Good news!
Sunday, August 16, 2026
'Muslims will never give up Jerusalem' removed from Saudi textbooks in coexistence shift
Good news! This could be huge! The Abraham Accords keep on giving! Bravo Mohammed bin Salman! Blessed are the peacemakers!
Syria Takes Hmeimim & Tartus military Bases Back From Russia
Good news! Very recommendable! This is huge!
Brahmagupta, the mathematician who invented zero!
Not recommendable! Too much AI generated content! Almost the whole minutes long video is AI generated!
Violent Crime Posts Record One-Year Drop and the lowest homicide rate since 1900 in the US according to the FBI
Good news! A new sheriff is in town with President Trump!
"Violent crime in the U.S. posted its largest one-year drop on record in 2025, with murders down 18.1%, robberies down 18.5%, and aggravated assaults down 7.2%, according to the FBI’s annual report released on Friday.
The homicide rate of 4.1 per 100,000 people is tied with 1955 and 1956 as the lowest since 1900.
President Trump credited his administration’s crime-fighting policies, including a crackdown on criminal migrants, fewer illegal border crossings, and National Guard deployments to cities like Washington, D.C.
Early data show declines continuing through the first half of 2026, pointing to another historic low. ..."
Turkey has taken a major step toward ending its four-decade conflict with Kurdish separatists
Good, but older news! Blessed are the peacemakers!
Maybe the first step towards more autonomy for the Kurdish people.
I personally remember having met Kurdish refugees several decades ago in my hometown Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
"Turkish lawmakers approved conditional amnesties for members of a Kurdish separatist group in an attempt to end one of the world’s longest insurgencies.
The law, which parliament passed late Monday, calls for the full disarmament of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, commonly known as the PKK, and suspends the sentences of some of its former militants. The group’s armed, four-decade insurrection against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s second-largest army has left tens of thousands of people dead across Turkey, Iraq and Syria, most of them Kurds."
"... Amounting to a de-facto peace accord, the historic settlement represents a definitive step by Ankara to build on a ceasefire that began after the PKK agreed to lay down its arms more than a year ago. ..."
Global shipments of humanoid robots grew to 19,100 units in the first half of 2026 from 5,100 in the first half of 2025
Good news!
"... nearly four times the number shipped during the same period last year. The same report predicts that total shipments will reach 60,000 by the end of the year."
"... China’s AgiBot has surpassed its domestic rival Unitree Robotics to become the world’s largest humanoid robot vendor in the first half of 2026, according to new research, as both industry heavyweights prepare for public listings amid a physical AI boom.
Shanghai-based Agibot captured 44 per cent of the global market after shipping roughly 8,400 humanoid robots from January to June, San Francisco-based research firm Smart Analytics Global (SAG) said in a report published on Sunday. ..."
AgiBot overtakes Unitree as top global humanoid robot vendor in first half amid IPO push "AgiBot’s shipments surged 562 per cent year on year, supported by a portfolio of full-size bipedals, compact units and wheeled robots"
A growing payment network in Africa is letting participating banks settle cross-border transactions directly in local currencies
Good news!
"... with payments processed in seconds rather than days. Such transactions have long been settled in dollars or euros, adding significant delays and fees even when both the sender and recipient were in Africa. The Bank of Central African States recently joined the initiative, bringing the network to 28 African countries."
"“The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has officially joined the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), marking a significant step in strengthening Africa’s cross-border payment infrastructure and opening a new chapter for financial integration in Central Africa while driving greater intra-African trade. ..."
"... As one of only two regional central banks on the continent, BEAC serves the six member countries of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC)—Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad. Its participation provides PAPSS with a strategic entry point into Francophone Africa and significantly expands the reach of the network across the continent.
With BEAC joining the network, PAPSS now connects 28 African countries, bringing together more than 190 commercial banks and fintechs, supported by 16 switches. Through its extended network partners, PAPSS participants are also able to send money to more than 250 additional financial institutions. ..."
BEAC Joins PAPSS, Connecting Payments between CEMAC and the Rest of Africa (original news release)
New York City Mayor Mamdani is cutting red tape for small businesses
Not all news coming out of NYC since Mayor Mamdani are bad!
"... with more than 50 regulatory reforms aimed at eliminating unnecessary permits, fees, and delays. Reforms include eliminating a redundant frozen dessert permit, streamlining outdoor dining approvals and barbershop licensing, expediting restaurant inspections, and temporarily waiving certain equipment registration fees."
"... But this week, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (yes, the democratic socialist) announced more than 50 reforms that would eliminate unnecessary regulations and high permitting and licensing fees for small businesses.
The reforms, unveiled on Monday, cover a variety of small business issues, from outdoor dining rules to pawnbroker licenses. During a speech in the Bronx, Mamdani announced that the city would work with the state to eliminate the frozen dessert permit, which requires restaurants that already have food permits to 'seek out a superfluous second permit for what they're already doing.'
He also said the current state of regulatory affairs for barbershops is 'anti-fade,' as shop owners must obtain three different permits to operate their business. ... Among dozens of other reforms, the Mamdani administration will also reduce street fair vendor permit fees, speed up restaurant inspections, and cut equipment registration fees from $110 to $0 for 12 months…
In addition to these proposed regulatory changes, Mamdani signed an executive order on Monday creating a task force of city agencies that will continue to identify opportunities for reform.”"
Hamas, Hezbollah coordinate attacks with Iran, IDF warns of rebuilt axis of evil
Bad news, if confirmed!
Where are the coward European powers when you need them!
"Hamas and Hezbollah have begun coordinating their increased activity with Iranian assistance in recent weeks, the IDF has assessed, as the military has identified increased friction between Israeli forces and terrorists on both the northern and southern fronts.
The IDF has expressed that the coordination is likely an effort to rebuild its axis of evil that would increase pressure on Israel. ...
Hezbollah attempts to resupply operatives trapped underground ...
IDF tank drives over explosive device in Gaza Strip ... the device was planted recently. ..."
Cuba is Incubating Lefty Terror Attacks in America
Why is Cuba still a one-party ruled communist country!
When will Cuba libre finally become reality!!!
Latest since the serious Cuba Missile Crisis of 1962, communist Cuba has been a national security issue for the US. and exporter of communism around the world and in particular in Latin America!
"The State Department published a damning report documenting the Cuban communist regime’s nefarious activities in America.
Among the revelations: Cuba has been training over 10,000 American left-wing activists and funding dissent in this country. They have the ability to organize disruptive demonstrations at most military bases and immigration facilities at a day’s notice. ...
Former Venceremos brigadier Karen Bass managed to get elected as mayor of America’s second-largest city. She has advanced causes favorable to the Cuban regime, such as calling to lift sanctions on the communist regime. When the Cuban tyrant Fidel Castro died, she mourned him as “Comandante en Jefe” — commander in chief. ...
Isra Hirsi, daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), made a trip to Havana in March. She thanked the People’s Forum for organizing the trip, despite concerns that the organization may be a Chinese Communist Party propaganda arm. People’s Forum denies any wrongdoing.
Some Cuban operatives aren’t as overtly revolutionary and work through more conventional political and professional channels, including nonprofit institutions and political organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America.
Since 2019, the DSA has expanded its activism related to Cuba. The party has intensified this engagement during the second Trump administration. ...
The DSA sent 40 rank-and-file and governing members to Havana. They met with communist officials, including Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Cossío Domínguez. The DSA also participated in the trip that sent Hirsi and far-left streamer Hasan Piker — who recently called Mao Zedong “one of the great leaders of this world” — to Cuba.
Fortunately, the Trump administration has accelerated its efforts against the communist-influence network in America. A federal court is investigating far-left China-based billionaire Neville Roy Singham, a chief financier of the nonprofit network supporting communist activities.
Besides the People’s Forum, Singham is a major contributor to Code Pink. His wife, Jodie Evans, is the co-founder. Its leadership includes some of the country’s most prominent pro-Cuba activists, including Medea Benjamin, Claudia De la Cruz and Vivien Lesnik Weisman. A grand jury is reportedly investigating whether Singham’s activities may have violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act. ...
The Justice Department is also seeking the extradition of another far-left financier, James “Fergie” Chambers, who is living in Spain. ..."
Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism (original report, 100 pages, no executive summary)
Ilsa Hirsi, the daughter of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), stayed in a 5-star hotel during her trip to Havana.
Two Kentucky ‘country hicks’ or country chicks refused $26 million from an AI data center developer. It left their town divided.
I bet this is only a very transitory stumbling block! Somebody else will sell!
What would you do with the $26 million proceeds?
"When an unknown company offered Delsia Bare and her mother, Ida Huddleston, a life-changing amount of money for their Kentucky farmland, they initially agreed. Then they discovered what the plots, which their family had cultivated for nearly 200 years, would be used for: a 2.2-gigawatt hyperscale data center."
Collagen structure of the porcine eye revealed
Good, but older news!
The fascia consists of collagen.
"Collagen fibers are found in various forms throughout the body, forming the foundational extracellular structure of tissues.
Despite nearly a century of study, high-resolution views of functional, macromolecular collagen fibers have remained elusive because of compositional heterogeneity and data-processing limitations.
Lou et al. analyzed the relatively uniform fibrils from the vitreous body of the eye and were able to determine a high-resolution structure that reveals layers of individual fibrils wrapped in a fourfold symmetric helix.
Sugar modifications are interspersed at defined positions within the fiber and alter packing density and hydration.
The specialized function of vitreous body collagen as a transparent medium is enabled by specific modifications and a composition distinct from that known for structural collagens."
"...
Composition and Stoichiometry
- Type V/XI core: Acts as the internal nucleation center that dictates initial fibril geometry.
- Type II shell: Forms an antiparallel outer layer that expands the overall diameter of the fibril.
- Type IX and opticin: Decorate the outer surface to regulate spacing, surface properties, and interaction with the surrounding gel.
Stabilization and Assembly
- Glycan modification: Abundant galactose-glucose disaccharides attach to hydroxylysine residues within conserved motifs, stabilizing interhelical packing.
- Vitreous-specific design: Unlike cartilage counterparts, the type IX collagen in the vitreous lacks the NC4 domain and instead possesses an elongated chondroitin sulfate chain, which preserves the transparent, hydrated gel matrix.
..." (Google Search)
From the abstract:
"Collagen, a fundamental constituent of the extracellular matrix, has long remained elusive to high-resolution structural characterization.
Using a tailored system and optimized cryo–electron microscopy processing for long-period filaments, we determined the structure of native collagen fibrils from the porcine vitreous body, with local resolutions extending from 2.6 to 7 angstroms.
Each 67-nanometer periodic unit contains type II, V/XI, and IX collagen triple helices together with opticin, at a stoichiometry of 8:4:4:4, which reveals their detailed higher-order molecular packing.
Abundant galactose-glucose disaccharides modify hydroxylysine residues in conserved -glycine-X-hydroxylysine- motifs, mediating fibril packing and structural stability.
Our structure uncovers the glycan-mediated assembly principle of collagen fibrils and clarifies the structure-function basis of collagens in the vitreous body."
The molecular architecture of mammalian vitreous body collagen fibrils (no public access)
The Dimocratic Party is trying the big-tent approach instead of distancing from the far left influence
One more reason why the Democratic Party has become the Dimocratic Party! For years, it is moving from the center to the far left trying to capture extra votes (but loosing traditional votes)!
What a cute sounding approach to deal with the Democratic Socialists of America and their ilk!
The Dimocratic Party urgently needs a new leadership (away with e.g. senile Chuck Schumer and DEI Hakeem Jeffries)! A biparty system like the US is in jeopardy if one of the two political parties constantly fails!
White House released “The Great Transshipment Scam”
Good news!
I bet this was going on especially during the term of the senile, demented and lifelong pathological liar 46th President! China knew too much about the 46th President and his clan!
"... a detailed report documenting how foreign adversaries, primarily China, have routed goods through third countries to falsely certify their origin and evade U.S. tariffs. The report lays bare a years-long fraud against American trade law that has cost domestic manufacturers billions and hollowed out key supply chains."
From the Executive Summary:
"... Illegal transshipment may involve relabeling, repackaging, re-invoicing, minor processing, false country-of-origin claims, or other actions intended to secure tariff treatment that would not apply if the goods’ true economic origin
were declared. ...
China provides the most developed historical example of this conduct. Following the imposition of Section 301 tariffs in 2018, the direct U.S. trade deficit with China fell in 2019 and 2020.
Even today, imports of a number of Chinese products subject to these original duties, like electric vehicles, are much lower in the U.S. than in places like the European Union. But the overall success of these tariffs co-exists with the abuse, by exporters, of the tariff differentials that they contribute to.
After their imposition, Chinese exporters increasingly routed goods through third countries. Products that previously moved directly from China to the United States were shipped through jurisdictions where limited assembly, finishing, repackaging, relabeling, or documentation changes could create the appearance of a different national origin. Over time, these practices contributed to the development of a global network of production hubs, logistics platforms, free-trade zones, bonded warehouses, processing corridors, and re-export centers.
This report identifies more than 40 countries associated with elevated illegal transshipment risk. These jurisdictions vary significantly in economic scale and function. Some are major trading partners with diversified industrial bases and large volumes of overall commerce.
Others are closely integrated into China-linked production and supply networks.
A third group consists of smaller jurisdictions that offer specific advantages, including low labor costs, permissive free-zone rules, strategic port access, bonded warehousing, limited customs capacity, niche assembly operations, or preferential access to the U.S. market. ...
This report reviews five government and private-sector estimates of potential transshipment or related trade-transfer exposure. The estimates range from approximately $40 billion to $303 billion annually, depending on the methodology and definition used. ..."
Largest Naval Expansion Since Reagan: First New US Shipyard in Over 80 Years.
Good news! I bet, President Trump wants to be remembered like President Reagan!
"On August 13, President Trump signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum [NSPM] launching the most ambitious naval expansion since the Reagan era.
The order directs the establishment of the first new naval shipyard in more than 80 years and a new submarine component repair center, while ordering a comprehensive review and reorganization of Naval Sea Systems Command to fix chronic cost and schedule failures across six major programs.
The NSPM adopts a “Finland model” that allows foreign shipbuilders to temporarily build ships in their home yards while investing capital in American facilities and training American workers for future domestic production.
This builds on nearly $9 billion already committed for arctic security cutters and a sweeping buildup of new submarines, destroyers, and aircraft carriers — restoring U.S. naval dominance after decades of underfunding."
Five Years Into the Taliban’s War on Women. Really!
This seems to be one of the subjects du jour! It was repeated all over the news media in recent weeks or so!
Why don't the women in Afghanistan not go on a sex strike? Sometimes women's rights have to be attained by persistent non violent protest, strikes, debates etc. by women. If Afghan women desire more liberty and rights they have to do something about it.
"The most famous fictional example is the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, written in 411 B.C.E., where women stage a sex strike to force their men to end the Peloponnesian War.
In real life, a famous historical instance occurred in 2003, when Liberian women led by Leymah Gbowee used a sex strike alongside protests to force warlords to negotiate an end to a brutal civil war." (Google Search)
"... Here is what they inherited and destroyed. Between 2001 and 2021, Afghan women did not wait for anyone’s permission to become people. We became judges, close to 270 of them, ruling in courts that would not have let us testify a generation earlier. We [women] became members of parliament, provincial officials, ministers, generals. We built businesses, newsrooms, clinics, schools. I built mine, a media career and a company that let me walk into rooms my own mother was never allowed to enter, rooms I still remember the first time I sat in them, understanding exactly what it had taken to get there ...
Senior Taliban officials, negotiators, ministers, the men who signed the decrees banning Afghan girls from school, have spent the last five years quietly enrolling their own daughters in schools and universities in Doha and Peshawar. One of the men who helped design the architecture of Afghan women’s erasure has a daughter who became a doctor abroad, trained in the exact profession his government forbids Afghan girls at home from ever pursuing. ...
Their financial conduct tells the same story. A movement that claims religious purity as its governing logic has spent five years entangled in the opium and methamphetamine trade, in mineral deals with China cut behind closed doors, and in a mining economy worth an estimated one to three trillion dollars that flows almost entirely to a small circle of men from a handful of provinces, while the country they govern ranks among the hungriest on earth. Call it what you want. I call it a mafia that memorized scripture. ..."
Large-scale brain scan study reveals unexpected differences in motor and visual regions linked to depression
Good news!
This study seems to confirm that depression also affects motion and vision, which was, I believe, known for a very long time. They call it "a key surprising finding", which it is not!
"Researchers ... analyzed thousands of brain scans collected from a population sample, including people with subclinical symptoms. The results of their analyses ... identified various changes in the brain that appear to be associated with depression, some of which are inconsistent with earlier observations. ...
Consistent with earlier research, the researchers found that depression was linked to a reduction in gray matter in three brain regions: the frontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex and insula. These areas of the brain are known to play a role in the regulation of emotions, decision-making, motivation and the internal processing of bodily sensations.
"A key surprising finding was that smaller brain regions in motor and visual regions were linked to higher levels of depression," ... "It has been known that reduced brain size in other (e.g., frontal) parts of the brain is linked to depression, but the location of these new results was surprising because we don't usually link symptoms of depression to sensory processing or motor action."
Earlier research had also linked depression to changes in regions in the basal brain, such as the amygdala and hippocampus. ... observed little evidence of this. ...
Toward a better understanding of depression
This study was one of the most detailed and comprehensive explorations of brain changes associated with depression to date. Overall, its findings suggest that depression affects a broad network of brain regions that have been implicated in important mental functions. ..."
"Key points
- Depression’s physical symptoms may have a direct neural explanation.
- A major new study found that motor and visual brain regions shrink in depression, not just frontal regions.
- The hippocampus, long linked to depression, showed no clear changes.
..."
From the abstract:
"Depression has been linked to reduced size of subcortical regions and abnormal functional connectivity in frontal and default mode networks. However, recent meta-analyses have failed to identify significant converging correlates of depression across the literature such that a conclusive mapping of the neuroimaging correlates of depression remains elusive.
We leveraged 23,417 participants across 6 population datasets to comprehensively establish the neuroimaging correlates of depression.
We found reductions in gray matter volume/cortical surface area associated with depression in the frontal cortex, anterior cingulate and insula, confirming previous studies showing the importance of prefrontal and default mode regions in depression.
Our findings demonstrate multiple surprising results, including a lack of depression correlates in subcortical brain regions and significant depression correlates in somatomotor and visual regions.
Overall, these results shed new light on key brain regions involved in the pathophysiology of depression, updating our understanding of the neuroimaging correlates of depression symptoms."
Depression Doesn’t Just Affect the Thinking Brain "A new study of 23,000 people found unexpected brain changes in depression."
The neuroimaging correlates of depression established across six large-scale population datasets (open access)
Fig. 1: Overview of main analysis steps.
Fig 2 Fig. 2: Neuroimaging correlates of depression.
Chemists find a new pathway to luminescence through mechanochemical force
Amazing stuff!
"In brief
- Computational modeling revealed an unexpected order of bond breaking in the core molecular structure that causes bioluminescence in nature.
- Mechanical force ruptures the dioxetane molecule’s carbon-carbon bond first, which is contrary to previous understanding of how the break in the molecule’s bonded square of oxygen and carbon atoms leads to light emission.
- The findings suggest the potential to develop improved stress sensors as well as gain insight into some forms of biological luminescence.
...
Chemists have long used molecules called dioxetanes to create light. These molecules have the same core structure that enables biological luminescence: two oxygen atoms and two carbon atoms bonded together in a square. Heat or mechanical force can break those bonds, causing light emission. ...
But when ... researchers modeled force applied to dioxetanes, they found that the bond between the carbon atoms breaks first, then the one between the oxygens."
From the abstract:
"1,2-Dioxetanes are well-known for their chemiluminescent decomposition initiated by O–O bond scission.
Under thermal conditions, this chemiluminescence has been used for molecular imaging, while mechanochemical triggering of chemiluminescence can be a powerful tool for studying stress in materials.
It has been widely assumed that mechanochemical activation follows the same O–O scission pathway as the thermal case.
However, our first-principles simulations of the mechanochemically triggered decomposition of 1,2-dioxetane show that the traditional O–O scission pathway is largely insensitive to applied force.
Instead, a thermally inaccessible C–C bond scission pathway is stabilized by applied force and becomes energetically favored above a critical force (∼1.8–3.0 nN). This force-induced mechanistic switch is robust across various pulling directions and substituents, including the experimentally tested adamantyl derivative.
These findings establish a new, fundamentally force-dependent pathway for chemiluminescence.
They demonstrate that mechanical force can be used not only to accelerate a reaction, but to fundamentally change its mechanism. This presents significant opportunities for new mechanophore design and mechanochemical sensing applications."
The Force Awakens a Dormant Chemiluminescent Pathway in 1,2-Dioxetane (no public access)
Graphical abstract
Trump EPA wrongly canceled $20B in climate funds, appeals court rules
Good news! Maybe next year the federal funding of global warming/climate change propaganda/demagoguery with taxpayers money will finally stop!
"The Trump administration did not have the authority to terminate and claw back funding that had already been disbursed to climate nonprofits, an appeals court ruled on Tuesday.
Eight nonprofit groups have been seeking to regain access to billions of dollars that had been deposited in their bank accounts after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, along with the FBI and the Treasury Department, ordered Citibank to freeze their accounts in February 2025.
The decision gives the groups access to their funding while the EPA decides whether to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
However, many of the organizations have had to enact significant cuts while their accounts were frozen.
The judgment upholds an injunction preventing the EPA from taking back money that had already been disbursed to the nonprofits’ bank accounts. Six of 10 judges on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit supported lifting the injunction. ..."
Galactic spins carry fingerprints of the primordial universe
Amazing stuff!
"The origin of spin in spiral and elliptical galaxies has posed a long-standing puzzle for astronomers. One idea, known as tidal torque theory, proposes that galaxies' spins are an imprinted record of the early universe, imparted by gravity long before galaxies first formed and still detectable in galaxies today.
Through new research ... a team ... has put that idea to its toughest test yet. ...
Tidal torque theory suggests the origins of this spin can be traced back to the earliest structures in the universe, when uneven clumps of gas and dark matter pulled on their neighbors.
If such a primordial clump were slightly elongated, tidal torque theory suggests it would feel gravity's pull more strongly on the end closest to a massive neighbor. This lopsided tug would set it rotating, a motion that its descendant galaxy should inherit. ...
To tackle this challenge, Sheng's team turned to data from the ELUCID project, which reconstructs the distribution of matter in the early universe based on the positions of galaxies we can see today. Using this reconstruction, they traced the pattern of spins seen in currently observable galaxies back to the primordial tidal forces that created them.
They then compared this prediction with real spin measurements gathered using an instrument that maps the motion of gas and stars within individual galaxies, for a substantial sample drawn from the nearby universe. ..."
From the abstract:
"Tidal-torque theory predicts that galaxy angular momenta are imprinted by the primordial tidal field acting on proto-structures and that they can retain information about the early Universe through cosmic evolution.
Here we test this prediction by comparing observed galaxy angular momentum vectors with those predicted from the primordial density field reconstructed by ELUCID for the nearby Universe.
Among the galaxy populations considered, the gas component of central massive elliptical galaxies provides the clearest signal, exhibiting a strong direction correlation at a significance of about 7σ.
These results provide robust observational evidence for tidal-torque theory and open a window for cosmological measurements of neutrino mass and other cosmological parameters."
A high-significance detection of primordial tidal torque imprints (no public access)
A high-significance detection of primordial tidal torque imprints (preprint, open access)
Slavery linked to mortality gap between Black and white Americans today. Really!
This article reeks of junk journalism and junk science! More horrible demagoguery spread by the AAAS and this time also by the National Academy of Sciences! Shame on them!
The term "racial disparities" is ideological and racist! A sign of junk science! This article published in the PNAS seems to be pure ideological junk science! It should be retracted!
What about individual lifestyle of black Americans v. white Americans with similar lifestyles or black Americans who moved away from formerly slave holding counties and so on! What about the age structure between white and black Americans in those counties?
Caveat: I did not read the article.
"... researchers studying racial health disparities in the United States today. A new study finds slavery still casts a long shadow on the country’s well-being, worsening the health outcomes for Black people in certain locations more than 150 years after abolition. ..."
From the significance and abstract:
"Significance
Black–White mortality disparities remain a persistent form of inequality in the United States. This study provides evidence that the proportion of enslaved people across U.S. counties in 1860 [???] predicts contemporary Black–White mortality disparities.
Counties with greater reliance on slavery in 1860 [???] have higher contemporary mortality rates for Black Americans but lower rates for White Americans. The association persists in analyses designed to address confounding from unobserved historical factors and in tests of alternative explanations. Structural inequalities [???] in segregation, economic conditions, and educational access emerge as key pathways linking historical slavery to contemporary mortality disparities [???]. This work underscores the need for interventions [???] that address not only proximal determinants but also the historical and structural foundations, of racial health disparities.
Abstract
We tested whether contemporary Black–White mortality disparities in the United States may be rooted in the historical legacy of slavery and perpetuated through structural inequalities.
Linking county-level data on the proportion of enslaved people in 1860 with structural inequality indicators from 1990 to 2000 and mortality outcomes from 2010 to 2020, we find that historical slavery is robustly associated with contemporary racial mortality gaps.
Our model estimates ~22 additional deaths per 100,000 among Black Americans relative to White Americans for every 10% increase in the 1860 enslaved population.
Path analysis models showed that segregation, economic inequality, and racial disparities in poverty and education statistically mediated this effect.
We test the plausibility of a causal pathway using an instrumental variable analysis and explore the robustness of our theoretical model in multiple supplemental analyses.
Our analyses held even after controlling for a comprehensive suite of historical and contemporary covariates.
These findings are consistent with a model wherein slavery’s legacy continues to shape present-day Black–White racial health disparities via enduring structural inequities."
Historical slavery predicts contemporary disparities in mortality between Black and White Americans (open access)
What a garbage Chart (reminds of the infamous Hockey Stick chart)!
Fig 1 Figure displays the estimated relationship between the proportion of enslaved population in 1860 and Black and White mortality rates (2010–2020).
We still don't know what former, controversial Professor Jason Arday of Cambridge University died of on 8/14/2026
Strange!
Was it suicide? A natural death?
Google Search will not answer this question! This is very strange too! Is this some kind of self censorship?
New Evidence Reveals Antarctica Was Warm & Green some 90-100 million years ago
Global Warming (aka climate change) is nothing new! How often were there actually significan warm periods on Earth over the last let's say 100 million years?
Like Greenland when the Vikings arrived around 982 AD/CE.
Apparently, 100 million years ago Antarctica was located over the South Pole as it is today. Or in other words, it appears the geographic location of Antarctica did not change and could explain the warming period.
Saturday, August 15, 2026
Mecca Deal Collapses Within 24 Hours as Pakistan Exits Houthi Front with Molly Gambhir
Recommendable! So much for the Islamic NATO!
Maybe the three countries, i.e. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan, excluded existing conflicts.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar: The Man Who Changed India Forever | The Revolutionary
Recommendable! Among other things, he was an advocate for the Dalits.
Scientists capture macrophages immune cells attacking live melanoma
Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!
"... a previously overlooked population of immune cells called macrophages that patrol the edges of melanoma tumours, steadily engulfing cancer cells and slowing tumour growth. ...
“This is the first time anyone has captured a macrophage attacking and engulfing a live cancer cell in real time,” ..."
From the abstract:
"Macrophages in the skin reside in multiple distinct layers and perform various functions. Here, we show that CD169+ macrophages reside in the hypodermis and comprise the major skin myeloid cell population in the steady state.
In a syngeneic melanoma model, CD169+ macrophages encapsulate growing melanomas and directly suppress their growth.
CSF1R blockade depleted CD169+ macrophages in tumors and resulted in unrestrained growth.
This local containment of tumor growth in the skin was independent of CD169+ subcapsular sinus macrophages in the tumor-draining lymph node and did not require B or T cells.
Intravital imaging revealed engulfment and ingestion of live tumor cells by CD169+ macrophages.
This phagocytosis did not require the phosphatidylserine receptor MERTK. CD169+ macrophages are also enriched in the hypodermis in skin biopsies from healthy human skin and melanoma.
These data identify tissue-resident CD169+ macrophages as a potential cellular target to achieve innate immune containment and reinforce adaptive immune control of tumors."
A highly magnified view of melanoma tumours growing in the skin. CD169+ macrophages are shown in green and yellow forming a biological boundary wall to contain the tumours.
Fig. 2 Skin CD169+ macrophages suppress B16-F10 melanoma growth.
Fig. 4 Skin CD169+ macrophages ingest tumor cells.
Saudi Aramco backs India's Mitti Labs to make Asia's rice farming more water-resilient
Good news, but older news!
Let's not forget Methane is a trace gas! Associations between methane in the atmosphere and climate change/global warming are tenuous!
"As rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns put Asia’s water-intensive rice farming under pressure, Mitti Labs, a New York- and Bengaluru-headquartered climate-tech startup, has raised $9.5 million in an investment led by Aramco Ventures, Saudi Aramco’s venture arm, to expand across Asia with a platform that combines satellite imagery, AI, and field operations to help farmers cut water use and methane emissions. ...
Since launching its first programs in 2023, Mitti Labs has sought to tackle the heavy water use and methane emissions associated with rice farming through its platform that fuses satellite radar imagery with years of field data collected by its teams. The startup says the technology creates digital twins of individual rice fields, allowing it to monitor crop conditions, water use, and methane emissions across thousands of smallholder farms, where the average holding is about one hectare.
Mitti Labs’ GeoAI platform uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from commercial and public satellites, with resolutions ranging from 50 centimeters to 10 meters, alongside years of field measurements collected by its teams. The startup’s edge lies less in the satellite imagery itself than in the proprietary datasets it has built to train its AI models, allowing it to monitor crop growth, soil moisture, and flooding across smallholder farms remotely, co-founder Xavier Laguarta said in an interview. ..."
"Rice feeds half the world every day, but growing it is putting an outsized strain on the planet's water supply. As the most water-intensive crop on Earth, rice consumes more than 30% of all irrigation water. Traditional paddies, kept continuously flooded to suppress weeds, also generate huge volumes of methane, a greenhouse gas now responsible for roughly a quarter of the warming the planet [???] has experienced to date. ...
We are proud to announce that we have raised a $9.5 million Series A to accelerate an answer to that problem. The round was led by Aramco Ventures, with participation from Lightspeed India, Godrej Industries Group, Cisco Foundation, Francis Family Fund, and Volta Circle. ..."
Mitti Labs raises $9.5M to build water resilience in Asia's rice fields (original news release)
Really!
The “ADHD Epidemic” Is Just an Overdiagnosis Epidemic
Food for thought! Possible medical overdiagnosis is a serious issue! Similar to Autism Spectrum Disorder?
ADHD itself is an ambiguous, nebulous disorder!
The more individuals are diagnosed with ADHD, the better for business of doctors and pharma industry!
"The sharp increase in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses—nearly doubling among American children between 1997 and 2022, and more than tripling among adults from 2012 to 2023—has been chalked up to better screening, increased awareness, and the corrosive effects of smartphones and social media on developing brains. None of these factors holds up well under scrutiny.
The diagnostic category itself has been steadily widened by the institutions that define it and the financial structure that rewards every participant for applying the ADHD label. As we have argued in our Cato Institute analysis of how the American healthcare system rewards psychiatric overdiagnosis, subjective diagnostic criteria interact with a payment system that rewards diagnosis to produce predictable inflation across psychiatric categories. The result is labeling ordinary behavior as pathological. ADHD is among the cleanest case studies of that pattern. ...
The youngest children in any classroom are also more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than their older peers, a finding so robust across studies and countries that it points to ordinary developmental variation rather than disease. ..."
The Perfect Storm for ADHD Overdiagnosis "Screen time gets the blame, but the increase in diagnoses comes more from subjective criteria interacting with financial incentives."
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