It’s been a while since I’ve had science thoughts — You can thank Babesleaga for that.

However, the “overwhelming majority” of you are scientists in one field or another.

The problem is, the press keeps saying that the science is settled. In some fields. Like climatology.

On the other hand, they are constantly finding new things to panic about. In some fields. Like climatology. So how can it be settled — without being too precipitous? (Heh. One for the English major.)

Actual scientists always counter that science is never settled: that it is simply a method, not a text engraved in stone. Because you know what that is? That’s an engraving. On a tomb.

Those who express that opinion are shouted down and defunded. After all, Faucci said that if you attack him, you are attacking Science. The “overwhelming majority” of which has now — in his opinion, apparently — become a data point.

And if you continue to object, guys with pitot tubes or Bunsen burners will be infiltrated into your house. But not by the FBI. Or by the Knights Who Say NIH. … Oh, no.

So, who should one trust in Science? Or should one trust in Science at all? I vote for anyone who gets us a George Jetson flying car in the future, which fits into a suitcase. The flying car, I mean, not the future. But that would make a pretty good science fiction story, too.

(Unfortunately, their longstanding policy is “No Substitutions”.)

Chinese scientists develop cancer treatment that makes tumors mimic ‘pork’ with 90% success
Anadolu Ajansı News Service

Chinese scientists have developed a pioneering cancer treatment that modifies tumors to resemble “pork,” effectively triggering the body’s immune system to attack them, according to a report by the South China Morning Post on Monday.

The researchers have engineered tumors to mimic pig tissue, prompting the immune system to recognize them as foreign and launch a targeted attack using the same response that leads to organ transplant rejection.

The study, published in Cell on Jan. 18, employs a genetically modified virus to disguise cancer cells as pig tissue, inducing a hyperacute immune rejection that specifically targets tumors while sparing healthy cells.

Early clinical trials have shown remarkable results, with 90% of patients suffering from advanced, treatment-resistant cancers experiencing either halted tumor growth or shrinkage.

One cervical cancer patient was even declared clinically cured.

This breakthrough offers new hope for patients whose cancers have not responded to conventional therapies, opening a promising new direction in oncology.

The research, led by Professor Zhao Yongxiang, director of the State Key Laboratory of Targeting Oncology at Guangxi Medical University, has gained widespread attention on Chinese social media.

Can’t old bald dudes have hair transplanted from their ears and noses to their head? If not, why not?

What about their armpits? They always seem to have plenty of hair there. Pubes. But who wants pubes on their head? Ecch.

Fortunately, Oppo does not suffer from this particular loss-of-head-hair malady, so he’ll never have pubes put on his head.

That’s all for Science Thoughts today.

It’s the chance they’ve been waiting patiently for!

CBS: DOGE Is Going to Get You Eaten by Bears
NewsBusters | February 26, 2025 | Jorge Bonilla

CBS’s Ian Lee leads viewers to infer that DOGE cuts will lead people to be eaten by bears.
.
LEE: … some of these workers monitored bear populations and without them, there could be more encounters.

They apparently had wheeled toys, but…

Although the Incas knew about the concept of the wheel, they never developed it in practice because their empire spanned the world’s second highest mountain range, where there were more straightforward methods to carry goods than using the Inca wheel. The Incas never developed the wheel or used animals for hauling, and they had no system of writing.

So bye-bye, MesoAmerican Pi.

Consumption of fruit, coffee, chocolate and wine may reduce risk of metabolic syndrome by up to 23%
Medical Xpress / FAPESP / The Journal of Nutrition | Feb. 20, 2025 | Maria Fernanda Ziegler / Renata A Carnauba et al

A diet rich in produce such as grapes, strawberries, açaí, oranges, chocolate, wine and coffee can reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome by as much as 23%, according to the findings of a study involving more than 6,000, the largest in the world to associate the effects of consuming polyphenols.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers Supports Bill Replacing ‘Mother’ with ‘Inseminated Person’
Breitbart | 02/22/2025 | Elizabeth Weibel

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) supported a Democrat Senate bill that would replace the word “mother” with the word “inseminated person.”

And if the author is lying about this, she can be sued for . . . well, check out her name.

I also saw some article that claimed humans are the only animals with noses. Odd.

I’ll say at the outset, I don’t like the phrase “human scalp hair.” Too Indian.

Why do Humans Have Long Scalp Hair?
The Scientist | January 22, 2025 | Sahana Sitaraman, PhD

Humans are the only mammals with long hair on their heads. Scientists look into what drives this unique feature.

Humans evolved long hair on their head to prevent overheating and excess water loss when walking under the hot sun in Africa.

In 2004, a Chinese woman named Xie Qiuping won the Guinness World Record for the longest human scalp hair at 5.627 meters—the length of an adult male giraffe! While this is an anomaly, humans are the only mammals that have negligible body hair, but extremely long hair on their heads. “It’s such an important part of our identity as a species and yet, we understand so little about it,” said Maksim Plikus, a developmental biologist at University of California, Irvine, who studies the regeneration of hair.

Maksim Plikus? My new Witness Protection name?

One theory dates back to life millions of years ago, when human ancestors roamed across Africa, exposed to the blazing sun. As they spent a lot of time outdoors searching for food and water, they needed efficient mechanisms to keep their body cool. “In human evolution access to fresh water was always something that individuals and groups had to think about and plan over,” Jablonski said. “So having a thermoregulatory mechanism that would help to conserve precious water would be advantageous.” The absence of fur and abundance of sweat glands helped keep the body cool even after bouts of exercise, such as hunting animals.

Makes sense. Thanks, God.

However, the head received the most solar radiation and probably needed other ways to keep it from overheating. Prehistoric cave paintings from Europe and Australia and Egyptian mummies with preserved hair suggest that long hair was a universal feature across different populations of humans.

Tightly curled and long scalp hair of ancient hominins …

Dislike that word. To me, it will always be “hominids.”

… could have evolved to shield the scalp from the sun, reduce heat transmission due to the air pockets between the curls and minimize water loss through sweat. While it is not known when curly hair emerged, it is likely that long hair growth evolved later to compensate for curly hair’s tendency for wear and tear.

{Yeah, but then — why would a Bushman of the Kalihari have short, curly hair, but a Swede have long flowing locks? Heat?}

Hair length depends on the hair growth cycle. A hair follicle can either be in the active growth phase called anagen or the rest phase called catagen. Stimulatory signals trigger the proliferation of matrix cells in the hair follicle during anagen, lengthening the hair strand. A continuous supply of these cells is essential for the sustained growth of hair. A typical human scalp hair follicle stays in anagen for five to seven years, producing hair that is 50–110 centimeters (19–43 inches) long.

BS. (?) Human hair grows after age 7. Ask Farrah Fawcett.

For exceptionally long hair, such as that of Qiuping, the matrix cells would have to undergo over 11,000 divisions over more than 30 years!

And then it stops? Why am I still going to a barber?

“Hair follicle is like a biological 3D printer. Based on the molecular program you feed it, it’ll print something tiny or something super long,” said Plikus.

Plikus again. I’m beginning to like him.

“You don’t need to add any new components. You just have to instruct the various cells to work for longer and print for longer.”

Though no other mammal can boast of the exceptional hair lengths seen on human heads, the potential for long hair growth is conserved across the class, from the wispy “mustaches” of emperor tamarin monkeys to the meter-long body hair skirt of extinct Woolly mammoths.

Boring.

Studies on human dermatological conditions that alter hair length could provide insights on the molecular basis and genetic regulators of long scalp hair in humans. Mutations in fibroblast growth factor 5 (FGF5), a protein that promotes catagen entry, cause familial trichomegaly, a condition where body hair and eyelashes grow unnaturally long.7 Since the mutations prolong anagen throughout the body, it is likely that the gene is differentially controlled through modifications in its regulators in the scalp cells. Contrastingly, variants of the protein Wnt Family Member 10A shorten anagen, possibly causing conditions like androgenetic alopecia, or male pattern baldness.

Mega-boring. Didn’t read.

Scientists have started to dig deeper in the enigma of human scalp hair. Comparative studies of body and head hair using RNA sequencing and next-generation spatial sequencing, transplantation of human hair to rodent models, constructing computational models of hair growth and examining the intricacies of hair growth in individuals could unravel the molecular drivers of human hair growth. A clearer picture of how human scalp hair reaches considerable lengths could then lead to new therapeutic leads for conditions like hair loss or genetically stunted hair. “How could you treat a disease of short hair if you didn’t even know what’s the normal recipe for long hair?” Plikus pointed out.

Don’t like the phrase “human scalp hair”, and how Plikus considers short hair to be a disease.

F ’em. I’ve got my hair.

66 million-year-old fish vomit discovered in Denmark
BBC | January 28, 2025

A piece of fossilised vomit dating back to the time of the dinosaurs has been discovered in Denmark. …

Mr Bennicke took the fragments to be examined at the Museum of East Zealand…

It was too old for New Zealand

…, which confirmed the vomit could be dated to the end of the Cretaceous period 66 million years ago – a time when dinosaurs including Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops existed.

Jesper Milan, palaeontologist and curator at the museum, told the BBC it was “truly an unusual find” as it helps explain relationships in the prehistoric food chain.

“It tells us something about who was eating who 66 million years ago,” he said.

Walrus: “Phrasing!”

Mr Milan said his museum had only sent the information to the local press but the discovery has sparked global interest. “This is the world’s most famous piece of puke ever,” he said.

There are other candidates for that title.

. . . just keep away from mystery balls. How hard is that?

Mystery balls on Sydney beaches found to contain faecal bacteria
bbc | 01/20/2025 | Kelly Ng

It urged anyone who spotted the balls not to handle them and to contact authorities.

Besides the acids and bacteria, the balls also contained volcanic rock pumice.

The first batch of debris in October were at first mistakenly called “tar balls” but were later found to contain everything from cooking oil and soap scum molecules, to blood pressure medication, pesticides, hair, methamphetamine and veterinary drugs.

Sydney Water has reported that its water treatment plants are operating normally and that there were no known issues with waste systems in the city.

Germany’s Gas Use and Power Prices Jump Amid Weak Wind Generation
Oil price | Dec 11, 2024 | Tsvetana Paraskova

Intraday power prices in Germany jumped and natural gas-fired electricity generation rose to a two-year high this week as low wind speeds continue to depress wind power output.

Natural gas use for power generation rose on Wednesday to its highest level since December 2022, as a wider power supply gap had to be filled by fossil fuels amid very weak wind power generation.

…

Germany’s power margin, the available electricity supply to meet demand, has dropped this week to the lowest level so far this winter, as low wind speeds and colder weather are straining the power system.

This week, wind speeds in Germany have dipped again, while colder-than-usual temperatures have settled over much of northwest Europe.

Since early November, the so-called ‘Dunkelflaute’, German for “dark wind lulls”, have often resulted in wind farms in Europe’s biggest economy generating only a fraction of their nameplate capacity, leading to day-ahead electricity prices for peak demand hours to high levels not seen since the peak energy crisis in 2022.

Near-term power prices have increased as supply has been fluctuating while demand has been growing with the colder temperatures. Germany has had to import more electricity from France and rely more on fossil fuels for power generation during periods of low wind speeds.

…

Germany has to grapple with higher hourly power prices and increased gas demand…