At some point in the next 15 years or so, someone is going to extend their hand to me and say: “You need to give me the car keys. You can’t drive anymore.” So having the option of a robotaxi to get to the grocery store is attractive. Where are we on that project? “In […]
My prediction is that the “negotiations” will be over what kind of fig leaf Japan will allow in return for abject Trump Administration capitulation: “Japan on Tuesday clarified its stance on U.S. tariffs, saying it wants all new levies put into place by the administration of President Donald Trump completely removed, confirming a hard-line position […]
“The headline election was Romania’s presidential vote, with liberal Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan coming out the winner ahead of nationalist George Simion.” *snip* “Poland was also holding a presidential election, and Polish TV’s exit poll indicated that Warsaw’s liberal Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski received 30.8%, while national-conservative historian Karol Nawrocki won 29.1% of the vote.” “The […]
For most people, 23andMe is synonymous with direct-to-consumer genomics. It isn’t DNA sequencing, it’s microarrays that are capable of detecting many annotated variants. As with all direct-to-consumer genomics, the cost to consumers was supposed to be subsidized by the aftermarket for genetic information. In the event, 23andMe declared bankruptcy recently, and there was a question […]
While neither the stock market nor bond credit rating business are the economy, changes in the stock market and bond credit ratings are often harbingers. “Moody’s announced Friday evening it was lowering the US score to Aa1 from Aaa. A gauge of the greenback fell 0.6%, US stock futures slid and Treasuries’ yield curve steepened […]
The link is to a long but cogent piece in Talking Points Memo. Unlike the author, I long ago appreciated the threats posed by the massive cuts to NIH funding. But Josh does the extra work of thinking about how this anti-science juggernaut could be halted. Read the whole thing, but here are the nut […]
Yesterday, tornados touched down in St. Louis. We lived in St. Lous for 40 years before moving to New England, and in those 40 years, the closest I can recall a tornado touchdown was at Lambert-St. Louis airport. Climate change is making for more severe weather, and DOGE has cut staff at NOAA and the […]
“During an interview with Dr. Phil in late April, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the bold claim that “the mumps part” of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine “has never worked.”” Do I even have to tell you he’s full of it? Of course he is. If you gave the man an […]
Back in the 1960s, it was believed that autism was caused by “refrigerator moms,” moms who were cold and aloof and thus drove their otherwise normal children into a lifetime of autism. Nobody believes the refrigerator mom environment anymore. Research has shown that autism has a heritability of 60-80%. So while there may be environmental […]
I was a subject in the Moderna Phase III trial for the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine. It was a placebo-controlled trial: of the 30,000 people enrolled, half received the vaccine and half got the saline control. I ended up breaking the blind by having myself tested independently. I was positive for spike protein antibody, which was […]