Faisal’s Web Site
Monday, 16 September 2024
‘The data on extreme human ageing is rotten from the inside out’ – Ig Nobel winner Saul
Justin Newman, The Conversation: “In Okinawa, the best predictor of where the centenarians are is where the halls of records were bombed by the Americans during the war. … According to the Greek minister that hands out the pensions, over 9,000 people over the age of 100 are dead and collecting a pension at the same time.”
Friday, 13 September 2024
Neither Elon Musk Nor Anybody Else Will Ever Colonize Mars
Albert Burneko, Defector: “People have this idea that life is like some kind of magical force; that the reason Mars does not have life is that life has not yet gone there; that once life goes to a place, then it just figures out how to go on living there. […] it is a testament to humans having formulated nearly all of their ideas about the nature of life from the absolute easiest (and only known) place to have life.”
Thursday, 15 August 2024
Dx Machina
Jenka Gurfinkel: “For the patients who came to their doctors presenting with the symptoms of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, for example, (the ones 77% of them had had a physician suggest were psychological or psychiatric) and were ultimately able to get relief, what treatment approaches yielded the best results?”
Friday, 9 August 2024
A Scientist Says Humans Will Reach the Singularity Within 21 Years
Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics: “And no one makes futuristic predictions quite like Ray Kurzweil.”
See also: MIT predicted society would collapse by 2040. New data tells how we’re doing
Saturday, 27 July 2024
How Soon Might the Atlantic Ocean Break? Two Sibling Scientists Found an Answer—and Shook the World
Sandra Upson, Wired: “Besides, there’s another possibility. A remote one, sure, but one that also can’t be ruled out: The AMOC might have already tipped. And we wouldn’t know it for years.”
Friday, 12 July 2024
Study suggests reinfections from the virus that causes COVID-19 likely have similar severity as original infection
NIH: “Researchers also found that lower levels of albumin, a protein made by the liver, may indicate a higher risk for reinfection.”
The Supreme Court Just Complicated America’s Bureaucracy
Nicholas Creel, Newsweek: “In terms of how regulations such as this exist constitutionally, we must first dispel the commonly held belief that only the legislature makes law.”
Monday, 8 July 2024
We Finally Know What Turned on The Lights at The Dawn of Time
Michelle Starr, ScienceAlert: “Their analysis revealed that, not only are these dwarf galaxies the most abundant galaxy type in the early Universe, they are far brighter than expected. In fact, the team’s research shows that dwarf galaxies outnumber large galaxies by 100 to 1, and their collective output is four times the ionizing radiation usually assumed for larger galaxies.”
Sunday, 7 July 2024
Why is the pundit class so desperate to push Biden out of the race?
Rebecca Solnit, The Guardian: “We are deciding whether this nation has a future as a more-or-less democratic republic this November, and on that rides the fate of the earth when it comes to acting on climate change. If the US falters at this decisive moment in the climate crisis, it will drag down everyone else’s efforts.”
Tuesday, 2 July 2024
The minoritarian power imbalance that gave Trump immunity
Philip Bump, The Washington Post: “It’s how the system works.”