Science and Technology links (April 20th 2019)

  1. Early-career setback cause a performance improvement among those who persevere. This is related to the observation that immigrants are four times more likely to become millionaires. In biology, that is called hormesis: by challenging your muscles, you get stronger; by exposing yourself to some radiations or starving a little, you live longer. So you should seek out challenges and expose your kids to difficulties.
  2. We have a significant bias in favor of tall men. Tall men get promoted more often and earn more money; they are also much more successful with women. However, heightism, like ageism, is considered an acceptable form of discrimination. It is fine to mock a man because he is small or old. It is not fine to mock a man for being gay, transgender or black.
  3. Canadians who finish high school, get a full time job and only have children within marriage have less than a one percent chance of being poor.
  4. Currently, a sizeable fraction of men go bald with age and there is relatively little that can be done. There is some good surgery, but it is expensive. Products like minoxidil work, but only so. A new product (clascoterone) has passed a Phase II clinical trial with good results. It seems quite safe and probably more effective than current drugs.
  5. A stem-cell therapy for knee arthritis got solid results during a clinical trial.
  6. It seems that you can bring back some brain function hours after death (in pigs).
  7. We are making progress against the “bubble boy” syndrome.
  8. For every 100 women who earn a bachelor’s degree from US colleges and universities there are 74 men.

Published by

Daniel Lemire

A computer science professor at the University of Quebec (TELUQ).

One thought on “Science and Technology links (April 20th 2019)”

  1. 5) You are just taunting me. No remotely local trials.

    6) In 1999, my younger brother was in motorcycle accident. His neck was broken, and he “died instantly”. Except likely he had moments of conscious horrible awareness, before the oxygen faded from his brain. (An active exact imagination is not always a blessing.) I had nightmares, knowing he could have been saved, but the technology was decades away.

    Someone asked once what I would do if I could go back in time. I had one answer.

    Reply

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