Bitchin Dave's Newsletter - June 23rd

Housekeeping: It's time for a summer break!  I'll return again in a few weeks.  In the meantime, enjoy the 4th of July holiday and celebrate this nation's 250th anniversary!

I was vaguely aware of how women's health is not well funded or really taken seriously.  But, the fact that this doesn't get much press left me in the dark about the depth of the disparity.

Here's an article that calls out some of the issues, and how women are treated differently than men. For example, I just learned that women weren't even included in large research studies about health until 1993.  Wait, how did I not know that? (shame on me in a way)

And then there's funding for various women-specific issues.  Endometriosis affects 1 in 10 women, yet only gets .067% of NIH funding (around $28 million), and another $44 million from startups.

Meanwhile male pattern baldness (which has no adverse health effects!) gets $1.2 billion in funding annually.  

Women typically aren't used in Alzheimer's studies in spite of the fact that they actually comprise 67% of the people afflicted with the disease.

And on and on from there.

It's something we should all be aware of, and we should do what we can to try to right this "injustice" in how money is applied to the situation. 


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Scientists develop 'smart paint' that reflects 97% of sunlight and could reduce AC use during heatwaves | - The Times of India

A high tech or “smart” paint is a nice leap. They have nano particles embedded into the paint that help reflect the radiation away from the building.  




In April 1970, the crew of Apollo 13 navigated home by holding the spacecraft against the terminator of the Earth, the line where day met night on the planet they were trying to reach, timing a fourteen-second engine burn with a wristwatch because their guidance computer had been shut down to save battery power for reentry

I have to admit that I continue to remain a little surprised that the Apollo 13 astronauts made it home at all. 

But then that’s the human spirit in a nutshell. They used their intuition, communication with the ground, and fought hard to keep “luck” on their side. 
 


While the world fights over oil, China just flew a 7.5-ton unmanned cargo plane powered by a megawatt-class hydrogen turboprop, climbing to 984 feet, covering 22.4 miles at 137 mph, and landing 16 minutes later with the engine running smoothly the whole way

Hydrogen powered, very large, unmanned …. Wow, that’s a lot to take in.  But it shows that there are opportunities to move away from our oil dependence. 




3 Teens Win Global Earth Prize for Inventing Tamarind Powder That Easily Removes Microplastics

Nicely done! These teens came up with a tamarind based product that can be added to water; a little agitation and the powder combines with microplastics and clumps. This clump can be removed with a magnet. 

That’s crazy. But it is another example of how we can do better! 


Watch "INSIDE Disney’s Groundbreaking Robotic Marble Sculpting | Grumpy's Gauntlet" on YouTube

This is an unexpected innovation that Disney has created. They have developed a robot that can take a 3D image and sculpt it from a stone block. 

What once came from a chisel and perseverance from a sculptor, can now be accomplished fairly easily by nearly anyone with an artistic eye. 



The Tartan Army

I am loving this story!

The Scots are having great fun during their stay to watch their team play in the World Cup...they plan to be in Miami this week for the next game, and promise more marches and more takeovers!  With all the bad stuff happening in the world, it's great to read about something so wholesome and fun.  (ok with all the alcohol, maybe not quite "wholesome" but they're apparently very pleasant whilst drinking).




We need SO MUCH MORE of this in our lives!



Bonus: Well, how do you like them apples? Wind and solar provided 24% of US Grid capacity through March, 2026.


Bitchin' Dave's newsletter is published weekly.  Please feel free to forward it around. If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe, send an email to geezergamer92@gmail.com

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