Organ Grinder

Your Aging Parts, Robots Advance

You're getting older. That won't come as a surprise. But what you may not know is that statement could be more true for some of your parts than others. Scientist have learned that the aging process is "not solely about minutes and years passing. Once considered a steady, predictable decline, affecting everything in our bodies, everywhere, all at once, aging is much more haphazard than we once thought, starting in different parts of our bodies at different times, possibly long before we’re even thinking about aging." Gretchen Reynolds in WaPo (Gift Article): Inside your body, aging unfolds at remarkably different rates. "By using advanced molecular biology, genetics and big data to analyze blood samples from people, scientists can tell that some of us are 'heart agers,' meaning our hearts appear much older than the rest of our bodies, or we’re 'brain agers,' with a relatively old brain in our skulls, or if we’re fortunate, we might be 'brain youthers,' with a brain relatively younger than any other organ we possess. Or we could be 'muscle agers' or 'liver youthers.' Almost any organ can be the first to show signs of extreme aging." (This confirms the rationality of the lifelong strategy I've applied to all of my organs: I'm pacing myself.)

+ In an effort to slow what has become my recently accelerating aging process (I'm already about 300 years older than I was on November 5), I'm going to take a few days off for some Thanksgiving family time, assuming nothing really weird happens in the news (Ha ha ha ha ... ha ha ha ha...) Have an excellent holiday weekend.

2

Oligarchness on the Edge of Town

Everyone probably agrees that the federal government could be more efficient. But there's something a little too 2024 about a group of billionaires (who have profited from America's greatest benefit: tax cuts) deciding which lifelong government employees who are just getting by will no longer be allowed to even do that. WaPo (Gift Article): Musk and Ramaswamy race to build a ‘DOGE’ team for war with Washington. "Top Musk surrogates from his business empire — including private equity executive Antonio Gracias and Boring Company President Steve Davis — are involved in planning, the people said, along with a coterie of Musk friends and Silicon Valley leaders, including Palantir co-founder and investor Joe Lonsdale, who funds a libertarian-leaning nonprofit dedicated to government efficiency; investor Marc Andreessen; hedge fund manager Bill Ackman; and former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick. Ramaswamy, Musk and the Silicon Valley cohort plan to work on technical challenges to collecting data about federal employees and programs, which they believe is siloed in antiquated systems. Andreessen is acting as a key networker for talent recruitment, one person said. Those executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment."

3

Robotussin'

"Until a few years ago, robotics seemed to be developing far more slowly than A.I. On YouTube, humanoid forms developed by Boston Dynamics, an industrial-robotics company, danced or leaped over obstacles, doing a sort of mechanical parkour. But these movements were scripted—the same robots couldn’t make you a cup of coffee. To fetch a coffee filter, a robot might need to navigate around a kitchen island, recognize a cupboard, and open the cupboard door without ripping it off its hinges. Simply peeling apart the sides of a coffee filter was long considered a feat of unfathomable difficulty. A hopelessness hung over the whole enterprise ... [but today] roboticists increasingly believe that their field is approaching its ChatGPT moment." What does that mean? Robots are starting to be able to use AI to teach themselves how to do things. This will make for some incredible advances that will probably escalate quickly from a robot bringing you breakfast in bed to an army of them ruling over you. In the meantime, from The New Yorker: A Revolution in How Robots Learn.

+ SF Standard: I got a massage from a robot, and I have thoughts.

4

Front is Center

"Nothing is more valuable on a plane than space. There are mathematical reasons for that, but if you’ve ever spent hours stuck in a middle seat or had the person in front of you demolish your knees while shooting backward into nap mode, you also just know it in your heart. Every inch of cabin space is carefully meted out; there’s no wiggle room, literally. And some of the ever-dwindling inches between you and those in adjacent seats have been sold twice. Who gets to use the armrest depends on who’s most game to make enemies." That's what you'll find in the back of the plane this holiday season. But most airlines are focused on the more profitable front of plane experience. Amanda Mull in Bloomberg (Gift Article, even for those of you in economy): Why the Flying Experience Feels So Much Worse.

5

Extra, Extra

All for Naughty: "The dismissal also marks a historic moment. Fifty years after Richard Nixon was forced by lawmakers from both parties to resign the presidency amid allegations of criminal conduct, half of American voters will return Trump to the presidency despite his own serious charges of criminal misconduct in office." Jack Smith files to drop Jan. 6 charges against Donald Trump.

+ Cease or Ceaseless? There are some positive signs that Israel and Hezbollah could be very close to a ceasefire deal. In the meantime, fighting has intensified.

+ Island Fever: "Vaccine skepticism has ballooned worldwide, and Mr. Kennedy and others who back him have encouraged it. Americans may be well aware that their possible future health leader holds dangerous beliefs about vaccines. The consequences of his views — and those of his orbit — are not merely absurd but tragic." NYT (Gift Article): I’ll Never Forget What Kennedy Did During Samoa’s Measles Outbreak. (Related: Bird flu detected in raw milk sold in California.)

+ Track Meat: "Today only a handful of meatpackers remain, and they’re preparing to say goodbye to a very different neighborhood, known more for its high-end boutiques and expensive restaurants than the industry that gave it its name." The last meatpackers in NYC’s Meatpacking District are getting ready to say goodbye.

+ Tap That? "For decades, the ads have been reliably quirky, surprisingly effective and, well, very Vermont. Nowadays, Seven Days has a thriving online personals section to go with the print version. In a recent entry, one man in his 70s boasted of his several hundred maple sugar taps." NYT: Dating App Fatigue? In Vermont, Personal Ads Still Thrive.

+ House Calls: "A rural doctor travels miles of unforgiving terrain by donkey, enduring cold, rain, wind and exhaustion, to visit several dozen families scattered across the highest mountain in the north of Argentina." A photo essay from AP: A rural doctor traverses mountainous terrain by donkey to visit far-flung patients.

+ Bean Counters: "Concerns have mounted that supplies from Brazil will slow after a long drought that hurt coffee trees, which may reduce next season’s output." Coffee Prices Surge to Highest Since 1997 on Supply Fears. (It's still cheaper than cocaine...)

6

Bottom of the News

"In the last four years, I've had the honor to continue that tradition by pardoning Peanut Butter and Jelly, Chocolate and Chip, Liberty and Bell. And today, Peach and Blossom will join the free birds of the United States of America." Biden participates in his final White House turkey pardon.

+ Biden pardons turkeys Peach and Blossom, another chapter in a strange tradition. (Ah, the days when pardoning turkeys qualified as strange DC news...)