Here is some fact-based information that will help you become healthier.
People who eat a precise amount of fruit per day (2.5 servings!) are more likely to age healthfully. Credit: Emmanuel Phaeton / Unsplash
Last month, two opinionarticles in TheNew York Times, published on consecutive days, argued that nutrition and overall health are very straightforward, based on “boring” principles we’ve known since “third grade,” like eating your vegetables. Wellness entrepreneurs who say otherwise are probably just trying to sell you their fake advice and products, according to one of the op-eds.
Phony wellness pushers make easy targets, but they’re not the only ones saying this stuff is complicated. Scientists at the world’s leading universities see great complexity in food’s interactions with human biology over a lifetime. They’re studying these dynamics, forming new hypotheses and pointing to unsettled research questions. When it comes to the dietary principles that scientists have agreed upon, few American adults, let alone third graders, are actually aware of them.
The message that healthy nutrition rests entirely on long agreed-upon, clear-cut fundamentals, as articulated by those Times editorials, […]
I have been telling you for years now that the MAGAt (formerly Republican) Party’s attempt to dismantle public education and privatize it, coupled with the obscene cost of obtaining a college education, is having a very negative long-term consequence. Consider: The average cost of attendance for a student living on campus at an in-state public 4-year institution is $27,146 per year or $108,584 over 4 years. Out-of-state students pay $45,708 per year or $182,832 over 4 years. Private, nonprofit university students pay $58,628 per year or $234,512 over 4 years. When I went to the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar, the cost was $238 a semester. What happened? What happened is that our tax structure was changed by the MAGAts during the Reagan administration creating a community of billionaire oligarchs and millions of millionaires and that, in turn, has transformed the American society from a country oriented to fostering wellbeing to a prospering middle class, into a nation whose only social priority is profit. That in turn has created a wealth inequality that is resulting in decreased educational levels, literacy and numeracy. As a result finding skilled workers has become difficult and, if a company needs skilled workers, it has to start its own technical education centers, as this article describes.
A ship under construction sits docked at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wis. Credit: Mike Roemer / AP
The Navy’s ability to build lower-cost warships that can shoot down Houthi rebel missiles in the Red Sea depends in part on a 25-year-old laborer who previously made parts for garbage trucks.
Lucas Andreini, a welder at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, in Marinette, Wisconsin, is among thousands of young workers who’ve received employer-sponsored training nationwide as shipyards struggle to hire and retain employees.
The labor shortage is one of myriad challenges that have led to backlogs in ship production and maintenance at a time when the Navy faces expanding global threats. Combined with shifting defense priorities, last-minute design changes and cost overruns, it has put the U.S. behind China in the number of ships at its disposal — and the gap is widening.
Navy shipbuilding is currently in “a terrible state” — the worst in a quarter century, says Eric Labs, a longtime naval analyst at the Congressional Budget Office. “I feel alarmed,” he said. “I don’t see a fast, […]
Joe Salas, Contributing Writer - New Atlas | Xinhua (China)
Stephan:
Here is another example of the point I am trying to make. Because the MAGAt Party does not want an educated skilled population because well-educated people overwhelmingly vote for Democrats, and want greater wealth equality. Billiionaires as a rule are no patriots. They think in terms of the world and their personal profit. As a result we are no longer the science leaders we once were, and the difference between the U.S. and a country like China is increasing.
T-Flight mock-up of what it could be. Credit: China Science / X
In February of this year, we reported on the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, and its phase one testing of a low-vacuum-tube hyperloop-style maglev ultra-high-speed (UHS) train. In initial 1.24-mile-long (2-km) tests, the T-Flight hit a whopping 387 mph (623 km/h).
On its last go-around in October of 2023, it ran the fairly short track under non-vacuum conditions. This week, CASIC – unironically known for being China’s largest maker of strategic and tactical missiles – has just successfully tested the UHS maglev under low-vacuum conditions on that very same track with successful results. According to CGTN, “the test showed that the maximum speed and suspension height of the vehicle were consistent with the preset values.”
The test showed that all systems were nominal, and the train’s speed and height above the track lined up with the preset values of the test – which were not disclosed. CASIC was able to verify that all large-scale vacuum-related systems were also in working […]
Here is what looks like the engine for the car of the future and, once again, it is not an American design. It is Canadian, and the research I have read about this suggests, as this article does that this is a completely new deal, and is going to change cars, trucks, all vehicles.
New Canadian engine technology Credit: Eco News
Canada has taken a historic step in joining the mobility of the future, moving beyond EVs (in which America has been somewhat stagnant) and entering into direct competition with Japan. CES 2024 happened months ago, but we are still learning about innovations that were presented and have jumped to fame. One of them is the first engine that beats hydrogen and all known FCEVs. It works with a new fuel that is neither liquid nor gaseous, and could make things very difficult for Tesla.
It’s the end of ICE engines: A new prototype has been presented at CES 2024 and comes from Canada
Magna has revealed the next generation of its eDrive system at the CES 2024 with a demonstration of its capabilities for advanced electric vehicles. This new electric engine is still experimental, but it is expected to change the way most cars are designed and used in the future because it has better performance and adaptability to other uses than previous models.
This new electric engine by Magna is, therefore, developed to produce immense performance and […]
Gabriella Grabovska, Staff Writer - Raw Story / Open Secrets
Stephan:
Being a member of Congress can entail very hard work, or it can be a very cushy job with lots of perks and not much work. One of the perks is that you can travel where you like, lodge and eat as you like, and have everything paid for by you and me. MAGAt members tend to fall in the second category, and here is the proof.
House Republicans outspent their Democratic counterparts in taxpayer-funded travel expenditures by nearly $8 million since the start of 2023, a new OpenSecrets analysis found.
Eight out of the top 10 biggest spenders between the start of 2023 to March 2024 were Republican members of Congress. They accounted for 7% of total taxpayer-funded travel spending by GOP members of Congress and with each of the top spenders spending two to five times more than the average House office.
The total travel spending reported by House Republicans’ offices exceeded $23 million from January 2023 to March 2024 — nearly $8 million more than House Democrats spent on travel during the same period. Despite having only a seven-member majority, House Republicans have significantly outspent Democrats. Congressional offices of House Republicans spent around $102,000 on average for travel during that period, while the average spent by House Democrats sat around $70,000, according to the House Statement of Disbursements.
According to the Congressional Management Foundation, the average total annual budget of a House office is around $1.5 million, which is distributed across a […]
