PlasticBoy

If we’re going to have networked devices, we need a foolproof way of disconnecting them. I don’t want to have to log in to my pencil sharpener’s web management interface to ask it to stop spinning because some teenager in Andorra figured out how to make it spin all night.

Samsung recently got in hot water with their smart refrigerator. Because it failed to validate SSL certificates, the fridge would leak your Gmail credentials (used by its little calendar) to anyone who asked it. All I wanted was some ice, and instead my email got hacked.
We need an Internet off switch.

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Pluto ‘Wows’ in Spectacular New Backlit Panorama

Animal Abuse: Us and Them

The best justification we have for imposing suffering and death on billion of animals every year is that they taste good. We enjoy the taste of meat, dairy, eggs, etc. We get palate pleasure from eating animal foods.

And just how is that different from any other imposition of suffering and death by people like Walter Palmer, Michael Vick, or anyone else whom we label as an “abuser”? The answer is simple; it isn’t any different.

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NIH study shows no benefit of omega-3 or other nutritional supplements for cognitive decline

While some research suggests that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids can protect brain health, a large clinical trial by researchers at the National Institutes of Health found that omega-3 supplements did not slow cognitive decline in older persons.

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Knowing What to Eat, Refusing to Swallow It

David Katz: Knowing What to Eat, Refusing to Swallow It

This is genuinely tragic, because we have known for literal decades that a short list of behavioral factors, diet salient among them, could cut prevailing overall rates of chronic disease and premature death by an astounding 80 percent. We know this from a vast, diverse, global, impressively unbiased and remarkably consistent literature.

Cancer: Is It Just Bad Luck or Failed Research?

T. Colin Campbell: Cancer: Is It Just Bad Luck or Failed Research?

The consequences of this mutation theory of cancer are deadly. Wrongly assuming that cancer is primarily a product of genetic mutations implies that cancer progression, once started, is unstoppable. It implies that cancer control will depend on identifying and selectively killing specific cancer cells and blocking their responsible genes with targeted drugs. This strategy has been and will continue to be futile because countless combinations of genes and cancer risk factors can change cancer development. Understanding and accepting this complexity means that funding research to identify new cancer drugs, especially targeted drugs with certain but unpredictable side effects is the wrong priority.