Health Archives - Attention to the Unseen

Meta has accepted, for the first time, that much of its business model is unacceptable for children

From elsewhere — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 23:21:06 +0000

Nathaniel Lubin writes: For almost two decades, social-media companies have avoided legal consequences for the negative effects of exposure to their products. Damage to users’ mental health, the facilitation of crimes including sexual abuse—outcomes like these have been the subject of public protest, but were never successfully challenged through legal action. Then, about four years ago, prosecutors across America began to focus on companies’ business and design decisions, rather than, as they had in the past, on companies’ promotion of...

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RFK Jr lied in Senate confirmation hearings, newly revealed documents indicate

From elsewhere — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 23:20:07 +0000

The Guardian reports: Newly obtained documents indicate that the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, lied during two congressional hearings last year, when he told lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation that a 2019 visit to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines”. Letters obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press contradict that testimony. In one he wrote to the Samoan prime minister before the trip, Kennedy explicitly said he wanted to study the measles, mumps...

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Aging brains maintain robust language networks despite cognitive decline

From elsewhere — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 23:09:20 +0000

Neuroscience News reports: As human beings age, many cognitive functions naturally decline. Brain scans have consistently shown age-related deterioration in neural networks responsible for executive functions, working memory, and problem-solving. But when it comes to language, the aging brain tells a completely different, highly resilient story. Barring neurological conditions such as stroke or dementia, most older adults retain excellent language skills. In fact, many individuals experience linguistic improvement as they accumulate a richer vocabulary throughout their lives. A newly published...

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Trump admin has deleted or altered nearly 400 datasets, endangering public health, education and more

From elsewhere — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:10:27 +0000

The Guardian reports: A database of federal law enforcement officer misconduct records. A survey measuring physical, sexual and emotional violence against children and youth. Real-time pollution readings collected by air quality monitors from US embassies around the world. These are among the hundreds of federal datasets that the Trump administration has taken down or altered as part of its aggressive campaign to wipe all mentions of data findings that do not align with the administration’s priorities. Over the past year...

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Biden brought down drug prices, then Trump tried to take the credit

From elsewhere — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 22:59:52 +0000

The Guardian reports: The White House flooded social media on Saturday with an image of Donald Trump showing off the recent Washington Post headline “Prescription drug prices record sharpest drop in more than 60 years”, but failed to mention that experts cited in the article actually attributed the price drop to Joe Biden, not Trump. On its official accounts, the White House triumphantly captioned the photograph of Trump: “POV: you bring the receipts.” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary,...

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Scientists detect a surprising shift in human blood as atmospheric carbon dioxide rises

From elsewhere — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 22:59:36 +0000

Science Daily reports: Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may already be influencing human biology. New research has identified long-term changes in blood chemistry that appear to track rising atmospheric CO2, raising concerns that an important blood marker could approach the upper end of its healthy range within the next several decades. The findings may be particularly important for children and teenagers. Because their bodies are still developing, younger generations are expected to experience the greatest lifetime exposure...

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Potatoes ‘boil’ in the ground as record heatwave sweeps across swathes of Asia

From elsewhere — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 00:08:44 +0000

The Guardian reports: In a potato field in Yanggu county, 80 miles (130km) north-east of Seoul, Lee Sang-hyuk dug into the soil and found nothing worth saving. A week earlier the crop, located in Gangwon province, had looked fine. Now the potatoes came up soft and collapsing, “like boiled potatoes”, spoiled by heat that had turned the ground into something closer to an oven. “It’s not just one or two fields like this. How can I even put it into...

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Meta ordered to pay almost $1 billion over social media harm to children

From elsewhere — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 01:05:13 +0000

Fortune reports: A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial. Judge Bryan Biedscheid said in a ruling late Thursday that the bulk of the money — $420 million — will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next...

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AI just created viable viruses that don’t exist in nature

From elsewhere — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 00:57:12 +0000

Carl Zimmer reports: For the first time, scientists have used artificial intelligence to create new kinds of viruses, raising hopes for medical advances while also raising the disturbing possibility that the technology could someday be used to invent dangerous pathogens. Synthesizing viruses from scratch is hardly new. Researchers long ago learned how to manufacture viral genomes; they are used to investigate antiviral drugs and vaccines, as well as to learn how viruses work. But the new study, published Thursday in...

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The Americans ignored by Trump: ‘Live in my shoes for one day. You wouldn’t be able to handle it’

From elsewhere — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 23:08:59 +0000

Nicholas Kristof writes: After a 1,000-mile road trip across a swath of America, I can’t get one person out of my mind: Trinity Goodman, a cheerful, chatty woman in Oklahoma City who had a bandage on her arm. The reason for the bandage? Goodman, 44, survives by selling blood plasma twice a week. She had $3.78 in her checking account, one cent in her savings account to keep it open, and six pennies in her piggy bank. “That’s my full...

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