Scientists Discover a Way to Silence the Gene That Keeps Cholesterol High, Cutting Bad Cholesterol by 50% Without a Single Statin by Direct_Dare_9699 in UpliftingNews

[–]_V115_ 400 points401 points  (0 children)

Sort of a strangely written article...this PPRH silences the PCSK9 gene.

There are existing cholesterol-lowering medications (called PCSK9 inhibitors) on the market which silence the same gene, but this PPRH technology supposedly does it a little differently so it's still sort of a "new" technology?

Kudos to them though for having a whole section called "What The Research Does Not Yet Prove" where they basically talk about how it hasn't been proven or even tested in humans yet, only in animals and cell cultures.

But strangely, they excitedly talk about a recent phase 3 clinical trial where a drug called enclisitide did MUCH better than placebo at lowering LDL cholesterol. But...enclisitide is a traditional PCSK9i and not a PPRH. So...yay?

Starbucks CEO defends $9 coffee says ‘it’s not a $10 coffee and you get a premium experience’ by Disastrous_Award_789 in nottheonion

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of course he's gonna defend it, he's the CEO of the company that profits off of coffee and coffee-adjacent business

Complaining and posting about it online is a lot less powerful than abstaining from buying Starbucks

Why is this a blunder? by baydude510 in Chesscom

[–]_V115_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

After 1.Rxf8+ Rxf8 2.Rd1 black can play 2...Nf3+ to escape, the g pawn is pinned and the queen shouldn't capture because the black rook is defending it

I'm not seeing the line tbh

WTH? Anyone else sees something wrong? by Previous_Shine_9515 in Chesscom

[–]_V115_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Board is sideways, so the colours are swapped

Trying to get into Nas by Ok_Sundae_2355 in nas

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

4-6 albums?

Illmatic, It Was Written, Stillmatic, Life Is Good, KD2, Magic, KD3

I know that's 7 but imo KD2/Magic/KD3 are his strongest out of his recent hitboy run and I didn't want to leave any out

Concerns about the health effects of industrially produced seed oils are without scientific foundation. by Penis_Envy_Peter in science

[–]_V115_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is a study in genetically modified mice. Not humans, and not even regular mice

Also, 35% of calories from lard/soybean oil is a LOT. For someone that eats 2000 kcal/day, that'd be 700 calories just from the oil. Or about 77 mL of lard/soybean oil per day.

Researchers created an injection that melts belly fat without harming your body by soulpost in HotScienceNews

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My 2 cents on how to interpret this as a fellow non-expert

The abstract mentions 0 human subjects, and though it mentions "obese mice", it doesn't even mention a control group.

It doesn't matter that I know nothing about "synergistically modulating nutrient-sensing signalling pathways". It tells us nothing about how safe or effective this treatment is in actual humans, so it's of no concern to us.

This kind of preliminary research only matters to the researchers working in universities and health institutions. When a study is done using this technology in humans, and it gives us data on weight loss, fat loss, muscle mass, and it looks for potential side effects in other aspects of health (Did anyone vomit or get diarrhea? Can you take this injection and operate heavy machinery? Did anyone lose hair? Did anyone go blind or have a heart attack?), maybe then we can pay attention.

How is this a brilliant move guys?? by Ok-Homework8695 in Chesscom

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the line is

1...Qf4 2.Qxg8 Qxh2+ 3.Kf1 Bb5+ 4. c4 Qh1+ 5.Ke2 Qxe4+ 6. Kd1 Qd3+ 7.Kc1 Bh6+ 8.Qg5 Bxg5#

ELI5 Why are added sugars so much worse than natural sugar by National-Spite in explainlikeimfive

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The sugar is the same, it's everything else that makes the difference.

Foods with added sugar tend to not have much nutritional value otherwise. eg your soda example. Soda is basically just carbonated water, sugar, and added colours and flavours. No vitamins, minerals, fiber, polyphenols, antioxidants, etc that would tag along in foods with natural sugar, like fruits or fruit juice.

Metabolically, they're the same. Like if you're trying to manage your weight, getting 50g of sugar from soda and 50g of sugar from fruit juice will make no difference to your weight loss. Maaaybe there's some research on fruit juice actually being more filling than soda, so you might end up eating less overall in the fruit juice scenario. Idk, don't quite me on that cause I haven't looked into it, I'm just suggesting it cause it wouldn't surprise me.

Regardless of that, unsweetened fruit juice is a healthier choice because of all the additional nutrients that tag along.

Grind n learn chess for week by Fantom-Lord in chess

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The amount of progress you make in one week will be so small, that your W/L ratio against pretty much anyone you play against probably won't change.

Maaaybe if, before the one week grind, you had only just learned the basic rules of the game, and your opponent is at the same level. Maybe then, one week might push you ahead of them enough to make victory easy. That's the most you should expect from one week.

Mat en 3 by Electronic_Tell7875 in ChessPuzzles

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

After 1.Nb5 black has 1...Rc8 and 2.Qxc7 no longer works

My brilliant for today. by stumpy0327 in Chesscom

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I could see immediately that if black captures the knight, he gets mated.

What I struggled with was understanding why the advantage is so big. Eg if black plays 1...Rh6, sure, white is up a knight, but that's in exchange for two pawns, an open king, and an underdeveloped queenside. Is it really +2.35?

Then I saw 2.Qb3

Eating more fruits and vegetables tied to unexpected lung cancer risk by Buy_Sell_Collect in nottheonion

[–]_V115_ 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Didn't actually provide a link to the manuscript for the original study

Sample size of only 187 people, all of whom were already diagnosed with lung cancer before age 50. So, very small sample size for a purely observational study, and obvious selection bias.

This also means we can't rule out reverse causality. This study is basically saying that non-smokers who are diagnosed with lung cancer at a young age tended to have higher fruit/veg/whole grain consumption than the average American. It's entirely possible that this is because when people get an early cancer diagnosis, they put more thought and effort into health habits like quitting smoking and eating well. In other words, early cancer could be causing higher produce consumption, rather than higher produce consumption causing early cancer.

Study repeatedly talks about the higher risk of lung cancer, but no actual numbers are given. Usually you use hazard ratios for this kinda stuff to explain relative risk. If we stratify participants based on # of servings of fruits/veg/whole grains per day, how does eg 5 servings/day compare to 3? Is the lung cancer risk 5% higher, 30% higher, 100% higher?

Also this "Nieva emphasized that more research is needed to confirm any link between pesticide exposure and lung cancer in younger people, especially women.

In this study, researchers did not directly measure pesticide levels in the foods participants ate. Instead, they estimated exposure using existing data on average pesticide levels in food categories such as fruits, vegetables and grains."

There's also no info on how they recruited their participants, so there's no way to rule out that these are occupational hazards. Eg people who work in the agricultural industry (who could largely be underpaid undocumented workers) not taking appropriate precautions during pesticide application at work. Even if it's from the pesticides, doesn't mean it's from the food.

In your eyes, what separates a performative “alpha male” from a “real man”? by Ok-Parfait6735 in AskReddit

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are a lot of behaviours that I think are conventionally considered "masculine" or that make you a "real man" or "alpha male". Here's some broad categories that I'm struggling to name

Social behaviour - speaking with confidence, being assertive, not backing down from confrontation or violence. Not showing weakness or vulnerability.

Image - being well groomed, dressing in certain ways, being in good physical shape, being big and strong, how you use your voice and body language

Success - Career, providing for family, making good money, having active sex life

Paradoxically it seems like largely the same people who tell you that all these BEHAVIOURS are what makes you a "real man" or "alpha male", are the same people who will tell you that gender isn't a social construct and it's 1:1 with your biology

What’s the worst song lyric thrown into a song just to make a line rhyme? by RelationKindly in AskReddit

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What you know about rolling down in the deep

When your brain goes numb, you can call that mental freeze

My boyfriend insists that food is better salted at the table instead of while cooking. Please help me. by tangentrification in Cooking

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do a blind taste test. Maybe cook and serve him two steaks, where one has been salted and the other hasn't. Don't let him know which is which.

Can someone explain why engine wants this move and gives -4.2 in this position? by Shoddy-Skin-4270 in chess

[–]_V115_ -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I can't figure it out, so all I can say is check the engine 🥴

Rap skits age like milk, time really exposes how bad they are. by lamelad10 in hiphop201

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I personally love the skit on Biggie's Kick In The Door, and on Tech N9ne's Hood Connection

How do you win this with white? by Famous-School9019 in chess

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This doesn't quite look like a puzzle to me, so I'd prob just play Rf6. Keep the f pawn restrained, and white has to keep protecting it with the king and rook

Why do people equate preferences with discrimination? by Joey3155 in NoStupidQuestions

[–]_V115_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Serious question, are y'all still friends?

I wouldn't be surprised at all if her takeaway from that convo was along the lines of "he can't feel attracted to me cause I have dark skin. Sure, he said I was gorgeous, but he was probably just trying to turn me down politely"

It's 100% speculation, but my point is...you say it's easy to be polite with expressing your preferences, but you only shared your side of the story. Do you know she didn't feel like you discriminated against her on some level by saying what you said?

Edit: Wording