Lunch at the Labs

Items of Interest

Various web links I found to be of interest recently.

• The dawn of the post-literate society

  And the end of civilisation

  If the reading revolution represented the greatest transfer of knowledge to ordinary men and women in history, the screen revolution represents the greatest theft of knowledge from ordinary people in history.
  ...
  As power, wealth and knowledge concentrate at the top of society, an angry, divided and uninformed public lacks a way understand or analyse or criticise or change what is going on. Instead more and more people are impressed by the kinds of highly emotional charismatic and mystical appeals that were the foundation of power in the age before widespread literacy. Just as the advent of print dealt the final death blow to the decaying world of feudalism, so the screen is destroying the world of liberal democracy.

• The Rise of 'Conspiracy Physics'

  In this corner of the internet, the scientist Scott Aaronson has written, "Anyone perceived as the 'mainstream establishment' faces a near-insurmountable burden of proof, while anyone perceived as 'renegade'' wins by default if they identify any hole whatsoever in mainstream understanding."

• Way past its prime: how did Amazon get so rubbish?

  Sick of scrolling through junk results, AI-generated ads and links to lookalike products? The author and activist behind the term ‘enshittification’ explains what’s gone wrong with the internet – and what we can do about it.

  Here’s the natural history of enshittification:
  1. First, platforms are good to their users.
  2. Then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers.
  3. Next, they abuse those customers to claw back all the value for themselves – and become a giant pile of shit.

  Also see Have we passed peak social media?

• Lithium and Its Potential Protection from Alzheimer's Disease

  A new, elegant study reawakens the prospects for this metal, and specifically lithium orotate.

  Should people start taking lithium orotate, such as the low dose of 5 mg now, widely available as an unregulated supplement? The answer is no, even though we'd anticipate it would be safe, without worrisome side effects as seen with considerably higher doses of lithium carbonate used for BD. Yes, it's tempting, with the body of evidence presented here that exceeds supplements in common use, but we need a clinical trial to prove that the new study translates to a human benefit. If lithium orotate does work, we don't know the right or optimal dose.

• Walking is good for you. Walking backward can add to the benefits

  In humans, reverse locomotion can increase hamstring flexibility, strengthen underused muscles and challenges the mind as the body adjusts to a new movement and posture.

• Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead

  Protein supplements are wildly popular, but CR's tests of 23 products found that more than two-thirds of them contain more lead in a single serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day

Also see, Our Preoccupation With Protein Intake.

• Why do women outlive men?

  A study of 1,176 species points to an answer.

  A growing body of evidence suggests that women's relative longevity may derive, in part, from having double X chromosomes, a redundancy that protects them against harmful mutations.

• Kohler's Tiny Toilet Camera Analyzes the Contents and Reports Back to You

  Kohler's $599 Dekoda analyzes the images to detect any blood and reviews your gut health and hydration status.