Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Sharpshot Nature .Com 02760-tod-019710 Curly Dock

Curly Dock

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2023-12-24 02760-tod-019710 Curly Dock

NIKON D7100 – ƒ/5.6 1/125 50mm ISO200 – Prior Lake, MN

Source: Sharpshot Nature .Com 02760-tod-019710 Curly Dock

Genealogy Classic: If You’re a Wee Bit Irish – Megan Smolenyak

Not long ago, I was persuaded to republish a 2002 article I wrote about genetic genealogy, and much to my surprise, readers loved it. After that experience, I decided to take an occasional dive into my archives and re-share selected old favorites. Some are timeless in nature, but even those that are dated, have some useful insights. I hope you’ll enjoy my “Genealogy Classics.”

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Ireland on a vacation sprinkled with a dash of genealogical ambition. I had been there twice before, but promised myself I would not return until I had at least one ancestral village to visit. Being half-Irish in origin, with a total of six immigrant ancestors from the auld sod, I didn’t think this was an unreasonable standard. After all, I just had to find the home parish of any of these six forebears. But it took me more than a few years to succeed.

Lucky Break

As those of you who have dabbled in Irish research know, it can be rather challenging. My break came a few years ago when I was invited to speak at the NGS conference in Portland, Oregon. I had grown up with one of those Oregon Trail tales in my family and it pertained to the sister of one of my immigrant great-great-grandmothers, Ellen Nelligan Murphy. I decided to head to Oregon five days early to see what I could learn about this branch of my family. A wonderful genealogical adventure that took me to churches, court houses, county and state archives, cemeteries, and even a morgue (truly testing the limits of my then-fiancé’s patience) culminated in my meeting a couple of distant cousins who were the proverbial “last in their line.”

 

Source: Genealogy Classic: If You’re a Wee Bit Irish – Megan Smolenyak

♫ Do They Know It’s Christmas? ♫ | Filosofa’s Word

Released on December 3rd 1984 in the UK, the song quickly hit on the charts and stayed there for 5 weeks.  The song became the biggest-selling single of all time in the UK until it was overtaken in 1997 by Elton John’s Candle in the Wind.  In the U.S., the song reached only due to a lack of airplay.

Do They Know It’s Christmas?
Band Aid

Source: ♫ Do They Know It’s Christmas? ♫ | Filosofa’s Word

Study finds fluoride in water does not affect brain development – UQ News – The University of Queensland, Australia

A University of Queensland study has found no link between exposure to water fluoridation as a young child and negative cognitive development.

Professor Loc Do from UQ’s School of Dentistry said the IQ scores of 357 people who had participated in the 2012–2014 National Child Oral Health Study were assessed by registered psychologists to see if their exposure to fluoride as a young child impacted their brain development.

With the participants now aged 16 to 26 years old, we found those who’d consistently been drinking fluoridated water had an IQ score 1.07 points higher on average than those with no exposure,” Professor Do said.

“We also found people who had dental fluorosis – a reliable biomarker related to excessive fluoride intake in early childhood – had IQ scores 0.28 points higher on average than those without…

Source: Study finds fluoride in water does not affect brain development – UQ News – The University of Queensland, Australia