HEALTHCARE: BiVACOR’s Total Artificial Heart keeps heart failure patients alive until a donor heart is available

Friday, March 14, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

*** begin quote ***

Heart of Steel Titanium

An Australian man in his 40s lived for a record 105 days with a titanium heart before receiving a donor heart transplant March 6. Though five patients in the US had previously been implanted with BiVACOR’s Total Artificial Heart, he is the first to be discharged from the hospital with the device and has the longest survival period between implantation and transplantation.

The device uses magnetic levitation technology—like that used in high-speed trains—to suspend a single moving part, a rotor, which pumps blood through the body. An external system controls the device, adjusting blood flow based on the patient’s activity. Experts say it could be a solution for heart failure patients awaiting transplants and may become a permanent option for those ineligible for transplants due to age or other conditions, though further testing is required.

Approximately 6.7 million Americans over age 20 have heart failure, and around 4,600 heart transplants were performed in 2024. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved expanding the trial to include 15 more participants. 

*** end quote ***

Now that is a real boon to people whose heart is on its way to failure.  And death.

Soon maybe they won’t need donors or pigs.

Amazing.

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ENCOURAGING: Demonstration project shows improved yields, diversified crops, and boosted incomes

Friday, March 14, 2025

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/degraded-lands-transformed-into-productive-farms-with-science-we-can-create-wonders/

Degraded Lands Transformed into Productive Farms: With Science, We Can Create Wonders
By Andy Corbley – Mar 3, 202

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In a degraded and semi-arid farming area in India, simple science-driven changes to the landscape have colored the horizon, and a village’s fortunes, with green.

In the Latur district in the central western state of Maharashtra, 40 years of erratic rainfall, groundwater depletion, soil erosion, and crop failures have impoverished the local people.

In the village of Matephal, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) launched a project in 2023 that aimed at addressing these challenges through integrated landscape management and climate-smart farming practices.

*** and ***

“This ICRISAT project improved yields, diversified crops, and boosted incomes. It also spared women from walking over a kilometer for drinking water, now available in the village for people and animals,” said Mr. Govind Hinge of Matephal village.

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Pretty amazing results.  Went from “dirt poor” with no water to abundant water and good soil.  

Unfortunately, the author doesn’t itemize the capital investment that went into creating this miracle.  While obviously significant, far beyond what a poor village could afford, one wonders what the ROI would be?  For example, the 30 tons of fish harvested might be a source of capital.  A 13 foot rise in the water table might be economically exploitable.  The extra acreage that become productive might be a source of capital to be used.

I wonder if the world’s engineering schools could be an educational resource?  Imagine instead of funding football teams with expansive coaches, Universities could complete for whose intervention produces the most results.  Funny?  No fill the stadium with two equally sized plots and see which produced the best tomatoes.  Yeah, now that is exciting. 

Listen to the 4 minute video and see if you’re not as impressed as I am. 

Interesting to me is that this intervention made a permanent positive change in peoples’ lives.

# – # – # – # – # 

Note: I learned that a hectare (symbol: ha) is a unit of area that is accepted in the International System of Units (SI). It is primarily used to measure land area. One hectare is equal to 10,000 square meters and is equivalent to approximately 2.471 acres.

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INSPIRATIONAL: Maybe we should change the incentives?

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Found on XTwitter

Image

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Seems like a great idea!

As a gun owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, I really objected when Gooferment bureaucrats made a big deal out of adoptions by “those people” (i.e., gay, lesbian, single parent).  I’d rather see those children adopted into a loving home than stuck in the “system”.  

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2018/05/05/kansas-oklahoma-approve-religious-veto-on-lgbt-adoptions/

If they are truly so concerned, then schedule follow up visits and such.

But the “system” is no place for children.

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AI: Used AI to Beat Amazon’s Brutal Technical Interview

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

A Student Used AI to Beat Amazon’s Brutal Technical Interview. He Got an Offer and Someone Tattled to His University

https://gizmodo.com/a-student-used-ai-to-beat-amazons-brutal-technical-interview-he-got-an-offer-and-someone-tattled-to-his-university-2000571562

  • Roy Lee built an AI system that bypasses FAANG’s brutal technical interviews and says that the work of most programmers will be obsolete in two years.

By Matthew Gault Published March 4, 2025 

*** begin quote ***

Lee recorded his entire technical interview with Amazon and posted the whole thing, uncut, on YouTube. Then they made him an offer. He rejected it. For Lee, the point was proving that Interview Coder worked, not passing a technical interview and landing a position.

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – # 

Good for him.  Ethical shmethical.  Columbia is probably just pissed that they lost their market for over-priced computer science grads.  AMAZON just got embarrassed on YouTube.

​Looks like we old programmers got ours and got out before the robot uprising?

Wonder if AI does FORTRAN and COBOL?

I think my 360 Assembler experience is still unique. Too many ways to hide the methods in registers and absolute / relative addressing.  And no English language for AI to analyze.

Laugh!

P.S., The Gooferment and Big Banks still use COBOL.  Too much invested in it and too hard to recode.  I did a FORTRAN retrieval for one oil company that manage to misplace the FORTRAN source code for their refinery control code.  So there should still be work for us fat old white guy retired injineer who’s a poor old senior citizen on a fixed income to “save the day” as Mighty Mouse would say.

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DISCOURAGING: Animal left out in the cold by some callous individual

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

https://people.com/dog-found-abandoned-in-cold-looking-for-foster-home-11689843

Iowa Rescue Dog Dumped in a Cage and ‘Left Alone’ in 18-Degree Cold, Now in ‘Gentle Hands’

Rise, a 4-year-old dog left alone in a cage on Sunday, March 2, now has a name that “speaks to new beginnings,” per the Humane Society of Scott County

By Brenton Blanchet

Updated on March 3, 2025 04:40PM EST

*** begin quote ***

  •     A thin and scarred dog was found dumped outside the old location of an Iowa animal shelter on March 2
  •     A good Samaritan spotted the abandoned dog alone in the 18-degree cold and brought the canine to the Humane Society of Scott County
  •     The Humane Society of Scott County named the dog Rise to honor the pet’s resilience

A dog found abandoned in a cage in Iowa in 18-degree weather is ready to begin a warm and welcoming next chapter.

On Sunday, March 2, the Kings Harvest Pet Rescue No Kill Shelter in Davenport announced on Facebook that, earlier that morning, an unidentified person left a dog unattended in the cold outside of the shelter’s former location. 

*** end quote ***

Special place in Hell reserved for that person.  Only thing worse that that I can think of is: What if it was a child?

Would it have taken that much effort to bring it to the proper address that was on the sign where it was abandoned?

I find this very sad because all life is precious.

As Bob Barker always ended the Price Is Right tv show. “Remember to spay and neuter your pets.”  That advice should apply to some heartless people too.

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HEROIC: 2.4 million babies saved by one humble man

Monday, March 10, 2025

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y4xqe60gyo?ICID=ref_fark

Australian whose blood saved 2.4 million babies dies
13 hours ago << EDITOR ADDED DATE 2025-03-03>>
Kelly Ng BBC News

*** begin quote ***

One of the world’s most prolific blood donors – whose plasma saved the lives of more than 2 million babies – has died.

James Harrison died in his sleep at a nursing home in New South Wales, Australia on 17 February, his family said on Monday. He was 88.

Known in Australia as the man with the golden arm, Harrison’s blood contained a rare antibody, Anti-D, which is used to make medication given to pregnant mothers whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn babies.

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service who paid tribute to Harrison, said he had pledged to become a donor after receiving transfusions while undergoing a major chest surgery when he was 14.

He started donating his blood plasma when he was 18 and continued doing so every two weeks until he was 81.

*** end quote ***

We need more of these silent heroes.  Where do we get Anti-D?

I started donating blood in College.  I remember that the Christian Brothers really publicized the need.  Most were WWII and or Korean War vets and could really make us understand how important it was.  I remember one of them teaching “Engineering Measurements” saying that we were probably too dumb to be good engineers but probably smart enough to bleed correctly.  It was a big joke when we reported that we did “bleed well enough”.

Later in my life, when my sainted wife was mysteriously “loosing platelets”, she was getting four bags of them every week.  One of her last wishes was that I replace them.  I did and then some until I “aged out”.  Who knew that “old platelets” didn’t help those in need?

Anyway, I hope that everyone who can donates.  Maybe you might have the “golden arm”!

What a privilege to save lives.

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NEWJERSEY: Murphy spends tax money to subsidize or incentivize abortionists

Sunday, March 9, 2025

https://www.newsmax.com/us/incentive-budget-abortion/2025/02/28/id/1200846/

N.J. Gov. Seeks to Draw Abortionists to Garden State
By Nicole Weatherholtz | Friday, 28 February 2025 10:27 AM EST

*** begin quote ***

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has included a $2 million incentive program in his new budget proposal to draw “reproductive healthcare providers” to the Garden State, according to Catholic News Agency.

Murphy’s remarks on the 2026 budget indicate the initiative was designed to appeal to abortion providers in pro-life states, saying the program would bring reproductive healthcare providers to New Jersey who have been “targeted by politicians elsewhere.”

“I will certainly never back down from defending women — and protecting their access to reproductive healthcare and, especially, their right to an abortion,” Murphy said on Tuesday. “Those folks in Washington can try and push their anti-choice agenda on us. But as long as I am governor, they will fail.”

With the 2026 budget, the governor declared that his administration was “going to make the largest investment into protecting reproductive rights in our state’s history by fully funding women’s healthcare.”

*** end quote ***

As pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian I don’t understand why the Taxpayers of the Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee have to subsidize or incentivize that Phil Murphy calls “reproductive healthcare providers”.

There is a lot of emotion in this issue and personally I believe that “abortion” is a tricky topic.

Up to a certain point, the Gooferment should have no role in what should be a terrible decision that has to be made by a woman.  Perhaps guided by her doctor, her family, and her Church, she should be free to chose what she sees as “best”.  

At some point, the child gets the rights of a human being.  I don’t know what that point is: conception, 3 months, viability outside of the womb, 6 months, at birth, at some number of days after birth, when they can assert their rights, at 18, at 21.  As I said, I don’t know.

But I do know, that the Gooferment should not add to the fury.  “It’s all sound and fury, signifying nothing.”  Using Taxpayer money to attract more killing of human beings seems like a failure to understand the basic role of Gooferment: “Protect its citizens!”

No mater what age they are. 

It’s a topic best left to the people.  If Murphy wants, then let him pay out of his pocket; not mine.  Or start a GOFUNDME!

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ENCOURAGING: One of my favorite books available for free — The Swiss Family Robinsson

Saturday, March 8, 2025

https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/johann-david-wyss/the-swiss-family-robinson/mary-jane-godwin_william-godwin

The Swiss Family Robinson
Johann David Wyss
166,675 words (10 hours 7 minutes) with a reading ease of 56.32 (fairly difficult)
Translated by Mary Jane Godwin and William Godwin.

# – # – # – # – # 

I found this book somehow and was totally absorbed by it.  Maybe that’s why I have sympathy for the survivalist lifestyle.  Maybe if I had made different choices, then I’d have different results.  

Amazing all the great, and not-so-great, books that are available here.  I’ve chipped in and hope you do too.

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HEALTHCARE: Here’s proof that postpartum depression has a physical manifestation

Friday, March 7, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

*** begin quote ***

Postpartum Neurology

Women with postpartum depression symptoms exhibited corresponding shifts in the size of certain brain regions, according to a study this week. The study provides the first neurological evidence of the condition’s impact, which affects as much as one in seven pregnant women worldwide.

Researchers analyzed a series of brain scans of 88 first-time mothers without a history of depression. They then compared the images to answers given in standard questionnaires used to diagnose postpartum depression. Nearly 30 women who showed moderate to severe symptoms of the condition saw enlargement of the amygdala and hippocampus, key regions of the brain that regulate emotion. Whether the enlarged anatomy causes the depression or vice versa remains unclear.

The condition has been studied for centuries, though data has stemmed from reported experiences rather than anatomical observations. Severe postpartum depression typically manifests as extreme mood swings, extended periods of sadness, and loss of sleep, and its severity distinguishes it from milder, more common “baby blues.”

*** end quote ***

So this is another finding that it’s “not in your head” psychosomatic craziness.  It’s a real demonstrable physical symptom.

Do we have to revisit all the baby killings by moms with baby blues?

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POLITICAL: The right of self-determination trumps the desires of the status quo elite

Friday, March 7, 2025

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2025/02/ryan-mcmaken/secession-why-redrawing-us-state-borders-makes-politicians-so-mad/

Secession: Why Redrawing US State Borders Makes Politicians So Mad – LewRockwell
By Ryan McMaken
<< EDITOR ADDED DATE 2025-02-27>>

*** begin quote ***

The opponents of state-level secession should give it a rest. Few people outside Illinois with families and jobs—and who want to mind their own business—care if the border between Illinois and Indiana is changed. The same is true of the line between Idaho and Oregon. These lines weren’t drawn by the Almighty. Politicians care deeply about such things, however, because they care deeply about power, and about preserving the status quo that has served the ruling class so well.

*** end quote ***

At the risk of reigniting the War for Southern Independence aka the (un) Civil War, what’s wrong with allowing voters to change boundaries or even leave these United States?

From a just Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee POV, why shouldn’t Staten Island escape liberal New York and join the less liberal Pepuls Republik of Nu Jerzee?

Similarly, Texas, Hawaii, California, Alaska, and New Hampshire should all be allowed to decide their fates.  (Remember that only North Dakota currently has the ability to clear checks thru the (not) Federal Reserve System via their current Bank of North Dakota.)  All throughout the world, people should be allowed the right of self-determination.  Imagine how peaceful the world would be if the Straight Line Borders drawn my the English and French to divide ethic groups into “manageable” populations didn’t happen.  Ethinic minorities would be too busy fighting each other to focus on the foreign invaders.

Let’s all agree that the right of self-determination trumps the desires of the status quo elite.

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