Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
The authors of a study that examined climate change’s potential effect on the global economy said Wednesday that data errors led them to slightly overstate an expected drop in income over the next 25 years.The researchers at Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, writing in the journal Nature in 2024, had forecast a 19% drop in global income by 2050. Their revised analysis puts the figure at 17%.The authors also said in their original work that there was a 99% chance that, by midcentury, it would cost more to fix damage from climate change than it would cost to…
December brings candy canes, snow angels — and a reminder of just how much Lady Gaga you’ve listened to.Spotify Wrapped, an annual walk down memory lane available to the streaming platform’s more than 713 million users, is now a hallmark for the company, flooding social feeds for one day every year and spawning copycats.The project has grown rapidly; by the December launch date, Spotify is already working on next year’s Wrapped. What once took a handful now takes hundreds, from designers to engineers to data scientists.The annual wrap-up has also evolved over the years, assessing new mediums — podcasts, now…
(This is an excerpt of the Health Rounds newsletter, where we present latest medical studies on Tuesdays and Thursdays)By Nancy LapidDec 3 (Reuters) – Stroke patients who can’t get to the hospital quickly enough to be eligible for the usual clot-busting treatments may soon have another option, results from a mid-stage trial suggest.Currently available thrombolytic drugs must be given within a few hours after symptoms begin. That narrow window can rule out patients who did not, or could not, seek help promptly because they didn’t immediately recognize their symptoms, as well as those who wake up with symptoms of a…
By Steve GormanLOS ANGELES, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Ketamine, the powerful sedative that caused actor Matthew Perry’s 2023 drug overdose death, has been approved for clinical use as an anesthetic since 1970, when it was first given to wounded American soldiers during surgery in the Vietnam War.More recently, the drug has found renewed favor in the medical establishment for various applications ranging from pain management to treatment of some psychiatric disorders including severe depression. Ketamine also has gained growing popularity as an illicit party drug.Five people, including two physicians, who were accused of illegally procuring ketamine for Perry pleaded guilty…
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile has passed a bill outlawing the use of mobile phones and other smart devices during classes at elementary and middle schools.The new law will take effect next year, making Chile the latest country to restrict smartphone use among young students to reduce its harmful effects and curb classroom distractions. Other nations with various levels of restrictions on smartphone use at schools include France, Brazil, Hungary, the Netherlands and China.“We are advancing a cultural change for children and adolescents who today, more than ever, need to see each other’s faces again, socialize during recess, and regain…
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee appears set to amend the childhood immunization schedule, including potentially changing recommendations on a shot given to newborns.The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is meeting Thursday and Friday. A draft agenda posted online on Monday provides little detail on what materials will be presented or which speakers will give presentations, but does mention a discussion about the hepatitis B vaccine on the first day as well as “votes.”Although it’s not clear what will be voted on, past comments from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and…
A group of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is preparing to vote on whether the agency should scrap its long-standing recommendation that every baby get a hepatitis B vaccination within 24 hours of birth.The shot — universally recommended for newborns in the U.S since the early 1990s — is credited with driving down cases of acute hepatitis B infections in kids by 99%. The virus, which can be passed from mother to baby during childbirth, can lead to liver disease and early death. There is no cure.Despite its success, the hepatitis B vaccine has become the…
AI is changing work, and Anthropic studied its own staff to learn exactly how.In a blog post published on Tuesday, Anthropic shared the findings of its August research study, which surveyed 132 of its engineers and researchers, had 53 detailed interviews, and examined the internal use of Claude Code, Anthropic’s agentic coding tool. The study aimed to understand how AI is transforming work at the company and society more broadly.”We find that AI use is radically changing the nature of work for software developers, generating both hope and concern,” the blog read.Results showed that employees felt they were more productive…
In a historic first, San Francisco’s city attorney has filed a lawsuit against some of the largest U.S. manufacturers of ultra-processed foods that he says have made Americans sick.The companies named in the lawsuit, obtained and reviewed by ABC News, include Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Post, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestle, Kellanova, Kellogg, Mars,and ConAgra.City Attorney David Chiu spoke at a press conference at San Francisco City Hall on Tuesday surrounded by a table of popular products from crackers and breakfast cereals to frozen dinners and frosting to announce the legal action against the 10 food and drink corporations.Chiu said the…
The city of San Francisco filed a lawsuit against some of the nation’s top food manufacturers on Tuesday, arguing that ultraprocessed food from the likes of Coca-Cola and Nestle are responsible for a public health crisis.City Attorney David Chiu named 10 companies in the lawsuit, including the makers of such popular foods as Oreo cookies, Sour Patch Kids, Kit Kat, Cheerios and Lunchables. The lawsuit argues that ultraprocessed foods are linked to diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and cancer.“They took food and made it unrecognizable and harmful to the human body,” Chiu said in a news…