Does our future lie with nuclear energy? While the standard narrative is to downplay its value and prioritize other renewables, there is an argument to be made for nucs – for lives saved.
“The biggest safety effect of the decline in nuclear power plants was the increase in air pollution. …
According to our calculations, the construction of an additional NPP [nuclear power plant], by reducing the total suspended particles (TSP) in the ambient environment, could on average, save 816,058 additional life years.
…According to our baseline estimates, over the past 38 years, Chernobyl reduced the total number of NPPs worldwide by 389.”
From Marginal Revolution, The Unseen Fallout: Chernobyl’s Deadly Air Pollution Legacy
Ed Yong opened the door to consideration of animals’ umwelt – their perceived world. But might not the same apply to plants? And if so, do they have agency control of their surroundings?
“By the end of the 20th century, our understanding of plant behaviour had expanded well beyond growth and differentiation, and it continues to expand. Plant behaviour is, as the botanist Anthony Trewavas puts it, ‘what plants do.’ It turns out that they do a lot. Take wounding. Most plants respond to damage to their leaves by releasing volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Some of these VOCs activate abiotic stress-related genes; some have antibacterial and antifungal properties. Some VOCs specifically repel the attacking herbivore with nasty tastes or toxins, and some plants can identify which specific herbivore is attacking, and produce different responses accordingly. Some VOCs attract the predators of the insects that are attacking the plant. Herbivore attack can also induce plants to produce more nectar, encouraging insects away from leaves.”
From Aeon, Seeing Plants Anew
The food label, the one containing the nutritional information, is everywhere. But what is its history, and who determines what is labeled? For that matter, who checks for accuracy?
“In 1990, Congress passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, mandating nutrition labels on all packaged foods to help address growing concerns about rising rates of chronic illnesses linked to unhealthy diets. The FDA introduced its “Nutrition Facts” panel in 1993 as a public health tool that empowered consumers to make healthier choices.
The most obvious purpose of the Nutrition Facts label is for consumers to learn the nutritional properties of a food. In practice, however, this label has done much more than simply inform shoppers. It also encodes a wide range of political and technical compromises about how to translate food into nutrients that meet the diverse needs of the American public.”
From The Conversation, Nutrition Facts labels have a complicated legacy – a historian explains the science and politics of translating food into information
Here on the NoFo, life is seasonal. Come December, the local vegetable stands close down, and the better restaurants pause till late March. One of the downsides of that seasonality is that both front (serving) and back of the house (kitchen) staff are transients, and a real long-term relationship is hard to come by. Then I read this.
“Even the Cheesecake Factory gives you a free slice of cake on your birthday. But the Cheesecake Factory wants you to come back; a lot of tasting-menu restaurants assume, correctly, that almost nobody sitting at the counter is going to become a regular. These places are built for one-night flings, not long-term relationships. They’re hookup restaurants.”
From the NY Times, the final thoughts of their 12-year restaurant critic Pete Wells, I Reviewed Restaurants for 12 Years. They’ve Changed, and Not for the Better.
Chuck Dinerstein, MD, MBA
Director of Medicine
Dr. Charles Dinerstein, M.D., MBA, FACS is Director of Medicine at the American Council on Science and Health. He has over 25 years of experience as a vascular surgeon.
