A couple of years ago we wrote here:

…….. a terrible disease is sweeping across the world. In the UK alone there are 209 600 new cases per year. One in 14 of people over 65 are sufferers. Readers in any country in the world will soon find comparable statistics (LSS 21 1 2020)

Alzheimer’s disease, a subset of dementia, is one of those intriguing mysteries which stubbornly refuses to yield up a solution, despite the best efforts of researchers and noble organisations like the Alzheimer’s Society, whose excellent site is linked here[1]

Much of the burden of research has fallen on amyloid-beta proteins, and their relationship with the plaques which form in the brains of sufferers. Up to know, the plaques have been the villains of the piece. But are they? Now new research suggests that the amount of the proteins may be the key factor. It’s interesting research because it makes use of genetic studies on populations who experience higher levels of dementia and tries to tie this to levels of proteins and plaques. The Conversation [2] has three writers-up, which is a bit much to cite for a short blog like this one.

As we pointed out before, there are a number of competing hypotheses, and we don’t think a cure is coming tomorrow. But never forget, gentle readers, how research in one area can often have surprising benefits in others, as it all adds to the total of human knowledge. So, if you wanted to dip into your pocket and help a charity, it would do no harm.

We thank Mr Peter Seymour for this story

[1] https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/

[2]https://theconversation.com/alzheimers-disease-surprising-new-theory-about-what-might-cause-it-192143?utm_mediu

#dementia #alzheimer’s #proteins #plaques #neurology

stories that caught our eye this week

Megathreats Why believe Nouriel Roubini? because he was the dude who accurately predicted the 2007-08 crash, that’s why. Now his new book identifies ten trends that imperial our future. In his own words” expect many dark days”

https://www.ft.com/content/3be78531-a7f9-4045-9ac8-88ca64210f59

All Trussed Up Inept leaders are always more interesting than the able ones . Latest on the list is UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, but the lessons here can be applied to many, many countries.

https://theconversation.com/liz-truss-is-now-a-case-study-in-poor-leadership-192554?utm_m

Neurobiology Advances again Sufferers from terrible neurological diseases such as MS, MNR and the rest have always elicited our utmost sympathies. So we welcome every advance in neurological techniques such as the one below. And, who knows-it may help those injured in terrible accidents as well.

Miniature human-brain-like structures transplanted into rats can send signals and respond to environmental cues. Researchers grew the structures from human stem cells and then injected them into the brains of newborn rat pups. After six months, the organoids became fully integrated into the rat brains. The approach could lead to a way to test therapies for human brain disorders. But some researchers have ethical concerns about such experiments: creating rodent–human hybrids could harm the animals or produce animals with human-like brains.Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Nature paper

On the Silk Road Sometimes things from history grip our imagination. Nothing more so than the Silk Road, that vast network of trade routes crossing mountains and deserts that seems almost as old as Civilisation. New discoveries in Wenzhou suggest how extensive it was, The finds date from the Song and Yuan dynasties. They corresponded roughly to our own European High Middle Ages, from about 960 AD to about 1368 AD.

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3195907/photos-ancient-chinese-port-city-reveals-secrets

Larry the Intrepid Fox Hunter Larry, the feline resident of No 10 Downing Street was anxious to prove that someone in there is still doing their job. In the middle of a major political and economic crisis he still found time to see off an intruding fox. Can your cat do this?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/11/larry-the-cat-fox-no-10-downing-street-chief-mouser-pm

#nouriel roubini #catastrophes #debt #liz truss #neuroscience #ms #mnr #larry the cat #china #silk road

Do you know anyone who has failed, completely and utterly? Whose entire life’s work has gone down the drain? Who has devoted their entire life to a career that has utterly failed, publicly and spectacularly? Who has not only shown themselves to be personally and intellectually unequal to their task, but that their core beliefs, their moral compass if you like, have been shown to be utterly useless? If you don’t know anyone personally, can you think of anyone famous? Perhaps in England?

What would you advise them to do? We at LSS might suggest a cocktail or two to drown their sorrows. And once again, our researchers have come up with a list of drown your sorrows. Slammers that could console anyone who has wrecked their own life, and those of many around them.

Pain killer A rich mix of rum, fruit juices, and coconut a couple of these will make you feel you are delivering growth again in no time at all

https://www.liquor.com/recipes/painkiller/

Mexican Firing Squad A rejuvenating mix of lime juice, tequila and bitters, you could reboot any human enterprise from a whelk stall in the Mile End Road to -oh, let’s think of something, a failing Government, maybe?

https://www.liquor.com/mexican-firing-squad-cocktail-recipe-5270686

Any Port in a Storm Boozy blend of rums, ports, absinthe and many other elements which could ready you for the most difficult pf press conferences. Or give you the courage to take your main questions from patsy journalists whose owners put you where you are today.

https://www.liquor.com/any-port-in-a-storm-cocktail-recipe-5209424

Adios Mofo We’ve toned down the title for this family website, but it’s a beautiful Conservative blue, this one. Quite appropriate, really. One of these, and you’re ready to sack anyone who carries out your orders to the letter.

https://www.liquor.com/recipes/adios-motherfucker-2/

Grave Digger If by some random chance your name is Sir Graham Brady, and, by some other even more fantastic probability, you are chairman of the 1922 committee, this one might resonate.

https://www.liquor.com/recipes/grave-digger/

North Sea Oil Much better for the economy than all those windfarms! A Scottish theme with lots of whiskies, in case they still love you up there as they should. Maybe. Perhaps.

https://www.liquor.com/north-sea-oil-cocktail-recipe-6742780

The Noble One If you can carry on when everyone around seems to hate you, for some inexplicable reason, what better heart warmer than this rather outre mix of sherry, port and various syrups. And if all else fails-send for Jeremy Hunt!

https://www.liquor.com/noble-one-cocktail-recipe-5268020

Once again, hats off to our researchers and that amazing site https://www.liquor.com/- a go to must for anyone who needs a mix in a hurry, or has been told to write an article to a deadline.

#uk #financial crisis #conservative party #stability

Ever had one of those annoying phone calls where someone rings up pretending to be from your IT supplier or something? If you have any brains at all, you know it’s the start of a scam, and you need to get rid of them. We’ve tried various methods down the years. A) Pretending we’re a garage and assuming they’re calling about their car (it’s never been ready yet) B) Converting them to The Lord Jesus Christ (it’s useful to know a couple of hymns and invite them to sing along C) Faking a nervous breakdown, or drunkenness.

The online ones are more skilful. Their imitations of real corporations and their website are chillingly authentic these days. No more grammar or spelling errors like they did five years ago. And of course there are always the Love Rats (to borrow a phrase from the estimable Take A Break ) who rip the lonely and the sad out of millions.

We at LSS think the scammers are part of the same industry as certain charlatans who practice in politics, religion, health and nutrition, and give all practitioners of these arts a bad name. So why do their entreaties work? How? Today we have a series of pieces which we hope will help you explore the world of scamming, and how you might be wise to the pitfalls. Here goes

Why people fall-the psychological weaknesses, if you like- are admirably introduced by this clear piece in The Conversation by psychologist Paul Seager

https://theconversation.com/five-psychological-reasons-why-people-fall-for-scams-and-how-to-avoid-them-102421

While Stacey Wood for the BBC carried out controlled experiments to look at the actual process of deception.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180727-why-so-many-people-fall-for-scams

As for the types of scams-there seem to be more of them then there are types of lager in our local supermarket. Phone scams, advance free fraud, pyramids…..that excellent site Which gives a jumping off point, but a quick google will reveal many, many more.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/scams/types-of-scams

And finally…….spare a thought for the victims Many, many have had their life savings, homes and pensions snatched away. Ultimately, the problem will require transnational regulation for it to be eliminated. But that’s a thought for another day.

#fraud #scam #gullible #psychology

Many years ago, we were moved to join a charity called Antibiotic Research UK. [1] One of its patrons and principle moving spirits was Dame Sally Davies, now UK Government special envoy on antibiotics and Master of Trinity College Cambridge. Early followers of this blog, and the old Facebook posts which preceded it, will recall that it was our principal motive and raison d’etre which caused us to enter the confusing world of cyberspace. Since when, our remit has broadened somewhat.

Global warming, nuclear weapons, pollution….with all these other problems creeping up the agenda since 2015, you might be forgiven for thinking that the problem of antibiotic resistance had been solved by now. Not so, according to Dame Sally. It’s still right up there with all those other Bad Guys and may indeed have edged out Climate Change as the number one existential threat. Only the recent self-promotion of Vladimir Putin and his enthusiasm for a world Armageddon may represent a more proximal threat.

In a recent article for the New Statesman, [2] Dame Sally offers Alona Ferber a magisterial bird’s eye view of progress so far, where we are now, and hope for the future. OK, it’s a bit UK-centric-the Staggers is published in London, after all. But readers all around the world will certainly benefit on this critical state of play assessment by the Wise Woman of Cambridge. Especially if you are the owners of children or grandchildren.

[1] https://www.antibioticresearch.org.uk

[2]https://www.newstatesman.com/encounter/2022/10/sally-davies-anti-microbial-resistance-could-kill-

#antibiotic research #amr #dame sally davies #medicine

a weekly look at passing events

Biting The Bear Whatever their personal motives, opponents of economic sanctions against Russia are united in one bleak asseveration: the sanctions are not working. Now Philip Inman for the Guardian makes a strong case that that they will, medium term. If you’ve been investing heavily in Vladimir Putin, now might be the time to sell short.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/oct/08/behind-moscows-bluster-sanctions-are-making-russia-suffer

Nobel prize for a noble fellow One day studies of human evolution will be divided into two eras: before Pääbo (BP) and after Pääbo (AP) Because the use of DNA and other molecular techniques by this subtle Swede have completely transformed our understanding. Credit too for the Max Planck Institute, who play it like a top football club, recruiting the best talent from round the world, regardless of nationality. Nature Briefings: Medicine Nobel for Ancient DNA

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to the ‘godfather’ of the fiercely competitive field of palaeogenomics. Svante Pääbo, a geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, pioneered the use of precious snippets of DNA in fossils that are tens of thousands of years old to study human evolution. His work has led to the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome and the discovery of the group of hominins called the Denisovans.Nature | 5 min read

Himalayan snow-abominable catastrophe Those of us who want to do something about catastrophic global warming are being portrayed by certain third-rate British politicians as being “anti-growth.” What “growth” will be possible in a world where the entire agricultural and social systems of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have collapsed remains moot. Yet it’s a very real danger, as Nature Briefings makes clear Fast-melting Glaciers in the Himalayas

Scientists have been collecting data on the glaciers in the high mountain ranges that run across Central and South Asia for the past 20 years to track how their size and mass has changed over time. By the end of the century, between one- and two-thirds of the region’s glaciers could melt, largely driven by atmospheric warming. This could have far-reaching consequences for the more than one billion people who depend on the river systems that are fed by the snow and glacial melt. Increased melting could erode banks, trigger landslides and catastrophic floods when glacial lakes break their banks, and make water supplies for irrigation unpredictable.Yale Environment 360 | 8 min read

White is the new cool So we can conclude from the last piece that anything to slow global warming is a good thing. Here’s a story from the Mail about a new type of paint which will cut the need for energy-guzzling cooling systems. Heretical thought: could action on climate change actually create economic growth? Perish the thought!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11278179/Worlds-whitest-paint-use-cars-airplanes.html

#putin #russia #himalayas #climate change #global warming

Fans of the marvellous BBC TV Drama Wolf Hall, set in the treacherous court of its King Henry VIII, cannot avoid one conclusion: the years 1529-1533, in England, were absolutely crucial to the success or failure of the Reformation, that profound cultural and economic split in European history. Whatever Henry’s motives, a European Power of real size had now joined the movement. Without it, the smaller Protestant states of Germany and the Netherlands might well have been crushed beneath the Catholic-Hapsburg juggernaut. As it was, England provided an inviolable refuge, a source of arms, money and diplomatic recourse for the new movement which saw it through.

One odd thing struck us: the Reformation began in German speaking lands, spreading to places like Scandinavia, England and the Netherlands, where they all speak in the German branch of the Indo-European language family. The Papacy remained secure in Latin lands like Italy, France and Spain, which have remained staunchly Catholic to this day. Coincidence? Or is something else going on?

Fans of Medieval history will recall the Holy Roman Empire. At its peak in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries it was the most powerful political entity around, holding much of what is now Germany. Italy and central Europe, and of course the Popes, in its grasp. It took the Papacy centuries and a whole series of wars (the Investiture Struggles) to bring its Nordic neighbour to heel. So, when Luther nailed his theses to the famous door in 1519, the Empire was there alright: but no one lay awake at night worrying about what it might do, least of all the Pope.

Yes, there were plenty of Catholics in England, and lots of Reform-minded people in France, at least initially. But after the long series of wars finally culminated in a Peace of sorts, was the linguistic map of Europe a coincidence? Most of the Protestants were in the German speaking North, and most of the Catholics in the Latin south. Gradually, the former seemed to pull away economically and culturally, for many centuries. Was this the final revenge of the old Holy Roman Empire?

#reformation #counter reformation #religion #catholic #protestant #martin luther #germanic languages # latin languages

It’s prizes season again, and soon the famous Nobels will be upon us. Why are science prizes important? Because they tell us how the world will be in ten, fifteen and one hundred years’ time. How do we know this? Consider the world in the 1770s. The work of statesmen like Pitt and Adams was important. But the real transformation of society was going on the laboratories of men like Watt, Priestly and Boulton. For it was the steam engine and the industrial methods it afforded that led to the quantum leap of output and production that has made the modern world.

And so back to this year’s prestigious Breakthrough awards. We’ll let you read the full details in our link to Nature Briefings below. However, gentle readers, we beg the liberty of drawing your attention in particular to their sections on alpha fold proteins and quantum computing. These are today’s equivalent of electricity and steam, and will work the same transformation in our lives, rendering our current dispensation as hopelessly backward, poor and unenlightened.

Contrast the efforts of these discoverers with nostalgists of all nations. Whose desperate urge is to return us all to some map scheme they glimpsed in a long-ago youth. When men were men, smoked, and chemicals like DDT and Carbon dioxide poured out in ever-increasing quantities. The price we pay for their delusions is measured in poverty and blood. The better life is in the future.

The researchers behind the AlphaFold protein-prediction system have won one of this year’s US$3-million Breakthrough prizes — the most lucrative awards in science. Demis Hassabis and John Jumper were recognized for creating the artificial-intelligence tool, which has predicted the 3D structures of almost every known protein on the planet. “Few discoveries so dramatically alter a field, so rapidly,” says computational biologist Mohammed AlQuraishi. This year’s other Breakthrough prizes went to: Sleep scientists Masashi Yanagisawa and Emmanuel Mignot, for independently discovering that narcolepsy is caused by a deficiency of the brain chemical orexin.Biophysical engineer Clifford Brangwynne and molecular biologist Anthony Hyman, for discovering a mechanism by which cell contents organize themselves by segregating into droplets.Four founders of the field of quantum information: Peter Shor, David Deutsch, Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard. Their research laid the groundwork for the development of ultra-secure communications and computers that might one day outperform standard machines at some tasks.Mathematician Daniel Spielman, who was recognized for multiple advances, including the development of error-correcting codes to filter out noise in high-definition television broadcasts.Nature | 5 min read

#protein #quantum computer #progress #enlightenment #industrial revolution

Do you know someone they all call “the workaholic?” Come on, we all knew someone like that at some point. No marriage. No family-not even a pet. Couldn’t talk much except about work-which they always did, sometimes volubly. Always in by eigh,t always there until eight the same night. Always looked to be working-but how much did they actually produce?

Well, in England at least, their hour has come to take over the office. Because it seems that Jacob Rees-Mogg, our Secretary of State for Business wants to scrap the right to paid holidays, a 48-hour week and all those other pesky EU freedoms which were enshrined in law before Brexit. Our first link is to Ethan Shone of National World, who raises the intriguing question-will it work? [1]

At this point our old friend Dave Watford from the Dog and Duck pops up to claim “Cawse it will! Stands ter reason, dunnit? If we awl wurk ‘arder, we’ll show them French and Germans Britain is Great again!” Hang on Dave-if all those EU regulations are so irksome, how come countries like Germany and France are streets ahead of us in productivity?[2] As for GDP per head, we won’t go there in case it causes Dave to choke on his pint of real ale.

Evidence this may be so comes from a study reported to ITV, to which we alerted by the indefatigable Mr Peter Seymour. The study, carried out by Global Autonomy subjected 3300 workers in a range of companies from chip shops to corporates to a four-day week, with no loss of earnings. The result? Productivity was much the same-or even rose. Clearly the hours you sweat are not clearly correlated with output from the other end. So, what is?

We at LSS suspect the answer lies in history. No one worked harder, or longer than pre-industrial, agricultural peasants. Yet their productivity from the Neolithic right up until the eighteenth century was poor. It was only when machines were brought in, combined with new scientific methods of farming that productivity rose. Which it did, vertiginously. The moral? If you spend a little on education and new plant, you get much better outcomes for less work. Want to try that instead, Rees-Mogg?

[1] https://www.nationalworld.com/news/politics/jacob-rees-mogg-scrap-holiday-entitlement-48-hour-week-what-are-working-time-regulations-3855103

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/productivitymeasures/bulletins/internationalcomparisonsofproductivityfinalestimates/2020

[3] https://www.itv.com/news/2022-09-20/why-a-four-day-working-week-is-a-success-for-nine-in-ten-companies

#output #productivity #four day week #jacob rees-mogg

Russia’s waning influence Even after the fall of the USSR, Russia held a strong influence in that belt of republics which stretches all the way from Moldova to Tadjikstan. But as happens to many imperial powers an overconcentration of resources to one point (Ukraine) means other subjects see their chance to start kicking over the traces. You should have thought things through more, Vlad! We thank Mr Peter Seymour for this story

https://inews.co.uk/news/world/putin-empire-central-asia-russia-fail-keep-peace-closest-allies-1872487

Why you shouldn’t read this blog Earlier this week we commented on Iran’s drastic persecution of women who refuse to wear the Hijab. But now Balsam Mustafa, writing in the Conversation, tells the whole tale much more fully: there’s plenty of good links here too if you want to go further

https://theconversation.com/iran-protest-at-enforced-hijab-sparks-online-debate-and-feminist-calls-for-action-across-arab-world-191178?utm_medium=email

Throw away that telescope We possess an astronomical telescope which we keep in the summer house for use on fine evenings, accompanied by a few cold beers and cubes of fine cheese of course. Yet despite the assurances of the man who sold it to us, the images it produces are small, indistinct and of negligible scientific value. That is compared to the marvellous new James Webb telescope, whose accomplishments already stun and delight. This piece from Nature Briefings shows distant Neptune and its moons; but expect much more, and soon.

This image of Neptune’s spectacular rings (tell them to click on the link-ed) was taken with the James Webb Space Telescope’s Near Infrared Camera. The camera captures infrared light, which has been mapped into the visible spectrum in this image. The bright spots in and near the rings are some of Neptune’s moons, including Galatea, Despina, Larissa and Proteus.Scientific American | 5 min read

Buzz Stops for bees Everyone should be doing more for bees, those benign but deeply threatened guardians of the ecosphere. We always have plenty of lavender and wild mixes. Now the Guardian reports a charming idea- if every bus stop roof were turned into a bee garden, how many of the creatures might thrive? And how many other creatures might no longer flutter by?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/sep/24/bus-shelter-roofs-turned-into-gardens-for-bees-butterflies-aoe

#putin #russia #central asia #iran #hijab #rights for women #neptune #astronomy #conservation #bees