"In September, a 2,000-foot-long floating barrier, shaped like a U, was dispatched to the Great Pacific garbage patch… Made of connected plastic pipes, the barrier was meant to catch and clean-up the plastic… But as Slat, now 24, recently discovered with the beta tester for his design, plastic occasionally drifts out of its U-shaped funnel. The other issue with the beta tester, called System 001, is that last week, a 60-feet-long end section broke off." All the king's horses and all the king's men…
"A recent count by the Xerces Society recorded fewer than 30,000 butterflies, which it said is an 86 percent decline since 2017." Rhut rho.
"Steel producer Nucor Corp… said on Monday it would spend about $1.35 billion to build a plate mill in the U.S. Midwest, taking advantage of federal tax cuts that has resulted in windfall gains for several companies."
"After a slow start, influenza is beginning to take hold across the U.S. The good news is that it’s unlikely to be as bad as last season, when almost 80,000 Americans died. The bad news is that there’s a long way to go." Just anecdotally here in Ohio I'm not thinking it's off to such a slow start.
"Yet among children, the nasal spray appeared to have reduced effectiveness against the flu, compared with the shot, in past flu seasons, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics on Monday."
"Take a look at your prescription bottles. Most say, 'Store at room temperature' or 'Keep refrigerated.'… But what happens when drugs are delivered by mail? Were those instructions followed as the medicine wended its way from the pharmacy to your doorstep?" Oo, oo, I know the answer. As to the line about consumers enjoying the convenience of mail-order, again this is just anecdotal evidence, but nobody who is near a pharmacy like mail-order pharmacies. I've had (as in "insurance mandates their use because they're owned by the insurance company") experience with 2 of the 3. Both suck.
"Zuckerberg San Francisco General… is the largest public hospital in San Francisco and the city’s only top-tier trauma center. But it doesn’t participate in the networks of any private health insurers — a surprise patients like Dang learn after assuming their coverage includes a trip to a large public ER." It's the only Level 1 Trauma Center, which means if you're in a serious enough condition, you're getting shipped there. And they don't take insurance (well, insurance will pay what they feel is "reasonable", but then you're responsible for the rest of the bill). (Grokked from Kameron Hurley)
"'We try to artificially give a start to these communities that should resemble the communities that were there prior to a disturbance.' Matteo Garbelotto, a plant pathologist at UC Berkeley. (SIC) The problem, he says, is that microscopic killers sometimes hitchhike on native seedlings grown in nurseries. As happened at one restoration site in the San Francisco Bay area, where restorers hoped that nursery-grown natives called toyons and sticky monkeyflowers could be reintroduced."
"The vast majority of life on Earth depends… on photosynthesis for its energy. And photosynthesis depends on an enzyme called RuBisCO, which uses carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to build sugars… Unfortunately, RuBisCO is, well, terrible at its job. It might not be obvious based on the plant growth around us, but the enzyme is not especially efficient at catalyzing the carbon dioxide reaction. And, worse still, it often uses oxygen instead. This produces a useless byproduct that, if allowed to build up, will eventually shut down photosynthesis entirely. It's estimated that crops such as wheat and rice lose anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of their growth potential due to this byproduct." So some smarty pants scientists decided to fix it. They engineered some tobacco plants (which are easy to manipulate) and saw some pretty interesting increased growth. However I have a few questions. One, do plants need that byproduct (that we just eliminated) for some other process. And two, just how does this change the structure of the plant itself. Faster growing plants have been shown to have less nutrition and stability (from studies using increased CO2 levels). So we might have faster growing plants, but they aren't as good as the old fashion kind. Or, just because we fix one metric doesn't mean we've done a better job. (Grokked from John)
"A patient in a vegetative state at a nursing facility in Arizona gave birth on December 29, CBS News reports. Phoenix police are currently investigating the incident as a possible sexual abuse case." Possible? I appreciate news organizations putting some distance on things, like "the alleged perpetrator" before a conviction. But WTF? (Grokked from Xopher Halftongue)
"The political situation in Gabon is "under control" following an attempted military coup, a spokesman for the government has said… All five of the rebels who tried to take charge have now been arrested by the authorities."
"Gavin Newsom sweeps into the California governor’s mansion Monday hinting that he’ll take a more confrontational posture toward Donald Trump in Washington, but his biggest challenge may be dealing with a friendly Democratic supermajority in Sacramento."
Remember when the president said he was working to keep drug prices down? "More than three dozen drugmakers ratcheted up prices on hundreds of medications on Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal… Price increases outpaced inflation, and the average drug price rose 6.3 percent, the outlet said, citing an analysis from Rx Savings Solutions." Maybe he was talking about heroin or pot. (Grokked from Michele)
"The Saudi national said she was fleeing her abusive family, seeking asylum in any western country that would have her. 'I'm in real danger,' she said."
"MPs will vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal on Tuesday, 15 January, government sources have confirmed."
"The U.S. trade war with China has cost farmers billions. Government bailouts have helped keep many farms solvent, but thoughts are turning to this year's planting season." Farmers are hitting deadlines for ordering seeds, getting finances in order, and applying for funds from the "bailout" (which nobody is there in the government offices to answer questions or process paperwork).
"Millions of Americans receiving food stamps could face having their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) disrupted if the government shutdown—which entered its third week on Saturday—continues into February." It's almost as if having a functioning government helps us. This will come as a shock to many people. Mostly conservatives (note, most red states have a high dependency on government programs).
An opinion piece. "Trump, in reality, was never a peerless or even a particularly skillful dealmaker and many of the most significant business transactions he engineered imploded. Instead, he made his way in the world as an indefatigable self-promoter, a marketing confection and a human billboard who frequently licensed his name to buildings and products paid for by others." Yep.
"With the partial government shutdown in its third week, White House officials and congressional leaders again failed to make progress toward a resolution during talks on Sunday." And the White House is adding to the list of things they want.
"Noel King talks to Trish Gilbert, executive vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, about the partial government shutdown effects how controllers are doing their job." There's not a transcript right now, but a very important story about what's happening with the ATC, already understaffed, with a large percentage of workers eligible for retirement.
"The president’s reelection campaign is intent on avoiding the kind of circus that unfolded on the convention floor in 2016, when Never Trump Republicans loudly protested his nomination before a national TV audience. The effort comes as party elites like Utah Sen. Mitt Romney are openly questioning Trump’s fitness for the job, and it’s meant to to ensure that delegates to next year’s convention in Charlotte, N.C., are presidential loyalists — not anti-Trump activists looking to create a stir." Ah, instead of sausage making, here we see how they slaughter the pig.
"House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Sunday that he plans to move quickly to provide the panel's interview transcripts to special counsel Robert Mueller."
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