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☆ Venture capitalists’ pain could be humanity’s gain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Pete Sweeney | Thomson Reuters | Asia Economics Editor Pete Sweeney Joined Reuters Breakingviews In Hong Kong In September Previously He Served As Reuters' Chief Correspondent For China Economy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A record $630 billion poured into venture capital investments that year. Now, as interest rate hikes tear into alternative assets, money going into innovation is being reallocated. Global VC funding fell to $329 billion in the nine months to September 2022, per a report from CBInsights, down 27% year-on-year. The liquidity crunch exposed governance flaws, dumb ideas and solutions looking for problems: metaverses, non-fungible images of bored apes, flying cars. Designing microscopic robots to fight disease and biochemical computers to outperform silicon chips entails higher upfront costs and longer commercialisation cycles than the consumer app plays many Silicon Valley backers are accustomed to.

☆ Why detransitioners are crucial to the science of gender care
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +43 min

A Canadian health provider said it couldn’t participate, citing recent threats to hospitals offering youth gender care. But as Reuters found, hard evidence on long-term outcomes for the rising numbers of people who received gender treatment as minors is very weak. Dr Marianne van der Loos, the Dutch study’s lead author, is a physician at Amsterdam University Medical Center’s Center for Expertise on Gender Dysphoria, a pioneer in gender care for adolescents. For those who also received medical treatment, detransitioning typically includes halting the hormone therapy they otherwise would receive for years. One is Max Robinson, who was 16 when she sought gender care at Kaiser in 2012.

☆ Drag queens take on Tennessee bill seeking to restrict their performances
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Andrew Davis | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

At 5 Points Diner & Bar in Nashville, Tenn., drag performer Veronika Electronika can often be seen strutting between brunch tables. The measure, known as Senate Bill 3, was introduced by Tennessee Republican Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson in November. Tennessee has proposed 31 anti-LGBTQ bills this year, the most of any state, according to Freedom for All Americans. “We tip our servers, we tip our bartenders, we tip our hair stylists, and we tip our drag queens,” she said. As for Veronika, she said she’s determined to rally enough opposition to scuttle Tennessee’s drag bill before it becomes state law.

☆ Native Hawaiian women and girls experience sex trafficking and violence at alarming rates, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Native Hawaiian women and girls experience disproportionate levels of violence, and those inequities have long been insufficiently addressed, new research shows. “It’s the collision of hatred of Native Hawaiians and hatred of women that just makes it harder for women’s pain and specifically Native Hawaiian women’s pain to register,” Jabola-Carolus said. Military occupation remains an enduring structure of the U.S. colonization of Hawaii, which researchers point to as the basis for the inequities Native Hawaiian women and girls experience today. Inequities for Native women and girls are also intertwined with the failures of those with legislative power to recognize these Native Hawaiian issues, the report said. But services allocated to specifically help Native Hawaiian survivors of gender-based violence were inadvertently excluded from that funding.

☆ Australian economy on edge as fixed-rate mortgage pain looms in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Stella Qiu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The cost of paying your mortgage is literally going up for everyone by thousands of dollars," said the 31-year-old Lemon. Australia's big four banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), Westpac (WBC.AX), National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) and ANZ (ANZ.AX) - account for 75% of the country's mortgage market. read moreThe RBA fears 15% of the borrowers on variable rates could see their cash flows turn negative, assuming that interest rates rise to 3.6% in line with market expectations. Buyers' agent Lloyd Edge says some cautious mortgage holders have been selling up before their fixed-rate loans expire. Hundreds of thousands of Australians took advantage of the ultra low rates during the COVID pandemic to enter one of the world's least affordable housing markets.

☆ Fighting with someone at home can make you more helpful at work, new study suggests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In one study of 226 people, employees were asked to recall a recent civil or uncivil interaction. Those who recalled an uncivil one were more depleted or in a worse mood than those who recalled civil ones. Those whose partners started a fight with them that morning reported both being in a bad mood at work and helping others more. This isn't all that surprising, says Brandon Smith, a career coach and founder of The Workplace Therapist. Brandon Smith The Workplace Therapist

☆ How a gene-editing breakthrough from a Harvard lab saved the life of a girl with leukemia
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A 13-year-old girl was the world's first patient to get a cell therapy called base editing in May. Base editing is a new gene-editing technology that could lead to cures for many diseases. Alyssa, 13, was the first-ever patient to receive a base-edited cell therapy after enrolling in a clinical trial in May. Base editing allows scientists to make ultraprecise changes to single letters of DNA in cells. Alyssa, a teenager in Leicester, England, received a base-edited cell therapy to treat her leukemia.

☆ Covid, flu and RSV: What science shows about being contagious
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Benjamin Ryan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

People know when they have Covid symptoms, but do minor sniffles at the end of a coronavirus infection, for example, mean they’re still contagious? It’s a good time to brush up on what scientists know, and still don’t know, about how long people remain infectious with viral diseases — Covid, influenza, RSV — that are spreading across the U.S.How long am I contagious with Covid? If you’ve been exposed to someone who has tested positive for Covid, symptoms from any of the omicron subvariants generally appear two to four days later. How contagious you are is connected to how much of the virus, known as the viral load, is in your body. As far as relying on Covid tests to determine whether someone is still contagious, PCR tests are good at diagnosing Covid.

☆ Mark Cuban has 4 rules for making money—No. 4 is: 'Know your s--t better than anyone else in the room'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Megan Sauer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Mark Cuban says anyone can become a millionaire by following his four rules of success. "Selling isn't about convincing, it's about helping," Cuban told the School of Hard Knocks in a TikTok. "When you walk into a room, you [need to] know your s--t better than anyone else in the room," he said. That lesson may be why Cuban seems confident enough in his four rules to stake his own livelihood on it. "I would get a job as a bartender at night, and a sales job during the day, and I would start working," Cuban said.

The updated Covid booster shot is proving to be effective at keeping people — especially older adults — out of the hospital, according to two new studies published Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Full coverage of the Covid-19 pandemicBoth studies looked at the impact the updated Covid booster shot has had since it was first recommended by the CDC on Sept. 1. Those who had received the updated booster were 84% less likely to be hospitalized with Covid, compared with people who had never had the Covid vaccine. The effectiveness was nearly identical — 83% — for people who had their last Covid shot more than a year ago. "There are 28 million people over the age of 65 that are eligible for this updated booster shot but haven’t gotten it," Link-Gelles said.

☆ The godfather of the inverted yield curve breaks down why his famous recession indicator with a perfect track record won't be accurate this time around
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The inverted yield curve has preceded the last eight recessions. Right now, short-term inflation expectations are much higher than long-term inflation expectations, which means the real-yield on longer-duration bonds are higher. "You've got an inverted yield curve — people know that that's got a very strong track record. The inverted yield curve's legacyThe inverted yield curve has come to be revered as an extremely reliable harbinger of economic pain. December 2022. ustreasuryyieldcurve.comDecember 2012. www.ustreasuryyieldcurve.comAs for what Harvey thinks for the future of the yield curve as a recession indicator?

Presumably, if you’re worried about the security of your laptop, you believe a stranger might steal it. But what’s to say the person you ask to watch your table isn’t a thief themselves? I’m in favor of social norms when they are rational and useful, but I implore cafe society: Please abandon the ones that are irrational and disruptive. Randomly selecting one person to trust — out of a room full of people you don’t know — is irrational. If you’re worried about losing your coveted table, leave something inexpensive behind, like a book or a scarf.

☆ A former VA secretary and his daughter have teamed up to transform care for people with chronic pain, and top VCs 7wire and Martin Ventures are backing them
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Called Override, it connects patients with chronic pain to a virtual team of pain specialists. An estimated one in five American adults are living with chronic pain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Research has found links between chronic pain and opioid dependence, anxiety, depression, and lower quality of life. Override's model was informed by a health program for veteransA wealth of research supports a team-based approach to treating chronic pain. Patients with chronic pain are expensive, and those paying for that care need help managing their costs.

☆ Parental leave is the greatest benefit workers don't take
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Rebecca Knight | Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The share of US workers who have access to family leave, including parental leave, is increasing. Like many women, Amanda Krupa took less parental leave than she was allowed in order to protect her career and income. The rate of women taking maternity leave hasn't changed since the '90sThe US is the only industrialized country that doesn't guarantee paid parental leave. Some employers offer short-term-disability insurance to help cover workers' parental leave, but it doesn't always replace all wages. Today, all employees there are eligible for 16 weeks of paid parental leave.

In one study, researchers reported a link between screen time and higher rates of obsessive-compulsive disorder diagnoses among preteens. The studies, published in separate journals on Monday, followed their young participants to observe the effects of screen time over months or years. Researchers logged how much time the kids spent on devices and found that 4.4% qualified for a new OCD diagnosis. The researchers noted that they found an association between OCD and streaming videos on devices but not with traditional television-watching. “Just because their kid is playing video games doesn’t mean they’re definitely going to develop OCD,” he said.

U.S. scientists have achieved “ignition” — a fusion reaction that produced more energy than it took to create — a critical milestone for nuclear fusion and a step forward in the pursuit of a nearly limitless source of clean energy, Energy Department officials said Tuesday. The process imploded a tiny capsule inside the hohlraum that is filled with deuterium and tritium, creating a fusion reaction. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory"We have taken the first tentative steps toward a clean energy source," said Jill Hruby, the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration. The Inflation Reduction Act provided millions in new funding for fusion projects and the White House this year convened the first fusion summit and developed a 10-year plan to commercialize fusion technology. A technician reviews an optic inside the preamplifier support structure at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., in 2012.

☆ I burned out trying to juggle a side hustle and full-time job. Here's the 5-step plan I used to decide when it was time to go all-in on my business.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Leah Phifer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

She left her job in the government in May to focus exclusively on her small business. This plan was based on financial advice I derived from a variety of reputable sources, including the Forbes Expert Panel and Harvard Business Review. About three months into my plan, I was working 15 to 20 hours a week on my business while also juggling a 40-hour workweek. I was nervous, as we'd spent so much time putting together the financial plan to take my business full-time. Focusing on my business full-time allowed me to better assess the market, illuminating needs my original business plan didn't address.

Researchers for decades have attempted to recreate nuclear fusion – replicating the fusion that powers the sun. Nuclear fusion happens when two or more atoms are fused into one larger one, a process that generates a massive amount of energy as heat. Scientists across the globe have been inching toward the breakthrough, using different methods to try to achieve the same goal. This heat can then be used to warm water, create steam and power turbines to generate power. “The opposing argument is that this result is miles away from actual energy gain required for the production of electricity,” he said.

Just because rural areas are less populated doesn’t mean it’s cheaper to provide health services there. She recommends that rural counties explore lower-cost, evidence-based options like distributing naloxone, funding syringe service programs, or connecting people to housing or employment. “We couldn’t function if we didn’t partner for lots of different services.”In Colorado, pooling funds is built into the state’s model for managing opioid settlement money. “Nobody has paid any attention to our rural areas and this problem for years,” Laske said. They cross-referenced the results with a list of allowable uses for the $9 million in settlement funds they’ll receive over 18 years to create a priority grid.

The first-of-its-kind study was presented Thursday at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, an annual meeting of breast cancer specialists. Faced with this possibility, Partridge said, many women stop or never start endocrine therapy, against the advice of their doctors. The findings were highly anticipated by other breast cancer specialists. Women in her practice were already making the executive decision to stop endocrine therapy for the chance of having a baby. Johnson was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer at age 34.

“And the pulse oximeter is used from any age to geriatrics,” he said. The US Food and Drug Administration is mulling over next steps for the regulation of pulse oximeter devices, which may give less accurate readings for people of color. A panel of its Medical Devices Advisory Committee met in November to review clinical data on the issue. “I think of the pulse oximeter reading in the same way. Of course this can be dangerous.”Ultimately, the pulse oximeter can estimate the amount of oxygen a person has in their blood without the need for a blood sample.

☆ 3 ways to train your brain to perform better under pressure
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Aytekin Tank | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Avoiding "catastrophizing" and embracing empathy can retrain your brain to better handle stress. But when under pressure — real pressure, as he was the day he became president after John F. Kennedy was assassinated — Johnson assumed a near preternatural calm. Certain people seem designed to perform well under moments of intense pressure. Although stress is an essential tool for keeping the brain alert, too much has harmful consequences. Learning how to stay cool under pressure will make your life easier, because being constantly anxious and on edge isn't good for anyone.

☆ Fact Check-Food products do not contain human fetal cells
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

There is no evidence that food products contain cells from aborted human fetuses as flavor enhancers, contrary to a social media claim that revives a related, previously-debunked charge about cells used in biomedical research. Research by Senomyx into the use of ‘HEK-293’ aborted human fetal cells as a flavor enhancer was published in Pubmed in 2002, after which several patents were filed by them. Reuters previously factchecked false claims that PepsiCo drinks contained aborted fetal cells. AN OLD CELL LINEThe controversial cell line is derived from fetal cells dating to the 1970s. There is no evidence that any food or beverage products contain cells from human fetuses or derived from fetuses.

☆ Gut Bacteria Are Linked to Depression
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Dominique Mosbergen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Bacteroides are among the most common bacteria found in the human intestinal tract. New research has bolstered a once-gutsy idea: Bugs in the digestive system may play a role in depression. Two studies published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications found a link between several types of bacteria in the gut and depressive symptoms. Trillions of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi and yeast live in the digestive tract. Research exploring whether they might affect an array of diseases has increased in recent years.

Despite police, county executives and national pundits falsely labeling bail reform a disaster, in the few places like New York state that have tried it, bail reform has been a win for freedom. Bail reform has been a win for fiscal responsibility, saving taxpayers millions of dollars by avoiding the costs of unnecessary mass detention. Laura Gillen, a Democrat and fierce opponent of bail reform who lost her Long Island congressional race, took to Twitter to argue that bail reform was a reason Democrats lost control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrats lost because they ran from the truth about bail reform, amplifying lies instead of championing what should have been their policy win. The truth about bail reform isn’t just a political game — it is a moral imperative.

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