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Okay. We’re all grownups here. We can admit when we’ve made a mistake. Despite previous headlines‚ it turns out multivitamins may not be useless after all. “Cognitive decline is among the top health concerns for most older adults‚” said Chirag Vyas‚ an instructor in investigation at the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and first author of a new study linking a daily multivitamin supplement with improved memory and slower cognitive aging for older people‚ in a statement. “A daily supplement of multivitamins has the potential as an appealing and accessible approach to slow cognitive aging‚” he confirms.It’s actually not the first study to have found such an effect. Two previous trials within the same project – dubbed the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study‚ or COSMOS – have already suggested a cognitive benefit from a daily multivitamin‚ but they were based on telephone and web-based cognitive assessments of participants. This one‚ however‚ was in-clinic: the researchers administered detailed cognitive assessments in person to more than 570 participants‚ all of whom were aged over 60 and live throughout the US. Compared to placebo‚ they found a significant benefit from a multivitamin for the subjects’ episodic memory‚ and a modest benefit for global cognition – although executive function and attention were not affected by the supplement.Nevertheless‚ this third study‚ along with a meta-analysis of all three‚ “provides strong and consistent evidence that taking a daily multivitamin‚ containing more than 20 essential micronutrients‚ helps prevent memory loss and slow down cognitive aging‚” Vyas said.While it now seems clear that a daily multivitamin can slow cognitive aging by what the team estimates to be the equivalent of roughly two years‚ it’s still unknown precisely how the effect is achieved. “It is now critical to understand the mechanisms by which a daily multivitamin may protect against memory loss and cognitive decline‚” comments Howard Sesso‚ associate director of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Preventive Medicine and a co-author of the study. “The modifying role of baseline nutritional status on protecting against cognitive decline has been shown for the COSMOS cocoa extract intervention‚” he explained. “A typical multivitamin such as that tested in COSMOS contains many essential vitamins and minerals that could explain its potential benefits.”One vitamin known to be related to brain health is B12 – and indeed all B vitamins. For example‚ in 2013‚ research at Oxford University found that a B-vitamin supplement could reduce cerebral atrophy in key regions of the brain related to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease by up to seven times. Other supplements thought to protect the brain are vitamin D and Omega-3 – both substances that most of our diets are typically low in.Even if we go out of our way to get these nutrients‚ however‚ aging brings its own challenges to the plate. For various reasons‚ older bodies are less able to efficiently absorb nutrients from food – which is part of the reason why multivitamin supplements have so far not generally been recommended as standard.But perhaps we will soon see that change. “These findings will garner attention among many older adults who are‚ understandably‚ very interested in ways to preserve brain health‚” said Olivia Okereke‚ director of Geriatric Psychiatry at Massachusetts General and senior author of the report. “They provide evidence for the role of a daily multivitamin in supporting better cognitive aging.”The study is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 

NASA has announced the winners of its 2024 funding for pioneering concepts in space exploration. Highlights include a fixed-wing plane to soar over Mars‚ a swarm of tiny probes to explore nearby star systems‚ and a set of telescopic dishes with a baseline the size of the Solar System. NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) grants give money to projects that are not ready to be implemented‚ but might one day prove transformational. The Phase I stage involves relatively small amounts of money for blue-sky projects‚ encouraging scientists and engineers to dream big by putting some detail on ideas that are currently little more than notepad sketches.The majority of past Phase I grants have yet to get much further. Some may just be ahead of their time‚ but most will probably prove more suited to the pages of science fiction than practical applications. On the other hand‚ some past awardees have graduated to the larger sums available in later phases. An even smaller number are now being built or have already been implemented. The Ingenuity helicopter‚ which has done so much to expand our knowledge of Mars‚ is a NIAC alumnus.This year’s headline-grabber among the 13 Phase I winners takes Ingenuity one step further. Dr Ge-Cheng Zha of the Coflow Jet company has proposed the Mars Aerial and Ground Intelligent Explorer (MAGGIE)‚ a plan for a fixed-wing airplane covered in solar panels for much longer flights. At one percent of air pressure at sea level‚ the Martian atmosphere does not provide a lot of lift. Nevertheless‚ it has been enough to get Ingenuity airborne and making 71 hops totaling 17 kilometers (10.6 miles)Zha hopes to leave that in the Martian dust. By making MAGGIE very light‚ using enormous wings compared to its body‚ and banks of propellers‚ he believes it will be possible to fly 16‚000 kilometers (10‚000 miles) each Martian year. The combination of this range and the low altitude would allow MAGGIE to study the weak Martian magnetic fields to explore the history of the planet’s core‚ track the source of methane releases‚ and map subsurface ice.“It is the first concept to enable ongoing exploration of this region of Mars and would provide a substantial leap in capability for NASA’s exploration of the Red Planet‚” Zha wrote in his pitch. Ambitious as it is‚ MAGGIE has nothing on Dr Thomas Eubanks of Space Initiative’s idea for a swarm of probes to study Proxima Centauri b. Eubanks builds on an idea that has been around for a while‚ creating a powerful laser that can accelerate very light solar sails to around 20 percent of the speed of light and direct them to a nearby star system. One challenge for this scheme is that the probes would have to carry so little weight they might struggle to send their messages home. Eubanks proposes to have the probes work together to produce signals far more powerful than any could produce alone. Most importantly‚ these would be strong enough to be detectable from Earth‚ or in orbit nearby. In order to achieve this‚ the probes would self-organize like a flock of starlings into a lens shape. The probes would be launched in a long chain‚ with the latter ones given a slightly greater push so they can catch the forerunners. Some probes might fail to launch‚ be damaged on the journey‚ or suffer internal failure. However‚ once the immensely powerful launching laser is built‚ the cost of adding probes to the swarm would be minor‚ allowing multiple redundancies.Others thinking big include Dr Lynn Rothschild of NASA’s Ames Research Center who hopes to detoxify Mars to make it suitable for humans - which could be uncomfortable for any existing life‚ if it exists. Meanwhile‚ Dr Ryan Sprenger of Fauna Bio Inc wants to study zero-gravity hibernation‚ hopefully as a stepping stone to sending people to the stars in suspended animation.Later phases are announced separately.Examples of some previous Phase I winners can be seen here and here.

The year has hardly begun and the pro-Biden media are already in a full-blown panic. They’re upset many polls show Donald Trump ahead of President Biden. When Democrats are losing‚ they warn that democracy is dying and disinformation is thriving. In this spirit of dread‚ NBCNews.com posted a story with the headline “Disinformation poses an unprecedented threat in 2024 — and the U.S. is less ready than ever.” The reporter is Brandy Zadrozny‚ whose specialty is “misinformation‚ extremism and the internet.” Reader beware‚ since every reporter who professes to expose “misinformation” and “extremism” is a dedicated warrior against those “far-right” Republicans.   Here’s the problem for the “misinformation” reporters. Are they willing to acknowledge that the Democrats are guilty of it? Are they willing to admit that the media elites can get the facts wrong? Or is there an automatic assumption that every argument Trump and his “MAGA media” forward against the Democrats has to be false? At the base of leftist panic over “misinformation” is a long-simmering anger that partisan Democrat journalists are not trusted by the Republican half of the country. Journalists cannot stand that Donald Trump remains popular despite all of their attempts to destroy him as a political figure. Parker Thayer of the conservative Capital Research Center posted an informative Twitter thread noting how Zadrozny’s stable of experts turned out to be misinformation deniers whenever the Republicans had a factual point to press. He started with Claire Wardle‚ founder of First Draft News and researcher at Brown University. She lamented that after a pandemic‚ an “insurrection‚” and congressional investigations into leftists working to censor conservative speech‚ it’s worse than 2020. Thayer pointed out Wardle’s First Draft News disparaged both the Hunter Biden laptop (Russian disinformation) and the Covid lab-leak theory (racist). Arguments that turned out to be real didn’t cause any media introspection. Zadrozny also turned to A.J. Bauer‚ assistant journalism professor at the University of Alabama‚ who studies conservative media. “Right-wing media see a demand for content that is pro-Trump and leaning into conspiracy theories‚” he pronounced. Bauer dismissed the Hunter laptop as irrelevant after it was verified by pro-Biden media outlets. He also shared the fake story of Israel bombing al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. Doesn’t this shake his credibility as an expert? Not at NBC News. Naturally‚ the list also included Joan Donovan‚ a “misinformation” scholar at Boston University honored in all the leftist outlets. Thayer noted Donovan called Hunter’s laptop one of Steve Bannon’s “three biggest disinfo campaigns of 2020.” After the liberal papers acknowledged the laptop was real‚ Donovan still tweeted the laptop was “the most popular straw man question at #Disinfo2022‚” a conference hosted by The Atlantic magazine‚ which endorsed Hillary Clinton and Biden for president.  Thayer closed by noting Zadrozny herself wrote a “gem of an article claiming that Boston Children's Hospital doesn't perform gender affirming surgeries on minors. (BCH openly admitted they do).” Other experts in the NBC story were presented as non-ideological. Christina Baal-Owens works for the “nonpartisan voting rights organization Public Wise‚” but her LinkedIn page is titled “Social Justice Warrior” and lists her time in Hillary’s 2016 campaign. Until recently‚ Laura Edelson was the “chief technologist” for Biden’s Justice Department.  So what we’ve learned from NBC is they assembled a unanimous cast of Democrats who share the opinion that Republicans shouldn’t be allowed to use information they identify as highly unfavorable to their hold on power. Looking back at the Covid lab-leak or the suppression of the Hunter Biden scandals? NBC calls that an ”unprecedented threat.” Apparently‚ democracy can’t survive these topics.

The proposed child-tax-credit expansion is bipartisan for a reason — it’s plain good policy that even politicians with major ideological differences can collaborate on.

The thoroughly politicized Moscow Orthodox Patriarchate has been instrumental in supporting Russia’s unjust war.

Instead of blocking such market competition‚ the FTC should enable it.

Origin and the roots of Hollywood’s political self-delusions.

Last July‚ we learned that Netflix planned to remove its cheapest ad-free plan to steer customers to either the more affordable ad-base Standard plans or one of the more expensive ad-free options still available (Standard and Premium). Some six months later‚ Netflix is again announcing the doom of the cheapest ad-free plan. But this time around‚ the Basic plan is going away for good‚ even if you're still a paying customer.  It's not happening right now‚ according to Netflix. The change will impact Canada and the UK first‚ with the Basic subscription being retired at some point in the coming quarter. I expect Netflix to nudge customers who are still paying a Basic ad-free subscription to move to the available alternatives.  Unlike last July‚ you won't be able to do anything about the change. Well‚ other than to cancel Netflix‚ if that's the course of action you'll want to take. Continue reading... The post Netflix’s cheapest ad-free plan is going away for good‚ and there’s nothing you can do about it appeared first on BGR. Trending Right Now: Ignore The Morning Show – I recommend watching these 7 Apple TV+ shows instead

With the Digital Markets Act about to take effect this March‚ Apple is planning to charge extra fees and add restrictions when it begins allowing third-party downloads from outside the iPhone's App Store. The information comes from The Wall Street Journal. The legislation allows third-party developers to offer iPhone apps without requiring a direct download from the App Store. With that‚ WSJ reports that Meta‚ Spotify‚ and Microsoft are among the companies planning how they will take advantage of this change. Meta‚ for example‚ wants to allow downloads directly from Facebook ads. Spotify will likely offer the ability to download its app through its website‚ while Microsoft could launch its own third-party app store for games. Interestingly enough‚ Apple plans to take a similar path to the one it took in the US with third-party payments. According to the company‚ US developers can offer other payment options outside the App Store‚ but they still need to pay Apple a 27% fee. In addition‚ they have to follow some guidelines to promote an external link while also reporting to Apple about every purchase made through this external link so the company can charge a fee. US developers were furious about how Apple decided to comply with this court ruling‚ and the company will try to do the same in Europe. WSJ says Apple wants to maintain "close oversight of apps downloaded outside the App Store" while giving itself the ability to "review each app downloaded outside the App Store" and "collect fees from developers that offer downloads outside of the App Store." We expect that Apple will start to prepare for these changes with iOS 17.4‚ with its beta scheduled to be released soon. Once the company unveils its plans to comply with the European Commission‚ we'll have to wait to discover if Europe is satisfied with Apple's doing or if the company is still promoting anticompetitive behavior. Don't Miss: iPhone sideloading is reportedly ready to go‚ with the big twist we expected The post Apple plans fees and restrictions for non-App Store apps in the EU appeared first on BGR. Trending Right Now: Ignore The Morning Show – I recommend watching these 7 Apple TV+ shows instead