Unglaublich, was da wieder mal Abging in der Bananenrepublik D!
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report reportedly uncovers $5.8 billion in erroneous federal assistance under Biden admin
The senile, demented and corrupt 46th President was one of the worst in US history!
Israel bans 37 aid groups from Gaza unless they cooperate, where the humanitarian situation remains dire, but approves 24 NGOs
Update of 1/1/2026: Israel approves 24 NGOs to operate within Gaza, Doctors Without Borders among several banned groups "Overall, the 24 organizations on this list account for 99% of the total aid volume, according to Israel, though it has not yet named them."
Good news! Bravo! Keep collaborators or useful idiots of coward mass killers like Hamas out!
"Israel plans to ban 37 aid organisations from operating in Gaza from Thursday unless they hand over detailed information on their Palestinian staff"
Protests in Iran continued on the fourth day to expand geographically across Iran on December 31, 2025
Serious stuff! Hope and pray, the Iranian people will finally get rid of their theocratic dictatorship!
The Middle East and the world would be a much better place without the militaristic, belligerent theocracy and dictatorship in Iran in power since 1979! When will the Iranian people finally get rid of being governed by an authoritarian regime since 1941.
"Small protests broke out in Tehran on December 28 and have since spread to 17 out of Iran’s 31 provinces. Protests spread to Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Ilam, Khuzestan, Khorasan Razavi, and Lorestan provinces on December 31. ... recorded a total of 31 protests in Iran on December 31, compared to 24 protests on December 30. The protests took place across 12 provinces, including the five mentioned above.
Iranian security forces shot live fire to disperse protesters in at least two instances on December 31, as protests continued across Iran for the fourth consecutive day. Security forces fired live ammunition at crowds of protesters in Fasa, Fars Province, and Kuhdasht, Lorestan Province, on December 31. The regime appears to be using live fire to suppress protests in less populated areas of Iran. The regime has historically struggled to impose control in more rural areas.
The regime also deployed water cannons in an attempt to suppress protests on December 31. Security forces used a water cannon against protesters in Hamedan. The weather in Hamedan is currently two degrees below zero degrees Celsius. Security forces also reportedly used a water cannon against protesters in Arak, Markazi Province. The regime’s use of water cannons against protesters comes amid Iran’s unprecedented water shortage crisis. The regime’s deployment of water as a tool to suppress protests amid Iran’s water crisis highlights the regime’s prioritization of its security and survival.
The regime also continued to arrest protesters on December 31. ..."
Racial Disparities in Housing Returns - American Economic Association. Really!
Again, the AEA promotes junk science and demagoguery!
These very clever authors of this research even capitalized White like in White homeowners!
This is not an apple to apples comparison, but skin color ideology bias! This is disgusting racist research!
What about white compared to brown or black Hispanic homeowners?
If economic circumstances and location of residence of these homeowners irrespective of skin color had been the same or very similar in this study, then probably no significant "racial differences" nor "racial gap" were found.
From the abstract:
"We show that higher rates of distressed home sales (i.e., foreclosures and short sales) among Black and Hispanic homeowners severely reduce realized housing returns for these groups—in particular, to a level below that realized by White homeowners. Yet absent financial distress, houses owned by minorities do not appreciate at substantially slower rates than houses owned by non minorities. Racial differences [???] in liquidity and income stability, which are imperfectly observed by lenders, are important determinants of differences in distress. Policies that prevent foreclosure among distressed minorities can mitigate the racial gap [???] in returns."
Trump banned Jeffrey Epstein from Mar-a-Lago’s spa in 2003 after an 18-year-old beautician told managers he’d pressured her for sex during a house call
Good news! This should quash any further Eppstein smear campaign against Trump!
"The incident wasn’t reported to the local authorities, according to ex-staffers and police. Epstein frequented Trump’s club in the late 1990s and early 2000s. For years, spa workers had warned each other about Epstein, who was known among staff for being sexually suggestive and exposing himself during appointments.
He was arrested in 2006 after underage teens told police he paid them for sex. The White House said WSJ was “writing up fallacies and innuendo in order to smear” the president and that he “did nothing wrong and he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of Mar a Lago for being a creep.” The Trump Organization didn’t respond to requests for comment."
The Human Heart of the Little Tramp - Charlie Chaplin
Recommendable! Maybe in 2026 I will watch some of Charlie Chaplin's slapstick movies again Charlie Chaplin was a genius!
Charlie Chaplin eating a shoe sole (Source)
Wie China sich die künftige Weltordnung vorstellt (verbunden mit allen Schurken dieser Welt)
Bedenkenswert! Eine seit längerem bestehende, wachsende Herausforderung an den Westen und Japan sowie Südkorea!
Keine kommunistische Partei war je so und für so viele Jahrzehnte erfolgreich im Inneren wie nach Außen, wie die Kommunistische Partei Chinas. Ein Ende der Einparteiendiktatur ist nicht abzusehen!
Wird sich China an Taiwan die Zähne ausbeißen? Wird China wie Taiwan werden? Hoffentlich bald!
Der Artikel wurde von einem Feuilletonisten geschrieben.
Der Vertreter des Iran scheint in den vorderen zwei Reihen zu fehlen.
China is developing an edge in satellite independent navigation
Serious stuff! Can the West keep up with China?
"A critical gap is emerging. China is publishing aggressively on satellite-independent navigation—bee-style path integration, salmon-like magnetic sensing and bio-hybrid drones. Yet the United States and its allies remain focused on satellite resilience rather than replacement.
This silent edge matters. Swarms of Chinese aircraft, missiles and autonomous vessels guided without satellite signals would erode allied electromagnetic-warfare dominance and weaken deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. If left unaddressed, it risks becoming the decisive asymmetry of the next decade.
Chinese research institutes and military universities are producing a steady stream of papers on bio-inspired navigation. Tests with drone aircraft and uncrewed submarines are verifying:
—Path integration (tracking distance and direction), as used by ants;
—Geomagnetic sensing (detecting variations in the earth’s magnetic field); and
—Optic flow (observing visible objects’ movement relative to a camera) and motion sensing, by which insects work out their position.
Quantum compass prototypes, exploiting atomic spin properties, are also under development.
Laboratories linked to the Chinese armed forces have demonstrated autonomous drones navigating without satellite signals, and Chinese patents describe bio-hybrid systems that fuse magnetic and visual cues. The sheer volume of publications signals that China is preparing to fight in environments in which satellite navigation signals are jammed. Western forces would struggle in those circumstances. ..."
Female Ex-teacher accused of possessing 500+ child porn images — second arrest deepens case incl. aggravated sexual assault
Another Me Too event! Welcome to the age of gender equality!
Men watch out in the battle of the sexes! 😊
"Aformer teacher in Texas has been accused of inappropriate sexual contact with a child and possession of child pornography. Just days after the substitute teacher’s arrest, her alleged boyfriend was also arrested for child sex crimes.
On Dec. 19, Madison Paige Jones was reportedly charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child, two counts of indecency with a child sexual contact, and one count of possession of child pornography. ..."
Meet LLMRouter: An Intelligent Routing System designed to Optimize LLM Inference by Dynamically Selecting the most Suitable Model for Each Query
This seems to be an interesting approach! Probably it can be combined/integrated with mixture of experts (MoE) approaches.
"LLMRouter is an open source routing library from the U Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign that treats model selection as a first class system problem. It sits between applications and a pool of LLMs and chooses a model for each query based on task complexity, quality targets, and cost, all exposed through a unified Python API and CLI. The project ships with more than 16 routing models, a data generation pipeline over 11 benchmarks, and a plugin system for custom routers. ..."
"... To achieve intelligent routing, it defines:
- Smart Routing: Automatically routes queries to the optimal LLM based on task complexity, cost, and performance requirements.
- Multiple Router Models: Support for over 16 routing models, including KNN, SVM, MLP, Matrix Factorization, Elo Rating, Graph-based routers, BERT-based routers, Hybrid probabilistic routers, transformed-score routers, multi-round routers, and many additional advanced strategies.
..."
China Hangzhou's AI Robot Police Officer Directs City Traffic
Amazing stuff! Can the West keep up with China?
"Hangzhou is the latest city in China to take traffic control to a new level, rolling out a new AI-powered robot police officer to direct vehicles and pedestrians at a major intersection and issue polite warnings to law-breakers. ..."
$35 million stolen in a weekend long Bank Heist in in Gelsenkirchen, Germany
The banana republic of Germany is in the news again! Gelsenkirchen is a city of about 260,000 population. The savings bank is located in the downtown area.
The masked thieves were able to spend a whole weekend to break into the 3,000 safe-deposit boxes and carrying their loot to their getaway car parked in the garage? Nobody noticed?
It was reported that the thieves used tools not available in a regular hardware store to drill into the vault of the bank.
"Thieves drilled through a parking garage wall into a savings bank vault in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, then spent the weekend breaking into more than 3,000 safe-deposit boxes and stealing an estimated $35 million in cash, gold, and jewelry.
Police described the heist as “very professionally executed,” ... with witnesses reporting masked men carrying large bags through the parking garage stairwell before fleeing in a black Audi RS 6 with stolen license plates.
The break-in came to light Monday morning when a fire alarm was triggered, and emergency services discovered the hole. ...
About 200 distressed customers massed outside the closed bank branch on Tuesday after police received threats against employees, with many victims reporting losses far exceeding their insured values."
About 200 distressed customers massed outside the closed bank branch on Tuesday after police received threats against employees, with many victims reporting losses far exceeding their insured values."
A giant hole in the wall of the bank vault, shown in a photo released by German police (Handout)
Believe it or not, the US doesn’t have an Indo-Pacific warfighting HQ
Bad news! This sounds almost incredible given the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941!
"US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth should decisively direct the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, to establish a dedicated theatre-level headquarters within the US Indo-Pacific Command. In doing so, Hegseth would promote the objectives of rapid reprioritisation of military resources, improved planning and revitalised alliances. ...
Since January, the second administration of President Donald Trump has issued interim national security guidance prioritising the Indo-Pacific and the challenge posed by China. ...
But even as prospects of an invasion across the Taiwan Strait become increasingly plausible, the United States lacks an Indo-Pacific command structure designed for a major theatre war. ..."
France finalizes $1.3B contract for 2 Saab GlobalEye radar planes
Good news!
According to Google: "The Saab GlobalEye is a more modern, multi-domain AEW&C (Airborne Early Warning & Control) system on a business jet platform (Global 6000), featuring a powerful Erieye ER AESA radar for air, land, and sea surveillance, offering long endurance and efficiency; traditional AWACS (like the E-3 Sentry) use larger Boeing 707/767 frames with rotating rotodome radars (like the MESA or older systems) for broad air surveillance but are less agile, bigger, and require more crew, with GlobalEye often seen as a lighter, more flexible, but potentially shorter-range alternative to larger, established systems."
"... Saab has also pushed the plane for NATO after the alliance recently canceled its order for Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail. ..."
English for trippers: A pacifier for a pacifist
Peace sucks! Just kidding!
How many pacifiers are floating on the surface of the Pacific Ocean?
China's maglev test reaches 435 mph (700 kmh) in under two seconds
Amazing stuff!
"Researchers ... have accelerated a one-ton vehicle from a dead stop to 435 mph (700 km/h) in under two seconds – then back to zero mph on about a 1/4 mile (1,312 ft / 400 meter) magnetic levitation test track. ... That makes it the quickest superconducting maglev acceleration ever demonstrated. ...
But NUDT isn't stopping there. The eventual goal is to hit the 621 mph (1,000 km/h) mark, surpassing the typical 550-580 mph (885-933 km/h) that passenger planes generally cruise at. ...
Though called "high-temperature superconductors (HTS)," it actually operates using liquid nitrogen, closer to -321 °F (–196 °C) ..."
China’s record-smashing maglev achieves 0-700km/h acceleration in less than 2 seconds "Feat seen to catapult China into global top tier of ultra-high-speed maglev technology and unlock new possibilities for hyperloop transport"
Metabolites in million-year-old fossils reveal animals’ lives in detail
Amazing stuff!
Notice this study also mentions warmer temperatures than today millions of years before humans released CO2!
"About 2.4 million years ago, a large, now-extinct elephant meandered along the grassy shores of Lake Malawi in East Africa. Today, scientists know it was a juvenile that munched wormwood bark and mulberry leaves—and may have been fighting an infection when it died.
In a study ... scientists report that fossil bones and teeth from that elephant and other fossil animals dating back millions of years ago contain metabolites, tiny byproducts of internal metabolic processes. These compounds can reveal hidden insights into past environments, including details such as soil acidity and ancient pathogens. The work highlights the promise of such work to provide a window into the past. ...
The study “inaugurates paleometabolomics”—as the field is known—“as a robust, biomolecular tool for extracting … data from millions-of-years-old fossils,” ..."
"For the first time, scientists have analyzed metabolism-related molecules from the fossilized bones of animals that lived 1.3 to 3 million years ago, revealing insights about both the animals and their environments.
The metabolic clues about the animals’ health and diets enabled researchers to paint a picture of their living conditions, including the temperature, soil, rainfall, and vegetation. Their findings, published in Nature, reveal warmer and wetter conditions across these environments compared to today.
Studying metabolites—the molecules produced and used in digestion and other chemical processes in the body—can provide information about health and disease, as well as external factors like diet and environmental exposures. While metabolomic research is increasingly used in studying human diseases and drugs, few scientists have explored its use in understanding the prehistoric world. Instead, they largely focus on DNA in fossils, which is primarily used for establishing genetic relationships. ..."
From the abstract:
"The science of metabolic profiling exploits chemical compound byproducts of metabolism called metabolites that explain internal biological functions, physiological health and disease, and provide evidence of external influences specific to an organism’s habitat.
Here we assess palaeometabolomes from fossilized mammalian hard tissues as a molecular ecological strategy to provide evidence of an ancient organism’s relationship with its environment.
From eastern, central and southern African Plio-Pleistocene localities of palaeoanthropological significance, we study six fossils from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, one from the Chiwondo Beds, Malawi, and one from Makapansgat, South Africa.
We perform endogeneity assessments by analysing palaeometabolomes of palaeosols and the effects of owl digestion on rodent bones to enable prudent ecological inferences.
Here we assess palaeometabolomes from fossilized mammalian hard tissues as a molecular ecological strategy to provide evidence of an ancient organism’s relationship with its environment.
From eastern, central and southern African Plio-Pleistocene localities of palaeoanthropological significance, we study six fossils from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, one from the Chiwondo Beds, Malawi, and one from Makapansgat, South Africa.
We perform endogeneity assessments by analysing palaeometabolomes of palaeosols and the effects of owl digestion on rodent bones to enable prudent ecological inferences.
Diagenesis is indicated by metabolites of collagenase-producing bacteria, whereas the preservation of peptides including those of collagen are identified by proteomics.
Endogenous metabolites document biological functions and exogenous metabolites render environmental details including soil characteristics and woody cover, and enable annual minimum and maximum rainfall and temperature reconstructions at Olduvai Gorge, supporting the freshwater woodland and grasslands of Olduvai Gorge Bed, and the dry woodlands and marsh of Olduvai Gorge Upper Bed II6.
All sites denote wetter and/or warmer conditions than today.
We infer that metabolites preserved in hard tissues derive from an extravasated vasculature serum filtrate that becomes entombed within developing mineralized matrices, and most probably survive palaeontological timeframes in the nanoscopic ‘pool’ of structural-bound water that occurs in hard tissue niches."
Metabolic Analyses of Animal Fossils Helps Scientists Reconstruct Million-Year-Old Environments (original news release) "Thanks to molecules trapped in ancient animal bones, fossils tell stories about disease, diet, and climate"
A polarized light image of fossilized antelope bone showing intact collagen (scale: 1 mm across)
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
INSV Kaundinya’s Historic sailing Journey to Oman with Palki Sharma
Recommendable! There is a long tradition now of reconstructing old ships with the means of the time and cross oceans (e.g. Thor Heyerdahl's famous Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947 and others since)
Russia Accuses Ukraine of Targeting Putin's Residence With Palki Sharma
Putin the Terrible has apparently not shown any evidence for such an attack! Was he even at the residence at the time? Why would the Ukraine do it at this time when ally President Trump is trying hard to finalize a peace agreement?
Saudi Arabia Bombs Yemen, Warns Ally UAE of "Red Line" With Palki Sharma
Serious stuff! How deep is the conflict between Saudi Arabia and UAE over Yemen?
Divine Policy: The Impact of Religion in Government - American Economic Association. Really!
Again, the American Economic Association promotes leftist demagoguery!
Are there no progressive churches in the US? What do they "strengthen"? The oxymoron "gender dysphoria"? Genital mutilation and puberty blockers for teenagers? What else?
The abstract contains a lot of banalities, which seems indicative of junk science.
I bet, the explicit mention of "attitudes against homosexuals" in the abstract is a kind of citation or click bait or in furtherance of the LGBTQ cause in claiming discrimination!
From the abstract:
"Can policies shape personal values and beliefs? To examine, we exploit the staggered introduction of faith-based initiatives across US states.
Our difference-in-differences analysis reveals that the initiatives strengthened religiosity and conservative-religious social views, such as attitudes against homosexuals [???].
The evidence points to causal effects; we find no systematic differences prior to implementation, the results are robust to restricting comparison to contiguous counties and to conducting triple-differences estimation exploiting treatment heterogeneity.
A key explanation, in line with standard models of religion and supported by data on nonprofit organizations, is that the initiatives facilitated the establishment of faith-based organizations."
The stalled progress of gender equality in the US labor market (Research Highlights Featured Chart by AEA). Really!
It is a disgrace for the American Economic Association to promote such demagoguery! See also my blog post here on this demagoguery of a gender pay gap.
What or how much does workforce participation have to do with this "gender equality"?
What is wrong with the chart below?
- Data stops with the 1990s. Why not more recent data?
- Education, workforce participation and age do not determine wage outcomes as much as other factors! It is foremost the choice of jobs, changing jobs, relocating for jobs, prior job experiences, job promotions, career ambitions and so on!
The authors of this paper use again the old, false, and worn out trope of child rearing (why not elder care etc.)! Although, the US abandoned the draft in 1973, still predominantly men choose military service which may or may not negatively affect/impact their lifetime income as well.
The first author Richard Blundell is a highly recognized, older economist, if I am not mistaken. His accumulated lifetime citation count is 109,830, which is quite good! He started publishing research articles in the late 1970s.
"The gender wage gap narrowed dramatically from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s, with women's wages converging toward those of men across all income levels. Then progress stalled, and despite continued advances in women's education and workforce participation over the subsequent quarter century, the gap has persisted. [???] ..."
From the abstract:
"We estimate the full distribution of life cycle wages for cohorts of men and women in the United States using a quantile selection model to account for systematic differences in employment by gender and education group.
Although common within-group time effects [???] are shown to be a key driver of labor market inequalities across gender, important additional differences by birth cohort emerge with more recent cohorts of women delaying child rearing [???] and, by implication, the onset of child penalties in wages.
These cross-cohort differences help account for the stalling of progress in gender wage gaps over the past quarter century."
Labour market inequality and the changing life cycle profile of male and female wages (original news release from 4/13/2023 plus working paper)
Labor Market Inequality and the Changing Life Cycle Profile of Male and Female Wages (no public access)
Figure 5 from the authors’ paper shows their estimates broken down by educational attainment.
Highway to Hitler - American Economic Association. Really!
I am not sure why the AEA has accepted this paper for publication in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics!
This subject, i.e. the Autobahn network built by Hitler, has been extensively debated and researched since the 1950s! What is new?
From the content of the abstract, the results are clearly a joke or even junk science!
Papers like this make economics look like a sciences of esoterics or marginals!
According to Google Scholar a book by the same title and same authors was already published in 2014! Why the heck did the AEA rehash this subject?
The first author Nico Voigtländer (UCLA Anderson School of Management) has a lifetime citation count of 5,409. Not very impressive!
The second and last author Hans-Joachim Voth (UBS Foundation Professor of Economics, Economics Department, University of Zurich) has a lifetime citation count of 11,173. Somewhat better, but not great either!
Caveat: I did not read the paper.
From the abstract:
"We show that the building of the Autobahn network in Nazi Germany boosted popular support for Adolf Hitler, helping to entrench the Nazi dictatorship. Direct local economic benefits are unlikely to explain the effect. Instead, it reflects successful propaganda: The regime portrayed the Autobahn as a symbol of recovery and the end of austerity. Support rose particularly strongly where highway construction coincided with greater radio availability and in politically unstable regions.
Our findings suggest that visible infrastructure projects can raise support for autocratic regimes when voters are led to associate them with economic progress and an end to political instability."
Detailed cell map unlocks secrets of how reproductive organs form during prenatal development
Good news! Amazing stuff!
"New research has mapped the cell types that specialise to form reproductive organs in both sexes, identifying key genes and signals that drive this process. The findings offer important insights into conditions affecting the reproductive organs, and how environmental chemicals may affect reproductive health.
Researchers ... used a combination of single-cell and spatial genomics technologies to analyse over half a million individual human cells from the developing reproductive system. ..."
From the abstract:
"The human reproductive tract is essential for species perpetuation and overall health. Its development involves complex processes of sex specification, tissue patterning and morphogenesis, the disruption of which can cause lifelong issues, including infertility.
Here we present an extensive single-cell and spatial multi-omic atlas of the human reproductive tract during prenatal development to provide insights beyond those that are possible with smaller-scale, organ-focused studies.
We describe potential regulators of sexual dimorphism in reproductive organs and pinpoint previously unknown genes involved in Müllerian duct emergence and regression and urethral canalization of the penis.
By combining histological features with gene expression and chromatin accessibility data, we define transcription factors and signalling events potentially involved in the regionalization of the Müllerian and Wolffian ducts.
We also refine how the HOX code is established in distinct reproductive organs and reveal that the expression of thoracic HOX genes is increased in the rostral mesenchyme of the fallopian tube and epididymis.
Our findings further indicate that epithelial regionalization of the fallopian tube and epididymis, which probably contribute to sperm maturation and capacitation, is established during development.
Our findings further indicate that epithelial regionalization of the fallopian tube and epididymis, which probably contribute to sperm maturation and capacitation, is established during development.
By contrast, later events are necessary for regionalization of the uterocervical canal epithelium.
Finally, on the basis of single-cell data and fetal-derived organoids, we show that the fetal uterine epithelium is vulnerable to oestrogen-mimicking endocrine disruptors.
By mapping sex-specific reproductive tract regionalization and differentiation at the cellular level, our study provides valuable insights into causes and potential treatments of developmental reproductive disorders."
Fig. 1: Single-cell resolved spatiotemporal atlas.
Alzheimer's disease can be reversed in animal models to achieve full neurological recovery
Good news! This could be a major breakthrough!
"... Through studying diverse preclinical mouse models and human AD brains, the team showed that the brain's failure to maintain normal levels of a central cellular energy molecule, NAD+, is a major driver of AD, and that maintaining proper NAD+ balance can prevent and even reverse the disease.
NAD+ levels decline naturally across the body, including the brain, as people age. Without proper NAD+ balance, cells eventually become unable to execute critical processes required for proper functioning and survival.
In this study, the team showed that the decline in NAD+ is even more severe in the brains of people with AD, and that this also occurs in mouse models of the disease. ...
the research team tested whether preventing the loss of brain NAD+ balance before disease onset, or restoring brain NAD+ balance after significant disease progression, could prevent or reverse AD, respectively.
The study was based on their previous work, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showing that restoring the brain's NAD+ balance achieved pathological and functional recovery after severe, long-lasting traumatic brain injury. They restored NAD+ balance by administering a now well-characterized pharmacological agent known as P7C3-A20, developed in the Pieper lab.
Remarkably, not only did preserving NAD+ balance protect mice from developing AD, but delayed treatment in mice with advanced disease also enabled the brain to fix the major pathological events caused by the genetic mutations. Moreover, both lines of mice fully recovered cognitive function.
This was accompanied by normalized blood levels of phosphorylated tau 217, a recently approved clinical biomarker of AD in people ..."
From the highlights and abstract:
"Highlights
• Severity of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) correlates with NAD+ homeostasis dysregulation
• Preserving brain NAD+ homeostasis prevents AD in mice
• Restoring brain NAD+ homeostasis reverses advanced AD in mice
• Multiomics across human and mouse AD brain identifies nodes for human AD reversal
Summary
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is traditionally considered irreversible.
Here, however, we provide proof of principle for therapeutic reversibility of advanced AD. In advanced disease amyloid-driven 5xFAD mice, treatment with P7C3-A20, which restores nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) homeostasis, reverses tau phosphorylation, blood-brain barrier deterioration, oxidative stress, DNA damage, and neuroinflammation and enhances hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity, resulting in full cognitive recovery and reduction of plasma levels of the clinical AD biomarker p-tau217.
P7C3-A20 also reverses advanced disease in tau-driven PS19 mice and protects human brain microvascular endothelial cells from oxidative stress.
In humans and mice, pathology severity correlates with disruption of brain NAD+ homeostasis, and the brains of nondemented people with Alzheimer’s neuropathology exhibit gene expression patterns suggestive of preserved NAD+ homeostasis.
Forty-six proteins aberrantly expressed in advanced 5xFAD mouse brain and normalized by P7C3-A20 show similar alterations in human AD brain, revealing targets with potential for optimizing translation to patient care."
In humans and mice, pathology severity correlates with disruption of brain NAD+ homeostasis, and the brains of nondemented people with Alzheimer’s neuropathology exhibit gene expression patterns suggestive of preserved NAD+ homeostasis.
Forty-six proteins aberrantly expressed in advanced 5xFAD mouse brain and normalized by P7C3-A20 show similar alterations in human AD brain, revealing targets with potential for optimizing translation to patient care."
New study shows Alzheimer’s disease can be reversed to achieve full neurological recovery—not just prevented or slowed—in animal models (original news release) "Researchers from Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals and the Cleveland VA showed restoring brain’s energy balance led to both pathological and functional recovery"
Graphical abstract
Figure 1 P7C3-A20 restores brain NAD+ homeostasis, cognitive function, and synaptic plasticity in aged symptomatic 5xFAD mice
English for trippers: Condemn condoms
Please don't do it! What the word condominium come from?
There are still only three contraceptive available to men at the end of the first quarter of the 21st century! None of them very convenient, one of them is very effective, not reversible and may interfere with pleasure!
Arab League condemns Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
When will these Arab countries get smarter! History does not reward persistent stupidity!
Monday, December 29, 2025
'Godfather of AI' Geoffrey Hinton warns AI has 'progressed even faster than I thought'
Recommendable! Geoffrey Hinton is only one of three Godfathers of AI.
Bangladesh former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia dies, aged 80
Recommendable! On the Indian continent there were more female head of states than in most Western countries.
New Political Alliance Emerges Ahead of Nepal's 2026 Election with Palki Sharma
Very recommendable! A rapper and a mayor join forces!
Israel Becomes First Country to Recognise Somaliland. Here's Why with Palki Sharma
Very recommendable! Bravo! Could be a very clever, strategic move by Israel! What Palki perhaps omitted to mention is that Somaliland is a functioning Islamic republic governed by democratic elected governments without terrorism in its midst.
Taiwan Drills: China Sends a Message to the US and Japan with Palki Sharma
The bully Communist Party of China is escalating it's threats against Taiwan!
Protests erupt in Iran in several cities as currency plummets to record low
Good news! Will the Iranian people finally get rid of decades of theocratic dictatorship!
Trump said that the U.S. recently carried out an attack on a dock area in Venezuela where drugs are loaded onto boats
This would be a new, major escalation! Was he threatening or is this a fact?
"[Trump] didn’t provide details of the alleged attack, which would represent a major escalation of the U.S. pressure campaign against Venezuela. It was the second time in the past few days he had referred to such an operation in vague terms. Trump also declined to say whether the military or a U.S. intelligence agency was responsible. There has been no independent confirmation from his administration or Venezuela that such an attack took place."
Ukraine security guarantees for 15 years after the war’s end, but Kiev wants 30 to 50 years to deter Russia from future aggression
30-50 years sounds very reasonable to me since Putin the Terrible has already invaded the Ukraine twice in 2014 and in 2022 despite Russia has already agreed to the territorial integrity of the Ukraine after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
The Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in 1994, the third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, for security and territorial integrity. Russia did not care or honor!
Russia has to give up all occupied territories of the Ukraine including the Crimea! This is a sine qua non!
Who will defend this guarantee against any renewed Russian aggression? NATO, European countries, the US alone?
I just blogged here about a very reasonable peace agreement proposal by President Zelensky.
"Trump said he “would think about it,” according to Zelensky. The two presidents met in Florida yesterday to discuss a U.S.-drafted peace plan. Trump said he expected Kyiv’s European allies to contribute significantly to the effort, with U.S. backing. The White House declined to comment beyond its statements made yesterday."
Light-driven catalyst can break down PFAS forever chemicals
Good news!
Remember so called "forever chemicals" is mostly alarmism, hysteria, and demagoguery! Unfortunately, too many scientists engage in this nonsense too!
Alert: Plastophobia is a serious disorder. Please seek immediate medical help! (Caution: satire)
What about all the benefits of plastics in our lives? What are the possible substitutes (how healthy are the substitutes)?
"But their ongoing impact on health issues in humans and other animals is being uncovered. Some PFAS are carcinogenic. The new research ... describes how a material can use light to catalyse a reaction which breaks down a range of pollutants in water including PFAS. This kind of approach has previously shown promise in breaking down PFAS. ..."
"... The process involves the use of a class of materials known as covalent organic frameworks, or COFs, whose porous structure ⎯ and hence high surface area ⎯ make them useful in light-driven, or photocatalytic, reactions. When they interact with light, some of the electrons in COF molecules get displaced, forming holes, and this bifurcation of charges is what makes COFs good photocatalysts. ..."
From the abstract:
"Nature-inspired photocatalysis provides a sustainable solution for energy conversion and pollutant degradation. Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), with tunable properties and high porosity, have shown promise as photocatalysts, though their synthesis often requires extensive efforts. In this study, we report the in-situ growth of COFs on defective hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) surfaces to form hBN@1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol (Tp)-4,4′-diamino-[1,1′-biphenyl]-3,3′-dicarbonitrile (DBCN) heterostructures. Bandgap analysis and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy revealed the formation of type-II heterojunctions, enhancing charge separation and minimizing recombination. Density functional theory simulations confirmed efficient charge transfer at the COF-hBN interface. The hBN@Tp-DBCN heterostructures demonstrated remarkable versatility, achieving nearly complete degradation of dyes, pharmaceutical waste, and persistent compounds such as perfluorooctanoic acid [PFAS]. Practical implementation in vertical and horizontal configurations further validated their application potential. This research underscores the efficacy of hBN@COFs heterostructures in photocatalysis and offers a promising direction for metal-free heterostructures in artificial photosynthesis and water treatment."
Engineered material uses light to destroy PFAS, other contaminants (original news release)
Graphical abstract
Key enzyme controls both weight gain and cholesterol levels in animal models
Good news!
"... Nitric oxide is a gas molecule with pleiotropic actions in the body. These effects of nitric oxide are carried out through its binding to proteins. Too much or too little nitric oxide binding (to key proteins) causes disease.
In a study ... a research team ... discovered a novel enzyme (SCoR2) that removes nitric oxide from proteins controlling fat build up. Removal of nitric oxide turned on fat synthesis, establishing that SCoR2 is needed to make fat.
The team then inhibited SCoR2 genetically and by developing a drug. They found that blocking this nitric oxide-removing enzyme prevented weight gain and liver injury in mouse models. The same drug also lowered bad cholesterol.
"We have a new class of drug that prevents weight gain and lowers cholesterol—a potential therapy for obesity and cardiovascular disease, with additional hepatic benefits," ..."
"...
- Cleveland research team has discovered a new enzyme that is required to make fat.
- Blocking the enzyme prevented weight gain and lowered cholesterol.
- A three-in-one drug is being developed to treat obesity, fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular disease.
..."
From the editor's summary and abstract:
"Editor’s summary
Hypertrophy of white adipose tissue due to triglyceride storage and steatosis in the liver due to excessive de novo lipogenesis have detrimental metabolic effects. Venetos et al. found that these processes were stimulated by the enzymatic removal of S-nitrosyl (SNO) groups from distinct protein targets in white adipose tissue and liver by the denitrosylase SCoR2.
Mice deficient in SCoR2 or given a SCoR2 inhibitor were metabolically protected from obesogenic diets because of increased fatty acid oxidation in the liver and reduced adipose tissue expansion.
Moreover, SCoR2 mRNA or protein abundance correlated with obesity, adipocyte surface area, or steatotic liver disease in patients. Thus, because SCoR2 activity skews global lipid metabolism toward storage and synthesis, this denitrosylase could be targeted to treat both obesity and hepatic steatosis. ...
Mice deficient in SCoR2 or given a SCoR2 inhibitor were metabolically protected from obesogenic diets because of increased fatty acid oxidation in the liver and reduced adipose tissue expansion.
Moreover, SCoR2 mRNA or protein abundance correlated with obesity, adipocyte surface area, or steatotic liver disease in patients. Thus, because SCoR2 activity skews global lipid metabolism toward storage and synthesis, this denitrosylase could be targeted to treat both obesity and hepatic steatosis. ...
Abstract
Lipid homeostasis is subject to control by posttranslational modification machinery, such as sirtuin deacetylases that reverse coenzyme A (CoA)–dependent acetylation.
Here, we showed that a mammalian denitrosylase (SCoR2), which counteracts CoA-dependent S-nitrosylation, promoted both fat storage and lipogenesis to impair metabolic health.
In mice, SCoR2 protein abundance correlated with body mass, and deleting or pharmacologically inhibiting SCoR2 prevented both diet-induced obesity and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
Loss of SCoR2 in adipocytes promoted the S-nitrosylation of the actin cytoskeletal regulator myosin 9, which inhibited the activity of the lipogenesis-promoting transcription factors PPARγ, SREBP1, and CEBPα to prevent fat storage.
In hepatocytes, inhibition of SCoR2-mediated denitrosylation of lipogenic enzymes reduced fat synthesis and induced fat oxidation.
In humans, an obesity-linked polymorphism was associated with increased SCoR2 mRNA expression, and in patient adipose and liver tissues, SCoR2 protein or mRNA abundance directly correlated with adipocyte size or MASLD.
These results indicate that SCoR2 regulates nutrient metabolism, similar to sirtuins, and is a potential drug target for obesity and MASLD."
In mice, SCoR2 protein abundance correlated with body mass, and deleting or pharmacologically inhibiting SCoR2 prevented both diet-induced obesity and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).
Loss of SCoR2 in adipocytes promoted the S-nitrosylation of the actin cytoskeletal regulator myosin 9, which inhibited the activity of the lipogenesis-promoting transcription factors PPARγ, SREBP1, and CEBPα to prevent fat storage.
In hepatocytes, inhibition of SCoR2-mediated denitrosylation of lipogenic enzymes reduced fat synthesis and induced fat oxidation.
In humans, an obesity-linked polymorphism was associated with increased SCoR2 mRNA expression, and in patient adipose and liver tissues, SCoR2 protein or mRNA abundance directly correlated with adipocyte size or MASLD.
These results indicate that SCoR2 regulates nutrient metabolism, similar to sirtuins, and is a potential drug target for obesity and MASLD."
Cleveland Researchers Discover Enzyme That Controls Both Weight Gain and Cholesterol Levels in Animal Models (original news release)
The protein denitrosylase SCoR2 regulates lipogenesis and fat storage (no public access)
Warum in Deutschland immer mehr Privatflugzeuge abheben, kein Statussymbol
Na und! Warum nicht! Aber im Klimawahn der Bananenrepublik D ist das wohl anrüchig?
Frauen mit Botox und Filler für Trump. Wirklich!
Was ist das wieder für ein Schrott Journalismus aus Deutschland!
Offensichtlich, grassiert das Trump Derangement Syndrome auch in der Bananenrepublik D!
Die Journalistin des Artikels Melanie Mühl. Ist die Frau vielleicht noch zu jung für Füller oder hat sie die Füller in ihrer Birne?
Trump’s Gaza Plan Won’t Bring Peace or Prosperity by Michael Rubin
Very recommendable! Hopefully, President Trump will not make a fool out of himself on this issue.
Remember and keep in mind that many of the so called Palestinians were Arab immigrants from neighboring Arab countries who came after Israel become a hospitable land thanks to Jewish efforts.
"... What became Israel was a malarial patch of land, a discarded backwater until Zionist settlers drained swamps and transformed it into rich agricultural land.
For all the talk by Palestinian advocates of Zionists as outsiders to the land, the Palestinians themselves were. The Arab influx into the land originated from today’s Syria and coincided with Zionist eradication of malaria.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt observed that, “the Arab immigration into Palestine since 1921 has vastly exceeded the total Jewish immigration during this whole period,” with migrants coming from both Syria and Egypt. As Palestine filled, real estate prices soared—a basic calculation of supply and demand.
In 1937, the British-sponsored Peel Commission reported that a “shortfall of land is, we consider, due less to the amount of land acquired by Jews than to the increase in the Arab population.” If Israel and later Singapore could take a resource-free wasteland and thrive upon it, there should be no reason why Palestinians could not. ...
For all the talk by Palestinian advocates of Zionists as outsiders to the land, the Palestinians themselves were. The Arab influx into the land originated from today’s Syria and coincided with Zionist eradication of malaria.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt observed that, “the Arab immigration into Palestine since 1921 has vastly exceeded the total Jewish immigration during this whole period,” with migrants coming from both Syria and Egypt. As Palestine filled, real estate prices soared—a basic calculation of supply and demand.
In 1937, the British-sponsored Peel Commission reported that a “shortfall of land is, we consider, due less to the amount of land acquired by Jews than to the increase in the Arab population.” If Israel and later Singapore could take a resource-free wasteland and thrive upon it, there should be no reason why Palestinians could not. ...
The problem with Gaza, however, has never been poverty. After all, there are many poor countries—Malawi and Senegal, for example—that are democratic and do not tolerate terrorism. Palestinian proponents can argue that lack of independence explains their embrace of terror, but this too is false.
Somaliland enjoys no international recognition, no appreciable resources, is almost completely Muslim, and yet has developed good governance, a stable democracy, and a no-nonsense attitude rejecting terrorism. Indeed, if terrorists seek to recruit a young Somalilander, his own parents likely will turn him into authorities to keep the peace and prevent the stain to family honor. Such stability, democracy, and success are the major reasons why Somaliland deserves the investment and recognition more than the Palestinians of Gaza. ...
Famously, when Israel turned over Gaza, they transferred its economic infrastructure to the Palestinian authorities. I visited at the time and saw the greenhouses and industrial sites upon which Gaza could have staked its economy and provided jobs; instead, they chose to loot and destroy.
Nothing has changed. The problem has never been poverty, but rather ideology. Too many Gazans would rather remain poor and kill Jews than get rich and live in peace. They root their logic in a twisted religious exegesis that money will not reverse. ..."
New image sensor breaks optical limits without using lenses resolves sub-micron features at ultralong working distances and reconstructs 3D shapes over centimeter-scale fields
Amazing stuff! This could be a major breakthrough!
"... introducing a breakthrough solution that could redefine optical imaging across science, medicine, and industry.
"At the heart of this breakthrough is a longstanding technical problem," said Zheng. "Synthetic aperture imaging—the method that allowed the Event Horizon Telescope to image a black hole—works by coherently combining measurements from multiple separated sensors to simulate a much larger imaging aperture." ..."
"... Yet despite decades of innovation, a fundamental barrier has persisted: capturing high-resolution, wide-field images at optical wavelengths without cumbersome lenses or strict alignment constraints. ...
The Multiscale Aperture Synthesis Imager (MASI) turns this challenge on its head. Rather than forcing multiple optical sensors to operate in perfect physical synchrony – a task that would require nanometer-level precision – MASI lets each sensor measure light independently and then uses computational algorithms to synchronize the data afterward. ...
akin to having multiple photographers capture the same scene, not as ordinary photos but as raw measurements of light wave properties, and then letting software stitch these independent captures into one ultra-high-resolution image. ...
MASI deviates from conventional optical imaging in two transformative ways. Rather than relying on lenses to focus light onto a sensor, MASI deploys an array of coded sensors positioned in different parts of a diffraction plane. Each captures raw diffraction patterns –essentially the way light waves spread after interacting with an object. These diffraction measurements contain both amplitude and phase information, which are recovered using computational algorithms.
Once each sensor’s complex wavefield is recovered, the system digitally pads and numerically propagates the wavefields back to the object plane. A computational phase synchronization method then iteratively adjusts the relative phase offsets of each sensor’s data to maximize the overall coherence and energy in the unified reconstruction.
This step is the key innovation: by optimizing the combined wavefields in software rather than aligning sensors physically, MASI overcomes the diffraction limit and other constraints imposed by traditional optics.
The result? A virtual synthetic aperture for larger than any single sensor, enabling sub-micron resolution and wide field coverage without lenses. ..."
From the abstract:
"Synthetic aperture imaging has enabled breakthrough observations from radar to astronomy. However, optical implementation remains challenging due to stringent wavefield synchronization requirements among multiple receivers.
Here we present the multiscale aperture synthesis imager (MASI), which utilizes parallelism to break complex optical challenges into tractable sub-problems. MASI employs a distributed array of coded sensors that operate independently yet coherently to surpass the diffraction limit of single receiver. It combines the propagated wavefields from individual sensors through a computational phase synchronization scheme, eliminating the need for overlapping measurement regions to establish phase coherence.
Light diffraction in MASI naturally expands the imaging field, generating phase-contrast visualizations that are substantially larger than sensor dimensions.
Light diffraction in MASI naturally expands the imaging field, generating phase-contrast visualizations that are substantially larger than sensor dimensions.
Without using lenses, MASI resolves sub-micron features at ultralong working distances and reconstructs 3D shapes over centimeter-scale fields.
MASI transforms the intractable optical synchronization problem into a computational one, enabling practical deployment of scalable synthetic aperture systems at optical wavelengths."
New Image Sensor Breaks Optical Limits (original news release) "UConn engineers develop new image sensor to achieve 3D microscopic resolution without lenses."
Multiscale aperture synthesis imager (open access)
A bullet cartridge imaged by MASI.
Top: The captured complex electric field contains both amplitude (brightness) and phase (color) information.
Bottom: This data enables 3D reconstruction at micrometer resolution, showing the firing pin impression, a unique marking that can link a bullet casing to a specific gun
Top: The captured complex electric field contains both amplitude (brightness) and phase (color) information.
Bottom: This data enables 3D reconstruction at micrometer resolution, showing the firing pin impression, a unique marking that can link a bullet casing to a specific gun
Fig. 1: Operating principle and implementation of MASI.
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