Will we see more Balkan wars in the future again? Hopefully, not!
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
Malaysia Gets New King in Unique Rotating ceremonial Monarchy with Palki Sharma
Amazing stuff! Rotating among nine families! The billionaire king has written some children's books. He owns 300 luxury cars.
How US' Staggering $34 Trillion Debt Can Trigger a Global Rebellion with Palki Sharma
I have blogged here multiple times about the unsustainable growth of U.S. government debt in recent years. When government debt reaches levels of above 100% of GDP it becomes a serious concern. Borrowing costs and debt servicing expenditures rise. Default risks go up and much more can happen.
6 male athletes play in women's college volleyball game in Canada of which 5 had no "gender affirming" care
As a female athlete I would refuse to compete with biological males and try to convince other female athletes to do the same! If enough female athletes followed such a boycott, that would be the end of biological males in female athletic competitions!
"Atotal of five men purporting to be women played in a collegiate-level women's volleyball game, and two of the male athletes have been accused of concussing two female athletes in recent games.
A women's volleyball match between Centennial College and Seneca College in Toronto, Canada, featured two male athletes on the the Centennial Colts, while the Seneca Sting used three male players.
According to reporter David Menzies, it was revealed by an inside source that there are a total of six males playing in the women's league, five of whom are "not on any gender-affirming hormone therapy or have not had surgical gonad removal." ..."
Hubble Space Telescope Detects Water Vapor in Smallest Exoplanet to Date only 97 light years away
Good news! Amazing stuff!
"At around twice Earth's diameter, planet GJ 9827d orbits a red dwarf star 97 light-years away in the constellation Pisces, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) said in statements on Thursday. [1/25/2024] ..."
"... At only approximately twice Earth's diameter, the planet GJ 9827d could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy.
"This would be the first time that we can directly show through an atmospheric detection, that these planets with water-rich atmospheres can actually exist around other stars," ...
Because the planet is as hot as Venus, at 800 degrees Fahrenheit, it definitely would be an inhospitable, steamy world if the atmosphere were predominantly water vapor. ..."
From the abstract:
"Recent work on the characterization of small exoplanets has allowed us to accumulate growing evidence that sub-Neptunes with radii greater than ∼2.5 R⊕ often host H2/He-dominated atmospheres both from measurements of their low bulk densities and from direct detections of their low mean molecular mass atmospheres. However, the smaller sub-Neptunes in the 1.5–2.2 R⊕ size regime are much less understood and often have bulk densities that can be explained either by the H2/He-rich scenario or by a volatile-dominated composition known as the "water world" scenario. Here we report the detection of water vapor in the transmission spectrum of the 1.96 ± 0.08 R⊕ sub-Neptune GJ 9827 d obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We observe 11 HST Wide Field Camera 3 transits of GJ 9827 d and find an absorption feature at 1.4 μm in its transit spectrum, which is best explained (at 3.39σ) by the presence of water in GJ 9827 d's atmosphere. We further show that this feature cannot be caused by unocculted starspots during the transits by combining an analysis of the K2 photometry and transit light source effect retrievals. We reveal that the water absorption feature can be similarly well explained by a small amount of water vapor in a cloudy H2/He atmosphere or a water vapor envelope on GJ 9827 d. Given that recent studies have inferred an important mass-loss rate (>0.5 M⊕ Gyr−1) for GJ 9827 d, making it unlikely to retain a H-dominated envelope, our findings highlight GJ 9827 d as a promising water world candidate that could host a volatile-dominated atmosphere. This water detection also makes GJ 9827 d the smallest exoplanet with an atmospheric molecular detection to date."
Water Absorption in the Transmission Spectrum of the Water World Candidate GJ 9827 d (open access, published already in September 2023)
The issue of climate change could cost Donald Trump the 2024 election, new US study shows. Really!
Laughable, except for some swing states! To vote for a senile, demented, and corrupt 46th U.S. President because of Climate Change would be reckless!
"New research by a team of American scientists shows that the effect of climate change opinion was significant enough to change the outcome of the 2020 election in favor of President Joe Biden."
The Rise and Fall of Japan's First 'Enlightenment' by Lawrence Reed
Recommendable!
When talking about the Age of Enlightenment, Japan is usually not mentioned.
"... The Japanese seem instead to have stumbled toward freedom more for practical reasons than for ideological ones. Individuals began to exert their personal independence not because they attended the salons and tea houses of enlightened thinkers, but because central control was weakened with the fall of the last Kamakura shogunate. People then just did more of what they tend to do naturally when politicians get out of their way—they start businesses and engage in trade.
That brings us to the Muromachi Era, the period beginning with the fall of the Kamakura regime [1185 to 1333] and persisting for almost 250 years—until 1573. In some limited ways, it was Japan’s first Enlightenment, appearing and then disappearing before one ever got underway in Europe.
The one intellectual who enjoyed prominence in the Muromachi period was the ancient Chinese scholar Confucius (551 B.C. – 479 B.C.), whose nearly two-thousand-year-old writings staged a comeback. Confucianism during this time became an essential focus of learning in Japan. The philosopher’s essentially peaceful, self-improvement- and virtue-based teachings likely contributed to the growth of commerce. ...
Small businessmen and artisans organized trade associations for the first time in Japanese history, especially in the central part of the country where government control was weakest. Merchants during the Muromachi period, write professors Toyoda and Sugiyama, “sought economic and political independence, and we find among them…patterns of group association for self-protection.” Class distinctions even began to erode. Toyoda and Sugiyama reveal a “willingness to recognize able men of even the lowest orders of society and to allow them to exercise their talents.”
Austrian economist F. A. Hayek observed in the 20th Century that as shackles on freedom are removed in a society, it is not chaos that ensues but rather a “spontaneous order” that is ultimately more rational and beneficial than any state-run regimen. Signs of this very thing are apparent in the early Muromachi period in Japan.
Trade with China greatly increased during this time. “Japanese wood, sulfur, copper ore, swords, and folding fans,” writes Richard Mason in A History of Japan, “were traded for Chinese silk, porcelain, books, and coins, in what the Chinese considered tribute but the Japanese saw as profitable trade.”
Art and culture flourished as well, evidenced by such developments as Japanese ink painting, the indigenous stage drama known as Noh and the famous tea ceremony. ...
Not until the Meiji Restoration of 1868 would Japan see liberalization again ..."
Not until the Meiji Restoration of 1868 would Japan see liberalization again ..."
By the end of the Muromachi Era, the Europeans arrived:
"By the end of the Muromachi period, the first Europeans had arrived. The Portuguese landed in Tanegashima south of Kyūshū in 1543 and within two years were making regular port calls, initiating the century-long Nanban trade period. In 1551, the Navarrese Roman Catholic missionary Francis Xavier was one of the first Westerners who visited Japan. ..." (Wikipedia)
75% of adults (university students and health care workers) have hidden infectious illness to work, travel, or socialize, surveys suggest
A bit alarming, if not troubling! Despite higher education! Every wondered why you get sick? Here is an answer.
"Up to 75% of adults have concealed an infectious disease from others in order not to miss work, travel, or social events, according to a new study in Psychological Science.
The article, by researchers at the University of Michigan, is based on four studies and surveys given to 4,110 survey participants. All surveys were given after March 2020, when the COVID-10 pandemic began, and initial survey participants included 399 university healthcare employees.
Only 5% of participants across all studies said they had concealed a COVID-19 infection.
85% of students concealed illness
In the first study, the researchers surveyed 399 university healthcare employees and 505 students and asked how often they actively covered up symptoms of infectious diseases from others, came to campus or work without telling others they were feeling ill, or falsified answers to mandatory symptom screening tools that the university had required for anyone using campus facilities.
Eighty-five percent of students reported concealing a contagious illness, as well as 61% of healthcare workers. Only 8% of healthcare workers and 3% of students said they concealed illness due do a university policy requirement. Instead, almost all efforts at hiding were made because of not wanting to miss social engagements, school, or work. ..."
From the abstract:
"People sick with infectious illnesses face negative social outcomes, like exclusion, and may take steps to conceal their illnesses from others. In 10 studies of past, current, and projected illness, we examined the prevalence and predictors of infection concealment in adult samples of U.S. university students, health-care employees, and online crowdsourced workers (total N = 4,110). About 75% reported concealing illness in interpersonal interactions, possibly placing others in harm’s way. Concealment motives were largely social (e.g., wanting to attend events like parties) and achievement oriented (e.g., completing work objectives). Disease characteristics, including potential harm and illness immediacy, also influenced concealment decisions. People imagining harmful (vs. mild) infections concealed illness less frequently, whereas participants who were actually sick concealed frequently regardless of illness harm, suggesting state-specific biases underlying concealment decisions. Disease concealment appears to be a widely prevalent behavior by which concealers trade off risks to others in favor of their own goals, creating potentially important public-health consequences."
When and Why People Conceal Infectious Disease (no public access)
Die 10 schlimmsten Pandemien der Welt - ingenieur.de
Empfehlenswert!
Intelligence Reveals Details of U.N. Agency Staff’s Links to October 7 Attack
Why does UNWRA have 12,000 employees in the Gaza Strip???
Again what is the United Nations good for? And how much does the West pay for it? E.g. the current General Secretary António Guterres is a moron.
"Six U.N. Relief and Works Agency workers were part of the Palestinian militants’ attack three and a half months ago. Two of them helped kidnap Israelis; two others were tracked to sites where scores of Israeli civilians were killed. Others coordinated logistics for the assault, including procuring weapons. Around 1,200 of UNWRA’s roughly 12,000 employees in Gaza have ties to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and an estimated 49% have close relatives who belong to the groups, which the U.S. and others have designated terrorist organizations. Unrwa said that an internal U.N. investigation was under way. Hamas has run Gaza since a 2007 coup."
Thieves steal copper wire from electric vehicle charging stations in Minneapolis
This is not the first report of such nature, I have seen!
"City officials for Minneapolis say 2023 was the most challenging year when it came to copper wire thefts. Copper thieves targeted street lights and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations ... frustrated EV drivers pulling up to a charging station only to realize it was out of order.
So far, Minneapolis has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace streetlights after the copper wiring was stolen. The city has also been forced to replace 46 EV charging cords, which typically cost $1,000, bringing the city’s total to about $46,000 for 2023. ..."
Google: Towards Conversational Diagnostic AI
Recommendable! Perhaps, a large number of medical doctors will be unemployed by AI as well. 😊 Meaning less quackery?
Finally, we might be able to offer medical services to many more people around the world.
AI might already beat human doctors in conversational diagnostics!
Caveat: I did not read the research paper.
"... Recent progress in large language models (LLMs) outside the medical domain has shown that they can plan, reason, and use relevant context to hold rich conversations. However, there are many aspects of good diagnostic dialogue that are unique to the medical domain. An effective clinician takes a complete “clinical history” and asks intelligent questions that help to derive a differential diagnosis. They wield considerable skill to foster an effective relationship, provide information clearly, make joint and informed decisions with the patient, respond empathically to their emotions, and support them in the next steps of care. While LLMs can accurately perform tasks such as medical summarization or answering medical questions, there has been little work specifically aimed towards developing these kinds of conversational diagnostic capabilities. ..."
From the abstract:
"At the heart of medicine lies the physician-patient dialogue, where skillful history-taking paves the way for accurate diagnosis, effective management, and enduring trust. Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems capable of diagnostic dialogue could increase accessibility, consistency, and quality of care. However, approximating clinicians' expertise is an outstanding grand challenge. Here, we introduce AMIE (Articulate Medical Intelligence Explorer), a Large Language Model (LLM) based AI system optimized for diagnostic dialogue.
AMIE uses a novel self-play based simulated environment with automated feedback mechanisms for scaling learning across diverse disease conditions, specialties, and contexts. We designed a framework for evaluating clinically-meaningful axes of performance including history-taking, diagnostic accuracy, management reasoning, communication skills, and empathy. We compared AMIE's performance to that of primary care physicians (PCPs) in a randomized, double-blind crossover study of text-based consultations with validated patient actors in the style of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). The study included 149 case scenarios from clinical providers in Canada, the UK, and India, 20 PCPs for comparison with AMIE, and evaluations by specialist physicians and patient actors. AMIE demonstrated greater diagnostic accuracy and superior performance on 28 of 32 axes according to specialist physicians and 24 of 26 axes according to patient actors. Our research has several limitations and should be interpreted with appropriate caution. Clinicians were limited to unfamiliar synchronous text-chat which permits large-scale LLM-patient interactions but is not representative of usual clinical practice. While further research is required before AMIE could be translated to real-world settings, the results represent a milestone towards conversational diagnostic AI."
Credits: The Gradient (weekly newsletter)
Specialist-rated top-k diagnostic accuracy. AMIE and PCPs top-k differential diagnosis (DDx) accuracy are compared across 149 scenarios with respect to the ground truth diagnosis (a) and all diagnoses listed within the accepted differential diagnoses (b). Bootstrapping (n=10,000) confirms all top-k differences between AMIE and PCP DDx accuracy are significant with p <0.05 after false discovery rate (FDR) correction.
El Salvador Adopted Bitcoin as an Official Currency; Salvadorans Mostly Shrugged
Recommendable!
"Central banks in more than 100 countries around the world are considering adopting digital currencies to increase financial inclusion and the efficiency of payments for their populations; some countries—including the Bahamas, Jamaica, and Nigeria—have already launched such currencies.
El Salvador took a different path toward digital payments. In 2021, in order to promote financial inclusion and job creation and facilitate remittances, it became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender. At the same time, the country launched Chivo Wallet, an app that offers many of the same benefits as a central bank digital currency (CBDC), including accessibility and the ability to pay peers and firms and make deposits and withdrawals both in U.S. dollars (the country’s official currency) and in Bitcoin. But Bitcoin, of course, is different than a CBDC in many ways—not least of which is that its value is not backed by a central bank.
Because of the interest in digital payment systems around the world, El Salvador’s experience could be informative. But the country has been tight-lipped about its experience, much to the chagrin of the International Monetary Fund. ...
a survey to get more information directly from people in El Salvador and have written a new paper, published in Science magazine, that analyzes Salvadorans’ use of Bitcoin and Chivo Wallet.
They find that neither Bitcoin nor the app are getting much use, despite a battery of incentives put in place, an indication that governments may face an uphill battle in convincing their citizens to adopt new payment technologies in a way that furthers financial efficiency and inclusion. ..."
From the editor's summary and abstract:
"Editor’s summary
After El Salvador adopted the cryptocurrency bitcoin as legal tender, its government incentivized it with the Chivo Wallet app, a digital wallet backed by their central banking system. Despite major incentives, bitcoin was rarely adopted except among one privileged group: young, educated men with bank accounts. Compared with traditional banks, bitcoin offers improved privacy and transparency and rapid, inexpensive transactions. These are all features that economists assumed were desirable for Salvadorans because most are unbanked, need remittances, and can access Chivo Wallet because they usually own phones with Internet. However, Alvarez et al. found that Salvadorans’ preference for tangible cash and, ironically, privacy and transparency fears impeded bitcoin adoption. Unless populations are financially literate and trust virtual currencies, policies incentivizing their adoption may fail. ...
Structured Abstract
INTRODUCTION
The introduction of digital currencies is perhaps the most important development in monetary economics in the past decade. However, a currency’s defining role is to serve as a medium of exchange, and cryptocurrencies have yet to be widely adopted as such. This study leverages a unique quasinatural experiment that can shed light on the reasons behind this lack of adoption. El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender; not only must bitcoin be accepted as a means of payment for taxes and debts, but also businesses are required to accept bitcoin as a medium of exchange. The government also launched an app called “Chivo Wallet,” which allows users to digitally trade both bitcoins and US dollars (USD, the official currency in El Salvador) without paying transaction fees, and provided major adoption incentives such as a large bonus for downloaders. Moreover, the pandemic provided an additional incentive to adopt touchless payments; if bitcoin has a chance to be used as a medium of exchange, then this setting gave the cryptocurrency a prime opportunity. ...
RATIONALE
We conducted a nationally representative face-to-face survey involving 1800 households in El Salvador and complemented its results with an analysis using all transactions identified as involving Chivo Wallet leveraging data from the blockchain. We explored whether Chivo Wallet and bitcoin were adopted after the government’s “Big Push,” what factors deterred adoption by individuals and firms, and what insights can be obtained from blockchain data. We also analyzed the broader lessons learned from this example.
RESULTS
We found that bitcoin was not widely used as a medium of exchange and usage of Chivo Wallet was low. Most downloads took place just as the app was launched. Since then, adoption and remittances using Chivo Wallet have been decreasing over time. These results suggest that it is unlikely that the usage of bitcoin and Chivo Wallet will increase. Privacy and transparency concerns appear to be key barriers to adoption. We also documented that this technology involves a large initial adoption cost, has benefits that significantly increase as more people use it, and faces resistance from firms in terms of its adoption. These findings are relevant for countries studying the viability of CBDCs and of crypto as a currency. Further, our survey sheds light on how it is the already wealthy and banked who use crypto, which stands in stark contrast with recurrent hypotheses claiming that the use of crypto may particularly help the poor and unbanked. An analysis relying on all blockchain transaction–level data from Chivo allowed us to validate and better understand our survey results and provided new insights on the dynamics of the use of Chivo Wallet.
CONCLUSION
Despite bitcoin’s legal tender status and the large incentives to promote Chivo Wallet in El Salvador, the cryptocurrency was not adopted at large as a medium of exchange, and digital payments were scarce and concentrated. These findings are informative about the intrinsic value of cryptocurrencies as means of payments and about the scope of CBDCs in developing countries."
Are cryptocurrencies currencies? Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador (no public access)
Adoption of Chivo Wallet in El Salvador.
Power Naps can Make Your Brain Bigger: Here's Why that is Good with Palki Sharma
Recommendable! I believe in naps too! 😔
Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to launch common currency after ECOWAS exit
A very interesting development and potentially an economic booster if done right!
China's Biggest Purge: Xi Jinping Punishes 110,000 Officials in 2023 with Palki Sharma
Very recommendable! Purges are not unheard of in communist regimes, but this one is gigantic.
Vietnam & Philippines Team Up to Combat China in the South China Sea with Palki Sharma
Good news! And India is delivering weapons to both countries.
India Holds First-Ever Army Exercise with Saudi Arabia with Palki Sharma
First ever joint army exercise! India, a rising superpower! This might be a very small exercise with only less than 50 troops involved, but it is a start.
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Vision Pro Review: 24 Hours With Apple’s Mixed-Reality Headset
Recommendable! Sometimes hilarious too!
Building Research Capacity in Low- and Middle-Income Countries and Pandemic Preparedness: Lessons Learned and Future Directions
Food for thought! This is an open access perspective article!
From the abstract:
"Research capacity is a critical component of pandemic preparedness, as highlighted by the challenges faced during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Recent global initiatives, such as the Research & Development Task Force of the Global Health Security Agenda and the World Health Assembly’s resolution on strengthening clinical trials, emphasize the need for robust research capabilities. This Perspective discusses the experiences of leaders in infectious disease research and capacity building in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on Colombia, Jamaica, and Pakistan. These case studies underscore the importance of collaborative efforts, interdisciplinary training, and global partnerships in pandemic response. The experiences highlight the necessity for rapid pathogen identification, capacity for genomic sequencing, and proactive engagement with policymakers. Challenges faced, including the shortage of trained staff and reliance on imported reagents, emphasize the ongoing need for building research capacity."
Elon Musk's Neuralink has implanted in its first human brain chip
Good news! Can I get a genius brain implant with huge and fast memory please! 😊
What is implanted in Elon Musk's brain? 😊
"Elon Musk says his ambitious plan to let humans wirelessly connect their brains with phones and other devices has taken a new step, announcing that the first human has received a brain implant from his Neuralink company.
The person, who wasn't identified, "is recovering well," Musk said via X, the former Twitter. "Initial results show promising neuron spike detection," he added, referring to the cellular activity between our brains and our nervous systems.
What if a brain was given technology?
The news comes months after Neuralink began recruiting potential human test subjects for its clinical trial. The company got Food and Drug Administration approval for the trial last May, saying it wanted to enlist people ages 22 and above who are living with quadriplegia due to a spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the disease that robs people of the ability to control their bodies.
The trial utilizes a robot during surgery
Neuralink's clinical trial is called PRIME — for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface. As the name implies, the process involves using a robot to surgically insert the wires of the company's implant into a part of the brain related to movement. ..."
Graphene replaces sand to make lighter, stronger concrete
Good news! Amazing stuff! The many uses of graphene!
"... Scientists at Rice University have now shown that substituting graphene can not only save sand, but makes concrete lighter, stronger and tougher. ...
making graphene for years using a technique they developed called flash Joule heating. Essentially, a carbon-rich base material is quickly superheated with a zap of electricity, converting it into graphene flakes. In this case, the base material was metallurgical coke, a fuel source created from coal. ...
While the team says graphene is currently too expensive to make this method commercially viable at scale, it at least shows that there are alternatives that could be pursued."
While the team says graphene is currently too expensive to make this method commercially viable at scale, it at least shows that there are alternatives that could be pursued."
"The world’s reliance on concrete, the second most consumed material after water, is leading to an environmental and resource crisis, with sand mining rates outstripping natural replenishment.
A study by Rice University researchers found that graphene derived from metallurgical coke, a coal-based product, could serve not only as a reinforcing additive in cement but also as a replacement for sand in concrete. ..."
From the abstract:
"Each year, the growth of cities across developing economies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America drives demand for concrete to house and serve their burgeoning populations. Since 1950, the number of people living in urban areas has quadrupled to 4.2 billion, with another predicted 2.5 billion expected to join them in the next three decades. The largest component of concrete by volume is aggregates, such as sand and rocks, with sand as the most mined material in the world. However, the extraction rate of sand currently exceeds its natural replenishment rate, meaning that a global concrete-suitable sand shortage is extremely likely. As such, replacements for fine aggregates, such as sand, are in demand. Here, flash Joule heating (FJH) is used to convert coal-derived metallurgical coke (MC) into flash graphene aggregate (FGA), a blend of MC-derived flash graphene (MCFG), which mimics a natural aggregate (NA) in size. While graphene and graphene oxide have previously been used as reinforcing additives to concrete, in this contribution, FGA is used as a total aggregate replacement for NA, resulting in 25% lighter concrete with increases in toughness, peak strain, and specific compressive strength of 32, 33, and 21%, respectively, with a small reduction in specific Young’s modulus of 11%. FJH can potentially enable the replacement of fine NA with FGA, resulting in lighter, stronger concrete."
Rice study shows coal-based product could replace sand in concrete Discovery could be part of a solution to the looming ‘sand crisis’
Replacement of Concrete Aggregates with Coal-Derived Flash Graphene (no public access)
CIA Director William Burns: Spycraft and Statecraft. Really!
What a pathetic title by a member of the administration of the senile, demented, and corrupt 46th U.S. President!
I did not have the time to read his whole, long essay, but I picked up a few things. It contains also a number of platitudes (like "“Nothing can make you prouder than to serve your country with honor.”").
I think, William Burns (age 67, reactivated from retirement) is unqualified for the job! Clearly, he seems ideologically biased if not a joker! Apparently, he is also responsible for the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
E.g. how much did the CIA know about the October 7 attack by Hamas and how did the CIA inform the Israeli government?
"... As President Joe Biden has reiterated, the United States faces one of those rare moments today, as consequential as the dawn of the Cold War or the post-9/11 period. China’s rise and Russia’s revanchism pose daunting geopolitical challenges in a world of intense strategic competition in which the United States no longer enjoys uncontested primacy [???] and in which existential climate threats [???] are mounting. ...
That’s why the president sent me to Kabul in late August of 2021 to engage with the Taliban leadership just before the final withdrawal of U.S. troops. ...
We’re also working hard to diversify our workforce [???], reaching historic highs in 2023 in terms of the number of women and minority officers hired, as well as the number promoted into the agency’s most senior ranks. ...
We’re also working hard to diversify our workforce [???], reaching historic highs in 2023 in terms of the number of women and minority officers hired, as well as the number promoted into the agency’s most senior ranks. ...
At a moment when trust in the United States’ public institutions is often in short supply, the CIA remains a resolutely apolitical institution [???] ..."
Argentina Offers a Textbook Study in Why Rent Controls Are a Bad Idea
Recommendable! Don't cry for me Argentina! Government price/wage/rent controls are bad ideas. Government overregulation as well! The so euphemistically called unintended (but well known) consequences are much worse most of the time!
The article is premature as the effects of deregulation on the residential housing market in Argentina are still to be forthcoming.
"... A form of tenancy rent control was introduced in Argentina in 2020 – and many British and American progressives would like to do the same. Tenancies were mandated to a minimum length of three years and permissible annual rent increases were capped at a weighted average of inflation and wage growth. Both measures aimed to provide tenants with more economic ‘security’. Landlords were still free to adjust rates between contracts, but ending tenancies prematurely was basically impossible. Deposits were capped, while rents themselves had to be paid in pesos. ..."
YouTube Annoyances
Less than 12 hours ago, I watched a YouTube video on Myanmar published by the South China Morning Post titled "Three years on: China’s role in Myanmar’s civil war".
Immediately after watching this video, I used this video to blog here about it.
Less than 12 hour later, I had to discover that this YouTube video was removed. Plus, YouTube has erased this video from my YouTube History without any explanation as if I had never watched this video. I did not receive any notification from YouTube etc. This is pretty lousy!
A search for the title on YouTube of this video revealed that similar video was released again on YouTube.
Niall Ferguson: The Treason of the Intellectuals
Recommendable! A pertinent and timely reminder that even some professor can be monsters and that elite universities can be sources of evil!
Erdogan expandiert über Deutschland ins EU-Parlament
Der möchte gern Sultan aus dem NATO Mitgliedsland Türkei wieder mal am Werk! So lange Erdogan Präsident der Türkei ist, sollte vielleicht die NATO Mitgliedschaft suspendiert werden.
"Die deutsche Erdogan-Partei soll „DAVA“ heißen: „Demokratische Allianz für Vielfalt und Aufbruch“ – eng verbunden mit der Erdogan-Partei AKP = Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (deutsch: Partei für Gerechtigkeit und Aufschwung). ...
Die in Deutschland gegründete „DAVA“ hat hier ein hohes Wählerpotential. Deshalb nimmt Erdogan den Anlauf auch hier und nicht in Frankreich oder Belgien oder den Niederlanden oder Österreich. Immerhin leben knapp 2,5 Millionen Muslime mit deutschem Pass und mit Wahlrecht in Deutschland. Von den 2,5 Millionen haben geschätzt 1,5 Millionen Türkischstämmige einen deutschen Pass. Eine weitere Million könnte nach dem vermutlich im Mai 2024 in Kraft tretenden neuen „Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Staatsangehörigkeitsrechts“ (StARModG) eines Tages hinzukommen. Dieses StARModG war am 19. Januar 2024 von der „Ampel“-Mehrheit im Bundestag verabschiedet worden. Für die „Europawahl“ dürfte es noch keine Wirkung entfalten, dafür sind die Fristen bis dorthin zu kurz. ..."
Die in Deutschland gegründete „DAVA“ hat hier ein hohes Wählerpotential. Deshalb nimmt Erdogan den Anlauf auch hier und nicht in Frankreich oder Belgien oder den Niederlanden oder Österreich. Immerhin leben knapp 2,5 Millionen Muslime mit deutschem Pass und mit Wahlrecht in Deutschland. Von den 2,5 Millionen haben geschätzt 1,5 Millionen Türkischstämmige einen deutschen Pass. Eine weitere Million könnte nach dem vermutlich im Mai 2024 in Kraft tretenden neuen „Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Staatsangehörigkeitsrechts“ (StARModG) eines Tages hinzukommen. Dieses StARModG war am 19. Januar 2024 von der „Ampel“-Mehrheit im Bundestag verabschiedet worden. Für die „Europawahl“ dürfte es noch keine Wirkung entfalten, dafür sind die Fristen bis dorthin zu kurz. ..."
U.S. Failed to Stop Attack in Jordan After Mix-Up Over Drone Identity (foe v. friend)
This will probably become a serious issue and given that drone warfare and drone attacks will be considerably intensified going forward.
When will we e.g. see drone spoofing?
Wives of Russian soldiers protest against 'endless war' in Ukraine
Recommendable! Bravo, these are a few brave women! I am glad that these protests continue!
When will the lethargic, apathetic, and slavish Russian people finally get rid of their last czar, the megalomaniac and war criminal Putin the Terrible! How many more young Russian men have to die or be maimed because Putin the Terrible has conducted a “special military operation” since February of 2022!
Machu Picchu Protests Leave Hundreds of Tourists Stranded with Palki Sharma
Recommendable! Privatization of the transportation of tourists to and from this tourist site is a good idea! It probably will improve services etc.
Monday, January 29, 2024
Will You Attend Your Own living Funeral? with Palki Sharma
Recommendable! This is not for me! Celebrate life while you can!
Three years on: China’s role in Myanmar’s civil war
Here is a new link to this video: https://youtu.be/pEcPCGEBasU
Recommendable!
Bundeshaushalt 2024: Ist die Ampel am Ende?
Was für eine rhetorische Frage! In einer Bananenrepublik wie D. geht die Hampelkoalition munter weiter.
Ob z.B. lausige Berufspolitiker wie Lindner und der Rest der FDP den Mut aufbringen die Koalition für beendet zu erklären?
One Protein Helps 75% of Cancers to Spread – And We May Have a Way to Stop It
Good news! Cancer is history (soon)!
"Meet MYC, the shapeless protein responsible for making the majority of human cancer cases worse. UC Riverside researchers have found a way to rein it in, offering hope for a new era of treatments.
In healthy cells, MYC helps guide the process of transcription, in which genetic information is converted from DNA into RNA and, eventually, into proteins. “Normally, MYC’s activity is strictly controlled. In cancer cells, it becomes hyper active, and is not regulated properly,” ...
“MYC is less like food for cancer cells and more like a steroid that promotes cancer’s rapid growth,” ... “That is why MYC is a culprit in 75% of all human cancer cases.” ...
However, finding a way to control MYC was challenging because unlike most other proteins, MYC has no structure. “It’s basically a glob of randomness,” ... “Conventional drug discovery pipelines rely on well-defined structures, and this does not exist for MYC.” ...
describes a peptide compound that binds to MYC and suppresses its activity. ...
In the paper, the team describes a new peptide that binds directly to MYC with what is called sub-micro-molar affinity, which is getting closer to the strength of an antibody. In other words, it is a very strong and specific interaction. ..."
From the abstract:
"Here, we present the second generation of our bicyclic peptide library (NTB), featuring a stereodiversified structure and a simplified construction strategy. We utilized a tandem ring-opening metathesis and ring-closing metathesis reaction (ROM-RCM) to cyclize the linear peptide library in a single step, representing the first reported instance of this reaction being applied to the preparation of macrocyclic peptides. Moreover, the resulting bicyclic peptide can be easily linearized for MS/MS sequencing with a one-step deallylation process. We employed this library to screen against the E363-R378 epitope of MYC and identified several MYC-targeting bicyclic peptides. Subsequent in vitro cell studies demonstrated that one candidate, NT-B2R, effectively suppressed MYC transcription activities and cell proliferation."
Scientists tame chaotic protein fueling 75% of cancers (UC Riverside) Discovery opens window to more effective treatment
Figure 1. (A) Macrocyclization and linearization of the bicyclic peptide through ROM-RCM and deallylation reactions. In the cartoon illustration, the balls represent amino acid residues, and other solid shapes depict the functional groups that participate in the reaction. Green numbers and the green dashed bond illustrate regioisomerism. (B) Stereodiversity of 5-norbornene-2-carboxylic acid amide derivatives before and after cyclization. The eight isomers exhibit distinct stereo structures when combined with all l-amino acids. (C) Proline scanning results. The numbers indicate the positions of proline insertion in the linear precursor. The reaction yield was semiquantitatively determined by mass spectrometry. (D) Structures of the model peptide (FIVAL) regioisomers. (E) Conformation clusters of each isomer illustrated by different colors. Endo and exo refer to the stereostructure of the norbornene building block. The percent population of each conformation cluster is shown in the pie charts with corresponding colors.
Biden pauses LNG export approvals after pressure from climate activists
What an utter fool this senile, demented and corrupt 46th President is!
One more good reason why to vote for Donald Trump in November!
The Europeans are already complaining about this stupidity! Putin the Terrible is smiling since European countries stopped their imports of LNG from Russia plus the sabotage of the critical Nord Stream pipeline due to the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.
As an aside, the largest cruise ship ever, i.e. the Icon of the Seas, just embarked on its maiden voyage. It is LNG powered instead of diesel fuel.
"U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday [1/26/2024] paused approvals for pending and future applications to export liquefied natural gas (LNG)from new projects, a move cheered by climate activists that could delay decisions on new plants until after the Nov. 5 election. ..."
MIT: How the brain responds to reward is linked to socioeconomic background. Really!
There is a strong suspicion that this is junk science! Biases and premises determined the outcome sort of fallacy!
"Extra money" for a correct guess is an extremely narrow approach to represent a reward!
It is also very dubious that the abstract of the paper does not even mention that they tested their hypothesis on monetary rewards!
"MIT neuroscientists have found that the brain’s sensitivity to rewarding experiences — a critical factor in motivation and attention — can be shaped by socioeconomic conditions.
In a study of 12 to 14-year-olds whose socioeconomic status (SES) varied widely, the researchers found that children from lower SES backgrounds showed less sensitivity to reward than those from more affluent backgrounds.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the research team measured brain activity as the children played a guessing game in which they earned extra money for each correct guess. When participants from higher SES backgrounds guessed correctly, a part of the brain called the striatum, which is linked to reward, lit up much more than in children from lower SES backgrounds. ..."
From the abstract and significance:
"Disarities in socioeconomic status (SES) lead to unequal access to financial and social support. These disparities are believed to influence reward sensitivity, which in turn, are hypothesized to shape how individuals respond to and pursue rewarding experiences. However, surprisingly little is known about how SES shapes reward sensitivity in adolescence. Here we investigated how SES influenced adolescent responses to reward, both in behavior and the striatum–a brain region that is highly sensitive to reward. We examined responses to both immediate reward (tracked by phasic dopamine) and average reward rate fluctuations (tracked by tonic dopamine) as these distinct signals independently shape learning and motivation. Adolescents (n=114; 12-14 years; 58 female) performed a gambling task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. We manipulated trial-by-trial reward and loss outcomes, leading to fluctuations between periods of reward scarcity and abundance. We found that a higher reward rate hastened behavioral responses, and increased guess switching, consistent with the idea that reward abundance increases response vigor and exploration. Moreover, immediate reward reinforced previously rewarding decisions (win-stay, lose-switch) and slowed responses (post-reward pausing), particularly when rewards were scarce. Notably, lower-SES adolescents slowed down less after rare rewards than higher-SES adolescents. In the brain, striatal activations covaried with the average reward rate across time, and showed greater activations during rewarding blocks. However, these striatal effects were diminished in lower-SES adolescents. These findings show that the striatum tracks reward rate fluctuations, which shape decisions and motivation. Moreover, lower SES appears to attenuate reward-driven behavioral and brain responses.
Significance Statement
Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with reduced access to resources and opportunities. Such disparities may shape reward sensitivity, which in turn, could influence how individuals respond to and pursue rewarding experiences. Here, we show that lower-SES adolescents display reduced reward sensitivity in the brain and behavior. The striatum–a brain region that is highly sensitive to reward–showed greater activations during periods of high reward and tracked fluctuations between reward-rich and reward-scarce task phases. However, lower SES correlated with smaller reward-driven striatal responses, and reduced response slowing after rare rewards. These findings link lower SES to reduced reward responses, which could trigger a cycle of reduced reward pursuit, leading to fewer positive experiences, which could further diminish reward sensitivity."
Lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with reduced access to resources and opportunities. Such disparities may shape reward sensitivity, which in turn, could influence how individuals respond to and pursue rewarding experiences. Here, we show that lower-SES adolescents display reduced reward sensitivity in the brain and behavior. The striatum–a brain region that is highly sensitive to reward–showed greater activations during periods of high reward and tracked fluctuations between reward-rich and reward-scarce task phases. However, lower SES correlated with smaller reward-driven striatal responses, and reduced response slowing after rare rewards. These findings link lower SES to reduced reward responses, which could trigger a cycle of reduced reward pursuit, leading to fewer positive experiences, which could further diminish reward sensitivity."
Striatal and Behavioral Responses to Reward Vary by Socioeconomic Status in Adolescents (no public access, but above article contains a link to an open access version)
MIT: Researchers demonstrate rapid 3D liquid meta printing with aluminum
Amazing stuff!
"MIT researchers have developed an additive manufacturing technique that can print rapidly with liquid metal, producing large-scale parts like table legs and chair frames in a matter of minutes.
Their technique, called liquid metal printing (LMP), involves depositing molten aluminum along a predefined path into a bed of tiny glass beads. The aluminum quickly hardens into a 3D structure. ...
LMP, on the other hand, keeps the material molten throughout the process, avoiding some of the structural issues caused by remelting.
Drawing on the group’s previous work on rapid liquid printing with rubber, the researchers built a machine that melts aluminum, holds the molten metal, and deposits it through a nozzle at high speeds. Large-scale parts can be printed in just a few seconds, and then the molten aluminum cools in several minutes. ..."
MIT: Self-powered sensor automatically harvests magnetic energy with energy management interface
Amazing stuff!
"MIT researchers have developed a battery-free, self-powered sensor that can harvest energy from its environment.
Because it requires no battery that must be recharged or replaced, and because it requires no special wiring, such a sensor could be embedded in a hard-to-reach place, like inside the inner workings of a ship’s engine. There, it could automatically gather data on the machine’s power consumption and operations for long periods of time.
The researchers built a temperature-sensing device that harvests energy from the magnetic field generated in the open air around a wire. One could simply clip the sensor around a wire that carries electricity — perhaps the wire that powers a motor — and it will automatically harvest and store energy which it uses to monitor the motor’s temperature. ...
Finally, they developed a series of control algorithms that dynamically measure and budget the energy collected, stored, and used by the device. A microcontroller, the “brain” of the energy management interface, constantly checks how much energy is stored and infers whether to turn the sensor on or off, take a measurement, or kick the harvester into a higher gear so it can gather more energy for more complex sensing needs. ...
They also found that communication — transmitting data gathered by the temperature sensor — was by far the most power-hungry operation. ..."
From the abstract:
"Energy harvesters present the exciting opportunity to create sensor nodes that can power or recharge themselves. Given the intermittent nature of available ambient energy for these harvesters and the common discrepancy between the harvested power and average power required to operate a sensor load, electronic energy management interfaces between the harvester source and a sensor load are often necessary. This article presents a design methodology for energy management interfaces between energy harvester sources and sensor loads. The design guide is practically demonstrated through the prototyping of a low-power energy management module that interfaces a clampable, split-core current transformer (CT) magnetic energy harvester (MEH) to an off-the-shelf bluetooth low energy (BLE) embedded hardware sensor kit. This article documents the design and experimental performance of the cold-start, energy harvest enhancement, overvoltage protection, and energy distribution control capabilities of this energy management interface. The experimental results demonstrate successful cold-start using discrete logic, average power harvest enhancements up to nearly 400% under certain harvester voltage load conditions, and a hysteretic control method for servicing an approximately 50 mW sensor load."
Fig. 1.
English for trippers: Flip fact for fake or for fate
There is a fact checker for that if you can believe it! Two letters make all the difference!
(Source)
VDH: $83 Million settlement against Trump? What a total farce!
Recommendable! What a travesty of justice!
The recent politicization of justice in America is very troubling! It reminds of a banana republic!
"... The civil suit serves as a mere preview of four additional leftwing criminal prosecutions, leftwing judges, and leftwing juries to come—all on charges that would never had been filed if Trump either had not run for president or been a liberal progressive. ...
Carroll eventually sued him for battery, but well after the statute of limitations had expired and thus the case seemed defunct. ..."
She, the alleged victim, did not remember even the year in which the purported sexual assault took place, nearly three decades ago. Observers have pointed out dozens of inconsistencies in her story.
It was never clear what were the preliminaries that supposedly (Trump denies meeting her) led both, allegedly, willingly to retreat together to a department store dressing room, where during normal business hours the alleged violence took place.
Moreover, the sexual assault complaint came forward decades post facto—and only after Trump was running for and then president.
Für Anna Rosenwasser ist die Liebe politisch. «Ich bin eine stolze Schlampe», sagt die bunteste Nationalrätin der Schweiz
Einblicke in die moderne Schweiz! Die ist mit vielen Wassern gewaschen! Eine Braut für Wilhelm Tell! 😊
Ukrainian-Born Model Wins Miss Japan 2024
I had seen the news before that the Miss Japan 2024 was not Japanese, but not that she was born in the Ukraine!
An excellent and unusual example of openness for Japan!
A great show of solidarity/sympathy with the people of Ukraine defending itself against the invasion by Putin the Terrible!
Dänemarks Ghetto-Plan sieht vor, dass ganze Wohnblöcke in sozialschwachen Quartieren abgerissen werden
Das ist ein drastischer Ansatz! Mal sehn, ob er erfolgreich ist.
"Die Bagger sind gekommen, um die Segregation zu durchbrechen. Mjölnerparken, die berüchtigtste Siedlung Dänemarks, soll radikal umgebaut werden. Einst lebten hier 1500 Einwanderer aus Ländern wie Syrien, Afghanistan oder Eritrea. Doch nun müssen viele von ihnen ihr Zuhause verlassen. Denn die dänische Regierung verfolgt einen Plan: In dem Land soll es bis 2030 keine Parallelgesellschaften mehr geben. Um das Ziel zu erreichen, werden gerade in verschiedenen Quartieren im Land Häuser abgerissen und über 10 000 Personen umgesiedelt. Betroffen ist auch Mjölnerparken. Die Siedlung landete 2010 auf der sogenannten Ghetto-Liste der dänischen Regierung. So bezeichnete die Regierung bis 2021 Quartiere, in denen mehr als 50 Prozent der Bewohnerinnen und Bewohner einen «nichtwestlichen Migrationshintergrund» haben. ..."
Global Warming: Observations vs. Climate Models
Recommendable!
Climate models are largely junk! We still know too little about the complex natural phenomenon climate, the sun and so on! It reminds of e.g. the infamous Club of Rome The Limits to Growth computer forecasts of the 1970s.
"Summary Warming of the global climate system over the past half-century has averaged 43 percent less than that produced by computerized climate models used to promote changes in energy policy. In the United States during summer, the observed warming is much weaker than that produced by all 36 climate models surveyed here. While the cause of this relatively benign warming could theoretically be entirely due to humanity’s production of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel burning, this claim cannot be demonstrated through science. At least some of the measured warming could be natural. Contrary to media reports and environmental organizations’ press releases, global warming offers no justification for carbon-based regulation."
Under very rare conditions, Alzheimer’s disease may be transmitted by medical treatment
Amazing stuff! How rare is rare?
"Under extremely rare circumstances, it appears that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted between people. Five people who received contaminated injections of a growth hormone as children went on to develop Alzheimer’s unusually early, researchers report January 29 in Nature Medicine. ..."
From the abstract:
"Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized pathologically by amyloid-beta (Aβ) deposition in brain parenchyma and blood vessels (as cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)) and by neurofibrillary tangles of hyperphosphorylated tau. Compelling genetic and biomarker evidence supports Aβ as the root cause of AD. We previously reported human transmission of Aβ pathology and CAA in relatively young adults who had died of iatrogenic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (iCJD) after childhood treatment with cadaver-derived pituitary growth hormone (c-hGH) contaminated with both CJD prions and Aβ seeds. This raised the possibility that c-hGH recipients who did not die from iCJD may eventually develop AD. Here we describe recipients who developed dementia and biomarker changes within the phenotypic spectrum of AD, suggesting that AD, like CJD, has environmentally acquired (iatrogenic) forms as well as late-onset sporadic and early-onset inherited forms. Although iatrogenic AD may be rare, and there is no suggestion that Aβ can be transmitted between individuals in activities of daily life, its recognition emphasizes the need to review measures to prevent accidental transmissions via other medical and surgical procedures. As propagating Aβ assemblies may exhibit structural diversity akin to conventional prions, it is possible that therapeutic strategies targeting disease-related assemblies may lead to selection of minor components and development of resistance."
Evidence for iatrogenic transmission of Alzheimer’s disease (no public access) Credible evidence suggests that, under extraordinary circumstances, Alzheimer’s disease may be transmitted by a prion-like mechanism — yielding insights into both the basic biology of this neurodegenerative disorder and strategies for early prevention.
Iatrogenic Alzheimer’s disease in recipients of cadaveric pituitary-derived growth hormone (open access)
A PET scan of the brain of a man who received contaminated growth hormones as a child and later developed Alzheimer’s disease shows higher-than-usual levels of the sticky protein A-beta (purple and orange areas) associated with the disease.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)