The translucent exterior of a plastic soda bottle hides a secret in plain sight: hundreds of synthetic chemicals embedded in its seemingly innocuous material. These chemicals give the plastic its structure, flexibility and durability, among other qualities—the same traits that also make plastic last for centuries, causing it to accumulate and endure in nature. Before… Continue reading How Do Chemicals in Plastics Impact Your Endocrine System?
The Mystery of the Missing Multicellular Prokaryotes
The genomes of prokaryotes, however, tend to collapse in size in the face of genetic drift, as suggested by work done by Howard Ochman of the University of Texas, Austin and Louis-Marie Bobay, now at North Carolina State University. It’s not clear why, but it may be because gene regulation in prokaryotes is much less… Continue reading The Mystery of the Missing Multicellular Prokaryotes
COVID-19 Leaves Its Mark on the Brain. Significant Drops in IQ Scores Are Noted.
COVID-19 Leaves Its Mark on the Brain. Significant Drops in IQ Scores Are Noted Research shows that even mild COVID-19 can lead to the equivalent of seven years of brain aging By Ziyad Al-Aly & The Conversation US Eva Almqvist/Alamy Stock Vector The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication… Continue reading COVID-19 Leaves Its Mark on the Brain. Significant Drops in IQ Scores Are Noted.
Entrepreneurs Face Major Headwinds Due to Big Government Policies
The specter of stagflation has returned. On April 25th, The Bureau of Economic Analysis announced that GDP only grew by 1.6% in the first quarter of this year, well below expectations. Consumer spending on goods actually declined in the quarter as ordinary Americans are financially tapped out. The report also showed inflation remains stubbornly high, continuing a recent… Continue reading Entrepreneurs Face Major Headwinds Due to Big Government Policies
A Rosetta Stone for Mathematics
In 1940, from a jailhouse in Rouen, France, André Weil wrote one of the most consequential letters of 20th-century mathematics. He was serving time for refusing to join the French army, and he filled his days in part by writing letters to his sister, Simone, an accomplished philosopher living in London. In a previous letter,… Continue reading A Rosetta Stone for Mathematics
Joe Fisher’s Hungry Ghosts! (Siren Call of the Hungry Ghosts, Guides, Mediumship, Channeling)
Podcast: Download MYS311: Last time, Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discussed Joe Fisher’s mid-1980s experiences with spirit guides, and they continue to look at what he learned as he researched the guides and their claims and come to their own conclusions about what had entered Joe’s life. Get all new episodes automatically and for free:… Continue reading Joe Fisher’s Hungry Ghosts! (Siren Call of the Hungry Ghosts, Guides, Mediumship, Channeling)
Recognize the Spanish Contribution to American Independence
May 8th is Gálvez Day in Pensacola, Florida. A celebration of Bernardo de Gálvez, commander of the Spanish force that defeated Britain at the 1781 Siege of Pensacola, it recalls the Spanish role in the American Revolution. The day, however, should be more than a local holiday. It should be recognized throughout the nation as… Continue reading Recognize the Spanish Contribution to American Independence
Dogged Dark Matter Hunters Find New Hiding Places to Check
If or when SLAC’s planned project, the Light Dark Matter Experiment (LDMX), receives funding — a decision from the Department of Energy is expected in the next year or so — it will scan for light dark matter. The experiment is designed to accelerate electrons toward a target made of tungsten in End Station A.… Continue reading Dogged Dark Matter Hunters Find New Hiding Places to Check
New AI Tools Predict How Life’s Building Blocks Assemble
They’ll be especially useful for creating rough predictions that can then be tested out computationally or experimentally. The biochemist Frank Uhlmann had the opportunity to pretest AlphaFold3 after running into a Google employee in a hallway of the Francis Crick Institute in London, where he works. He decided to look up a protein-DNA interaction that… Continue reading New AI Tools Predict How Life’s Building Blocks Assemble
What Does Milk Do for Babies?
Milk is more than just a food for babies. Breast milk has evolved to deliver thousands of diverse molecules including growth factors, hormones and antibodies, as well as microbes. Elizabeth Johnson, a molecular nutritionist at Cornell University, studies the effects of infants’ diet on the gut microbiome. These studies could hold clues to hard questions… Continue reading What Does Milk Do for Babies?