Fat Cat

 

DNA Rewrites History

The origin of Assateague’s wild horses has remained a mystery for centuries, but new genetic data supports the theory that they descended from Spanish horses marooned on the barrier island. Credit: Florida Museum photo by Jeff Gage

Ancient DNA from an American domesticated horse lends credence to shipwreck folklore.

An abandoned Caribbean colony discovered centuries later and a case of mistaken identity in the archaeological record have colluded to rewrite the history of a barrier island off the shores of Virginia and Maryland.

When Nicolas Delsol, a postdoctoral researcher at the Florida Museum of Natural History, set out to analyze ancient DNA recovered from cow bones discovered in archaeological sites, these seemingly unrelated threads were woven together. 

Delsol wanted to know how cattle were domesticated in the Americas, and he discovered the answer in the genetic information preserved in centuries-old teeth. However, they also held a surprise.  READ MORE...

Angle

EV Charging More Difficult

In an effort to make electric vehicle (EV) charging less confusing, leading EV charging company Electrify America has introduced a new charger labeling system that makes it even more confusing. 

It requires drivers to intuit whether “hyper” or “ultra” chargers are faster. This is, apparently, better than the previous system, which was to determine whether 350 or 150 is a bigger number.

Electrify America announced all this in a recent press release along with an accompanying white paper. In the announcement, EA states 350 kilowatt chargers will now be known as “Hyper-Fast” while 150 kilowatt chargers will be called “Ultra-Fast” as part of “an effort to simplify the charging experience for both new and existing electric vehicle (EV) customers.” 

They are doing this, according to the white paper, after extensive focus group and survey research which “revealed that one of the most significant pain points expressed by EV drivers is confusion over the differences between charging speeds and the charging capacity of their vehicles” because there is no industry-wide definition of fast charging.  READ MORE...

Attack

 

Humor That Isn't Funny Because It's True

Being Predictable

It has been 15 weeks since I had my back surgery and while, I know that I am better than I was 15 weeks ago, I am not back to where I was before the surgery.

While that lack of progress may not bother many people, it does bother me but I will not be able to meet with my surgeon until next week and it will probably be our last meeting.

I have not been able to walk for several days because I contracted an upper respiratory infection while at the beach and have been advised not to walk until it is cleared up.

I have not watched the news in several days and I don't miss it as it was all about our dead Queen anyway and while I am sorry she died, she was 96 years old and lived a long time.  But there is more to life than just what is going on with British royalty.

I am sure that inflation is still around even though gas prices are down...  but gas prices are down because people stopped driving so much - nothing else has changed...  we've cut back on gas/oil production, ukraine is still fighting with Russia, COVID is still around, and people are not returning to work...  so, it is really is the same ole shit just another day.

Our midterms will determine if this crap is going to continue or not...  and, if it continues, I still will not purchase an EV because they are $60,000...   and, I wonder what people will do when they realize that Russia and China ain't going green...  so us going green is no better than pissing in the wind or pissing on an electric fence...  neither of which I am going to do.

What I do realize is that the DEMS are scared SHITLESS that Trump is going to run again but are hoping that the DOJ with the raid and all, is going to slow him down...  or at least let him know that if he wins again, it will be 4 more years of trying to put him in jail.

Trump is going to open the door for others just like him to run for office and when that happens, the Dems will not have the fire power to stop it.  I think people are finally getting tired of all this WOKE crap too and CRT and if it continues then there may just be a whole lot of civil disobediance...  whether we want it or not...

Human beings are weird in that they don't act like they normally should...  no one wants to be predictable.

Long Train

 

Artificial Gravity Space Station

Vast is focused on creating large spinning structure that create a gravity-like pull. 

Credit: Vast Space artist's concept

PARIS – Vast Space, a Southern California startup founded by cryptocurrency billionaire Jed McCaleb, plans to establish an artificial-gravity space station in low Earth orbit.

McCaleb envisions a future where millions of people are living throughout the solar system. Since other companies are helping to reduce launch costs, McCaleb thinks the next important step will be creating large structures where people can live and work in space.

“Earth has finite resources, but out in the solar system, there is an enormous untapped wealth, both in terms of energy and matter, that could support many ‘Earths,'” McCaleb told SpaceNews by email. “Likewise, mankind needs a frontier. 

Every prosperous civilization has had one to push off into – nevertheless, we haven’t had one for some time. Without a frontier, the world becomes a zero-sum game, which is detrimental to the psyche of a civilization. And in terms of the long-term future of humanity, we will need to live off of the Earth eventually.”


McCaleb, whose wealth Forbes pegs at $2.5 billion, initially plans to self-finance Vast’s work.

“I’ve done many software startups and had great success in the crypto world, which gave me enough resources to attempt something ambitious in space,” McCaleb said. “Eventually, we hope to have some form of revenue generation. I’d like Vast to have a usable station in space by that time.”

Over the long term, Vast is likely to seek outside investment. In the near term, though, the company will “focus on the mission and not become beholden to investors,” McCaleb said. “And at some point, we would like to get customers, like NASA or other national programs.”  READ MORE...

Hungry Fish

Time for Nuclear

Illustration of a human Mars mission concept enabled by nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP). An NTP-powered high performance fission reactor system will significantly reduce the travel time and radiation exposure of astronauts going to and from the Red Planet. Credit: NASA

America’s Urgent Need to Develop Space Nuclear Propulsion Systems
As NASA finally launches the first Space Launch System (SLS) mission, America is failing to invest in critical space propulsion technology needed to send astronauts to Mars.

The United States must develop space nuclear propulsion technologies to enable 21st-century human missions to Mars. Congress should immediately direct NASA and the Department of Energy to partner with a University Affiliated Research Center or Federally Funded Research and Development Center to create a new National Space Nuclear Propulsion Laboratory.

It is naive and against national interests for the U.S. to rely on expensive, outdated, slow, single-use chemically propelled rockets like SLS to transport astronauts to Mars. Instead, America must aggressively invest in developing space nuclear propulsion systems.

Nuclear technology, including nuclear electric propulsion (or “NEP”) and nuclear thermal propulsion (or “NTP”), will be a space travel game-changer with profound implications for deep space mission speed, agility and capability.

The increased propulsive power of nuclear systems will allow humans to head to Mars on a more regular cadence than the current mission launch windows of “every 26 months.” Nuclear propulsion also will allow power for astronauts on Mars missions to abort and return to Earth in the event of an emergency.  READ MORE...

Water Everywhere

 

Solar Canopy for EV Charging

Paired Power said its new 5 kW solar canopy measures 3.2 meters x 5.2 meters x 3.7 meters and can host up to 10 bifacial solar panels. It can be used in on-grid or off-grid modes and can be paired with lithium-ion battery storage systems up to 40 kWh in size.

California-based Paired Power has unveiled a 5 kW solar canopy with built-in EV charging capabilities.

Its PairTree product can be used in on-grid or off-grid modes and can be paired with lithium-ion battery systems with storage capacities of up to 40 kWh.

“The product is currently only being sold in the US, Paired Power is focused on the US market but will consider international opportunities down the line,” a company spokesperson told pv magazine.

The carport can host up to 10 bifacial solar modules and can be installed within a single workday, with just two workers using standard hand tools.

“The installation of traditional EV chargers and solar canopies is a time and labor-intensive process, not to mention the disruption and delays of construction,” said CEO Tom McCalmont. “We designed PairTree to eliminate these hassles and make the transition to solar and EV charging simple and scalable while also being modular enough to accommodate future needs.”     READ MORE...

Lots of Pups

 

Let's Keep It UP...

Who are the leaders of this world in which we live, work, play, and die?

Our leaders are LIBERALS who believe in:

• abortion up until the moment of birth
• keeping open borders
• increasing inflation and high prices
• establishin an end to gasoline
• increasing crime and violence
• having only electric cars
• tolerating no opposing viewpoints
• everything should be free
• the wealthy should pay for everything
• having a weak military and national defense
• increasing illegal drugs

I think our leaders should be applauded because they are doing an excellent job on each one of these issues.  If they had any goals, I would believe that they have achieved those goals and probably exceeded them.

Personally, when I am forced to buy an electric vehicle, I am no longer traveling with that car.  I will stay close to home where I can charge on house current and will not have to buy anything else.

I am glad that our country still wants abortions because as a male, I still like sex and intercourse with a female and I have no desire to pay for and raise any children...  with abortion it's like I can have my cake and eat it too.

I don't like wars and I don't own a weapon.  And, I do not want to fight anyone if Russia and China invade the US.  As a matter of fact, those 2 countries might do a better job at managing this country with all its illegal immigration...   if these illegal immigrants cannot speak English, I doubt they can speak Russian or Chinese.  I doubt that Russia and China have the patience that Americans have.

Native Americans don't care because they have their reservations and will always have their reservations regardless of who is in control of America...

I SAY LET'S  KEEP DOING WHAT WE ARE DOING AS IT SEEMS TO BE WORKING...

Tons of Fish

 

Walking Helps Dementia

As the global population ages, cases of dementia are also on the rise worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that some 55 million

Trusted Source people currently have dementia, and the number is set to rise to 139 million by 2050.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that Alzheimer’s disease, the commonest form of dementia, affects around 5.8 millionTrusted Source people in the United States alone.

The greatest risk factors for dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Society, are aging and genetics. Dementia is most common in those aged over 75, and having a close relative with dementia may increase a person’s riskTrusted Source of developing the disorder.

Other risk factors that we cannot control include sex — females are more at risk than males — and ethnicity. However, lifestyle changes, such as increasing physical exercise, controlling blood pressure, and keeping the brain stimulated, can decrease a person’s risk of dementia, even for those who have one or more risk factors.

Dr. Anton Porsteinsson, professor and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Care, Research and Education Program (AD-CARE) at the University of Rochester Medical Center, told Medical News Today:


“A broad, healthy approach factoring in lifestyle, diet, exercise, cognitive stimulation, socialization, and sleep all make a difference. Many of them [can be effective] even if started later in life.”

And physical exercise need not mean sweating it out at the gym or taking up a new sport.

According to a study recently published in JAMA NeurologyTrusted Source, simply increasing the number of steps a person takes each day can decrease their dementia risk by as much as 50%.  READ MORE...

Drummer

Relieve Headaches Faster

According to a recent Johns Hopkins study, how you swallow pills can impact how quickly your body absorbs the medicine.

You probably don’t consider your body posture while taking pills when you have a headache. However, recent research from Johns Hopkins University discovered that your posture can significantly impact how quickly your body absorbs the medication, as much as an hour longer.

The conclusions are based on what is thought to be the first model to replicate how a drug dissolves in the human stomach.

“We were very surprised that posture had such an immense effect on the dissolution rate of a pill,” said senior author Rajat Mittal, a Johns Hopkins engineer and an expert in fluid dynamics. “I never thought about whether I was doing it right or wrong but now I’ll definitely think about it every time I take a pill.”

Their findings were recently published in the journal Physics of Fluids.

In recent years, models that accurately represent the working of various important organs, most notably the heart, have been developed. The team’s model, StomachSim, appears to be one of the first to be able to conduct realistic simulations of the human stomach. StomachSim simulates what happens within a stomach as it breaks down food or, in this instance, medicine by fusing physics, biomechanics, and fluid mechanics.  READ MORE...

Red Ball

Gene That Makes Muscles Stronger

The study found that the gene promotes muscle strength during exercise.

Researchers have discovered a gene that increases muscle strength when activated by exercise, opening the door to the creation of therapeutic treatments that replicate some of the benefits of working out.

The University of Melbourne-led research, which was published in Cell Metabolism, demonstrated how various forms of exercise alter the molecules in our muscles and led to the identification of the new C18ORF25 gene, which is activated by all forms of exercise and is responsible for enhancing muscle strength. Animals lacking C18ORF25 have weaker muscles and worse exercise performance.

Dr. Benjamin Parker, project leader, said that by activating the C18ORF25 gene, the research team could observe muscles grow significantly stronger without necessarily becoming larger.


“Identifying this gene may impact how we manage healthy aging, diseases of muscle atrophy, sports science, and even livestock and meat production. This is because promoting optimal muscle function is one of the best predictors of overall health,” Dr. Parker said.

“We know exercise can prevent and treat chronic diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and many cancers. Now, we hope that by better understanding how different types of exercise elicit these health-promoting effects at the molecular level, the field can work towards making new and improved treatment options available.”  READ MORE...

Flying Up To Eat

 

A Retired Depolorable

 

Thee Dems say that our border is secure and yet border patrol has document 2 million illegal immigrants who have come into this country since Biden because president...

HOW CAN OUR BORDER BE SECURE?

WHY DO THE DEMS THINK THE REST OF AMERICA WILL BELIEVE THEIR LIES?

One of the reasons why I left the Democratic Party was because of all their lies and the other reason was that the other half was stupid enough to believe those lies...

How can a party governer properly if their foundation of belief is that everyone other than them are stupid?

What is going on in our country bothers me but so many people are just ignoring the shit and getting on with their lives that I think that is probably the right course of action for me as well.  When this country falls, then I can say I told you so which is probably what I'll do...

In the meantime, I don't have to work anymore so I can pretty much do whatever the hell I want to do...  Doctors appts pretty much fill my day but I still have lots of time to do nothing.  I feel somewhat sorry for those of you who have to work and those of you who still want to work because work is pretty much composed of kissing ass all day.

Maybe one of the reasons why my work was so draining on me outside of working 60 hours a week, was the fact that I never kissed ass and bosses did not like that about me...  Bosses have to feel like they are in control and have the ability to tell you what to do, when to do it, and how to do it...  If that's what they want to do, then why do they hire others...  why not just do it themselves the way they want it done...  that's cool...  I'll go work for someone else.

Back From Myrtle Beach

 We left East TN last Sunday morning about 8am so that we would arrive around 3pm which is the time they let you get into your condo.  It lightly rained all day long and the closer we got to our destination the stronger it would rain.  The weather forecast indicated rain all week except for 1-2 days.

When we awoke Monday morning they had changed the forecast and there was only a small chance of rain but late in the afternoon or early evening and it was scattered but it would only be partially sunny all week long.

It was a perfect week with perfect temperatures.

On the way back, we left at 6:30am and arrived back at our home at 1:40pm.  We cruised home at a constant rate of 80mph and cars were passing us like we were standing still.  They had to be doing 100mph.  I am not in that much of a hurry to get home to drive that fast.

The most annoying drivers are those with:

• Pickup Trucks
• SUVs
• Suburban Type
• Luxury Cars

They ride your bumper like they are tying to perform anal sex with vehicles...   I would say that those drivers are so insecure that they think doing what they do when driving will make them feel better about themselves.  That is about as smart as ancient romans throwing up their food just so they could go back to the table and stuff themselves again.

For a whole week, I paid no attention to the news, no attention to:

• The Dead Queen
• Intentional Inflation
• The Incompent Joe Biden
• The haggard looking Pelosi
• Ukraine's war with a-hole Putin
• All these illegal immigrants

And ya know somthing, I didn't miss any of that shit.

The food at Myrtle goes from moderate to expensive...  from $15 to $47...  depending upon where you are or what restaurant.  North MB is more expensive that South MB and south of South MB is even more expensive than North, like Muerrels Inlet.

Gasoline is cheaper in MB than in East TN which has to do with local taxes and local taxes depends on population.  More people less taxes in some cases.

Some Interesting Facts

Understanding Nationalism

A man rides his bicycle past volunteers of the Hindu nationalist organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) taking part in the "Path-Sanchalan", or Route March, during celebrations to mark the 

Vijaya Dashmi or Dussehra in Mumbai, India, on October 11, 2016.

Countries are the building blocks of the modern world. Nearly two hundred make up the globe as we know it today. They vary in population and size: China and India are home to more than one billion people, while Vatican City and Monaco are smaller than a single square mile.

The world also comprises a large number of nations.

While the terms country and nation are often used interchangeably, they have subtle, but important, differences. Nations are groups of people united by ethnic, linguistic, geographic, or other common characteristics. Countries, on the other hand, refer to places with governments that are internationally recognized and have the power to oversee what happens within their borders (often in theory rather than in practice).

Like countries, nations come in different shapes and sizes. But unlike countries, nations are not always reflected in borders on a map. Some nations span multiple countries, such as the Kurdish nation, whose approximately thirty million people live in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The Kurds, importantly, do not have a country of their own and are a minority in all the countries that they inhabit.

Other nations exist primarily within one country. Belgium, for example, is largely made up of two different groups of people—the Flemings and Walloons—which have distinct languages and cultural identities. Few members of these two nations live outside Belgium. Sometimes, a nation does neatly overlap with the borders of a country. For example, in Japan, 98 percent of citizens are of the same ethnicity and nearly all speak Japanese and share national traditions.

Groups of people working to advance the interests of their nation, country, or would-be country is known as nationalism. Often, nationalism is invoked by groups pushing for independence, especially when they are ruled by perceived outsiders. But nationalism doesn’t always mean being pro-independence. It can also entail people promoting their culture, asserting their religious beliefs, or organizing for greater political power.

In certain contexts, nationalism can serve as a basis of unity, inclusion, and social cohesion for a country. But when taken to extremes, nationalism can fuel violence, division, and global disorder.  READ MORE...

Arcade

Self-Determination Shaped the Modern World

Fifty independent countries existed in 1920. Today, there are nearly two hundred. One of the motivating forces behind this wave of country-creation was self-determination—the concept that nations (groups of people united by ethnicity, language, geography, history, or other common characteristics) should be able to determine their political future.

In the early twentieth century, a handful of European empires ruled the majority of the world. However, colonized nations across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and elsewhere argued that they deserved the right to determine their political future. Their calls for self-determination became rallying cries for independence.

Ultimately, the breakup of these empires throughout the twentieth century—a process known as decolonization—resulted in an explosion of new countries, creating the world map largely as we recognize it today.

But now that the age of empires is over, is that map set in stone? Not quite. Self-determination continues to play a role in deciding borders, but the landscape is more complicated.

Many people around the world argue that their governments—many of which emerged during decolonization—do not in reality represent the entire country’s population. The borders of colonies seldom had anything to do with any national (or economic or internal political) criteria. So when decolonization occurred, many of the newly created countries were artificial and thus rife with internal division.

However, for a group inside a country to achieve self-determination today, that country’s sovereignty—the principle that guarantees countries get to control what happens within their borders and prohibits them from meddling in another country’s domestic affairs—will be violated. In other words, creating a country through self-determination inherently means taking territory and people away from a country that already exists.

Whereas many world leaders openly called for the breakup of empires, few are willing to endorse the breakup of modern countries. Indeed, the United Nations’ founding charter explicitly discourages it. And the fact that so many modern countries face internal divisions means few governments are eager to embrace the creation of new countries abroad, fearing that doing so could set a precedent that leads to the unraveling of their own borders.

A road to self-determination still remains, but it is far trickier in a world in which empires no longer control colonies oceans away.  READ MORE...

Scared Birds

What is Sovereignty?

Sovereignty is the bedrock of international relations. The concept lays out basic rules for how countries are allowed to interact with one another. In principle, it means countries get to control what happens inside their borders and can’t interfere in what happens elsewhere. 

This protects countries from being invaded over internal matters.But the concept of sovereignty doesn’t play out perfectly in reality. There are limits to the control a country can exercise over what happens inside its borders. 

In the case of grievous human rights abuses like genocide, many countries argue breaches of sovereignty should be allowed on humanitarian grounds. Meanwhile, dozens of countries around the globe choose to give up a degree of sovereignty to join organizations like the European Union and the World Trade Organization.

Today, as the world grows increasingly interconnected, what constitutes a violation of sovereignty is up for interpretation—and world leaders have to decide how to tackle problems like climate change and terrorism that know no borders.