Well kids it is that time again….the weekly Dump…..

Personal–Yesterday was not a fun day I was poked, prodded, stuck, scanned and other forms of humiliation….now I await the test results….and I wait.

Locally–The Mississippi Gulf Coast dodged another bullet with Milton than in part to a cool front the skirted the storm to our East. What is billed as the country’s largest block party, Cruisin’ The Coast, is coming to an end…..and soon our traffic will be back to normal.

Enuff of the stuff that no one cares about….onward!

Would you like fries with that?

America’s fast-food joints have been scrambling to bring back customers with value menus and the like, but a rebound hasn’t happened fast enough for a company described by CNN as “America’s french fry king.” That would be Lamb Weston, the biggest supplier of fries in North America, which just closed a plant in Washington state and laid off more than 400 workers. The Idaho company also is cutting back on production at its remaining plants, which will pinch local potato farmers, notes the Idaho Statesman. The layoffs represent roughly 4% of the company’s workforce.

“A supply and demand imbalance in North America and an ongoing inflationary environment necessitate these difficult steps,” said CEO Tom Werner in a news release. A big problem is that the vast majority of fries consumed in America come from fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s—Lamb Weston’s biggest customer—and people just aren’t eating out as much. As for those value meals, they may not be helping as much as hoped, at least from Lamb Weston’s perspective. “Many of these promotional meal deals have consumers trading down from a medium fry to a small fry,” Werner said on an earnings call last week.

On the science front…..

A scientist at the University of Central Florida has developed a revolutionary technology that not only removes carbon dioxide pollution from the air, according to Tech Xplore, but it also has the potential to contribute to technologies that will further reduce carbon pollution, the number one driver of the overheating of the planet.

The device, developed by Yang Yang, an associate professor in UCF’s NanoScience Technology Center, captures carbon dioxide using a microsurface consisting of a tin oxide film and fluorine layer. Then, using a bubbling electrode, the device removes gaseous carbon dioxide and converts it into carbon monoxide and formic acid. This is where the new technology gets even more exciting.

Carbon monoxide has many uses, the most important of which, in the context of cleaning up the Earth’s atmosphere, is the important role it plays in the purification of nickel, a key component in electric vehicle batteries.

Formic acid can be used to dye paper and textiles, treat leather, be a preservative or antibacterial agent in livestock feed, as well as a whole host of other uses.

Scientist develops revolutionary technology that turns air pollution into valuable resource: ‘We can directly use those converted chemicals and fields for other applications’

Meanwhile ‘Back to the Future’…..

Even without the added benefit of an iconic 80s car and a very specific speed requirement, a team of scientists have discovered that a form of time travel is real… well sort of. While humans are nowhere close to creating a way to send one another back and forth through time just yet, a team of researchers, led by Daniela Angulo of the University of Toronto, have observed a phenomenon known as “negative time.” The team discovered that photons, also known as light particles, were capable of a form of atomic excitation, or the act of passing through a medium and getting absorbed, after being seen exiting the medium before entering.

In a September 5 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Aephraim Steinberg, a physicist at the University of Toronto and member of the research team, excitedly wrote about the team’s findings being published. “It took a positive amount of time, but our experiment observing that photons can make atoms seem to spend a negative amount of time in the excited state is up!” Steinberg wrote. The idea for the experiment began in 2017, when Steinberg and then-doctoral student Josiah Sinclair wished to research the interaction of light and matter, specifically atomic excitation.

Scientists Prove Time Travel Is Real

Now time for the medical news….

Our neighbor to the north is making it easier for citizens to acquire contraceptives and insulin. Canada’s Parliament has just passed a law that will provide contraceptives to its citizens free of charge, as well as drugs for diabetes patients, covering the entire cost for those without insurance, as well as any out-of-pocket tab for people whose insurance covers part of the expense, per the BBC.

• Contraception: The federal government estimates that about 9 million women in Canada who are of reproductive age will be able to access most common forms of birth control under the new legislation. Currently, it can cost about $75 to $220 for an IUD or a year’s worth of birth control pills in Canada.
• Diabetes: Drugs for diabetes under the bill include insulin and metformin, which lowers blood sugar levels in patients with Type 2 diabetes. Current costs for such meds range from about $650 to $1200 annually.
• Timeline: How soon the law comes into effect depends on negotiations with each province and territory on coverage, per the Globe and Mail. The nation’s health minister says that although some provinces may have plans in place by the end of this year, he expects the rollout to be final by the spring. Two provinces, however—Alberta and Quebec—have hinted they may opt out of participating, accusing Ottawa of interfering in the Canadian equivalent of “states’ rights.”
• Trudeau: “Medications like contraceptives and insulin are too expensive,” the prime minister said in May when the provisions were first detailed. “That’s why we’re covering the cost.” Via this “first phase of universal pharmacare,” he added, “we’re making sure Canadians get the care they need, when they need it, and without worrying about the bill. That’s what fairness is all about.”
• Reaction: “Historic achievement” was the reaction of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada to the news, per the BBC. “Women across the country will be able to make choices about contraception based on what’s best for their lives, not their wallets,” the group said in a statement.

Bully for Canada!

When will I die?  That is the question that many psychics have been asked…..and now you may have your answer.

Scientists have devised a fascinating way to determine when you may die.

Known as “CheekAge,” this new biological clock-reader developed by the company Tally Health is, according to a press release, a far less invasive version of so-called “epigenetic clock” technology scientists have been using for the past decade to help determine how fast people are aging.

While there are some “super-agers” who age particularly well, most folks’ aging rates generally follow both genetic trends personal to them and their own lifestyle factors, including smoking, drinking, stress, and diet.

Paired with epigenetic factors — those that are “imprinted” on our DNA from ancestral factors ranging from proximity to environmental pollution to the full-body stress of dealing with institutional racism — scientists can, with a fairly high level of certainty, determine how fast you’re going to age.

Put differently: scientists can tell you when you’re going to die. In the past, however, the process involved either taking blood tissue samples or being subjected to a battery of tests that more resembled a physical assessment than anything else.

https://futurism.com/neoscope/cheek-swab-mortality-epigenetics

Now for the weird….

All families have their own quirks and habits, but one group of relatives has such a unique trait that scientists have branded them a total anomaly of the human species.

The Ulas family has been the subject of evolutionary fascination for years after they were discovered in a remote village in Turkey walking on all fours.

Back in the early 2000s, a scientific paper was published on five of the Ulas siblings and their strange bear crawl-style of movement, with experts divided over the cause of the abnormality.

In the years following the paper’s publication, evolutionary psychologist Professor Nicholas Humphrey, of the London School of Economics (LSE), travelled to Turkey to meet with the extraordinary family.

https://www.indy100.com/science-tech/ulas-family-walk-on-all-fours-2669381133

I think that is enough for this Saturday….I sincerely hope everyone has a wonderful day….and as always….Be well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”