Category Archives: News to use

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

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Filosofa's Word

Good grief!  Have the Republicans in Congress completely lost their bloody minds?  On Friday, the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that has been the source of much haggling for months finally passed in the House.  It would not have passed this time either, had it not been for 13 Republicans who stepped up to the plate and put the best interests of the people ahead of the Republican Party.

  • Don Bacon of Nebraska
  • Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
  • Andrew Garbarino of New York
  • Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio
  • John Katko of New York
  • Adam Kinzinger of Illinois
  • Nicole Malliotakis of New York
  • David McKinley of West Virginia
  • Tom Reed of New York
  • Chris Smith of New Jersey
  • Fred Upton of Michigan
  • Jeff van Drew of New Jersey
  • Don Young of Alaska

Filosofa gives a huge thumbs-up to these 13 men and women!  👍

But then came the repercussions from the circus show otherwise…

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Liebevoll … Loving

Stella, oh, Stella

Søren Kierkegaard, Foto: Wikipedia

„Wenn jemand aber meinen würde, dass er liebevoll ist, aber auch, dass alle anderen nicht liebevoll sind, dann würden wir sagen: nein, Halt, hier liegt ein Widerspruch im Gedanken selbst, denn liebevoll sein heißt ja gerade anzunehmen, vorauszusetzen, dass andere Menschen liebevoll sind. Liebe ist keine Eigenschaft für einen selbst, sondern eine Eigenschaft, durch die oder in der du für andere bist.”
– Søren Aabye Kierkegaard

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“If, on the other hand, one would think that he was loving, but also that everyone else was not loving, then we would say: no stop, here is a contradiction in the very thought; for to be loving is precisely to assume, to presuppose that other people are loving. Love is not a quality for oneself, but a quality by which or in which you are for others.”
– Søren Aabye Kierkegaard

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Ja, auch das kleine Dänemark hat…

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“The greenest since Independence”: Jamaica Labour Party defends its environmental record

Greener than the past is not enough, I feel, for any current governments – we all need to step up further – now – to protect our grandchildren’s future.

Petchary's Blog

As COP26 (the Climate Change Conference in Glasgow) winds on, and Caribbean leaders make wonderful speeches at the podium, the Jamaican Government has been feeling a little pressure at home from some Jamaicans (including myself) who are concerned that the speeches don’t quite match up to activities on the ground.

Such activities would include, of course, ongoing mining in and around Cockpit Country; the depredations of the South Coast Highway Project in eastern Jamaica, including the felling of old trees in the San San area; the destruction of mangrove forests in western Jamaica to build a mega-hotel and casino; the felling of more old trees by developers right across the Kingston/St. Andrew area; and other activities that do not seem at all “climate friendly.”

Or “resilient.” Or “sustainable.” Or any of the other buzzwords you care to mention.

Senator Sophia Frazer-Binns is the Opposition Spokeswoman on Environment and Climate Change.

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The long road to mRNA vaccines – CIHR

Headlines around the world have focused on how quickly vaccines against COVID-19 were developed, but there is no such thing as an “overnight success” in science.

These vaccines—and the ones that use messenger RNA (mRNA), in particular—are building on decades of scientific research.

  • Fundamental research (sometimes called basic research) focuses on the underlying mechanisms of biology and the cellular, molecular, and physiological basis for health and disease.
  • Applied research teases out the knowledge acquired through fundamental research in the hopes of putting it to a specific use, like new medicines and therapies.

The story behind these mRNA vaccines and the related technologies involves hundreds of people all over the world who have worked in fundamental and applied areas of research over time. Their efforts helped to create the knowledge base that led to the wonderful vaccine developments we’re seeing at work today.

Source: The long road to mRNA vaccines – CIHR

The Long History of mRNA Vaccines | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

The early years of mRNA research were marked by a lot of enthusiasm for the technology but some difficult technical challenges that took a great deal of innovation to overcome.

The biggest challenge was that mRNA would be taken up by the body and quickly degraded before it could “deliver” its message—the RNA transcript—and be read into proteins in the cells.

The solution to this problem came from advances in nanotechnology: the development of fatty droplets (lipid nanoparticles) that wrapped the mRNA like a bubble, which allowed entry into the cells. Once inside the cell, the mRNA message could be translated into proteins, like the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, and the immune system would then be primed to recognize the foreign protein.

SO, WHAT HAPPENED ONCE THEY FIGURED OUT THIS TECHNOLOGY?

The first mRNA vaccines using these fatty envelopes were developed against the deadly Ebola virus, but since that virus is only found in a limited number of African countries, it had no commercial development in the U.S.

THEN COVID-19 HIT … WHAT HAPPENED THEN?

Remember, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred manufacturers to develop dozens of potential vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and brought tremendous increases in funding. Some of those vaccines used traditional methods involving adenovirus as the spike protein delivery system—such as the Johnson & Johnson vector vaccine.

Thanks to decades of research and innovation, mRNA vaccine technology was ready. With COVID, this technology got its moment and has proven to be extremely safe and effective. Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is the first mRNA product to achieve full FDA approval in the U.S.

Source: The Long History of mRNA Vaccines | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Foster Falls

2048.studio

Scenic Landscape

Located near Sequatchie, Tennessee, in the South Cumberland State Park, the picturesque Foster Falls stand 60-feet tall. You can enjoy this waterfall everyday of the year, on any of several prints available in my gallery at Pixels. Or, chose from other items, as well. Print selections include:

  • framed
  • canvas
  • art
  • metal
  • wood
  • poster
  • acrylic
  • tapestry

Sample Product: Framed Print

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