Ready for some good news?
Doom and gloom is fun for a while, but then it gets tedious
Let’s have a look.
Less reason to fear pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is on course to be the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the US by 2030, in part because 85 percent of cases aren’t diagnosed until the disease has spread. Thanks to a newly developed AI model from researchers at the Mayo Clinic and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, that might be about to change. Their new system, called REDMOD (radiomics-based early detection model), was tested on CT scans from people later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In nearly 3 out of 4 cases, REDMOD successfully spotted the most common form of pancreatic cancer around 16 months before diagnosis. That’s nearly double the detection rate of specialists reviewing the scans without AI assistance.
You can keep your batteries. Lithium is used in the lithium-ion batteries that power computers, military equipment, vehicles, phones, electric tools, and energy-grid storage, as well as in aerospace alloys. According to new research by the U.S. Geological Survey the Appalachian region of the eastern United States contains an estimated 2.3 million metric tons of undiscovered, economically recoverable lithium, enough to replace 328 years of U.S. imports at last year’s level. The United States had one sole producer of lithium and relied on imports for more than half the lithium used last year.
We’re living better than ever. One example: In 1826, a ream of 500 sheets of paper cost about $5.00. With average wages near five cents an hour, the time price was 100 hours. Paper was precious because modern papermaking techniques had yet to be invented—we had yet to discover the knowledge needed to innovate the product. Today, a ream of 500 much higher-quality sheets sells for $7.99 at Staples. With average wages around $36.86 an hour, the time price is just 13 minutes.
The next generation will be okay. Heart-stopping video from inside a school bus showed nearly a dozen Mississippi middle school students jumping into action after their bus driver lost consciousness behind the wheel. Tthe driver passed out during an asthma attack as the bus continued rolling forward. A student in the front of the bus grabbed the wheel. Four other students rallied to administer first aid, call 911, and then steer the bus before bringing it safely to a stop.
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