Category Archives: News

Top Science Podcasts: Earthworm Study, Bias In Health Algorithms & “Dr. Space Junk” (ScienceMag)

scimag_pc_logo_120_120 (1)This week in ScienceHelen Philips, a postdoctoral fellow at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research and the Institute of Biology at Leipzig University, and colleagues published the results of their worldwide earthworm study, composed of data sets from many worm researchers around the globe. 

Sarah also talks with Ziad Obermeyer, a professor in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley, about dissecting out bias in an algorithm used by health care systems in the United States to recommend patients for additional health services.

Finally, in the monthly books segment, books host Kiki Sanford interviews author Alice Gorman about her book Dr. Space Junk vs The Universe: Archaeology and the Future. Listen to more book segments on the Science books blog: Books, et al.

To read more: https://www.sciencemag.org/podcast/worldwide-worm-survey-and-racial-bias-health-care-algorithm

Demographic Surveys: Parents Are Providing Too Much Help For Adult Children (Pew Research)

From a Pew Research Center online release:

Pew Research Parents and Older Children SurveyThere’s a sense among a majority of Americans that parents are doing too much for their young adult children these days – 55% of all adults say this, while only 10% say parents are doing too little for their young adult children. About a third (34%) say parents are doing about the right amount.

Pew Research Parents and Older Children Support SurveyAmong adults ages 18 to 29, 45% say they received a lot of (24%) or some (21%) financial help from their parents in the past 12 months. About one-in-five (21%) say they received only a little financial help, and 34% say they received none.

Financial independence is one of the many markers used to designate the crossover from childhood into young adulthood, and it’s a milestone most Americans (64%) think young adults should reach by the time they are 22 years old, according to a new Pew Research Center study. But that’s not the reality for most young adults who’ve reached this age.

To read more: https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/10/23/majority-of-americans-say-parents-are-doing-too-much-for-their-young-adult-children/

Top Science Podcasts: Quantum Computing, Speediest Ants & Altering The “Deaf” Gene (Nature)

Nature PodcastListen to the latest from the world of science, with Nick Howe and Shamini Bundell. This week, a milestone in quantum computing, and rethinking early mammals.

In this episode:

00:43 A quantum computing milestone

A quantum computer is reported to have achieved ‘quantum supremacy’ – performing an operation that’s essentially impossible for classical computers. Research Article: Arute et al.News and Views: Quantum computing takes flightEditorial: A precarious milestone for quantum computingNews: Hello quantum world! Google publishes landmark quantum supremacy claim

08:24 Research Highlights

The world’s speediest ants, and the world’s loudest birdsong. Research Highlight: A land-speed record for ants set in Saharan dunesResearch Highlight: A bird’s ear-splitting shriek smashes the record for loudest song

10:19 The mammals that lived with the dinosaurs

Paleontologists are shifting their view of Mesozoic era mammals. News Feature: How the earliest mammals thrived alongside dinosaurs

18:00 News Chat

A Russian researcher’s plans to edit human embryos, and ‘prime editing’ – a more accurate gene editing system. News: Russian ‘CRISPR-baby’ scientist has started editing genes in human eggs with goal of altering deaf geneNews: Super-precise new CRISPR tool could tackle a plethora of genetic diseases

Top Science Podcasts: Child Mortality Rates, Evolving New Genes & Vaping Deaths (Nature)

Nature PodcastListen to the latest from the world of science, with Benjamin Thompson and Shamini Bundell. This week, investigating child mortality rates at a local level, and building genes from non-coding DNA.

In this episode:

00:43 A regional view of childhood mortality

Researchers map countries’ progress towards the UN’s Sustainable Developmental Goals. Research Article: Burstein et al.World View: Data on child deaths are a call for justiceEditorial: Protect the census

07:22 Research Highlights

Astronomers identify a second visitor from beyond the solar system, and extreme snowfall stifles animal breeding in Greenland. Research Highlight: The comet that came in from interstellar spaceResearch Highlight: Extreme winter leads to an Arctic reproductive collapse

09:22 Evolving genes from the ground up

Natural selection’s creative way to evolve new genes. News Feature: How evolution builds genes from scratch

15:43 News Chat

A spate of vaping-related deaths in the US, and Japan’s import of the Ebola virus. News: Scientists chase cause of mysterious vaping illness as death toll risesNews: Why Japan imported Ebola ahead of the 2020 Olympics

Health Care: Greater Use Of “Biosimilars” Could Save System $7 Billion

From a Health Care Finance News online article:

HealthCare Finance NewsBut greater use of biosimilars could create significantly more savings. If biosimilars obtained a 75 percent market share, less than the share of these medicines in many European Union nations, the resulting annual savings for the U.S. healthcare system could be nearly $7 billion, based on Winegarden’s analysis.

Not all drugs are created the same. Take generics and biologics: The former is a chemical-based medicine whose manufacture is easily replicated, while the latter is created using biological processes.

But there’s another key difference between those two classes of drugs, and it pertains to the financial state of the healthcare industry and to U.S. taxpayer dollars. Stated plainly, biosimilars have the opportunity to bring significant savings to state Medicaid programs and consumers with commercial insurance. That gives them a leg up over their chemical-based counterparts.

To read more: https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/expanding-biosimilars-market-holds-potential-significant-savings-state-medicaid-programs?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTTJGbU1qTXpOVFpqTm1WbCIsInQiOiJrU3puNU4xNVB2eTBBVkpwQ3FGaWhYdDJwZEV0M1dlcFRBakNpOFZ5YVYyanpSSk9HeVZCQTBHbjY4ZktFXC82cm9JeWE3S2dUWm5HMXByYTVoOVB6SG9FaWRIWnRta2ZzZUNvN1g2WHVneVNtVEFpT1ZlZjEwWk1KbmFaXC9qN3N2In0%3D

Future Of Packaging: Ioniqa Technologies Delivers World’s First Ocean And Recycled Plastic Bottles

From a DesignBoom online article:

Ioniqa Ocean Plastic Bottlesthe recycling technology is the result of a partnership between coca-cola, the dutch startup ioniqa technologies and indorama ventures, one of coca-cola’s suppliers of PET plastic. to process the material, ioniqa technologies used a depolymerization technology to break down the PET into its monomers that allow it to be re-produced as a new. it was then sent to an indorama ventures facility to be polymerized into new plastic.

coca-cola has introduced the world’s first bottle created using recycled plastic waste from the ocean. the company has launched an initial edition of 300 bottles made of 25% plastic from the marine waste collected by volunteers during 84 beach cleanups in spain and portugal.

To Read more: https://www.designboom.com/design/coca-cola-bottles-recycled-ocean-plastic-10-14-2019/?utm_source=designboom+daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=coca-cola+introduces+first

Top Political Podcasts: Shields And Brooks On October 11, 2019 (PBS)

Shields and Brooks Oct 11 2019Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including President Trump’s attitude toward Kurds in Syria and stance toward Turkey’s Syria offensive, testimony from the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and how the prospect of impeachment affects the race among 2020 Democrats.

Top Science Podcasts: Estimating Earthquake Risk, And Difficulties For Deep-Learning (Nature)

Nature PodcastThis week, a method for predicting follow-up earthquakes, and the issues with deep learning systems in AI.

In this episode:

00:47 Which is the big quake?

A new technique could allow seismologists to better predict if a larger earthquake will follow an initial tremor. Research Article: Real-time discrimination of earthquake foreshocks and aftershocksNews and Views: Predicting if the worst earthquake has passed

07:46 Research Highlights

Vampire bats transmitting rabies in Costa Rica, and why are some octopuses warty? Research Article: Streicker et al.Research Article: Voight et al.

10:03 Problems for pattern-recognition

Deep-learning allows AIs to better understand the world, but the technique is not without its issues. News Feature: Why deep-learning AIs are so easy to fool

16:31 News Chat

We roundup the 2019 Nobel Prizes for science. News: Biologists who decoded how cells sense oxygen win medicine NobelNews: Physics Nobel goes to exoplanet and cosmology pioneersNews: Chemistry Nobel honours world-changing batteries

Top Politics Podcasts: Mark Shields And Ramesh Ponnuru Discuss Latest News In Washington (PBS)

Shields and Ponnuru PBS Oct 4 2019Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and Ramesh Ponnuru of The National Review join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including President Trump’s insistence that foreign leaders should investigate the Biden family, how the White House is responding to the subsequent House investigation and the newest fundraising and poll numbers among 2020 Democrats.

Top Politics Podcasts: Stu Rothenberg And Domenico Montanaro Latest In Washington (PBS)

PBS Newshour Political NewsStu Rothenberg of Inside Elections and NPR’s Domenico Montanaro join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including how gun policy is factoring into the 2020 presidential campaign, another sexual assault allegation against Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the contest between Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for progressive voters and how helpful the Democratic debates are.