prominent leader". Too bad!
Over 1,300 Criminal Aliens Arrested by ICE in Suburbs Surrounding Nation’s Capital in Two Weeks
Good news!
"Illustrating once again how sanctuary policies endanger American communities by harboring criminal aliens, more than 1,300 illegal immigrants with serious criminal records have lived freely for an unknown period in two suburbs surrounding the nation’s capital. Even after getting arrested by local police, convicted or serving time for violent felonies, the foreign perpetrators were released by open border officials rather than turned over to federal authorities for removal. The offenders include murderers, rapists, kidnappers, arsonists, drug traffickers, and members of transnational criminal street gangs such as the famously violent Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18th Street.
In a significant development unlikely to receive mainstream media coverage, a federal crackdown recently arrested the offenders—1,328 in all—in the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Virginia and Maryland. Conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the two-week sweep, coined Operation Safe Community, comes on the heels of a similar roundup in Georgia that took more than 1,200 alien criminals off the streets. “When sanctuary politicians refuse to work with ICE, they force our officers to make these arrests at large in the communities–creating a more dangerous environment for our officers, the aliens we are arresting, and the general public,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Acting Assistant Director Patricia Hyde. ..."
ICE Operation Safe Community – Washington, D.C. nets more than 1,300 arrests throughout Virginia, Maryland (official news release) "2-week immigration enforcement operation results in 1,328 illegal aliens arrested"
Queen - Too Much Love Will Kill You
Enjoy! Nice video!
There is a little bit of irony in this song title. Freddie Mercury died of AIDS at age 45.
Friday, August 28, 2026
Dolly Parton - I Will Always Love You (Live)
Enjoy! R.I.P.
"Dolly Parton both wrote and originally recorded "I Will Always Love You" in 1973. She composed the song as a heartfelt farewell to her longtime musical partner and mentor, Porter Wagoner, when she decided to pursue a solo career." (YouTube AI)
Lindsay Clancy Trial: Jurors ask to examine knife, pill bottles she used to slit her throat and wrists
What? So the killer of her three children did not only jump out a window after the killing? So she also cut her throat and wrists as well? How did she survive, but not her children?
Why did she have three children with postpartum psychosis? When did the alleged postpartum psychosis begin, only after the third child? Postpartum psychosis appears to be very rare, only 1-2 women in 1000 after delivery are affected by it.
It strikes me again that if a woman commits a horrific crime then she must be crazy fallacy applies here again. Women are angels and men are brutes. In the age of gender equality such bias should be dismissed.
What did the husband know and do about it? I am not aware of news reporting on about the husband in this case. Strange!
This case is weird in several respects!
Caveat I am not familiar with the details of the case.
The State Department paused immigrant visa appointments worldwide while consular officers complete training on tightened “public charge” screening
Good news! Bravo President Trump!
What a refreshing change from the irresponsible and reckless open border policies of the senile, demented and lifelong pathological liar 46th President!
"... to flag applicants likely to rely on government benefits."
"... The State Department has paused all immigrant visa applications while it briefs consular officials around the world on a new policy that aims to keep out people who are considered potential drains on public coffers. ...
The administration is also preparing to revoke the business and tourism visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who applied for asylum, which The Associated Press first reported this week. It would be the largest single mass revocation of visas in U.S. history and would likely face legal challenges. ..."
Trump administration pauses all immigrant visa applications amid new screening policy "The pause began in early August and isn’t expected to last beyond early to mid-September, a State Department official said."
Dolly Parton a business manager, a wealthy lady and a great philanthropist
Maybe her best lifetime contributions!
I have to admit I was not aware of this side of her long career!
P.S. I just learnt that Dolly Parton died about within one year of her husband Carl Dean (died at age 83? Born 1942?) with whom she was married for over 60 years.
"Dolly Gave Away More Than She Kept
Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at 80, built a $450 million fortune from a childhood in a one-room Tennessee cabin. By some estimates, she gave away even more, roughly $500 million.
Her defining deal was one she turned down. In 1974, Elvis Presley’s manager demanded half the publishing rights to I Will Always Love You. “Something in my heart says, don’t do that,” she later recalled. Whitney Houston’s 1992 cover of that song earned Parton an estimated $20 million.
She kept her name on the rest of her business, too: half of Dollywood, her Tennessee theme park empire, and a 3,000-song catalog valued at $120 million.
Her philanthropy was lifelong, and much of the giving went through her Dollywood Foundation, established in 1988. Its Imagination Library, a tribute to her father, who never learned to read, has mailed more than 330 million free books to children."
Dolly Parton in 1970 (Source)
Amish community of 25,000 Threaten NY Exodus over Vaccines and loss of religious exemption
What a moron Governor Andrew Cuomo was! Leave the Amish people alone! Is this another case of government paternalism?
Apparently, the current Governor of NY Kathy Hochul did not bother to reverse the poor decision by her predecessor!
Why mess with American Exceptionalism!
Unfortunately, the articles did not make clear which Supreme Court (NY, or US)!
"New York’s Amish community, 25,000 strong, is threatening to leave the state for good as its fight against school vaccine mandates heads to the Supreme Court.
The battle dates to 2019, when then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo ended religious exemptions to the state’s school immunization requirements after a measles outbreak. Three one-room Amish schoolhouses have since racked up $118,000 in fines for refusing to comply.
Last December, the [US] Supreme Court ordered an [Second Circuit Court of Appeals] to take another look. The court ruled against the Amish again in June, and their lawyers plan to petition the high court next month.
If they lose, attorneys say the community will pack up its buggies for Pennsylvania, home to about 95,000 Amish. “Our Almighty God wants us to fully put our faith and trust in Him,” one Amish father wrote in a handwritten letter explaining the refusal."
"... In 2019, following a measles outbreak in an Orthodox Jewish community, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo rescinded religious exemptions for school vaccine mandates—making it the second state to ever do so, behind California.
Post-COVID, two other states, Maine and Connecticut, removed religious exemptions while West Virginia never had them. ..."
Christian Lindner mahnt: Schuldenpolitik ist gleich doppelt unsozial
Hat dieser FDP Clown immer noch nicht genug! Wann werden wir den endlich los! Die FDP hätte schon vor vielen Jahren diesen Mann auf die Hinterbank schicken sollen.
Was hat dieser Nichtskönner getan um die angestiegene und hohe Staatsverschuldung in Deutschland zu verhindern?
P.S. Ich bin viele Jahre Mitglied und Wähler der FDP gewesen.
Christian Lindner (Source)
Hidden source of genetic diversity found in human sperm
Amazing stuff!
"... Scientists have identified an unexpected source of genetic variation in human sperm that occurs earlier in sperm development than previously thought. ...
researchers ... found that one type of genetic recombination involving the chromosomes, called non-crossover gene conversion, happens before the cell divisions that produce sperm.
The findings suggest that genetic recombination events in sperm happen in two stages, both before and after cell division. The team found that these DNA recombination patterns can vary between individuals, including between identical twins. This study opens new opportunities to investigate biological mechanisms underlying fertility, genome evolution and inherited disease. ..."
From the abstract:
"Meiotic recombination is a fundamental process that generates genetic diversity by creating new combinations of existing alleles. Whereas crossovers in humans are well characterized, the more frequent non-crossovers that lead to gene conversion remain challenging to study.
Here we show that single high-fidelity long sequencing reads from sperm can capture both crossovers and non-crossovers, which enables effectively arbitrary sample sizes for analysis from a single male.
We analysed 2,382 candidate non-crossovers in 15 sperm samples from 13 donors, and identified a consistent component with properties distinct from PRDM9-induced recombination.
This phenomenon was not associated with meiotic double-strand break sites identified by DMC1 binding, the crossover recombination map or GC-biased gene conversion, but was associated with genomic fragile sites.
This component is also seen in paternal non-crossover gene conversions in pedigree data.
Applying the same analysis to 12 blood samples, we observed non-crossover gene conversions with similar properties, but very few crossover events.
Further, we demonstrate variation between donors for the different types of recombination, even when they share the same PRDM9 genotype.
We suggest that a substantial fraction of the non-crossover gene conversion events seen in sperm arise prior to meiosis."
Fig. 1: Detecting recombinant reads in sperm samples.
Fig. 4: Origins of meiotic and pre-meiotic recombination events in the male germline.
As electric two-wheelers gain a foothold, Belgian startup Any bets on cargo space
Amazing stuff!
Even though there are hundreds of millions electric motorcycles in operation in China, I have not seen one like this.
"... The startup’s “designed for real life” belief inspired its first product, a modular electric motorcycle called the LUV1 that has the capacity of a cargo bike, but can reach a top speed of 100 km/h, or 62 mph. ...
Starting at €7,000 (about $8,150), the LUV1 will be less expensive than cars and closer to the cost of higher-end electric cargo bikes. ..."
I am not sure I would store a dog in this cargo space
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