2024-08-25

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An Athlete Died at the Crossfit Games. What Does This Mean for the Exercise Craze? - The New York Times
Against all odds, an asteroid mining company appears to be making headway
Why is New York shrinking?

Over the past three years, the population has declined by almost 500,000. On a ranking of the country’s contracting cities, New York handily takes the top spot, shrinking by 400,000 more than the next on the list (Chicago). New York City is 6 per cent smaller than in 2020, the most severe decline in the largest 50 US cities over this horizon, after San Francisco (-7 per cent). To be fair, the pandemic hasn’t been great for urban life in general: the top 10 cities outside New York have collectively failed to add any new residents since 2020. Still, most cities have merely stagnated. New York has experienced an exodus.
Pilot who took mushrooms and tried to cut engines says behavior 'unfathomable'
Olive oil wastewater heralded as new superfood

Final night of Democratic convention outpaces closing night of GOP convention
With Sharp Outfit Choice, Kamala Harris Signals New Path Forward at DNC - The New York Times

In the end, she did not wear a white suit. For the biggest, most consequential speech of her life, for the headline appearance in four days of high pageantry, Kamala Harris accepted her nomination as the Democratic candidate for president in navy blue. That’s a bigger symbolic statement than it may at first appear.

Red Sea Crisis: Footage Captures Suezmax Tanker Explosion After Houthi Missile Strike As West Fails To Secure Chokepoint | ZeroHedge
The Houthis have defeated the US Navy

There can only be one conclusion: that the US has given up on Operation Prosperity Guardian. It wasn’t deterring the Houthis and it wasn’t reassuring shipping so they might as well go and do something else. I understand the desire to not escalate with Iran which is why the Poseidon Archer strikes were focused and quite limited (especially when compared to current Israeli strikes in Yemen) even if I don’t entirely agree with it. I also understand that the shipping market has to an extent settled into a new routine and whilst they are making good money for now, the sustainability implications of the extra mileage means that they would eventually rather go back through Suez. Going round the Cape is only the new normal for now.

Non-deceptive placebos reduce stress, anxiety and depression
Never take health tips from oldest people, say scientists

some individuals were essentially just lucky. In other words, just because centenarians had certain habits, it did not mean those habits were driving their longevity – an error in logic known as “survivorship bias”. “Merely because you have survived smoking 60 a day doesn’t mean that smoking 60 a day is good for you,” Faragher said. The second theory, he said, was that centenarians had specific genetic features that equipped them to live a longer life – in other words they were rendered more robust as a result of their genetics. Faragher said both theories, however, resulted in the same warning: “Never, ever take health and lifestyle tips from a centenarian.” He added: “What you see with most centenarians most of the time – and these are generalisations – is that they don’t take much exercise. Quite often, their diets are rather unhealthy,” noting that some centenarians were also smokers.
Matthew Perry's death intensifies concerns about ketamine access