You can't clone a clone forever: the mutations are eventually fatal
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien...45888.html

INTRO: A two-decade study into cloning has revealed a fundamental flaw in the technology, demonstrating that repeated duplication leads to an accumulation of fatal genetic mutations. Researchers in Japan generated 1,206 cloned laboratory mice from a single female donor between 2005 and 2025.

Initially, no outward signs of trouble were observed across the first 25 generations. However, genetic mutations subsequently began to pile up, ultimately proving fatal. The 58th generation of clones, despite appearing physically normal, died within days of birth due to these accumulated genetic mutations.

This extensive research directly contradicts the long-held notion that clones are identical copies of their original donor and disproves the idea that current cloning technology could be sustained indefinitely without adverse effects.

Developmental biologist Teruhiko Wakayama of the University of Yamanashi, senior author of the research published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, stated: "No one has ever continued re-cloning for this long before. As a result, this is the first time we've discovered that repeated re-cloning eventually reaches its limits." (MORE - details)

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Implantable ‘living pharmacy’ produces multiple drugs inside the body
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121202

INTRO: A multi-institutional team of scientists, co-led by Northwestern University, has taken a crucial step toward implantable “living pharmacies” — tiny devices containing engineered cells that continuously produce medicines inside the body.

In a new study, the team engineered cells to simultaneously produce three different biologics — an anti-HIV antibody, a GLP-1-like peptide used to treat type 2 diabetes and leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and metabolism. When implanted under the skin of a small animal model, the device kept drug-producing cells alive and stably delivered all three therapies at once.

Called HOBIT (short for hybrid oxygenation bioelectronics system for implanted therapy), the new system integrates the engineered cells with oxygen-producing bioelectronics. Roughly the size of a folded stick of gum, the design shields cells from the body’s immune system while also providing cells with oxygen and nutrients to keep them alive and producing biologic drugs for several weeks.

With more work, living pharmacies hold the potential to treat chronic conditions with a single, long-lasting therapy — bypassing the need for patients to carry, inject or remember to take medications... (MORE - details, no ads)

https://www.sciencefocus.com/wellbeing/f...icult-spot

EXCERPTS: Girkin worked in Tasmania’s welfare sector for over 20 years and says she encountered coworkers who she believes displayed a number of psychopathic traits, and heard similar stories from others in the field. It got her thinking about female psychopathy, which some studies suggest presents differently than in men, with less overt aggression and an emphasis on tactics like emotional manipulation and relational aggression.

Girkin’s study, published in the Proceedings of the 5th International Developments in Applied Psychology and Business Management Conference, and coauthored with Dr Sharyn Curran, a senior lecturer in the School of Management and Marketing at Curtin University, draws from interviews with 13 people working in Tasmania’s welfare industry.

Eleven of them said they’d met at least one person who displayed eight or more psychopathic traits like lying, a lack of remorse or a refusal to take responsibility. Some reported leaving jobs or sitting in their cars crying for hours because of interactions with these coworkers. Others left the welfare sector entirely. “I had a number of women saying that they tried to take their own lives as a result of the experience,” Girkin says.

In Girkin’s study, participants identified 36 women and 11 men who acted in ways that met criteria for psychopathy. Girkin says it highlights a lack of attention on female psychopathy, which she argues can have severe impacts in the workplace and beyond. A lack of research on female psychopaths could mean women displaying problematic behaviours are more likely to go unnoticed, causing harm with little chance of repercussions.

It raises a troubling question: are there more psychopaths than we realise?

[...] Not all psychopaths are violent criminals. In fact, most aren’t. Psychopathy is defined by a number of traits, including short-lived emotions, a lack of remorse, low empathy, manipulativeness and pathological lying that can lead someone to act in ways that are antisocial.

Psychopathy is often divided into two types. Primary psychopaths tend to display behaviours like repeated lying or a lack of empathy, while secondary psychopaths are impulsive and thrill-seeking, and more likely to commit crimes or be violent.

“The secondary psychopath doesn’t have a lot of self-control, whereas the primary psychopath does,” Girkin says. “That’s why they’re able to hide well in everyday society.”

[...] “The antisocial behaviours of women are different to those of men,” Eisenbarth says. “There might be more manipulative and antisocial behaviour of the kind we often don’t score in men.”

It’s a trend Abigail Marsh, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Georgetown University in the US, says she’s seen in women with psychopathy. Marsh says many psychopaths have learned to mask their true feelings or thoughts exceedingly well. But underneath, people with psychopathy, male or female, are often motivated by a desire to get what they want.

Differences between the genders mean distinct tools work better for each: a physically larger man may be able to get what he wants by using violence, while a woman may find social methods work better. In some cases, that means a charm offensive is the best approach.

“The thing I think people don’t always anticipate about psychopathy is that the best way to get things out of people is by being really nice to them,” Marsh says. “I find that when people with psychopathy want you to like them, you almost certainly will.” (MORE - missing details)

https://www.sciencealert.com/eating-the-...eight-loss

INTRO: Consistency is key to building healthy habits, and our daily meal choices may be no exception. Researchers at Drexel University in the US have now found evidence that indulging in the same meals and snacks day after day can lead to more successful weight loss over the course of several months.

While diversity in the diet is undoubtedly important for human health, these new results suggest that eating the same meals on repeat can come with perks for those who want to lose weight. As long as the go-to meals and snacks are well-rounded, they may help with weight loss more than a flexible, varied diet.

"Maintaining a healthy diet in today's food environment requires constant effort and self-control," says lead author and health psychologist Charlotte Hagerman from Drexel University. "Creating routines around eating may reduce that burden and make healthy choices feel more automatic." (MORE - details)

PAPER: https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0001591

I outsmarted a diabolical genius back in 2013 that inadvertently proved the existence of God. The conversation can be found here:


Mailing List 'D' Respondent No. 11
An actual freedom from the Human Condition, surpassing Spiritual Enlightenment or any other Altered State Of Consciousness, challenging all philosophy, psychiatry, metaphysics (including quantum physics and its mystic cosmogongy) anthropology, sociology ... and any religion along with its...
www.actualfreedom.com.au

The entirety of mankind's prosperity hinges on a single dialog. One that reveals ultimate truth. The culprit's name was Richard Parker (born 1947). This parallels the so-called Great Genius prophecy. Many of history's greatest geniuses came from humble beginnings. This rings true to this day. Think of Christopher Langan among those.

I began an ignorant fool years ago and then found a way to temporarily enhance my intellect and now I am a genius. I understand that there is no shortage of skeptics among you. However, I can assure you this is factual. In this day and age there is no excuse for atheism. Given that we are exposed to a massive amount of media.

Other analysis: Bombadil is omitted from Peter Jackson's interpretation of The Lord of the Rings. Jackson explained that this was because he and his co-writers felt that the character does little to advance the story, and including him would make the film unnecessarily long.

[...] The scholar of folklore David Elton Gay ... suggests ... that Tom Bombadil was directly modelled on the Kalevala's central character, the demigod Väinämöinen.

[...] The Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger writes that if there was an opposite to Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, it would ... be Tom Bombadil, the earthly Master who is entirely free of the desire to dominate, and hence cannot be dominated.

[...] Jane Beal ... writes that Bombadil can be considered using "the four levels of meaning found in medieval scriptural exegesis and literary interpretation"...

[...] The psychologist Timothy R. O'Neill interpreted Bombadil from a Jungian perspective ... O'Neill finds Bombadil to be the manifestation of the Self archetype and a vision of man's beginning and destiny...

[...] Robert Foster, author of an early guide to Middle-earth, suggested in 1978 that Bombadil is one of the Maiar, angelic beings sent from Valinor.

The Tolkien scholar and philosopher Gene Hargrove argued ... that Tolkien understood who Bombadil is, but purposefully made him enigmatic. Hargrove suggested that Tolkien left clues that Bombadil is one of the Valar, a god of Middle-earth, specifically Aulë, the archangelic demigod who created the dwarves.

Five great theories of Tom Bombadil ... https://youtu.be/mw9uKzy4GRs

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/mw9uKzy4GRs

Beautiful and heartful triptych of family relationships artfully interwoven with common motifs and themes. Reminiscent of other Jarmusch gems "Night On Earth" and "Coffee And Cigarettes". Highly recommend..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsy9sBw-VGE

"There’s a spiritual strain running through all of Jarmusch’s work—part theology and part quantum physics, with shades of lamentation for humanity’s limits and affection for their delusions and foibles. All that is present here as well. The movie is not trying to give advice or make a statement. Still, something about the approach makes it feel as if hidden knowledge is being transmitted, and that you can connect to it or learn from it if you stay tuned to the movie’s wavelength....

..What’s it all about? What’s the conclusion? What’s the takeaway? Jarmusch never hands us anything. We’re left to think about all of it, how it might or might not fit together, and how we relate to it. The constant through all of Jarmusch’s work is an attentiveness to narrative and visual storytelling that most other filmmakers avoid or just never include. It’s unsettling, in a way—as if the normal experience of moviegoing has been turned inside-out. You may be left cold, feeling that you’ve seen a theoretical exercise whose purpose was never articulated. Or you may react as I did. I took pages of notes for this review, doing my best to describe the movie as a discrete work—an object to be contemplated. When the final credits rolled, I closed my notebook and wept."------ https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/fathe...eview-2025

Finally places it on par with Opera, as far as that built-in feature goes. Epic browser eliminated its free VPN last year, and the only free alternative that Brave offers is the TOR network. Vivaldi browser has Proton VPN, but you have to sign up to it to activate.
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Firefox now has a free built-in VPN with 50GB monthly data limit
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/se...ata-limit/

EXCERPTS: Mozilla released Firefox 149 with added privacy protection through a built-in VPN tool offering up to 50GB of monthly traffic. The feature uses a secure proxy server to route only traffic from the browser, unlike the company's commercial Mozilla VPN, which covers system-wide traffic.

[...] Users with a Mozilla account will get 50 GB of traffic per month. In-browser notifications will alert them when they approach the limit. You can turn on the VPN feature through a toggle switch in the top right of the browser interface. There is also the option to activate the VPN only on specific websites, up to five, to save traffic.

Some websites and essential services are excluded from VPN routing to avoid account sign-in problems and make sure VPN reconnection works properly. Mozilla says that it will only collect technical data relevant for maintaining the performance and stability of the new service, and interaction data to understand usage.

[...] Starting today, the built-in VPN feature will roll out progressively to users in the U.S., UK, Germany, and France. Currently, there is no timeline for expanding the service to more regions... (MORE - missing details)

https://www.technion.ac.il/en/blog/artic...han-light/

PRESS RELEASE: A research group from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology reports in Nature an unprecedented achievement in electron microscopy: the direct measurement of “dark points” within light waves. By doing so, they were able to confirm a prediction from the 1970s that the speed of these points exceeds the speed of light.

The researchers who led the groundbreaking study hail from the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Prof. Ido Kaminer, Ph.D. students Tomer Bucher and Alexey Gorlach, Dr. Arthur Niedermayr, and Dr. Shay Tsesses, who completed his Ph.D. in Prof. Guy Bartal’s lab at the Technion and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The article is the result of an extensive international collaboration featuring researchers from the Technion, Bar-Ilan University, MIT, SIOM, Harvard, Stanford University, Milano-Bicocca, and ICFO.

The “dark points” measured by the group are essentially tiny “holes” in the wave structure. Known as vortices, the holes are a common phenomenon in nature: we encounter them in ocean waves, in air currents, and even in coffee when we stir it or pour it into the sink. As early as the 1970s, a surprising theoretical prediction was proposed: vortices may move faster than the wave in which they are formed. As strange as it sounds – imagine a vortex in a river overtaking the flow of water in which it exists – the phenomenon is real. Until now, this was based on theory. The research team’s achievement has now confirmed it experimentally.

How is this possible? After all, Einstein established that the speed of light in a vacuum is the ultimate speed limit. However, relativity applies this constraint specifically to matter with mass and to signals that transmit energy or information. The vortices observed at the Technion are massless and do not carry energy or information, meaning they do not violate Einstein’s principle.

So what exactly are these entities? According to the Technion researchers, these light vortices are “zero points,” or “nulls,” within light waves – locations where the wave’s amplitude drops to zero. In simpler terms, they are points of complete darkness embedded within the light field.

As noted, this phenomenon was predicted in the 1970s as a direct result of random wave interference, and many attempts have since been made to demonstrate it experimentally. The Technion team’s success is based on the construction of a unique microscopy system at the Technion’s Electron Microscopy Center. By integrating a laser system with an advanced opto-mechanical setup into a specialized electron microscope, the researchers achieved record-breaking temporal and spatial resolution.

The vortices (dark points) were measured in a specific material (hBN), prepared by Prof. Hanan Herzig Sheinfux of Bar-Ilan University. In this material, light waves become special “light-sound” waves (polaritons). These can be thought of as light waves that move unusually slowly, about 100 times slower than the speed of light in a vacuum, or as sound waves that move unusually fast. It is within these “slowed” waves that light vortices can “leap” and exceed the speed of light.

Beyond the historic success of this specific experimental observation, Prof. Kaminer explained: “Our discovery reveals universal laws of nature shared by all types of waves, from sound waves and fluid flows to complex systems such as superconductors. This breakthrough provides us with a powerful technological tool: the ability to map the motion of delicate nanoscale phenomena in materials, revealed through a new method (electron interferometry) that enhances image sharpness. We believe these innovative microscopy techniques will enable the study of hidden processes in physics, chemistry, and biology, revealing for the first time how nature behaves in its fastest and most elusive moments.”