Sharing can always spark something new!
I'll post bi/-weekly dumps with my discoveries. Occasionally, you'll see quotes or photos, but I don't plan any format ahead.
Quench may evolve or disappear.
But "what if?" will remain.
Texts
1. China has become a scientific superpower
1) High-Impact Papers: In 2022, China produced more high-impact scientific papers than the US and the EU.
2) Agricultural Research:
Chinese scientists have discovered genes that boost wheat grain size,
improve crop growth in salty soils, and increase maize yield by around
10%.
3) Scientific Institutions: Six Chinese universities are now in the world top ten for scientific research output.
4) Research Funding:
China’s R&D spending grew 16-fold since 2000. In 2021, China spent
$668 billion on R&D, slightly behind the US’s $806 billion.
5) Talent Programs: Programs like “Youth Thousand Talents” offer researchers bonuses up to $150,000 and grants up to $450,000.
6) Advanced Facilities:
China has the world's largest filled-aperture radio telescope, the
strongest steady-state magnetic field, and an advanced biofoundry in
Shenzhen.
7) Quantum Computing: Chinese researchers set a record for the number of qubits entangled in a quantum computer.
8) Patent Production: China now produces more patents than any other country.
9) Space Exploration: China's Chang’e-6 mission collected samples from the dark side of the Moon.
10) AI Research: China contributes around 40% of the world’s AI research papers.
2. DIY medical testing startups provides solutions for many who feel underserved by traditional healthcare
“A new world of DIY testing is changing the relationship between physicians and patients, allowing people [...] to bypass the doctor’s office and take medical tests on their own. Buoyed by a growing network of independent labs, Silicon Valley startups now offer tests for a battery of conditions including menopause, food sensitivity, thyroid function, testosterone levels, ADHD and sexually transmitted diseases. The growth is fueled by a growing distrust of Big Medicine and confidence in home testing born from the Covid pandemic.
A public eager for answers is swarming this parallel medical ecosystem. The home diagnostics market generates $5 billion annually and is expected to nearly double by 2032, according to the market research firm Precedence Research.” (P.S. I don't necessarily agree with an author in each detail)
3. Why dining rooms are disappearing from American homes. The decline of dining rooms correlates with rising loneliness and associated health issues.
4. Nightmares can be an early sign of autoimmune diseases
"Professor David D'Cruz, of King's College London, said: "For many
years I have discussed nightmares with my lupus patients and thought
that there was a link with their disease activity.
"This research
provides evidence of this, and we are strongly encouraging more doctors
to ask about nightmares and other neuropsychiatric symptoms - thought to
be unusual, but actually very common in systemic autoimmunity - to help
us detect disease flares earlier." (link to the research)
"Who would have thought that Raspberry Pi, the maker of the tiny, cheap, single-board computers, would become a public company? Yet, this is exactly what’s happening: Raspberry Pi priced its IPO on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning at £2.80 per share, valuing it at £542 million, or $690 million at today’s exchange rate."
What is the loveliest thing a child has ever said to you? thread on Quora. Check the reply on a marshmallow experiment!
Thoughts/Quotes
1. One of the worst questions is 'Why me?' One of the best is 'If not me, who?'
I learned this as a child. Whenever I went to the shop with my mom, she would always pick up goods that had fallen and put them back on the shelves. I felt embarrassed! 'Mom, why do you do this?'
Now, I do this myself—not just with fallen apples.
― Paul Karl Feyerabend, Against Method
― Yohji Yamamoto
Questions
I'm quite obsessed with exploring how hits (songs) are made. Take Dua Lipa - here's a list of samples and the songs they were influenced by. Dua even explains the process in a Netflix episode. You can notice the pattern - each time it's a combination of novelty and old motives. Radically new is rare to take off widely. But...how about ChatGPT? 1 million users in just 5 days. Share your ideas/any book recs to dashamandryka@gmail.com
Photos
Music
Jan Hammer Group - Don't You KnowExcitement
Mauna Loa Observatory is scheduled to reopen at the end of 2024, after being closed during a Mauna Loa eruption in 2022.
Aloha!
- Dasha