Month: August 2020

Immunology Is Where Intuition Goes to Die

There’s a joke about immunology, which Jessica Metcalf of Princeton recently told me. An immunologist and a cardiologist are kidnapped. The kidnappers threaten to shoot one of them, but promise to spare whoever has made the greater contribution to humanity. The cardiologist says, “Well, I’ve identified drugs that have saved the lives of millions of people.” Impressed, the kidnappers turn to the immunologist. “What have you done?” they ask. The immunologist says, “The thing is, the immune system is very complicated …” And the cardiologist says, “Just shoot me now.”

A New Connection Between the Gut and Brain

It is well known that a high salt diet leads to high blood pressure, a risk factor for an array of health problems, including heart disease and stroke. But over the last decade, studies across human populations have reported the association between salt intake and stroke irrespective of high blood pressure and risk of heart disease, suggesting a missing link between salt intake and brain health.

To Live Remarkably, Repeat This One Affirmation Every Single Day for the Rest of Your Life

Every accomplishment is based on action, not on thought… yet the thought is always father to the deed. Achievement starts with an idea, a perspective, a point of view, and an attitude: the attitude that no matter what, you will do what it takes to reach your goals — and live the life you want to live.

The Forgotten Art of Squatting Is a Revelation for Bodies Ruined by Sitting

Sentences that start with the phrase “A guru once told me…” are, more often than not, eye-roll-inducing. But recently, while resting in malasana, or a deep squat, in an East London yoga class, I was struck by the second half of the instructor’s sentence: “A guru once told me that the problem with the West is they don’t squat.”

A high-carb diet may explain why Okinawans live so long

The search for the “elixir of youth” has spanned centuries and continents – but recently, the hunt has centred on the Okinawa Islands, which stretch across the East China Sea. Not only do the older inhabitants enjoy the longest life expectancy of anyone on Earth, but the vast majority of those years are lived in remarkably good health too.

How Cheese, Wheat and Alcohol Shaped Human Evolution

You aren’t what you eat, exactly. But over many generations, what we eat does shape our evolutionary path. “Diet,” says anthropologist John Hawks, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, “has been a fundamental story throughout our evolutionary history. Over the last million years there have been changes in human anatomy, teeth and the skull, that we think are probably related to changes in diet.”

Ethereum’s First ICO Blazes Trail To A World Without Bosses

If it weren’t for horses, Joey Krug might not have ever gotten into ethereum. Growing up in the small farming town of Knoxville, Illinois, he and his younger brother used to ride their bikes through fields of corn and soybeans looking for trouble. One day, when he was about 9 years old, Krug came across the farm of a local school teacher, who raised and rode horses. He instantly fell in love with the powerful creatures, and pedaled home as fast as he could to ask his parents for one.