Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
You really shouldn’t pour bacon grease down the sink. That and other stuff flushed down residential plumbing drains is contributing to a rather gross and increasingly prevalent problem: floating blobby masses of trash in the sewers known as “fatbergs.” They’ve popped up in Charleston, Baltimore, and London. They’re washing up on beaches, where they’re sometimes eaten by dogs. In…
Millions of smartphone users confess their most intimate secrets to apps, including when they want to work on their belly fat or the price of the house they checked out last weekend. Other apps know users’ body weight, blood pressure, menstrual cycles or pregnancy status. Unbeknown to most people, in many cases that data is…
Print this story It was still dark outside when Amanda woke up to the sound of her alarm, got out of bed and decided to kill herself. She wasn’t going to do it then, not at 5:30 in the morning on a Friday. She told herself she would do it sometime after work. Amanda showered….
In these trying times, it’s nice to know some scams are as painfully obvious as they seem. According to a new study, vaginal jade eggs aren’t an ancient Chinese remedy for women’s sexual problems, as promoters often claim they are—they’re actually a modern invention. Vaginal jade eggs have fast become a mascot for the new…
Imagine preparing for a job interview or a promising first date. You probably consider your outfit and general grooming—a fresh shower, plus hair products and makeup, if you use them. Glasses or contacts? Hair up or down? Various decisions signal different levels of erudition or sexual appeal, and people spend considerable time and money trying…
Image: AP The steady erosion of abortion rights in the United States has been nothing if not subtle; through the last decade, a certain kind of restraint has generally been rewarded in the anti-abortion movement. Sweeping bans—at 15 weeks, sometimes earlier—tend to fail for being unconstitutional on their face. But waiting periods, counseling requirements, insurance…
Twenty-seven US states specifically target clinics that provide abortions with laws called “Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers,” also known as TRAP laws. They exist to regulate the operation of clinics beyond what is necessary for patients’ safety. There are a wide range of regulations imposed by TRAP laws that require drastic, expensive, or impractical changes…
Low air quality, even at pollution levels well below current Environmental Protection Agency thresholds, is associated with increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in later life, according to a new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Researchers Kelly C. Bishop, Nicolai V. Kuminoff and Jonathan D. Ketcham of Arizona State University cross-referenced…
A proposed single-payer health care system in New York state is economically viable and could insure a million people currently without coverage, according to a study from RAND Corp. released Wednesday. The analysis, which looks at the New York Health Act, was commissioned by the New York State Health Foundation. It makes a number of…
You really, really shouldn’t give your DNA to genomics companies like 23andMe or Ancestry. As the recent arrest of the Golden State Killer reminded us, these genetic databases are a goldmine for law enforcement. Catching serial killers isn’t bad, of course, but problems start to arise when, say, these genetic databases are used to target…