Wednesday Bible Study: QAnon
Psalms 81 and 82 are pretty standard fare. 81 is written for a specific observance, and it reminds the Israelites that they are God ' s chosen people and to be faithful. 82 calls on God to punish the wicked and reward the righteous -- as if he wouldn ' t do it unless we asked. Psalm 83, however, is getting a whole lot of attention right now, from people who probably don ' t read this blog and who you probably are barely aware of. It describes a broad alliance against Israel, bent on its destruction, and calls on God to exterminate them, referring to the massacres of the Midianites in Numbers 31, and the massacre of th...
Source: Stayin' Alive - March 20, 2024 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Best books on brain health and cognitive fitness according to ChatSpot and ChatGPT
Out of curiosity we queried a couple popular AI chatbots, ChatSpot and ChatGPT free versions, about the best books in a couple of key topics we discuss a lot in this blog. Here are the fascinating results, and some brief commentary at the end. (Links open corresponding Amazon book pages.) Best books on brain health, per ChatSpot: There are several great books on brain health that provide valuable insights and practical tips. Here are some highly recommended ones: 1. “The Brain That Changes Itself” by Norman Doidge: This book explores the concept of neuroplasticity and how the brain can rewire itself to overcome various...
Source: SharpBrains - February 14, 2024 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Books Education & Lifelong Learning brain-books Brain-Fitness brain-health-books ChatGPT ChatSpot cognitive-fitness cognitive-health-books neuroplasticity Source Type: blogs

Decoding digestive discomfort: the science behind FODMAPs
FODMAPs are Fermentable Oligosaccharides, Disaccharides, Monosaccharides, and Polyols. Digestive discomfort – excessive flatulence, “bloating”, loose stool, or constipation – is a prevalent issue for many, and it often finds its roots in a group of fermentable carbohydrates collectively known as FODMAPs. Understanding the science behind FODMAPs could help in establishing a more comfortable and gratifying relationship with food. In the realm of our digestive system, envision a system akin to an intricate ecosystem, teeming with activity. Various nutrients act as its constituents, powering this intern...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - February 5, 2024 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Food Health and Medicine Source Type: blogs

Pretty Darned Near Absolutely Perfect Bagels
One of the challenges with making bread is that I want to bake more bread than my husband and I can eat. At best, it takes us a week to get through a loaf, slicing, freezing, thawing and toasting our slices one by one. When the sliced bread in the freezer piles up, I make breadcrumbs. Even with that, we still struggle to finish up what’s in the freezer before I want to bake bread again. My reason for not eating as much bread as I make is that I’m always on a diet. This is not the issue for Mr TBTAM, who can eat as much bread as he wants and still weighs the same as he did the day I married him. But the brea...
Source: The Blog That Ate Manhattan - January 18, 2024 Category: Primary Care Authors: Margaret Polaneczky, MD Tags: Bread Breakfast Absolute Bagels Everything recipe Source Type: blogs

War and Commodities: An Examination of the Russian-Ukrainian War on CME, Ukrainian and Black Sea Wheat Futures Prices
Calum G. Turvey (Cornell University), Wenhao Xu, Harry de Gorter (Cornell University), War and Commodities: An Examination of the Russian-Ukrainian War on CME, Ukrainian and Black Sea Wheat Futures Prices (2023): This paper explores the economics of commodities and war.... (Source: HealthLawProf Blog)
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - October 19, 2023 Category: Medical Law Authors: Katharine Van Tassel Source Type: blogs

Wednesday Bible Study: Job finally shuts up
 Yep. He spends the next three chapters saying, endlessly, the following:I used to be riding high, fortunate and admired, benevolent and generous.Now I ' m in the pits.If I ' d done anything wrong I could understand it.  And then, thank God, " The words of Job are ended. " It ' s long past time for this guy to STFU.29 And Job again took up his discourse, and said:2 “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,    as in the days when God watched over me;3 when his lamp shone upon my head,    and by his light I walked through darkness;4 as I was in my a...
Source: Stayin' Alive - October 18, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Top 6 Companies Using AI In Drug Discovery And Development
What if coming up with a new drug could be measured in days rather than years? What if new medication would cost thousands instead of billions of dollars? Just look at how an AI pharma start-up developed a potential new drug in 46 days! Artificial intelligence technologies promise to speed up the process of drug discovery and development and make it more cost-effective. As the market is flourishing, and it takes time and effort to separate the wheat from the chaff, we collected the most promising AI pharma companies out there. Drug design is a key area AI is revolutionizing. In one of our latest database projects, we de...
Source: The Medical Futurist - August 17, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: berci.mesko Tags: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Future of Pharma Genomics research clinical trials AI drug development medication drug discovery drug research cure Source Type: blogs

Eggs And High Blood Pressure: Decoding The Dietary Dilemma
Conclusion In navigating the winding road of managing high blood pressure, several key points emerge. Eggs, while a source of ongoing debate, can form part of a balanced diet for most people. It’s essential, though, to consider your entire dietary pattern, emphasizing heart-healthy choices like those found in the DASH and Mediterranean diets. Avoiding processed meats and sugary breakfast options, while incorporating nutrient-dense foods, can significantly impact your blood pressure management. But remember, it’s not all about diet. A comprehensive approach, involving regular physical activity, stress mana...
Source: The EMT Spot - July 21, 2023 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Michael Rotman, MD, FRCPC, PhD Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs

Wednesday Bible Study: Let's do the time warp again
The Book of Ezra continues to be chronologically challenged. The character of Ezra finally appears, in the 7th year of the reign of Ataxerxes, which would be 72 years after the death of Cyrus and something like 80 years after the return from exile described in the opening chapters. Therefore Ezra ' s father, and grandfather must have chosen to remain in Babylon, along with other priests, musicians, and temple servants as described in verse 8. While in Babylon, these people apparently exercised their offices, and Ezra studied to assume his hereditary priesthood. Why and how this happened is not explained, and it ' s especia...
Source: Stayin' Alive - May 10, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

Sunday Sermonette: The man grants permission
Ezra 6 probably requires some historical context that the book itself does not provide. Darius was a cousin of Cyrus the great, who usurped the Persian throne in 522 BCE, eight years after the death of Cyrus. So, on the one hand it is plausible that he would not have known about Cyrus ' s orders concerning the Jewish temple and so would have had to search the records, on the other hand the chronology doesn ' t seem entirely plausible. The temple should have been finished, or at least well on the way, by this time. Also, the mention of Ataxerxes, who took the throne in 465 BCE, is entirely anachronistic. The muddled ch...
Source: Stayin' Alive - May 7, 2023 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs

The Secret to 4x Faster Weight Loss Revealed: The Natural Supplement Found in Leeks, Wheat, Onions & More
The supplement is found naturally in many healthy foods. (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - April 27, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jeremy Dean Tags: Weight Loss Source Type: blogs

Nutrition: Major Government Fail?
Chris EdwardsAmericans are getting used to failures by government experts. Government economists have a  dismal forecasting record. Government actions and advice during the pandemic were often misguided. And dozens of former government intelligence experts got the Hunter Biden laptop storywrong.A less recognized but also important failure may be in nutrition. Federal experts appear to have issued faulty advice for decades, even as American obesityexploded from 15 percent in the 1970s to 42 percent today. Federal guidance on nutrition has a  large influence on health practice across society. Some researchers argue that Am...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 26, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs

Farm Bill 2023 and Obesity
This study found U.S. farm policies “have generally small and mixed effects on farm commodity prices, which in turn have even smaller and still mixed effects on the relative prices of more‐ and less‐​fattening foods.”Farm subsidy/ ​nutrition issues are hotly debated, and I have not done a detailed research review. If Congress withdrew subsidies from corn, wheat, soybeans, and rice, would U.S. farming shift toward healthier fruits and vegetables? Are the subsidized crops and related oils a cause of obesity, and has the go vernment given Americans bad nutrition advice about these products for decades, asNina T...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - April 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: Chris Edwards Source Type: blogs

I Have No Mouth, Yet Still I Scream
BY KIM BELLARD In light of the recent open letter from AI leaders for a moratorium on AI development, I’m declaring a temporary moratorium on writing about it too, although I doubt either one will last long (and this week’s title is, if you hadn’t noticed, an homage to Harlan Ellison’s classic dystopian AI short story).  Instead, this week I want to write about plants. Specifically, the new research that suggests that plants can, in their own way, scream.  Bear with me. To be fair, the researchers don’t use the word “scream;” they talk about “ultrasonic airborne sounds,” but just about every ac...
Source: The Health Care Blog - April 4, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Non-Health Kim Bellard Microbiome Plants Source Type: blogs