Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - June 24th
Evolution is a thing. And here is fact-based-evidence that humans are evolving in real time, right in plain view, and in our lifetime.
The story is that the people living in the Himalayas have adapted to the lower-oxygen environment in this mountainous region.
Children are being born with the ability for their blood to carry enough hemoglobin to support their regular function. Whereas those of us who live much closer to sea level can not survive in that environment for long periods.
Please, tell me again how humans haven't adapted and evolved based on environmental factors.
Ahem. I'll say it again slowly so mouth breathers can get it. Human evolution has happened. And is happening. Every. Day.
https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-are-evolving-right-in-front-of-our-eyes-on-the-tibetan-plateau
https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-are-evolving-right-in-front-of-our-eyes-on-the-tibetan-plateau
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Here's a rather odd story about how pharmaceutical companies create enormous amounts of waste, primarily in the disposal of over produced drugs. And that's crazy, when you consider that we have this weird relationship with healthcare in this country. People seem to think that its okay to not have healthcare or vaccines, but yet will succumb to sexy marketing for a wonder drug. Such a weird collision of science, health, and the environment. |
I heard an analyst talking about tariffs. His "take" was that there are some people close to the president who are conducting a complex dance of sorts. They do not want to increase taxes on large-to-mid sized corporations; they know that would be a non-starter. But they also know that they need to increase revenue in some way to fund the government. So the aim was to increase the tariff rate so that these companies would pay the fee from their outsized profits. But the companies are greedy, and decided to simply pass that on to the consumer (and in doing so keep their profits ridiculously high). It would explain all the angst about showing the tariff amount at some retailers. The administration just wanted the companies to simply suck it up and pay it. But the companies decided to screw everyone instead. Like I said, its a perspective that has some merit, perhaps. Its all just so strange. |
This sounds ridiculous. And the fact that there isn't much more than his own assertions posted on his website and then parroted through interviews and carried to other posts, suggests that this may be hokum. But I'd be interested to see if there's anything to the idea that you can somehow use plastic to create electricity. The theory sounds plausible. It's the execution that I question. |
Buried in all the news about Harvard was this ridiculous story. The university paid under $30 for a copy of the magna carta some years ago, and just put it away and forgot about it. And it turned out to be a very valuable original!  |
To this point, scientists can't figure out why Titan is "wobbling." "We think some event in the past may have knocked the atmosphere off its spin axis, causing it to wobble." While studying it using telescopes and looking at the data from probes, they noticed that Saturn wasn't impacting the tilt, which made the result curiouser. "That would've given us clues to the cause," Nick Teanby, co-author of the study and a planetary scientist at the University of Bristol, said in the statement. "Instead, we've got a new mystery on our hands." Its amazing to me just how much we don't know. But its also worth noting that this is what's great about scientific curiosity. We continue to evaluate what we see, and update theories to adapt to that. And we continue to learn new things. |
This is pretty cool. While YouTube has a significant collection of user-created content related to Disney parks - including ride throughs of most attractions - Disney itself has decided to make a series of POV attraction ride throughs. The major difference is that the Disney versions are flawless. No ride breakdowns. Shots that highlight things they want to be sure you see. No other guests blocking the view. And they take some parts slowly. You can find the collection on Disney+, beginning with the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland. |
Bonus: on my most recent visit to volunteer at the food bank, the volunteer coordinator took a few moments to remind us that the need continues to grow, but the donations from markets and restaurants continues to decline. There are a litany of reasons, related to costs, supply chain, and tax incentives. But its the reality.
And she also reminded us that financial donations are declining - and what comes in from the state and federal government has either been reduced, or is subject to termination. She specifically talked about SNAP benefits. If those do go away, there will be more harm caused to people who need it, and the food banks will be overwhelmed but won't have that money coming in to help, either.
So my gentle suggestion is to contact your US senators and congressperson and let them know that people rely on some of these benefits - SNAP, food stamps. and more. In a first world nation such as ours, no one should be going to bed hungry - especially so that a billionaire has to pay *just a little bit* less in taxes.
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