January 19, 2023

Scientists Bred an All-Natural Flame-Resistant Cotton

Daily Beast
Maddie Bender
Published Jan. 18, 2023 2:00PM ET 

If gas stove discourse has exposed you to the wonderful world of everyday exposures to environmental pollution, might I suggest another culprit that is guaranteed to get your knickers in a twist? Flame retardants are chemicals that are used to treat every manner of household item, from mattresses to electronics to building insulation to the clothes on your back. They slow the spread of fire, but at a cost: In recent years, scientists have tied these chemicals (of which there are hundreds) to immune disruption; reproductive harm; cancer; fetal development issues; and neurologic dysfunction.

And that’s all before a fire actually starts. Firefighting foam used to extinguish blazes may contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), so-called forever chemicals that can be toxic to humans.

In a surprising development within the field of materials science, researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have created a kind of cotton that naturally self-extinguishes when set on fire. And they did it by interbreeding existing lines of cotton, meaning that farmers can grow this cotton without a lengthy approval process. A study describing this new line of cotton was published on Jan. 18 in the journal PLoS ONE.

“This is the unexpected cherry on top of a long, fruitful and still ongoing USDA project involving many scientists, years and locations,” Gregory Thyssen, a cotton chemistry researcher at the USDA Agricultural Research Service, told The Daily Beast in an email. While researchers have previously identified natural flame retardant properties in brown-colored cotton, “The new study is the first report of a white cotton line with the property,” he said.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/usda-scientists-bred-an-all-natural-flame-resistant-cotton?ref=home

January 17, 2023

Human Genome Recovered From 5,700-Year-Old Chewing Gum

Modern chewing gums, which often contain polyethylene plastic, could stick around for tens or even hundreds of years, and perhaps much longer in the right conditions. Some of the first chewing gums, made of birch tar and other natural substances, have been preserved for thousands of years, including a 5,700-year-old piece of Stone Age gum unearthed in Denmark.

For archaeologists, the sticky stuff’s longevity can help piece together the lives of ancient peoples who masticated on the chewy tar. The ancient birch gum in Scandinavia preserved enough DNA to reconstruct the full human genome of its ancient chewer, identify the microbes that lived in her mouth, and even reveal the menu of a prehistoric meal.

“These birch pitch chewing gums are kind of special in terms of how well the DNA is preserved. It surprised us,” says co-author Hannes Schroeder, a molecular anthropologist at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. “It’s as well-preserved as some of the best petrous [skull] bones that we’ve analyzed, and they are kind of the holy grail when it comes to ancient DNA preservation.”

Birch pitch, made by heating the tree’s bark, was commonly used across Scandinavia as a prehistoric glue for attaching stone tools to handles. When found, it commonly contains toothmarks. Scientists suspect several reasons why people would have chewed it: to make it malleable once again after it cooled, to ease toothaches because it’s mildly antiseptic, to clean teeth, to ease hunger pains, or simply because they enjoyed it.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/human-genome-recovered-5700-year-old-chewing-gum-180973801/

January 13, 2023

Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis, dies aged 54

Source: BBC

Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Rock legend Elvis, has died aged 54, her mother says.

"It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us," Priscilla Presley said.

Lisa Marie, also a singer, was earlier rushed to hospital. Media reports say she suffered cardiac arrest.

She was found unresponsive at her home in Calabasas, California, sources told US outlet TMZ.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64255117

January 6, 2023

When the Music's Over (a parody)

When the Speaker Vote's Over

When the voting's over
When the voting's over
When the voting's over
They'll vote again
They'll vote again
Fail vote again

When Donnie is his special friend
Pants on fire again and again
Donnie is their only friend
When will it end?
When will it end?
When will it end?

Cancel our subscription to the insurrection
Send them all to the House of Detention
Send all their friends inside

Until the end.


(Apologies to writers John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek & Jim Morrison, 'When the Music's Over')

January 5, 2023

A new test for autism hopes to help doctors diagnose before symptoms show

NBC News
Jan. 5, 2023, 8:23 AM EST
By Evan Bush

Researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind test for autism that they say can find markers of risk in a single strand of hair, an innovation that might help clinicians identify it in young children before they miss developmental milestones. 

The test — which is still in the early stages of development by the startup LinusBio and a ways from federal approval — is a diagnostic aid, meant to assist clinicians in identifying autism but not to be relied on alone. Because hair catalogs a history of exposures to metals and other substances, the technology uses an algorithm to analyze it for patterns of particular metals the researchers say are associated with autism. 

This test is the first to analyze this type of exposure history over time. The analysis predicted autism accurately about 81% of the time, according to a peer-reviewed study published last month in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. 

The researchers hope the technology could help children receive early intervention treatments sooner and also lead to the development of new drugs or therapy models for young children.  


https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/new-test-autism-hopes-help-doctors-diagnose-symptoms-show-rcna61081

January 1, 2023

Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers

Emily Dickinson - 1830-1886

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.


The photo is from a beautiful collection posted on Bored Panda by Roesellen Raimond.
The fox images are amazing.


Link: https://www.boredpanda.com/nature-wildlife-photography-roeselien-raimond/

January 1, 2023

What do you mean by happy new year?

January 1, 2023

Suspect in Idaho killings had made 'creepy' comments to brewery staff, customers, owner says

NBC News
Dec. 31, 2022, 9:23 PM EST
By Minyvonne Burke and Deon J. Hampton

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho students last month had been known to some employees at a Pennsylvania brewery to make "creepy" and inappropriate comments, according to the owner.

Since Bryan Christopher Kohberger's arrest Friday in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, some who knew or had exchanges with the 28-year-old are now reflecting on those interactions in light of his arrest on a murder warrant in the deaths of the students in Moscow, Idaho, last month.

Jordan Serulneck, 34, the owner of Seven Sirens Brewing Company in Bethlehem, said Kohberger had gone by himself to the brewery a few times and would sit at the bar.

The exchanges at the brewery happened months ago, likely when the suspect was a student at DeSales University in Center Valley, less than 6 miles south of Bethlehem, Serulneck said. Kohberger graduated from DeSales with a bachelors in 2020 and completed graduate studies there in June 2022, according to the university.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-idaho-killings-made-creepy-comments-brewery-staff-customers-ow-rcna63847

January 1, 2023

Does anyone remember playing "crab soccer" in high school PE?

You had to sit on the floor and move around on your feet and hands, belly up. The gym teacher tossed out this enormous ball, and the two teams vied to kick it to the opposite side's goal.

January 1, 2023

What were your favorite school field trips?

Mine: United Nations and Museum of Natural History in NYC, trips to see new movies in technicolor in Montclair NJ

Washington Irving's home in Tarrytown NY.

And Dey Mansion, where George Washington slept. He sure slept around.