All posts tagged: extreme

Extreme heat may speed up biological ageing in older people

Extreme heat may speed up biological ageing in older people

Published by skeptic

A woman drinks water during a heatwave in Hyeres, France Magali Cohen/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images Extreme heat seems to speed up biological ageing in older people, suggesting that it could raise the risk of age-related diseases. “This is one of the first large-scale studies to link long-term heat exposure to biological ageing in humans,” says Eun Young Choi at the University of Southern California. “Older adults living in areas with more extreme heat days aged biologically faster than those in cooler regions.” Choi and her colleagues analysed genetic data extracted from blood samples collected by other researchers in 2006-7 from 3600 people across the US. All were aged 56 and over at the time. They estimated each participant’s biological age using three so-called epigenetic clocks, which involves looking at patterns of chemical tags called methyl groups on DNA. These patterns alter as we get older and such changes have been linked to age-related diseases. The researchers also examined daily air temperature readings taken within a few kilometres of where participants lived for the six …

Australia’s social media ban shows how extreme the technology debate has become – there’s a better way

Australia’s social media ban shows how extreme the technology debate has become – there’s a better way

Published by skeptic

The recent decision by the Australian government to introduce a ban on social media for under-16s has been received with both praise and condemnation. Those who approve of the proposal tend to consider that children are being exploited by egregious levels of exposure to this technology. Opponents of the ban argue that it is not proportionate to the potential harms of denying young people appropriate access to what have become integral features of everyday existence. This somewhat adversarial situation falls prey to the twin perils of fatalism and disasterism. It characterises the wider conversation about how we engage with the digital world. Here, fatalism signifies a weary resignation and disasterism suggests that we are all going to hell in a handcart. More specifically, these impulses impinge directly on school policy making and practice. In our Economic and Social Research Council funded research project, Teaching for Digital Citizenship, my colleagues and I have sought to uncover more nuanced accounts of how young people engage with technology by collaborating with them. The students in our study pointed …

California wildfires fuelled by months of unusual extreme weather

California wildfires fuelled by months of unusual extreme weather

Published by skeptic

The Palisades Fire advancing on homes in Los Angeles Ethan Swope/Associated Press/Alamy Fast-moving wildfires in the Los Angeles area are burning out of control long after fire season normally ends in California. Powerful Santa Ana winds are not unusual for this time of year but they have arrived after months of drought. The combination has led to a disastrous series of fires, in a possible indication of how climate change is shifting the way fires behave in the state. “While Santa Ana fires are nothing new in southern California, this type of explosive fire event has never happened in January before, and it’s only happened once in December,” says Crystal Kolden at the University of California, Merced. As of 8 January, at least four wildfires were burning in the Los Angeles area, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The two largest fires are the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire, which have each burned more than 4000 hectares (10,000 acres) in a day. The fires have killed at least two people …

Parents who forced ‘extreme’ vegan diet on toddler and buried his body in garden jailed

Parents who forced ‘extreme’ vegan diet on toddler and buried his body in garden jailed

Published by Sam

A couple have been jailed for causing or allowing the death of their three-year-old son after forcing him to endure an “extreme” vegan diet. Abiyah Yasharahyalah died from a respiratory illness while suffering from fractures, severe malnutrition, rickets, anaemia, stunted growth and severe dental decay. Jurors heard Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah, 42 and 43, kept the boy’s body in their bed for eight days, embalmed him and then buried him in a shallow grave in their garden in early 2020. He wasn’t found for more than two years. The jury was told the couple shunned mainstream society in favour of their own “kingdom” in Handsworth, Birmingham, and pushed a restrictive vegan diet. Prosecutors said it would have been obvious Abiyah was in considerable pain and neither parent could explain why they didn’t get help. The trial was told instead of contacting NHS the couple tried to treat their son’s final illness with garlic and ginger. The couple’s diet largely consisted of nuts, raisins and soya milk and they were both “extremely thin” when they were …

Parents who forced ‘extreme’ vegan diet on toddler and buried his body in garden jailed | UK News

Parents who forced ‘extreme’ vegan diet on toddler and buried his body in garden jailed | UK News

Published by Sam

A couple have been jailed for causing or allowing the death of their three-year-old son after forcing him to endure an “extreme” vegan diet. Abiyah Yasharahyalah died from a respiratory illness while suffering from fractures, severe malnutrition, rickets, anaemia, stunted growth and severe dental decay. Jurors heard Tai and Naiyahmi Yasharahyalah, 42 and 43, kept the boy’s body in their bed for eight days, embalmed him and then buried him in a shallow grave in their garden in early 2020. He wasn’t found for more than two years. Image: Abiyah Yasharahyalah died in 2020 aged three. Pic: West Midlands Police The jury was told the couple shunned mainstream society in favour of their own “kingdom” in Handsworth, Birmingham, and pushed a restrictive vegan diet. Prosecutors said it would have been obvious Abiyah was in considerable pain and neither parent could explain why they didn’t get help. The trial was told instead of contacting NHS the couple tried to treat their son’s final illness with garlic and ginger. Image: Pics: West Midlands Police The couple’s diet …

Cyberbullying linked to extreme dieting and cosmetic surgery interests in teen girls

Cyberbullying linked to extreme dieting and cosmetic surgery interests in teen girls

Published by José

A study of adolescent girls in Australia found that 62% experienced cyberbullying related to their appearance. Girls teased or insulted about their body shape, weight, or physical features are more likely to resort to extreme dieting or consider cosmetic surgery. The paper was published in the Journal of Eating Disorders. Cyberbullying is a form of harassment that occurs online, through digital devices, such as social media, messaging apps, or gaming platforms. It includes sending mean messages, spreading rumors, sharing embarrassing photos or videos, or excluding someone from online groups. Unlike traditional bullying, cyberbullying can happen anytime and reach a wide audience instantly, making it difficult for victims to escape. Research indicates that the impact of cyberbullying can be particularly severe during adolescence. Adolescence is a time when children’s bodies undergo rapid transformation as they mature into adults. This makes adolescents particularly sensitive to issues related to their bodies and potentially vulnerable to cyberbullying focused on their appearance, body shape, size, or physical features. Exposure to this type of bullying can lead to heightened body dissatisfaction …

The Logical Extreme of Anti-aging

The Logical Extreme of Anti-aging

Published by skeptic

Something weird is happening on my Instagram feed. Between posts of celebrities with perfect skin are pictures of regular people—my own friends!—looking just as good. They’re in their mid-30s, yet their faces look so smooth, so taut and placid, that they look a full decade younger. Is it makeup? Serums? Supplements? Sleep? When I finally inquired as to how they’d pulled it off, they gladly offered an explanation: “baby Botox.” Like normal Botox, baby Botox involves injections of a muscle paralytic. The difference is that baby Botox is proactive versus reactive: If first administered in youth and repeated every few months for the rest of your life, baby Botox can prevent wrinkles from ever forming. It’s referred to as “baby” because the process uses smaller doses than normal, resulting in a relatively natural-looking effect versus the “frozen” look associated with Botox, and usually the people who get it are young—not literally babies, but sometimes still teenagers. Baby botox is hardly a new procedure: As a college student in 2008, I worked part-time as an assistant …

Video shows students pleading with bus driver to keep windows open amid extreme heat

Video shows students pleading with bus driver to keep windows open amid extreme heat

Published by Sam

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. UP NEXT Seven are dead and 36 injured after a bus crash in Mississippi 01:58 Fire breaks out after small plane crashes in Oregon 01:25 Rapper Fatman Scoop dies after collapsing on stage at Connecticut concert 00:41 Report finds health violations at Boar’s Head plant linked to listeria outbreak 02:30 Alaska fighting ‘overtourism’ with vote to limit cruise ships 03:07 Dallas officer killed, two others injured in shooting, police say 01:19 NHL player Johnny Gaudreau and brother killed by suspected drunk driver 02:39 Neighbor of missing California nudists suspected in their disappearance 01:36 Wrongfully convicted Texas man exonerated after decades in prison 02:27 Tennessee teen collapses and dies while jogging in extreme heat 01:26 Death reported at Grand Canyon as water pipe break causes holiday shutdown 04:37 States consider banning legacy admissions at universities, sparking debate 04:21 South American ‘crime tourism’ ring charged in Los Angeles 02:55 Former detective accused of killing pregnant woman and staging death as suicide 03:50 …

‘He was choking on his own tongue’: animals suffer as heatwaves increase | Extreme weather

‘He was choking on his own tongue’: animals suffer as heatwaves increase | Extreme weather

Published by skeptic

Solly the sheep had not had an easy start to life, but his prospects seemed to be looking up. Maggot-ridden when found in a field, Solly defied the expectations of a vet and recovered quickly when an animal shelter took him in. He befriended another sheep at the sanctuary, Star, and became a “leaping, happy lamb”, his rescuers said. But Solly, named after the Spanish word for sun, could not cope with the scorching heat in Mallorca, Spain. He contracted a disease from mosquitoes, whose breeding window is widening. His frail body quickly declined. “It was 40C on the day that he died, and he was choking on his own tongue,” said Nicole Eden, who runs the Eden Sanctuary for abandoned animals on the Spanish island. Flies soon swarmed the body. Unable to leave the other animals, who were also baking in the hot sun, Eden dug Solly a shallow grave with her hands and buried him through her tears. “I couldn’t leave the body for even an hour,” said Eden, who had nursed the …

How does today’s extreme heat compare with Earth’s past climate? | Extreme heat

How does today’s extreme heat compare with Earth’s past climate? | Extreme heat

Published by skeptic

Climate records are tumbling at a galloping pace. The world has just experienced its hottest ever single day on record, amid a string of record-breaking months that followed the planet’s hottest recorded year. But how does this cascade of new highs in the era of modern record-keeping compare with the Earth’s deeper history? Those who piece together what past climates were like in eras before thermometers and satellites – a practice known as palaeoclimatology – find that today’s temperatures are, when narrowly viewed, unremarkable. For example, the Eocene, an epoch lasting from 56m years to 34m years ago, was “screamingly hotter” than today, by about 10-15C, according to Matthew Huber, an expert in historical climates at Purdue University in the US. But, crucially, in the timespan in which humans evolved and formed organised societies, today’s global climate – a bit more than 1C hotter on average than it was in the preindustrial period before people started burning huge quantities of fossil fuels – is unparalleled. It has not been as hot as this for at …