All posts tagged: benefits

Inflation sizzled — and Social Security benefits get boost : NPR

Inflation sizzled — and Social Security benefits get boost : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Rising gasoline and diesel prices pushed inflation higher in September. The cost of living index was up 3.7%, according to a report Wednesday from the Labor Department. Isabelle Souriment/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption i Isabelle Souriment/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images Nights are getting colder, but inflation is heating up. A report from the Labor Department on Wednesday showed consumer prices in September were up 3.7% from a year ago. That’s a larger annual increase than the previous month. A spike in energy prices tied to the U.S. war with Iran drove the cost of living higher. Prices jumped 0.6% between August and September. “It’s not looking good,” said economist Brian Bethune of Boston College. “The main problem, of course, that everybody knows is gasoline prices. But also heating oil.” Heating oil is a close cousin of diesel fuel. The cost of the fuel oil has jumped 74% in the last year, which is hard on families in New England who rely on heating oil to stay warm. Stripping out volatile energy …

Open models have real benefits. Do they outweigh the risks?

Open models have real benefits. Do they outweigh the risks?

Published by skeptic

But it would be a vast oversimplification to deem open models dangerous and closed models safe. The defenses that AI companies build around their closed models are far from perfect, and people misuse those models all the time, as the Anthropic risk report makes clear. Even though open models have even fewer defenses against misuse, bad actors might still opt to use closed models because they are more accessible than open models with similar capabilities, which require lots of expensive computer chips to run locally (and even more chips if you want to retrain them). In fact, some experts who spoke with MIT Technology Review argued, by analogy to open-source software, that open models have safety advantages over closed models. Open-source tools, such as the Linux operating system, are often seen as safer than their closed-source counterparts because their vulnerabilities have been probed and patched by a vast community of online contributors. Similarly, communities of researchers can more easily test open models for security flaws, though fixing those flaws is trickier than rewriting a line …

The Benefits of Exploring Spirituality With Hypnosis

The Benefits of Exploring Spirituality With Hypnosis

Published by Jenni Sidey

Hypnospirituality can be described as using the hypnotic state to explore or transform a person’s spiritual beliefs, experiences, and sense of connection to something greater than the self. Traditional therapy with hypnosis generally aims at outcomes such as coping better with mental health issues, improving management of pain or other physical symptoms, or modifying unwanted behaviors. Hypnospirituality helps recognize a spiritual dimension, including: Exploring a person’s sense of connection with God or the sacred Using spiritual imagery or prayer during hypnosis Exploring existential questions about meaning and purpose Helping someone experience forgiveness, compassion, gratitude, or acceptance Using the subconscious as a means of exploring personally meaningful spiritual questions Helping patients draw upon spiritual resources that they already consider authentic Since spiritual experiences generally are subjective in nature, they cannot be used to scientifically define objective truths, such as about the nature of supernatural phenomena. Nonetheless, as I discussed in a previous post, clinicians can validate a patient’s experience without needing to confirm its veracity. Spiritual material often comes up during my interactions with patients, perhaps …

Sauna’s potential health benefits draw scientists’ interest : NPR

Sauna’s potential health benefits draw scientists’ interest : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Sauna scientists Dr. Hans Hägglund (from left), Earric Lee and Ashley Mason take a steam in the Japanese sauna at The Well in Oslo, Norway. They are part of a group of international researchers studying the potential health benefits of sauna and other heat therapies. Siv Dolmen for NPR hide caption toggle caption i Siv Dolmen for NPR For more on the science of healthy living, try NPR’s Health newsletter. Scientists have long marveled at how the human body tolerates extreme heat — and what that means for our health. In the late 1700s, British scientists ran bold experiments on thermoregulation, subjecting themselves (and a dog) to a piping hot room and observing that — unlike the steak and eggs accompanying them — their own bodies did not cook. The acute physiological response to heat is now well understood. Faced with extreme temperatures, our blood vessels dilate, heart rate speeds up and blood is pushed to the skin where it’s cooled down as we sweat. Our body releases hormones and activates heat shock proteins that …

The great Romanian contribution – research reveals just how Britain benefits

The great Romanian contribution – research reveals just how Britain benefits

Published by Sam Flores

Romanians are broadly young, educated and the most economically active European migrant community in England and Wales. But, according to a recent YouGov poll, they are the least-wanted European immigrants in the UK. So why hasn’t public opinion kept pace with the reality of what this group contributes? A decade after Brexit, a disconnect remains between people’s perceptions and the available evidence on Romanians’ contributions to society – and indeed, the personal experiences of many in the UK. After all, Romanians are the fourth largest foreign-born community in the country. Part of this gap may reflect narratives about eastern Europe that predate large-scale Romanian migration to the UK. US historian Larry Wolff argued that eastern Europe was constructed in western European thought as Europe’s “dark twin”. In his book Inventing Eastern Europe, he shows how 18th-century travellers’ accounts blended real observation with conjured darkness. He argued that this produced a template of backwardness and danger, juxtaposed to western European Enlightenment. Similar attitudes persisted into the 20th century. According to public historian Tessa Dunlop, Queen Marie …

‘Godzilla’ of weight-loss drugs could provide other important health benefits | Weight-loss drugs

‘Godzilla’ of weight-loss drugs could provide other important health benefits | Weight-loss drugs

Published by Sam Flores

The ‘Godzilla’ of weight-loss drugs could help improve blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation and cut a person’s body weight by a quarter, according to the largest study of its kind. Retatrutide mimics three key gut hormones that help control appetite, blood sugar and metabolism: GLP-1, GIP and glucagon. Unlike other drugs such as Wegovy, which primarily targets the GLP-1 pathway to suppress appetite, or Mounjaro, which contains GLP-1 plus GIP to control blood sugar levels, retatrutide also engages the glucagon receptor, which helps increase energy expenditure. The drug has not yet been approved by any regulatory agency. But the results of the global trial in people living with obesity and type 2 diabetes suggest it could help them shift enormous amounts of excess weight while also providing other important health benefits. “Retatrutide demonstrated substantial reduction in body weight alongside glycaemic control and cardiometabolic risk factors, with a safety profile generally similar to other molecules with GLP-1 receptor agonist activity,” the researchers said. The findings from the study, funded by retatrutide maker Eli Lilly, were published …

The Benefits of an Ageless Workplace

The Benefits of an Ageless Workplace

Published by Jenni Sidey

Cornell University recently released a report on the future of the American university. Among the many interesting findings in the report was the revelation that employers found new graduates lacking in certain abilities that make a good employee. It wasn’t that the new hires didn’t understand how to do their jobs; in this respect, they were fully qualified. It was rather that the new employees did not possess the “softer” skills that were essential for workers to have in an organization. Specifically, employers said that recent graduates were less than adequately prepared to deal with ambiguity, face criticism, bounce back from failure, and work with colleagues who saw a situation differently. As the report stated: “Employers and those who represent their perspectives consistently reported that American graduates, whatever their specialized knowledge, arrive in the workplace without some of the professional capacities the workplace demands. This feedback, corroborated by a National Association of Colleges and Employers survey on employer perceptions of proficiency gaps among recent graduates, centers not on disciplinary knowledge, but on the interpersonal and …

'You Just Don't Like Poor People': Senior Tory Monstered Over Plan To Slash Benefits

'You Just Don't Like Poor People': Senior Tory Monstered Over Plan To Slash Benefits

Published by Sam Flores

Jonathan Reynolds challenged Helen Whately on Question Time. A senior Tory was told “you don’t like poor people” as she was monstered over her party’s plans to slash welfare. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the long-term unemployed who haven’t contributed enough tax into the system will see their Universal Credit payments cut by nearly a third if she becomes prime minister. The new “subsistence level” benefit they do receive would be loaded onto a pre-payment card, which would ban spending on cigarettes, alcohol and betting. Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately defended the policy on BBC Question Time on Thursday. She said: “Fundamentally, we have a problem that our welfare bill is out of control and we can’t afford it as a country. “We also have a problem of people who are long-term unemployed, and I’m talking about people who should be working but aren’t.” Whately insisted the policy was “about stopping people living a lifestyle on welfare”. But she was condemned by business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, who accused the Tories of reheating the policies of some …

Harry and Meghan’s bombshell ‘benefits’ plot ‘exposed’ in humiliating blow | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV

Harry and Meghan’s bombshell ‘benefits’ plot ‘exposed’ in humiliating blow | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV

Published by Sam Flores

TalkTV presenter Jeremy Kyle addressed Charles Earl Spencer’s bombshell book about his sister Diana, the Princess of Wales to mark the 30th anniversary of her tragic death. In a sit down interview with the BBC, he backed Prince Harry in his dispute over taxpayer-funded security with the UK government. The Duke of Sussex previously stated he could not see a future where he could bring his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and their children back to Britain without police protection. The family, however, have since returned to the UK after six years of living in California. It has been reported the pair will remain in the country for an extended period. Harry’s uncle told reporters: “I would say that I personally worry about the fifth in line to the throne who’s served in the military not having any police protection. As an uncle who’s seen his sister die in very, very preventable circumstances, I would veer towards protection.” Jeremy fumed: “[Earl Spencer] said and I quote, ‘Harry and Meghan deserve security.’ To me, it’s incredible …