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Senior health professionals call for urgent climate briefing of all MPs by the chief scientific adviser: open letter to

Dear prime minister, We wish to make you aware of our concern for the health of Angus Rose, a 52 year old man, who at the time of writing is on day 34 of a hunger strike outside Parliament, consuming only fluids, vitamins, and minerals. His not unreasonable demand is that all members of parliament...
Source: bmj.com

House passes $35-a-month insulin cap as Dems seek wider bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Thursday passed a bill capping the monthly cost of insulin at $35 for insured patients, part of an election-year push by Democrats for price curbs on prescription drugs at a time of rising inflation.
Source: apnews.com

Keyboard army using restaurant reviews to take on Russian state media

Rather than commenting on the food and service at Russian restaurants and cafes, some users have begun posting online reviews detailing Russian actions in Ukraine to try to smuggle information past the tight control of state media.
Source: reuters.com

Meet the dazzling flying machines of the future

When you hear the word "drone," you probably think of something either very useful or very scary. But could they have aesthetic value? Autonomous systems expert Raffaello D'Andrea develops flying machines, and his latest projects are pushing the boundaries of autonomous flight -- from a flying wing that...
Source: ted.com

Internet user classification

Grampound it seems is classified as 'e-Rational Utilitarian' ... but who is shouting out for more local facilities and better internet infrastructure? Checks notes ... methodological individualist and political liberals with social stratification (i.e. class, status distinctions) playing a relatively...
Source: cdrc.ac.uk

U.S. accuses couple of laundering $4.5 bln in bitcoin tied to 2016 hack

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it has unraveled its biggest-ever cryptocurrency theft, seizing a record-shattering $3.6 billion in bitcoin tied to the 2016 hack of digital currency exchange Bitfinex and arresting a husband-and-wife team on money laundering charges.
Source: reuters.com

Morgan Stanley: Global oil supply likely to peak earlier than demand

"Global oil supply is likely to peak even earlier than demand, Morgan Stanley said in a research note, based on its analysis on current trends." What does this mean? Investment in new oil and gas is falling because of policies to phase it out. This means the supply of fossil fuels will peak (or has peaked)...

Thich Nhat Hanh, poetic peace activist and master of mindfulness, dies at 95

Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen Buddhist monk, poet and peace activist who in the 1960s came to prominence as an opponent of the Vietnam War, died on Saturday aged 95 surrounded by his followers in the temple where his spiritual journey began. "Hope is important, because it can make the present moment less...
Source: reuters.com

Fatalism - the stalemate of us vs. COVID-19

Stephen Casper - medical historian at Clarkson University - offers a worrying prediction for COVID for the end of 2022. The analogy for COVID-19 won't be influenza but 'tuberculosis before the discovery of antibiotics'. A new hospital specialty might even exist - looking after COVID patients - and they...
Source: twitter.com

IT tools and gadgets

I really enjoy finding tools that just do the job and don't try to profit from you or your data. Here are some of the ones that I find useful. Send a large file or lots of files Transfer files up to 6GB in size. No registration required. No ads. Links expire. FileTransfer.io ... https://filetransfer.io/...

French school bus experiment brings hope to Toulouse estates

Three sprawling estates have been part of a social experiment to improve education for children.
Source: bbc.com

Factors affecting the uptake of new medicines: a systematic literature review - BMC Health Services Research Lublóy, Ágnes.

"This systematic literature review has provided insights into the factors that affect new drug uptake—primarily, doctors’ scientific orientation, prescribing habits, exposure to pharmaceutical marketing, and interpersonal communication." "Background The successful diffusion of new drugs is crucial...
Source: biomedcentral.com

The unhealthy industry playbook

What Public Health Practitioners Need to Know About Unhealthy IndustryTactics. Attack legitimate science. e.g. Accuse science of deception, calling it “junk science” or “bad science,” claiming science is manipulated to fulfill a political agenda. Attack and intimidate the scientists. e.g. Create...
Source: aphapublications.org

Overturning 'conventional wisdom' with 'natural experiments'

Via Reuters ... "Economists David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens won the 2021 Nobel economics prize on Monday for pioneering "natural experiments" to show real-world economic impacts in areas from minimum wage increases in the U.S. fast-food sector to migration from Castro-era Cuba." "One experiment...
Source: reuters.com

China has won AI battle with U.S., Pentagon's ex-software chief says

China has won the artificial intelligence battle with the United States and is heading towards global dominance because of its technological advances, the Pentagon's former software chief told the Financial Times.
Source: reuters.com

Psychology of panic buying

I've been fascinated by the psychology of panic buying and it is clearly an area for future research. It has an enormous impact on delivery infrastructure and I wonder if anyone has been tracking the data of the causes and the impact in the current fuel 'crisis'. A systematic review from last year identified...
Source: nih.gov

Rediscovering Cryptpad

Cryptpad is for working collaboratively on documents such as Rich Text, Spread Sheets, Presentations, Whiteboards, and Project Boards. The server has no access to any of your data and the encryption is based on zero knowledge. You don't even need to give an email address to register - you pick a username...
Source: cryptpad.fr

The Impact of Mask Distribution and Promotion on Mask Uptake and COVID-19 in Bangladesh

A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that face masks can protect against COVID-19. There is, however, limited rigorous evidence on the extent to which mask-wearing is effective in reducing COVID-19 in a real-life situation with imperfect and inconsistent mask use. In Bangladesh, researchers...
Source: poverty-action.org

Development and validation of teacher and student questionnaires measuring inhibitors of curriculum viability - BMC Medical

Background Curriculum viability is determined by the degree to which quality standards have or have not been met, and by the inhibitors that affect attainment of those standards. The literature reports many ways to evaluate whether a curriculum reaches its quality standards, but less attention is paid...
Source: biomedcentral.com

Will MIT Scientists' Powerful Magnet Lead Us to Nuclear Fusion Energy? - Slashdot

"A start-up founded by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology says it is nearing a technological milestone that could take the world a step closer to fusion energy, which has eluded scientists for decades," reports the New York Times: Researchers at M.I.T.'s Plasma Science and Fus...
Source: slashdot.org