A quote from Max Eddy, a Wirecutter writer covering privacy, security and software: “There’s not a lot of regulations around the kind of data that 23andMe and other companies like it are holding. This information is not covered by HIPAA, which is legislation that limits how far medical information could be spread.”

23andMe, maker of popular DNA test kits, has filed for bankruptcy and is looking for a buyer. Here’s why customers should delete their info before it’s sold. nyti.ms/42cnBma

New blood test checks for Alzheimer’s and assesses progression, study says Procedure for patients with thinking and memory problems could help medics decide which drugs are most suitable Researchers have developed a blood test for patients with thinking and memory problems to check if they have Alzheimer’s and to see how far it has progressed. The team behind the work say the test could help medics decide which drugs would be most suitable for patients. For example, new drugs such as donanemab and lecanemab can help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, but only in people in the early stages of the disease. Continue reading...

New blood test checks for Alzheimer’s and assesses progression, study says

Mathematician Adam Kucharski: ‘Our concepts of what we can prove are shifting’ The epidemiologist who advised on Ebola and Covid discusses the value of evidence in light of AI and social media, and how the notion of fact has long been divisive

'Our concepts of what we can prove are shifting'

ICYMI: check out @adamjkucharski.bsky.social's interview with the @theguardian.com on his new book #Proof, an urgent exploration of truth in our current age of disinformation.

Government to extend ban on moorland burning - closing loopholes in existing rules

Great news for nature, carbon, & people who’ll be spared from acrid smoke & flooding

Bad news for dukes & billionaires who own grouse moors 🎻

Here's my quote running on PA newswire: 1/

www.gov.uk/government/n...

First ‘Wistman’s Wood’ trees planted as part of efforts to double size of ancient temperate rainforest

3 years ago, when I wrote The Lost Rainforests of Britain, I talked about the importance of expanding fragments of temperate rainforest like Wistman's Wood

Well now the Duchy of Cornwall is actually doing it. (And through natural regeneration, not just planting!)
duchyofcornwall.org/article/firs...

Catch up on all of our news including upcoming events and opportunities. Get to know our fabulous Global Programmes Coordinator Rachel Lassman in our ‘60 seconds with…’ feature article and get up to date with research publications, webinars, funding opportunities and more!

1. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%.

I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters.

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

The first task is to see what's in front of you. Guard precious things zealously.

TFW the cat brings in a mouse and lets it go in the front hall, and promptly mislays it. No sign of it anywhere. Where is it? No one knows. Now lying in bed unable to sleep because of it, the cat blissfully asleep and snoring beside me.

Bumblebee population increases 116 times over in 'remarkable' Scotland project ‘The sound of traffic and a uniform sea of barley have been replaced by the most beautiful meadows, full of wildflowers, young saplings and the buzz of bees’

"Bumblebee population increases 116 times over in 'remarkable' Scotland rewilding project."

Read that again: **116** times.

Why are we STILL having to argue the case for rewilding??
www.scotsman.com/hays-way/bum...

Interesting piece on the science (or lack of) around 'blue zones': www.science.org/content/arti...

How to survive the broligarchy: 20 lessons for the post-truth world | Carole Cadwalladr In the wake of Trump’s unnerving appointees, the investigative journalist and veteran of the libel court offers pointers on coping in an age of surveillance

Views differ about why BlueSky migration matters. For me it’s this ‘There is such a thing as truth There are facts and we can know them.’ If we can keep a large, shared space truthful it’ll count for a lot in the face of what’s coming. @carolecadwalla.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

5k *for now*. Quick, post a link to the Clorinda books!

Your people have found you!

The preliminary sequence from the H5N1 human case in British Columbia has been posted and it is not good news. The virus potentially has a quasispecies at HA residue 226 (H3 numbering). This is bad news because we know that mutations at residue 226 can increase binding to human receptors. 1/

Queanbeyan Hospital bans surgical abortions, telling local health workers the procedure 'does not currently sit within' its scope An email obtained by the ABC confirms Queanbeyan Hospital has stopped providing surgical terminations for fetal anomalies and medical reasons, restricting access to a legal and time-critical form of r...

Shout-out to ABC national regional affairs reporter Lucy Barbour for revealing how two regional hospitals - Orange and Queanbeyan – have been trying to introduce #abortion bans by stealth.
Both bans have since been reversed.
This is why #journalism matters. www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11...

If you need a little lift this evening, I just heard that National Trust colleagues are installing hedgehog ramps inside cattle grids so if you’re small and prickly and you accidentally go in, you can accelerate out again.

Idea & image c/o the British Hedgehog Preservation Society.

Well then. I will.

Well. Let's begin again, then.