Musings is an informal newsletter mainly highlighting recent science. It is intended as both fun and instructive. See the Introduction, listed below and in the navigation bar at the top, for more information.
At this point, new Musings items are mainly brief updates to earlier posts. However, new items may vary. They may link to other parts of my web site, rather than previous Musings posts. There may also be items that are indeed new, "briefly noted" or longer; these will be infrequent.
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In "update" mode...
Added April 24, 2024. Possible transmission of CWD to humans? See "update" at: Unusual nature of CWD; implications for transmission to humans (September 24, 2022). CWD = chronic wasting disease.
Added April 17, 2024. Improving ventilation reduces COVID. See "update" at: Briefly noted... Improved ventilation to reduce COVID transmission (September 23, 2020).
Added April 12, 2024.
The gut microbiome and Alzheimer's disease. See "update" at: Transmission of Alzheimer's disease in humans? (September 27, 2015).
* Also see the preceding update, immediately below, for a related article. Both updates involve, in some broad sense, transmission of cognitive deficiency.
Added April 9, 2024.
Evidence for transmission of Alzheimer's disease by medical procedures. See "update" at: Transmission of Alzheimer's disease in humans? (September 27, 2015).
* Also see the next update, immediately above, for a related article.
Added April 3, 2024. Bitcoin and the origin of life. See "update" at: A special role for cyanide in the chemistry of early life? (April 25, 2022).
Added March 27, 2024. Tardigrade resistance to stress -- how do they do it? See "update" at How the tardigrades resist desiccation (April 10, 2017).
Added March 20, 2024. Oldest mosquito fossils: bloodsucking males. See "update" at: Briefly noted... The mosquito microbiome - inside and out (February 28, 2023).
Added March 13, 2024. Can plants serve as carrier in the transmission of prion diseases? See "update" at: Can ticks transmit CWD prions? (May 28, 2023).
Added March 6, 2024. Lab-grown coffee. See "update" at: Tuning the protein and fat content of cultured meat (February 2, 2021).
Added February 28, 2024. An edible food wrapper, based on bacterial cellulose. See "update" at: History of plastic -- by the numbers (October 23, 2017).
Added February 20, 2024. Is it worthwhile to sleep for four seconds? See "update" at: Sleep genes and Alzheimer's disease? (May 28, 2022). It is also noted at Does penguin language conform to the laws of human language? (February 18, 2020).
Added February 13, 2024.
Evidence for fission of superheavy elements in stars.
* I have listed this item on my page Introductory Chemistry Internet resources in the section Nucleosynthesis; astrochemistry; nuclear energy; radioactivity. There is a list of related Musings posts.
Added February 7, 2024.
Enhancing hypnotizability.
* There are no Musings posts on hypnosis. I have listed this item on my page Biotechnology in the News (BITN) -- Other topics under Brain.
Added January 31, 2024. How much greenhouse gases do people emit? See "update" at: Space-based observation of atmospheric methane -- and the Four Corners methane hotspot (December 29, 2014).
Added January 24, 2024. A new article suggests that hydrogen gas might act as an anti-aging agent. See "update" at: How about having your immune system remove senescent cells? (September 27, 2020).
Added January 16, 2024. See Briefly noted... The lightest uranium (November 30, 2021). Now, another "lightest" isotope that stretches the limits.
Added January 9, 2024. See What's a dia? Bumblebees and reindeer don't agree. (December 6, 2010). A new article reveals how reindeer see in the dark of the arctic winter.
Older items are on the archive pages, starting with 2023 (May - December).
Older items are on the archive pages, starting with 2023 (May - December).
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Last update: April 24, 2024