Input Junkie

Long piece about how much research is happening in biology.

https://guzey.com/how-life-sciences-actually-work/#universities-seem-to-maximize-their-profits-with-good-research-being-a-side-effect

Part of it is about how much you need to investigate to have a well-informed opinion-- in this case, about the condition of a science.

Part of it is about, even though there are research-blocking incentives, there are also a lot of people finding ways to work against those incentives and do research, presumably because there are a lot of people who really want to do research.

And a list of recent discoveries-- I assume things are so lively because the tools keep getting better and biology is so complex that there's a tremendous amount to use the tools on.

The Second Brain describes the substantial amount of nervous system needed to run the digestive tract.

For example, stomach acid dissolves meat. How do you manage to avoid digesting yourself? Partly, there’s a chemical reaction which makes stomach acid outside of your cells, and there’s also base to neutralize the acid on the way out of your stomach– and it has to be made in the right amount at the right time.

As I recall, the book doesn’t include the effect of emotions on all this– explaining the system without including emotions is complicated enough. It does suggest that some ailments which are attributed to the organs might actually be problems with the neurological control system.

I haven’t seen anything recent about this because the attention has been going to the microbiome. Has anyone seen something more recent than 1999?

An article about the possiblity that a lot of frailty (serious loss of energy, mobility, and mental focus) could be low-intensity cardiovascular problems, and also evidence that exposure to good or bad ideas about aging affects people's capacities. Even minor or subliminal exposure to positive or negative views of aging causes measureable differences.

Speaking from experience with self-hatred, I notice real differences in my ability to do things when I can shut it off. This is especially relevent since a lot of what I tend to attack myself about is incompetence.

This is one of those "everything they've been telling you is wrong" articles. It looks as though genes might have rather little to do with lifespan. A big study of identical twins found an average ten-year difference in lifespan, and no one knows why. The difference isn't just people who died young of accidents screwing up the stats.

One hypothesis which isn't mentioned is that gene expression can get turned on or off, so that people with the same genes don't necessarily get the same effects from them.

This one is about how much health and longevity have improved in the past century and a half. It looks as though a lot of the change is better prevention of disease (disease can have long-term debilitating effects, even cancer, which was a surprise) rather than lifestyle. It backs up something I'd noticed--people don't age as fast as they used to--the article says that the diseases of aging now kick in about ten years later.

Here's a topic page with all three articles. It might be worth checking on now and then.

This is a permanent link generator for NYTimes articles.

Link and some good comments found at Body Impolitic.

http://studiodaily.com/main/searchlist/6850.html is a gorgeous animation about what goes on in cells.

Link thanks to bruceb.

NonOBSF: _A Wind in the Door_ by Madeline L'Engle, which is as far as I know the only sf where much of the story takes place on the cellular level.

Here's an article about recent research. Lots about intestinal microbes and how they affect digestive efficiency and plenty about possible viral involvement in some people's obesity. The viral one is interesting--if it causes fat accumulation but low blood cholesterol, does that lower the risk of heart disease?

Here's my previous post on alternate theories of obesity.

Big bloops from unknown creatures in the ocean. It probably isn't giant squid--they don't have gas bladders, or at least squid generally don't.

Links found at bbaugh.