Health Care: Number Of Organ Transplant Physicians Shrinks As Demand Increases

From a StatNews.com online article:

Liver Transplants & DonorsMost Americans probably aren’t aware of the decline in the number of individuals training to become transplant physicians and how it will affect the future of medicine. Neither are the 2020 presidential hopefuls, all of whom have policies they believe best provide health care coverage for Americans without acknowledging or calling attention to the fact that soon there may not be enough doctors to do the work once more people are insured. We need a plan for that.

During the 25 years I’ve been a transplant doctor, I’ve cared for hundreds of patients who received lung transplants. I’m now worried about the growing number of people who will need this lifesaving procedure in the future but who won’t have enough transplant physicians to do it.

At any given time in the U.S., about 120,000 people are waiting for the call that they’ve been matched with a donor for a new lung, heart, liver, or kidney. That number will continue to rise, but the number of doctors to take the 2 a.m. call that a donor has been found for their patient and perform the transplant is dwindling.

To read more: https://www.statnews.com/2019/10/17/transplant-physicians-number-dwindling/?utm_source=STAT+Newsletters&utm_campaign=20aba6d000-First_Opinion&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8cab1d7961-20aba6d000-150443417

Boomers Fitness: 63-Year Old Unicycler Pedaled 30,000 Miles To Peak Health

From a Wall Street Journal online article:

Mr. Peterson pulls a trick on his unicycle in Redondo Beach, Calif. PHOTO DAVID WALTER BANKS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNALNow 63, Mr. Peterson has progressed from bike paths to rugged mountain trails and is known for his caped helmet emblazoned with his nickname, UniGeezer. Based on his GPS and bike computer, he estimates he’s logged nearly 30,000 miles, or 24 million pedal revolutions, since he started.

He thinks there’s a fear factor that prevents more people from trying unicycling. “If you fall, 99% of the time you land on your feet,” Mr. Peterson says. His worst injury was a torn piriformis, a tiny muscle behind the glutes, from overuse.

Unicycling isn’t as trendy as spin class, but Terry Peterson says he sweats just as much and smiles way more.

In 2006, at age 50, Mr. Peterson was 30 pounds overweight and got winded climbing a flight of stairs. His job as a piano tuner in Lomita, Calif., was mostly sedentary.

Popular workouts like running, cycling and boot camp sounded boring. “I needed something that would constantly demand my attention and keep me entertained,” he says. He thought back to his childhood unicycle, googled his old toy and was wowed by online videos of Canadian off-road unicycling pioneer Kris Holm. “This wasn’t the cheap ride I had when I was 11,” he says. “He was on a real, purpose-built unicycle doing unreal tricks.”

To read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/hes-gone-a-long-way-on-his-unicycle-11571572801

Top Podcasts: US Constitutional Law Expert Brian Kalt On 25th Amendment (Quillette)

Unable The Law, Politics, and Limits of Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth AmendmentBrian Kalt, an expert on US constitutional law and the presidency, talks to Jonathan Kay about the 25th Amendment and whether it can be used to remove a president. Professor Kalt recently published a book called Unable: The Law, Politics, and Limits of Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.

 

Top New Travel Videos: “The Arctic Autumn” In Northern Norway By Night Lights Films (2019)

https://vimeo.com/367276687

Filmed, Edited and Directed by: Adrien Mauduit

The Arctic Autumn is back again on Senja island in Northern Norway. And it shows! Each year, September marks the beginning of the Arctic Fall. For many locals, this season is like a new beginning. Not that the summer wasn’t full of life and colors either, but the autumn is largely considered as a favorite time to go outdoors. It might seem odd, but as life progressively goes into its wintery sleep, the landscapes come back to life!

THE ARCTIC AUTUMN short film by Adrien Mauduit 2019
First off, the midnight sun disappears and nighttime comes back. Each day, we lose about 10 minutes of sunlight. With these ever shortening days, the night sky becomes darker for longer. All those dim objects like the milky way that were not visible in the bright summer nights become visible again. More importantly for many chasers, the aurora borealis can finally be contemplated again too! Locals are always so happy to see the first aurorae of the season. Nonetheless the Arctic Fall is so particular because of the palette of colors it has to offer. Already starting from the second week of September, the blueberry and Skrubbær shrubs are turning red on the forest floor. At the very same time, Birch and Aspen trees can take on very flashy yellows or oranges, contrasting with the ever-green pine trees. It’s also a time where the highest mountaintops get sprinkled by the first snowflakes.

THE ARCTIC AUTUMN short film by Adrien Mauduit 2019

Website: https://www.nightlightsfilms.com/

IBM Announces First Fully-Autonomous Ship That Will Cross The Atlantic In September 2020

From an IBM newsroom online release:

“Putting a research ship to sea can cost tens of thousands of dollars or pounds a day and is limited by how much time people can spend onboard – a prohibitive factor for many of today’s marine scientific missions,” said Brett Phaneuf, a Founding Board Member of ProMare and Co-Director of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship project (together with fellow Board Member Fredrik Soreide). “With this project, we are pioneering a cost-effective and flexible platform for gathering data that will help safeguard the health of the ocean and the industries it supports.”

LONDONOct. 16, 2019   IBM announced today that it has joined a global consortium of partners, led by marine research organization ProMare, that are building an unmanned, fully-autonomous ship that will cross the Atlantic on the fourth centenary of the original Mayflower voyage in September 2020.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) will use IBM’s AI, most powerful servers, cloud and edge computing technologies to navigate autonomously and avoid ocean hazards as it makes its way from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts. If successful, it will be one of the first self-navigating, full-sized vessels to cross the Atlantic Ocean and will open the door on a new era of autonomous research ships.

To read more: https://newsroom.ibm.com/2019-10-16-IBM-Boards-the-Mayflower-Autonomous-Ship-Project#assets_all

Top Podcasts: Mark Shields And David Brooks On Latest In Washington

Shields and Brooks Oct 18 2019Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week’s political news, including how the impeachment inquiry is affecting President Trump’s support among Republicans, fallout from Trump’s handling of northern Syria and the military advance by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the changing dynamics of the 2020 presidential race.

Top New Travel Videos: “Remains Of The Fall” In Lapland, Finland (2019)

Filmed and Edited by: Timo Oksanen

Remains of the Fall Short Travel Film by Timo Oksanen 2019

In the end of September 2019 the leaves had fallen from most of the trees in Enontekiö, Finland, but the colours were still visible in the ground. I captured the remains of the fall foliage with my DJI Mavic 2 Pro with some help from ground-level timelapse cameras.

Music: Ian Post – Jump Jump

Remains of the Fall Short Travel Film by Timo Oksanen 2019

Website: http://timoksanen.fi/

Neuroscience Podcast: “Consciousness Theories” And “Biased Childhood Memories” (ScienceMag)

We don’t know where consciousness comes from. And we don’t know whether animals have it, or whether we can detect it in patients in comas. Do neuroscientists even know where to look? A new competition aims to narrow down the bewildering number of theories of consciousness and get closer to finding its biological signs by pitting different theories against each other in experimental settings. Freelance journalist Sara Reardon talks with host Sarah Crespi about how the competition will work.

Science Mag Podcast ConsciousnessIn our second segment, we talk about how we think about children. For thousands of years, adults have complained about their lack of respect, intelligence, and tendency to distraction, compared with previous generations. A new study out this week in Science Advances suggests our own biased childhood memories might be at fault. Sarah Crespi talks with John Protzko of the University of California, Santa Barbara, about how terrible people thought kids were in 3800 B.C.E. and whether understanding those biases might change how people view Generation Z today.

To read more: https://www.sciencemag.org/podcast/trying-find-mind-brain-and-why-adults-are-always-criticizing-kids-these-days

Top New Exhibitions: “The Last Knight” At The Metropolitan Museum, NYC Through Jan 5, 2020

From the MetMuseum.org online:

The Last Knight Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition BookThe Last Knight: The Art, Armor, and Ambition of Maximilian I examines the profound significance of European armor at the dawn of the Renaissance, through the lens of Emperor Maximilian I’s (1459–1519) remarkable life. On view only at The Met, The Last Knight coincides with the five-hundredth anniversary of Maximilian’s death, and is the most ambitious North American loan exhibition of European arms and armor in decades. Including 180 objects selected from some thirty public and private collections in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, The Last Knight will explore how Maximilian’s unparalleled passion for the trappings and ideals of knighthood served his boundless worldly ambitions, imaginative stratagems, and resolute efforts to forge a lasting personal and family legacy.

This exhibition features many works of art on view outside Europe for the first time, including Maximilian’s own sumptuous armors that highlight his patronage of the greatest European armorers of his age, as well as related manuscripts, paintings, sculpture, glass, tapestry, and toys, all of which emphasize the emperor’s dynastic ambitions and the centrality of chivalry at the imperial court and beyond.

To read more: https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2019/last-knight-art-armor-ambition-maximilian?utm_source=Exhibitions&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2019_1019_Met_Exhibitions

Future Of Recreation: Winnebago’s Latest All-Electric, Zero-Emission RV

From a Curbed.com online review:

The RV industry has been slow to adopt electric technology, and the innovations that have occurred are stemming from Europe. In recent years we’ve seen a few eco-friendly concept RVs, like an RV covered in solar panels or a travel trailer that can be towed by an electric car. Most recently, a German company debuted the world’s first manufactured electric camper with a decent range of 249 miles. In the U.S., however, the closest thing to an electric camper is the yet to be produced Rivian truck that features a kitchen and tent for overland camping.

Winnebago RV All-Electric

Although years behind the auto industry, the RV industry is finally making making strides in efficiency and green technology. In the latest eco-friendly news, Winnebago Industries has announced that they will help fund the expansion of Motiv Power Systems, a provider of all electric commercial chassis.

To read more: https://www.curbed.com/2019/10/17/20919270/winnebago-rv-electric-camper-motiv-power-systems-investment

News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious