////F//// .Kenya’s Rift Valley lakes are rising, putting thousands at risk – we now know why https://theconversation.com/kenyas-rift-valley-lakes-are-rising-putting-thousands-at-risk-we-now-know-why-194541
Arnall’s formula looks the part: [W+(D-d)]xTQ/MxNA. Upon closer inspection, however, the variables involved are subjective and plainly unscientific. W, for instance, stands for weather. D is debt and d is monthly salary, while T means time since Christmas and Q is the time since you gave up on your New Year’s resolution.
None of the factors he included can be measured, or compared by the same units. The formula can’t be adequately assessed or verified. For example, there is no way to measure the average number of days since people slipped up on their New Year’s resolution. And January’s weather varies among different states, countries and continents. In short, there is no scientific merit to it.
“I had no idea it would gain the popularity that it has,” Arnall told CNN. “I guess a lot of people recognize it in themselves.”
Arnall has also claimed to campaign against his own idea of Blue Monday as part of the “activist group” Stop Blue Monday. But that group, as it turned out, was also a marketing campaign — this time for winter tourism to the Canary Islands. https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/01/16/blue-monday-mythical-milestone-of-misery/
We work with a collaboration of philosophers and scientists to provide more nuanced interpretations—including a better understanding of the readiness potential—and a more fruitful theoretical framework in which to place them. The conclusions suggest “free will” remains a useful concept, although people may need to reexamine how they define it. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/free-will-is-only-an-illusion-if-you-are-too/
The color most frequently chosen as indicating a surgeon was green (chosen by 45.1% of respondents for the male image and by 41.6% for the female image). Black scrubs, on the other hand, were most frequently thought of in connection with negative traits related to knowledge, skill, trust, and level of caring, though the answers varied by age: the youngest participants identified the green and blue images as least trustworthy.
Blue scrubs were thought to be most caring (chosen by 56.6% of respondents for the male image and by 48.7% for the female image), no matter the survey taker’s age. For the images of the female clinician, blue was linked to being most trustworthy and green was linked to being least caring.
A few of the study participants pointed out that the green scrubs resemble a janitor’s clothing, while a few also “asserted that the black scrubs looked deathlike or like a mortician’s uniform,” the paper notes. https://www.tctmd.com/news/skilled-trustworthy-caring-your-scrub-color-matters-patients
Carbon farmers are raring to go, but experts say the soil carbon method is flawed https://www.theage.com.au/national/carbon-farmers-are-raring-to-go-but-experts-say-the-soil-carbon-method-is-flawed-20230112-p5cbzi.html
How food corporations manipulate you into eating more junk food Corporations have spent years perfecting the sinister science of making you crave their processed food https://www.salon.com/2023/01/15/how-corporations-manipulate-you-into-eating-more-junk/
The very specific context in which this study was conducted makes it difficult to extrapolate its findings to American retirees, for example, especially since the scientific literature does not necessarily agree with them. The topic of cognitive decline upon retirement does not excite researchers. A systematic review published in 2017 by Danish researchers from the National Research Center for the Working Environment could only gather seven relevant studies of varying quality. Their conclusion is more nuanced. Some of the studies reviewed found cognitive decline among retirees, while others did not. https://www.gilmorehealth.com/chinese-study-suggests-that-retirement-can-speed-up-cognitive-decline/
Astronomers call these bizarrely long arms tidal streams, and they’re what earned ESO 415-19 its coveted place in the Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, a catalog of 338 of the weirdest galaxies in the known universe. https://www.inverse.com/science/peculiar-galaxies
What happens when I drink orange juice and then milk?
Don’t fret, according to Rezaie, you will digest them both without a problem.
Stomach acid gives orange juice a run for its money with a pH level between 1.5 and 3. That might not sound like a big difference, but the pH scale is logarithmic, which means changes are exponential; an acid at 3 is ten times more acidic than an acid at 4, and an acid at 2 is 100 times more acidic than one at 4. So, stomach acid at 1.5 is 250 times more acidic than orange juice.
“There's a ton of acid sitting in the stomach all the time,” Rezaie tells Inverse. Within a day, the stomach produces about half a gallon of acid. https://www.inverse.com/science/milk-orange-juice-curdle-nausea-vomiting
But rather than springing up of their own accord, these specimens have been grown from scratch in a first for the Royal Horticultural Society.
Experts grew the fungus in the lab, then transplanted the spores into silver birch logs in the wildlife garden at Wisley Gardens, Surrey. It's part of a drive to convince the public that fungi play an important role in ecosystems.
"There's a lot of mycophobia towards fungi in the UK," says Dr Drakulic. "A lot of people are afraid of poisonous mushrooms, but if you're not going to go eating the things you find, none of them are going to harm you in anyway". https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-64251382
But why? Some naysayers insist that, for many years, the dietary guidelines have been misleading us, urging diets low in saturated fat and high in carbohydrates, despite accumulating evidence that this combination may not be universally healthful for everyone.
Indeed, the dietary guidelines have proven to be at least partially incorrect in the past. For example, the original instruction to limit dietary cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams per day, equivalent to the amount in one and a half eggs, has been debunked. There’s no conclusive link between dietary cholesterol and cholesterol levels in the body.
But there’s a simpler reason that might explain why so many Americans are unhealthy: The dietary guidelines are broadly correct and beneficial, but people just aren’t following them. Prior research suggests that this is the case. https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2023/01/14/do_the_usdas_dietary_guidelines_actually_make_you_healthy_875678.html
Athletes should plan and implement their nutrition strategy with sufficient time to permit adaptations that enhance fat oxidative capacity; iii) The evidence overwhelmingly supports the inclusion of a moderate-to-high carbohydrate diet (i.e., ~ 60% of energy intake, 5-8 g·kg- 1·d- 1) to mitigate the negative effects of chronic, training-induced glycogen depletion; iv) Limiting carbohydrate intake before selected low-intensity sessions, and/or moderating daily carbohydrate intake, may enhance mitochondrial function and fat oxidative capacity. Nevertheless, this approach may compromise performance during high-intensity efforts; v) Protein intakes of ~ 1.6 g·kg- 1·d- 1 are necessary to maintain lean mass and support recovery from training, but amounts up to 2.5 g.kg- 1·d- 1 may be warranted during demanding training when calorie requirements are greater; Recommendations for Racing. vi) To attenuate caloric deficits, runners should aim to consume 150-400 Kcal·h- 1 (carbohydrate, 30-50 g·h- 1; protein, 5-10 g·h- 1) from a variety of calorie-dense foods. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31699159/
NEWS RELEASE 14-JAN-2023
Scientists discover secreted protein helps both repair and grow muscles
Myokine improves both myoblast proliferation and myotube contractile strength https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/976245
Myokine
A myokine is one of several hundred cytokines or other small proteins and proteoglycan peptides that are produced and released by skeletal muscle cells in response to muscular contractions. They have autocrine, paracrine and/or endocrine effects; their systemic effects occur at picomolar concentrations. Receptors for myokines are found on muscle, fat, liver, pancreas, bone, heart, immune, and brain cells. The location of these receptors reflects the fact that myokines have multiple functions. Foremost, they are involved in exercise-associated metabolic changes, as well as in the metabolic changes following training adaptation. They also participate in tissue regeneration and repair, maintenance of healthy bodily functioning, immunomodulation; and cell signaling, expression and differentiation.Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myokine
Chronic Low or High Nutrient Intake and Myokine Levels
Ana Paula Renno Sierra et al. Nutrients. 2022.
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Inadequate nutrient availability has been demonstrated to be one of the main factors related to endocrine and metabolic dysfunction. We investigated the role of inadequate nutrient intakes in the myokine levels of runners. Sixty-one amateur runners participated in this study. The myokine levels were determined using the Human Magnetic Bead Panel from plasma samples collected before and after the marathon. Dietary intake was determined using a prospective method of three food records. The runners with lower carbohydrate and calcium intakes had higher percentages of fat mass (p < 0.01). The runners with a sucrose intake comprising above 10% of their energy intake and an adequate sodium intake had higher levels of BDNF (p = 0.027 and p = 0.031). After the race and in the recovery period, the runners with adequate carbohydrate intakes (g/kg) (>5 g/kg/day) had higher levels of myostatin and musclin (p < 0.05). The runners with less than 45% of carbohydrate of EI had lower levels of IL-15 (p = 0.015) and BNDF (p= 0.013). The runners with higher cholesterol intakes had lower levels of irisin (p = 0.011) and apelin (p = 0.020), and those with a low fiber intake had lower levels of irisin (p = 0.005) and BDNF (p = 0.049). The inadequate intake influenced myokine levels, which promoted cardiometabolic tissue repair and adaptations to exercise. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36615810/
Role of Myokines in Regulating Skeletal Muscle Mass and Function https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30761018/
‌Your muscles contain fibers called myosin. Depending on how you need to use your muscles, the myosin fibers either tighten up and shorten or loosen up and stretch out. Myosin is also responsible for muscle contractions like your heartbeat that happens at regular intervals. Understanding Muscle Contractions
https://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/types-of-muscle-contractions
the programs seemed to encourage environmentally friendly actions among everybody, but when we dug down, most of the program's effect was explained by the response from linguistically diverse children," said study co-author Kathryn Stevenson, associate professor of parks, recreation and tourism management at NC State. "This is encouraging, as linguistically diverse children are making up more and more of the U.S. population, and we want our programs to resonate with everyone. It also highlights how young people with different backgrounds can make important contributions. It also makes us wonder: Are students bringing these lessons home?"
The study is part of a research series looking at how environmental education can impact children, their families and their communities. In a previous study, researchers found parents' climate change concern increases after their children are educated. In another study, they found that local leaders' as well as voters' views shifted after watching children's presentations on an environmental issue. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230113172450.htm
At a GlanceResearchers found evidence that the Alzheimer’s-related gene APOE4disrupts cholesterol management in the brain and weakens insulation around nerve fibers.A drug that affects cholesterol led to improved learning and memory in mice with the gene, pointing to a potential new approach for treating dementia in Alzheimer’s disease. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/alzheimer-s-tied-cholesterol-abnormal-nerve-insulation
AI tools have become more accessible than ever before. But those algorithms will glibly fib about anything that suits their purpose. To make align them with our values, Graziano thinks, they're going to need consciousness.
"Consciousness is part of the tool kit that evolution gave us to make us an empathetic, prosocial species," Graziano writes. "Without it, we would necessarily be sociopaths, because we’d lack the tools for prosocial behavior."
Empath Machine
Sure, ChatGPT isn't about to leap out of the screen and murder somebody. But giving artificial intelligence more and more agency could have very real consequences we should be wary of in the not-so-distant future.
To make them more docile, in Graziano's thinking, we should allow them to realize that the world is filled with other minds other than their own.
There's one problem, though: we don't have an effective way to know if an AI is conscious or not. In fact, philosophically, it's hard to even really nail down whether other people are conscious. https://futurism.com/the-byte/neuroscientist-current-generation-ais-sociopaths
electricity is all about clever transformations. Some seem more out there than others – like the idea to give new life to abandoned mine pits and turn them into giant batteries. The only thing they need is sand (or an equivalent heavy enough material) https://www.iflscience.com/abandoned-mines-could-be-turned-into-gravity-batteries-67073
In a study of 24,011 US adults over 40, only having one meal a day was linked to a higher mortality risk in general. Skipping breakfast was associated with a greater risk of dying from a cardiovascular disease (CVD), while skipping lunch or dinner was associated with a greater risk of all-cause mortality, including a rise in CVD risk.
There was even a problem for those who ate all three meals but had them too close together. Eating two adjacent meals within 4.5 hours of each other was also shown to be linked to increased all-cause death risk.
While the study seems to complicate messages that suggest intermittent fasting could be good for you, the data highlights the importance of regular refueling stops for the body. https://www.sciencealert.com/skipping-meals-could-be-much-worse-for-you-than-we-realized
But a generation later, following the planting of more than 30,000 new trees and the surprising regenerative powers of old ones, Richard says you'd be hard-pressed to find clear evidence of the storm on woods that had suffered what seemed to be irreparable damage.
"The resilience of the forest is sometimes surprising us, how it can recover," he said. "If you look at the forest now, it's hard to find traces of the ice storm 25 years after." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-trees-ice-storm-25-years-later-1.6712041
The Association between Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Male Pattern Hair Loss in Young Men https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/1/214
TRF increases a wide range of gene expression
Time-restricted feeding or eating, also known as TRF or TRE in humans, is a unique strategy in which nutrients are ingested within a regular window of 8–10 hours each day, leading to pleiotropic health advantages that affect several tissues. Importantly, benefits are seen regardless of constant calorie intake or diet type, and numerous human investigations have also seen qualitatively similar benefits. Improvements in blood pressure, liver triglycerides, plasma lipids, heart function, gut health, endurance, motor coordination, exercise capacity, sleep, and gut health are among the advantages. There have also been decreases in tumor development, cancer risk, and the severity of neurological illnesses. https://www.gilmorehealth.com/daily-time-restricted-feeding-alters-gene-expression-throughout-the-body/
Black hole 'spaghettified' a star into a doughnut shape, and astronomers captured the gory encounter
By Ben Turner
published about 4 hours ago
The black hole wrapped the layers of the shredded star around itself to form the perfect doughnut https://www.livescience.com/black-hole-spaghettified-star-doughnut
Chemicals that accumulate in the vagina, potentially originating from personal care products, may contribute to spontaneous preterm birth, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
The study of 232 pregnant women found that a handful of non-biological chemicals previously found in cosmetics and hygiene products are strongly associated with preterm birth. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230113/Chemicals-accumulated-in-the-vagina-may-contribute-to-spontaneous-preterm-birth.aspx
So the question is, how do you lose water weight? The MIDSS (Measurement Instrument Database for the Social Sciences) has some advice.
Why do you retain water?
There are lots of reasons, including too much salt or carbs, menstrual hormones and dehydration. https://consumer.healthday.com/lose-water-weight-2659046477.html
Participants described that they felt more vulnerable when people perceived them as incapable because of their deafblindness and patronised them. Deafblind adults often experienced such vulnerability in interactions with social care workers, who insisted on helping in areas of the respondents’ lives where they did not need it. They expressed a desire to be recognised as “capable and competent”.
Through qualitative interviews with nine deafblind adults, the study published in the Journal of Social Work, found that they experience vulnerability as multi-layered, feeling vulnerable about and to certain things, in certain situations and at certain times.
Based on these time-limited, situation and setting-specific experiences of vulnerability, the authors argue that policymakers and social care workers must reject the assumption that deafblind adults are “permanently and immutably vulnerable”. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/new-study-calls-for-nuanced-understanding-of-vulnerability-among-deafblind-adults
During a recent study in the UK, researchers found a time-restricted eating (TRE) diet improved the physical and mental health of firefighters who work regular 24-hour shifts. According to further studies, TRE was found to reinforce the body’s natural daily cycle of rest which may also promote longevity and have cancer-fighting effects. https://www.endocrinology.org/news/item/19925/time-restricted-eating-tre-may-have-cancer-fighting-effects
It’s important to get the right kind of filters. The filters need to have a MERV-13 rating, which refers to the filter’s ability to trap particles of a specific size.
When the fan is turned on, air is pulled through the four sides of the box. The filters trap contaminated particles, allowing clean air to flow into the middle of the box and be pushed back out into the environment through the fan. The fans just needs to be plugged into a normal electrical outlet. Not only can the boxes reduce the spread of pathogens such as the coronavirus, they also can reduce other particles, such as those generated by wildfires, as well as dust and pollen. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/01/13/air-filter-diy-covid/
EWG urges California legislature to approve bill tackling Big Oil’s gas price ripoff gouging hard-working people at the pump https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/01/ewg-urges-california-legislature-approve-bill-tackling-big-oils
"Through our research on modern humans, we noticed that we could predict the age at which people had children from the types of DNA mutations they left to their children," says study co-author Matthew Hahn, a genomicist at Indiana University Bloomington.
"We then applied this model to our human ancestors to determine what age our ancestors procreated."
They found that, over the past 250,000 years, the average age for humans to have children is 26.9 years. (For context, 300,000 years ago is also roughly when our species first appeared.)
The average Homo sapien father has always been older than the average Homo sapien mother, the study found, with men becoming parents at 30.7 years old, versus 23.2 years for women https://www.sciencealert.com/fathers-have-been-older-than-mothers-for-250000-years-study-finds
Japan has revised the timing of a planned release to the sea of treated but still radioactive wastewater at the Fukushima nuclear power plant to “around spring or summer,” indicating a delay from the initial target of this spring, after factoring in the progress of a release tunnel and the need to gain public support.
The government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, announced in April 2021 a plan to begin releasing the treated wastewater into the sea starting in spring 2023. They say more than 1 million tons of water stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant are hampering its decommissioning and risk leaking in the event of a major earthquake or tsunami.
Under the current plan, TEPCO will transport the treated water through a pipeline from the tanks to a coastal facility, where it will be diluted with seawater and sent through an undersea tunnel, currently under construction, to an offshore outlet. The company has acknowledged the possibility of rough winter weather and sea conditions delaying the tunnel progress. https://apnews.com/article/politics-japan-climate-and-environment-business-572b767c9a7aadd5d8c3bcbbfaa11270
The study, published in October, instead suggests REM sleep is a means of heating up the brain so an animal can remain somewhat alert to its surroundings.
According to the study, Siegel reviewed his and other researchers’ existing data on REM sleep across a wide range of species to find the purpose of REM sleep, leading him to hypothesize that REM sleep acts as a biological thermostat.
When brain temperature falls beneath a certain level, animals may go into hibernation or torpor, a state of light hibernation, he said, adding that in these states, animals are unconscious of outside stimuli such as predators. Without maintaining a certain baseline brain temperature, a mammal may not be able to rouse itself quickly enough to avoid danger, Siegel said. https://dailybruin.com/2023/01/12/ucla-study-posits-connection-between-rem-sleep-body-temperature
only the constant light approach increased NSPC proliferation and differentiation to oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), OPCs maturation to OLs and recruitment to the site of demyelination, the number of patrolling monocytes, and phagocytosis. In contrast, constant darkness and exogenous melatonin exacerbated these events and amplified monocyte infiltration. Therefore, melatonin should not be considered a universal remedy, as is currently claimed. Our data emphasize the importance of monitoring melatonin/cortisol oscillations in each MS patient by considering diet and lifestyle to avoid melatonin overdose. https://www.nature.com/articles/s12276-023-00925-1
In the future, the energy needed to run the powerful computers on board a global fleet of autonomous vehicles could generate as many greenhouse gas emissions as all the data centers in the world today.
That is one key finding of a new study from MIT researchers that explored the potential energy consumption and related carbon emissions if autonomous vehicles are widely adopted. https://news.mit.edu/2023/autonomous-vehicles-carbon-emissions-0113
This new research focused on a specific protein dubbed BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which is a crucial molecule involved in the growth, function and survival of brain cells. It has also been found to improve memory and slow the progression of neurodegenerative disease.
“BDNF has shown great promise in animal models, but pharmaceutical interventions have thus far failed to safely harness the protective power of BDNF in humans," said lead author on the new research, Travis Gibbons. "We saw the need to explore non-pharmacological approaches that can preserve the brain’s capacity which humans can use to naturally increase BDNF to help with healthy aging.”
The goal of the study was to understand how fasting and exercise influences BDNF production. https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/six-minutes-intense-exercise-brain-health-bdnf/
Now a study(link is external and opens in a new window) by Columbia University exercise physiologists has an answer: just five minutes of walking every half hour during periods of prolonged sitting can offset some of the most harmful effects. https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/rx-prolonged-sitting-five-minute-stroll-every-half-hour
Projections created internally by ExxonMobil starting in the late 1970s on the impact of fossil fuels on climate change were very accurate, even surpassing those of some academic and governmental scientists, according to an analysis published Thursday in Science by a team of Harvard-led researchers. Despite those forecasts, team leaders say, the multinational energy giant continued to sow doubt about the gathering crisis. https://scienceblog.com/535952/exxon-scientists-predicted-global-warming-with-shocking-skill-and-accuracy-harvard-researchers-say/
A growing pile of evidence indicates that the tens of trillions of microbes that normally live in our intestines -; the so-called gut microbiome -; have far-reaching effects on how our bodies function. Members of this microbial community produce vitamins, help us digest food, prevent the overgrowth of harmful bacteria and regulate the immune system, among other benefits. Now, a new study suggests that the gut microbiome also plays a key role in the health of our brains, according to researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230112/Reshaping-the-gut-microbiome-could-be-a-possible-way-to-prevent-or-treat-neurodegeneration.aspx
A new digital wage atlas launched by Cornell University researchers shows that more than half of New Yorkers earn below a living wage.
The Cornell ILR Wage Atlas is designed to help New York state policymakers, economic development officials, nonprofits, academics and other stakeholders more easily analyze and visualize who earns living wages and where, and which occupations are best or worst for earning a living wage.
The atlas estimates living wages by county based on household size and local costs including food, housing, transportation, childcare, medical care and taxes.
In addition to statewide analyses, the atlas's suite of interactive tools allows users to zoom in on specific neighborhoods, cities or regions and to search wages by race, ethnicity and gender, helping to highlight disparities.
"We hope the wage atlas helps our partners in government and elsewhere better understand patterns of inequality," said Russell Weaver, director of research at the ILR Buffalo Co-Lab. "They can also see which occupations would benefit most from increases to the minimum wage." https://phys.org/news/2023-01-wage-atlas-yorkers.html
A person’s HDL cholesterol level is just one part of the story, though. Commonly reported on blood tests, the level reflects the amount of cholesterol that HDL particles have on board. HDL carries cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver to be excreted. This helps keep cholesterol from building up in artery walls, which can eventually impede blood flow.
Recently, research on HDL has started looking beyond its cholesterol payload. “The big understanding over the last decade or so is that while you can measure the cholesterol, it doesn’t really reflect the actual functions that HDL is doing in the body,” says Anand Rohatgi, a cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
How well HDL removes cholesterol appears to matter. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/hdl-good-cholesterol-heart-health
An artificial-intelligence (AI) chatbot can write such convincing fake research-paper abstracts that scientists are often unable to spot them, according to a preprint posted on the bioRxiv server in late December1. Researchers are divided over the implications for science.
“I am very worried,” says Sandra Wachter, who studies technology and regulation at the University of Oxford, UK, and was not involved in the research. “If we’re now in a situation where the experts are not able to determine what’s true or not, we lose the middleman that we desperately need to guide us through complicated topics,” she adds. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00056-7
High levels of uric acid in midlife may significantly raise the risk for a serious type of irregular heartbeat in the decades that follow, even in people without traditional risk factors, new research shows. https://consumer.healthday.com/aha-news-uric-acid-linked-to-later-risk-for-irregular-heart-rhythm-2659205493.html
A critically endangered Western chimpanzee has been born at Chester Zoo.
The male chimp is in good health and is spending the first few weeks of its life bonding with its mother, ZeeZee, and the other members of the zoo's 22-strong troop.
He will be named after a rock or pop star like three other baby chimpanzees previously born at the zoo - Dylan (Bob), Alice (Cooper) and Annie (Lennox).
“We’re incredibly proud to see a precious new baby in the chimpanzee troop. Mum ZeeZee and her new arrival instantly bonded and she’s been doing a great job of cradling him closely and caring for him,” said Andrew Lenihan, team manager of the primates section at Chester Zoo. https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/critically-endangered-chimpanzee-born-chester-zoo-hope/
The crew members, who are healthy and not in any danger, will stay on the station for several additional months because the Russian Soyuz capsule that carried them into space was damaged by a micrometeoroid roughly 1 millimeter in diameter. Their vehicle was struck after they arrived, when the spacecraft was essentially parked at the station some 250 miles above Earth. https://www.govtech.com/products/empty-spacecraft-needed-for-crew-of-international-space-station
"These first observational results from an Earth-size, rocky planet open the door to many future possibilities for studying rocky planet atmospheres with Webb," agreed Mark Clampin, Astrophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Webb is bringing us closer and closer to a new understanding of Earth-like worlds outside our solar system, and the mission is only just getting started."
Among all operating telescopes, only Webb is capable of characterizing the atmospheres of Earth-sized exoplanets. The team attempted to assess what is in the planet's atmosphere by analyzing its transmission spectrum. Although the data shows that this is an Earth-sized terrestrial planet, they do not yet know if it has an atmosphere. "The observatory's data are beautiful," said Erin May, also of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. "The telescope is so sensitive that it can easily detect a range of molecules, but we can't yet make any definitive conclusions about the planet's atmosphere." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230111193458.htm
Medical clowns have long been introduced to patients to lift their spirits and bring them a smile during an otherwise difficult time, but a new study provides evidence that clowning delivers real results for patients and healthcare workers. https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2023/01/11/8651673488442/
Children who take antipsychotic medication are at risk of weight gain, sedation, diabetes, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease and unexpected death. In very young children, antipsychotics might cause developmental and other long-term adverse effects. “The low rate of use of safer first-line psychosocial treatments, such as parent-child interaction therapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy, potentially puts children at unnecessary risks associated with antipsychotic treatment,” Bushnell said.
The study was co-authored by Stephen Crystal at the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and Rutgers School of Social Work. https://www.rutgers.edu/news/prescriptions-antipsychotic-medications-young-children-declining
Findings In this randomized clinical trial of 248 patients, compared with sham electroacupuncture, electroacupuncture shortened the duration of postoperative ileus and reduced the incidence of prolonged postoperative ileus after laparoscopic resection of colorectal cancer, and no serious adverse events were reported.
Meaning Results of this trial show that electroacupuncture is effective in promoting gastrointestinal function recovery within the ERAS protocol. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/article-abstract/2797968
“Human pressures are causing species to lose range. As they lose range, their niches shrink, and they become restricted to a less diverse range of habitats. Our study suggests range loss is concentrated in niche cores, pushing many species to the ecological extremes of their historic range.” commented Dr Britnell.
This shift, called ecological marginalisation, leads to a higher species extinction risk. According to the researchers, the quality of the habitat matters to a species’ extinction risk and ecological marginalisation could help to explain why some protected areas are more effective than others. https://scienceblog.com/535932/hundreds-of-mammal-species-are-being-pushed-toward-extinction/
Folate from diet or folic acid (FA) from supplements can donate a carbon group to homocysteine (Hcy), which can be either methylated into methionine or degraded into cysteine, with vitamins B6 and B12 serving as essential coenzymes.2 Emerging evidence suggests that low status of these B vitamins may lead to adiposity, dyslipidemia, vascular endothelial dysfunction, glucose intolerance, and insulin resistance,3-7 which have been implicated in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome (MetS). https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2800209
However, breeding grasses is difficult by nature. Like many other flowering plants, grasses have evolved a mechanism that prevents inbreeding after self-pollination. Experts call this mechanism "self-incompatibility." It ensures that no pollen from the plant itself or from closely related individuals can grow towards the ovary and fertilize the egg cell. This prevents inbreeding, with all its consequences.
For plant breeding, self-incompatibility can be a disadvantage. It not only complicates the development of homozygous lines but can also affect the pollination of two closely related individuals. This makes it more difficult to achieve breeding progress for desired plant characteristics by crossbreeding. To be able to exploit different plant breeding strategies, precise knowledge of self-incompatibility is essential. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-grasses-inbreeding.html
Education, for example, played an important role in pandemic response.
Even after adjusting for strictness of governmental COVID policies, the team found that higher education was significantly associated with lower amounts of political unrest across the United States. Diversity in responses even within countries showed the potential for regional differences to impact pandemic response.
The most pandemic-impacted sectors also differed across countries. Human health, public administration and defense were strongly impacted in the U.S. and Sweden, while manufacturing was strongly impacted in Brazil and India. The construction sector was moderately or strongly impacted across all countries.
"Understanding the differences in countries' abilities to respond after a pandemic can help society be better prepared for future pandemics," Del Valle said. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-01-countries-covid-pandemic.html
Researchers find that being overweight can make the cells of people's immune system destructive to their eyes as they age. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230110191415.htm
New research says the gut microbiome is involved in multiple pathways in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. The findings show a wide imbalance in microbiome composition in persons with Parkinson's disease. The investigators employed metagenomics, the study of genetic material recovered directly from the stool microbiome of persons with PD and neurologically healthy control subjects. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230110191417.htm
Ohio Gov. Declares Natural Gas 'Green Energy.' It Doesn’t Work Like That.
A fossil fuel is a fossil fuel. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a42447357/is-natural-gas-a-green-energy/
Warming oceans have decimated marine parasites -- but that's not a good thing January 9, 2023University of WashingtonSave the ... parasites? Analyzing 140 years of parasite abundance in fish shows dramatic declines, especially in parasites that rely on three or more host species. The decline is linked to warming ocean temperatures. Parasitic species might be in real danger, researchers warn -- and that means not just fewer worms, but losses for the entire ecosystem. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230109155232.htm
Tropical forests that are recovering from having trees removed were thought to be carbon absorbers, as the new trees grow quickly. A new study, led by Imperial College London researchers, turns this on its head, showing that the carbon released by soil and rotting wood outpaces the carbon absorbed by new growth https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230109155230.htm
Sociologists from the Universities of Minnesota and Arizona suggest that these types of results, which they called “disruptive” findings, have not kept up with the growth of science since 1945, as they reported in a paper published in the journal Nature on January 4. The rate of big discoveries decreased across all fields measured, including social sciences, hard sciences, medicine, and technology.
The word disruptive can have many meanings, says Funk, the lead researcher on the new paper. “It’s a very particular way of measuring,” he says. “Are you carving out and pushing new directions in science? Or are you building off and refining existing stuff?” https://www.popsci.com/science/recent-disruptive-science-slowed/

More than 7,000 nurses walked out on strike Monday morning at two of New York City’s largest private hospitals, Mt. Sinai in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
The strike of New York nurses is the first major strike of 2023, a year that will see many explosive class battles. Pay is a major issue for nurses struggling with rising living costs in one of the world’s most expensive cities. But the central issue in the strike is chronic understaffing and the catastrophic state of the health care system in the US, as the fourth year of the global pandemic begins.
On the picket lines, nurses described conditions that make it impossible to care for patients adequately and safely. Individual nurses have up to 20 or more patients a shift, and the brutal work conditions are driving new as well as experienced nurses out of the profession.
While nursing shortages existed before the pandemic, the deadly consequences of decades of attacks on public health erupted to the surface with the COVID-19 pandemic. The American ruling class, like its counterparts around the world, responded by prioritizing profit over human life. Instead of implementing basic public health measures to stop the spread of the virus, it was allowed to infect without restraint, overwhelming hospitals and the health care system as a whole.
Nurses and other health care workers bore the brunt of the crisis when New York City emerged as the epicenter of the global pandemic in March 2020. Millions reacted with shock to images of Mt. Sinai nurses wrapping themselves in garbage bags because of the lack of proper equipment to protect them from the deadly virus.
On March 23, 2020, Kious Kelly, a 48-year-old assistant nurse manager who treated COVID patients at nearby Mount Sinai West Hospital, was believed to be the first New York City nurse to die from the pandemic. In the first year of the pandemic alone, an estimated 3,607 US health care workers would succumb to the deadly disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 115,500 health care workers died from COVID-19 worldwide through May 2021, a figure that by now has likely surpassed 200,000.
Throughout the pandemic, nurses in the US and around the world have been subjected to the daily trauma of exhausting and unsafe conditions, along with the danger of contracting the disease, becoming permanently debilitated from Long COVID and infecting their loved ones. Burnout, stress, and mental health problems, including an ongoing risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, led 230,000 physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other clinicians to quit the profession in 2020-2021, according to an analysis of medical claims data by Definitive Healthcare.
The refusal of Trump and then Biden to take any measures to keep non-essential businesses and schools closed until the spread of the disease was halted and COVID-19 eliminated has led to the deaths of at least 1.1 million Americans, including more than 44,127 New Yorkers.
Biden welcomed the emergence of the Omicron variant in November 2021 as a pretext to end masking, testing, contact tracing, the isolation of infected patients and the systematic reporting of cases and deaths. Ignoring science, Biden proclaimed that “the pandemic is over” and life could return to normal. But as virologists had warned, the uncontrolled spread of the virus has led to the emergence of new variants that undermine the effectiveness of vaccines and immunity from previous infections.
In New York City, Democratic Mayor Eric Adams has abandoned all mitigation measures and, after two years of scaled-down celebrations, oversaw a New Year’s event at Times Square without even minimal social distancing measures.
The XBB.1.5 variant, which scientists believe first evolved in New York, is quickly becoming dominant throughout the United States. For weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) covered up the emergence of the new, more immune-resistant variant. While the “triple-demic” of COVID, the flu and RSV is being felt throughout the country, New York is once again an epicenter.
The present situation, and the entire experience of the past three years, has demonstrated the indifference of the corporate and financial elite to the health and lives of the population. Rather than pouring money into health care, the political establishment has implemented a policy of mass death. The “health care heroes” have been left to face this catastrophe on their own, while the ruling class has been more interested in the work of morticians.
The overall policy of the ruling class has intersected with the character of the for-profit health care system. Montefiore and Mt. Sinai are private corporations, despite their tax status as “non-profits.” They have tens of millions of dollars in private investments and pay their executives exorbitant salaries. Sinai CEO Kenneth Davis made $5.6 million in 2019, and Montefiore CEO Philip Ozuah made $7.4 million in 2020, according to the latest tax filings available.
The hospitals, which reportedly increased their assets by $1 billion in 2021, also sharply reduced “charity care spending” by up to half for poor and low-income residents, while increasing investments in far wealthier neighborhoods. The relentless pressure on nurses to do work beyond their physical and mental capacity only bolsters the returns for the hospitals, along with the giant insurance, pharmaceutical, medical equipment and other corporations that benefit from the system of for-profit medicine.
The impact of the pandemic has produced a mood of anger and opposition throughout the working class, not least among nurses. Last year, nearly a third of the major strikes in the US involved nurses and other health care workers, including strikes by Minnesota and California nurses, and tens of thousands more face contract expirations this year. There were also mass demonstrations against the victimization of Vanderbilt Medical Center nurse RaDonda Vaught for a medical error that was the inevitable result of understaffing and work overloads.
This is part of a global movement. There have been a series of strikes by nurses and other health care workers in Germany, France, the UK, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Argentina and other countries throughout the world. Despite the claims of the ruling class that the pandemic is over, 2022 was the worst year of the pandemic in many countries, including in Canada and Australia. The year concluded with the end of “Zero-COVID” in China, a policy change demanded by international finance capital, which has produced a massive wave of infections and death.
New York nurses confront fundamental organizational and political questions. First, no confidence can be placed in the New York State Nurses Association and the National Nurses United, which have deliberately isolated the 7,000 striking nurses by signing sellout deals covering the remaining 10,000 nurses in the city’s private hospitals.
The deals include sub-inflation rate raises and do nothing to seriously address understaffing. The union apparatus, moreover, has done nothing to oppose the ruling class response to the pandemic. It has instead collaborated everywhere in the policy of mass infection.
It is essential to mobilize the full support of working people throughout New York City, where there exists overwhelming popular sympathy for the fight being waged by the nurses. It is also necessary, if the strike is to be won, to take its leadership and direction out of the hands of the union bureaucracy, which is tied to the Democratic Party machine led by Mayor Adams.
The bureaucracy’s preparations for a sellout can be counteracted by forming a rank-and-file committee, elected democratically by the nurses, to formulate the demands for which the strike is being fought, and mobilize the broadest sections of the working class in the city and beyond to win their strike.
But these necessary militant tactics require a political strategy that places the strike within the context of the broader social issues. The fundamental issue that underlies this struggle is the irreconcilable conflict between the interests of public health and the private profit interests of the hospital executives and the Wall Street-directed capitalist health care system.
Nurses entered their profession out of a desire to save lives. Wall Street invests in health care to make money. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic proves that these conflicting aims cannot be reconciled. The nurses are fighting for life. The executives are fighting ruthlessly for profits, even if the cost of their policies is sickness, debilitation and death.
The fight of the nurses is, in the final analysis, inseparably linked to a struggle to socialize all health care and liberate it from the grip of the profit system.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/01/11/ukna-j11.html

Hiii for context I'm 18f, currently in a fast track med school program but I would like to expand my horizons based on my personality in case I choose not to pursue med. Willing to do any level of education provided it's a fit for me. Here's some stuff about me:
-I'm extremely extroverted and love talking to people regardless of how close I am with them -I specialized in STEM subjects in high school but still enjoy and excel in the Humanities and Business (not sure how that would translate in the real life) -My weakness is with History and Geography :((( -I'm not the strongest, so practical jobs may not be for me -Did and love public speaking (Debate, MUN) but will absolutely not go into politics -People call me a leader both in and out of the classroom/workplace setting -I guess I would be more logical than emotional -I'd rather my job not be monotonous and have something new everyday -I'm not necessarily outdoorsy, but I would be ok with travelling or hiking for work -Salary is somewhat important to me because while following your passion is nice paying for bills is necessary -I am extremely indecisive and have had several "plans" in life, yet none of them have really stuck with me
Here are some jobs/fields I thought about doing but none of them fully stuck (for now at least):
Medicine, Math, Engineering, Business Administration, Health Administration, Astronomy, Writing, Geology, Forensics, Mortician, Art, Music...
Anyways I just wanted to see if there were any suggestions that would help me look into untapped fields or rediscover old ones, thank you!!

I've been looking at the idea of becoming a mortician and as I learn more about it the more it interests me.
However when I search it up the salary says its around 50K and I know it could be hard to get a job since funeral homes could be tight knit and less acceptable to a women worker. Is this a career that's liveable without a second job for extra money? Is it a good idea to even get into this career?

Company Name	Title	City
Fird Dakota Enterprises	Senior Construction Estimator	Fort Peirre
Sanford Health	Radiology Technologist - Sioux Falls - Ft	City Of Tea
Navy	Cryptologic Technician	Belle Fourche
Navy	Aviation Rescue Swimmer	Belle Fourche
Navy	Culinary Specialist	Belle Fourche
Red Cloud Indian School	Chief Advancement Officer for Campaign	Oglala
DHL	Warehouse Associate	Alpena
Sam's Club	Warehouse Freight Handler	Alpena
Kroger	Warehouse Team Member	Alpena
Marvin	OTR Driver	Amherst
Hill Brothers Transportation	Class A Driver	Arlington
Hill Brothers Transportation	CDL A Driver	Arlington
Koehn Brothers Funeral Home	Funeral Director	Armour
Koehn Brothers Funeral Home	Mortician	Armour
Hill Bros Transportation Company Driver	CDL Solo and Team Truck Driver - Home Every Weekend Great Benefits	Artesian
Marvin	Dry Van Company Truck Driver	Astoria
Marvin	OTR Driver	Barnard
Marvin	CDL A Jobs	Bath
Halliburton	Industrial Electrician	Belle Fourche
Good Samaritan Society	Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) - New Underwood - PT Evenings	Box Elder
Central Oregon Truck Company	Flatbed Driving Jobs - Weekly Salary Pay	Brandon
Hill Bros Transportation - Company Driver	CDL Solo and Team Truck Driver - Home Every Weekend + Great Benefits	Bridgewater
OTR Driving Jobs	Over the Road Driver (OTR Driver)	Bridgewater
OTR Driving Jobs	OTR Driver	Bridgewater
Applied Materials	Compensation & Benefits Specialist	Brookings

Hey guys, here are some recent job openings , feel free to comment here if you have any questions, I'm at the community's disposal! If you encounter any problems with any of these job openings please let me know that I will modify the table accordingly. Thanks!

I’ll start this out by saying I have ADHD & my mind feels like a bunch of mush. i just turned 21 I’m literally going no where in life at the moment & my ducks are no where to be seen. Every time i find a career i would be interested in, i bail on the idea because i feel like it would be too rough or i wouldnt be making what i thought i would. i went to college started college as biology major. i wanted to be a veterinarian, then i wanted to be a psychiatrist, then i wanted to be a mortician. each career i loved & would love even through the hard ships but each didnt have the pay rate i wanted or I would be too old by the time i got over a six figure salary. I dropped out after a semester because of a miscarriage & i had financial aid. i dont know if i have to pay it back so i can restart or anything because my mom has to sign some papers & i dont have a way to print them. I have decided when i get that all figured out , i want to go back for a business degree. One goal i do have is owning my own non profit dog rescue & i want to have my own restaurant. i did have everything figured out. i had a ride, money saved, i went to college, & i had motivation. i got with my current boyfriend , made some bad decisions, lost motivation. now i have 0 money put back , no vehicle, & my college is probably in shambles & i havent done anything about it. i have recently decided to try real estate but now as i research it, i find it difficult to get into. i live with my bf & he doesnt work either (so we have no money & we’re about to lose his house) i have a place to go & i want to own it but my parents owe 70,000 dollars on it & if they pass before i pay it off , i definitely wont have a place to go. its been like this for months & only seems to get worse. ive been stressing myself out over so bad i can barely sleep. please help. i need some serious help. like different careers or helpful words about the careers ive already looked into.

Hey everyone! I am currently a 20 yr cc student who is in the process of transferring to a 4 university. I am currently a pre-healthcare student.
I really, really want to become mortician, but my biggest concern is the financial aspect of working as a mortician. I live in california and intend on staying here and I really want a family in the future. Is it possible finding a job with a livable/comfortable salary?

I just recently graduated high school where I was a dual enrollment studying to become a physician, I just recently started rethinking if I genuinely want to be a physician because although it makes wonderful money I feel as though it may not be my calling. Ever since I was young I’ve always had a fascination with the dead and I’ve been told I “look like the type to be a mortician” and I started researching a bit. I want to know what it’s like coming from those who practice the trade before I change my major from premed bio. I have listed some questions if you have the time to answer I’d love to hear feedback, feel free to answer just a few if you don’t want to answer them all!
What are the hours like? Are you on a set schedule or do you have to always answer the call? What is the schooling like? How did you figure out that being a mortician was your calling? What is your salary approximately? (For reference I am in NC) How did being a mortician effect you mentally? What are your feelings towards death since becoming a mortician? Have you ever had a case that made you rethink your decision?
I have a hard time dealing with the dying, but I’m okay with the dead. This is why I specifically wanted to be a physician and avoid ER because I don’t feel as though I can handle having someone die on my table but I’m not squeamish to those who have passed on. I feel as though there is a genuine beauty in having the privilege to lay those to rest, but I want to make sure ik making the right decision. Thank you!!

It's from my college's website and has 60 questions. It gave me jobs with the percentages of how closely it aligns with my traits. Here is what it said for my top 3:

Social

Social people are friendly and outgoing. They are cooperative and enjoy working with and being around other people. They are understanding and insightful concerning the feelings and problems of others. They like to be helpful to others by serving in facilitative roles such as those of teachers, mediators, advisers, counselors, etc. They have social skills, express themselves well, and are persuasive in interpersonal relationships. They like attention and enjoy being at or near the center of the group. They are idealistic, sensitive, and conscientious in their outlook on life and in their dealings with others. They like to deal with philosophical issues such as the nature and purpose of life, religion, morality, etc. They dislike working with machines, tools, and data and at highly organized, routine, and repetitive tasks. They see themselves as having social and educational skills, but as lacking in mechanical and scientific abilities. They get along well with others and find it natural to express their emotions. They are tactful in relating to others and are considered to be kind, supportive, and caring.

Enterprising

Enterprising people are self-confident, outgoing, and optimistic. They like to organize, direct, and control the activities of groups. They are ambitious and like to be in positions of authority. They place a high value on status, power, money, and material possessions. They like to feel that they are in control of situations and are responsible for making things happen. They are energetic and enthusiastic in initiating and supervising the activities in which they engage. They like to influence the opinions and actions of others and to hold positions of leadership. They are adventurous and impulsive. They are assertive and verbally persuasive in bringing others around to their point of view. They enjoy social gatherings and like to associate with well-known and influential people. They like to travel and explore and often have exciting and expensive hobbies. They see themselves as popular and as having leadership and speaking abilities. They tend to dislike activities requiring scientific abilities and systematic and theoretical thinking. They avoid activities which require attention to detail and adherence to a set routine.

Conventional

Conventional people are well-organized, persistent, and practical in their approach to life. They enjoy clerical and computational activities performed according to set procedures. They are dependable, efficient, and conscientious in accomplishing the tasks in which they engage. They enjoy the security of belonging to groups and organizations and make good team members. They are status-conscious but usually do not aspire to positions of highest authority and leadership. They are most comfortable working in situations and at tasks in which they know what is expected of them. They tend to be conservative and traditional in values and attitudes. They usually conform to expected standards and follow the lead of those in positions of authority, with whom they identify. They like to work indoors in pleasant surroundings and place value on material comforts and possessions. They are self-controlled and low-key in the expression of their feelings. They avoid intense personal relationships in favor of more casual ones. They are most comfortable in familiar situations and in the company of people they know well. They like for things to go as planned and prefer not to have their routines changed or upset.
The jobs with high percentages that somewhat interest me are:
Social and community service manager: 95%
Medical and health service manager: 90%
Mortician: 92%
Education administration, elementary/secondary: 100%
Child/family/school social worker: 87%
PR specialist: 83%
Training and development manager: 98%
HR manager: 97%
Dietitian: 76%
Clinical nurse specialist: 93%
​
The thing is, I'm currently a Pcommunication/journalism student. Now I feel like I'm in the wrong major after already switching 12+ times. I've taken nearly every free career test and the results always say teacher or nurse. I don't really think I want to be either. I used to want to be a speech pathologist, another high result, but I get drained very easily and can't be "on" all day. I also don't really like the idea of giving therapy to someone. I think being a dietitian really appeals to me but I've heard bad things about it. Does anyone have advice? Should I switch to one of the majors that align with these careers? Social work is also really appealing to me but it seems like people either say it's horrible or it's great. My main needs are security, comfortable salary and benefits, work-life balance, and not anything too stressful. It doesn't have to be very meaningful but I like to feel like my work has some sort of meaning. I also love learning and tend to take control of things that I get into.

Hello everyone, hope you are having a pleasant day. I'm currently considering pursing a career as a mortician & have done some research into it, but I have several questions about it that I am hoping could be answered first.

1. Would red-green color-blindness disqualify/affect me in the profession in anyway? It's not severe, I can function pretty well in life & tell the colors apart 95% of the time, but it's enough to fail color tests & disqualify me from other jobs.
2. It is easy to change states after being licensed? I am currently in California but would like to keep my options open if I wish to move out of state in the future. Would I need to work/be licensed in CA for a minimum number of years first?
3. How much more beneficial would a Bachelors prove over an associates for mortuary science? I am almost done with obtaining a BA, so while 1 more year of schooling for an associates doesn't sound bad, 3 years for a BS when I've done about 4 years of schooling is off-putting.
4. Is salary considerable/fair? I've seen some pretty wide estimates on salary ranging from 100K in CA to 50K average across the US to 50K for a funeral director in CA & I have no clue how accurate these estimates are. Is the pay for a mortician and/or embalmer (please excuse me if I am mixing up terms) substantially higher than a funeral director? Additionally, for those in CA (or just the US), would you say these estimates are actually accurate? How much could one expect salary to be when first licensed (versus later down the road)? If so, how different would the gap in salary be for one with a AS versus a BS?
5. What skills would you recommend emphasizing on a resume for applying to an apprentice embalming position? Building off question 1, will I need disclose colorblindness to a potential employer?
6. Do you find there to be a widespread social stigma behind working in the funeral industry? It might sound silly but I'm worried about potentially being thought of as a weirdo or off-putting by other people with this choice of profession.

If anyone can answer my questions, thank you a lot for your help in advance.

Well I’m 16 years old pushing 17 in November and I’m in my second week of college with level 2 plumbing, it was mainly based on money and it’s quite a common thing for boys to do in the northern part of England
(my city is niche at best, it’s like Newcastle but low budget)
We were going through theory and safety measures and how one breath of asbestos is gonna give you incurable mesothelioma and lung cancer so obviously I’m pretty aware of dangers in plumbing
This was mostly a consideration you make when you were a kid because those are pretty easy to come up with jobs like: fireman, policeman etcetera
I feel like I could have other stuff I can get with my grade 4 math grade 7 english and grade 6 sciences
I’ve never really been interested in construction ever when I was a kid and I’m pretty sure this college is mainly vocational/practical
One of my favourite subjects was biology so that could have something to tick with it
My mam always mentions that I should go for a job I’m interested in but obviously money should come to mind and be a major priority first right?
She also works in a hospital with x rays but frequently switches from jobs time to time because she may get bored of them or hates working but thats a general human thing
My dads a taxi driver too and I’m assuming the salary is good for both of them because this is a pretty comfy house
Sorry to tell you my life story or anything but this is about either money or interest
I’m just gonna cut to the chase
How much do morticians or embalmers make compared to plumbers in England in general and also the northern region of England
I know I’m only like on my second week in plumbing for college but I just need closure
x

Well I’m 16 years old pushing 17 in November and I’m in my second week of college with level 2 plumbing, it was mainly based on money and it’s quite a common thing for boys to do in the northern part of England
(my city is niche at best, it’s like Newcastle but low budget)
We were going through theory and safety measures and how one breath of asbestos is gonna give you incurable mesothelioma and lung cancer so obviously I’m pretty aware of dangers in plumbing
This was mostly a consideration you make when you were a kid because those are pretty easy to come up with jobs like: fireman, policeman etcetera
I feel like I could have other stuff I can get with my grade 4 math grade 7 english and grade 6 sciences
I’ve never really been interested in construction ever when I was a kid and I’m pretty sure this college is mainly vocational/practical
One of my favourite subjects was biology so that could have something to tick with it
My mam always mentions that I should go for a job I’m interested in but obviously money should come to mind and be a major priority first right?
She also works in a hospital with x rays but frequently switches from jobs time to time because she may get bored of them or hates working but thats a general human thing
My dads a taxi driver too and I’m assuming the salary is good for both of them because this is a pretty comfy house
Sorry to tell you my life story or anything but this is about either money or interest
I’m just gonna cut to the chase
How much do morticians or embalmers make compared to plumbers in England in general and also the northern region of England
x

I’m looking into mortuary school for a possible career as a mortician. Got some questions.

1. What is the average salary? Google says around 33k yearly. Ive also heard it’s 60k and beyond, depending on where you are.
   
2. What are the hours like?
   
3. I’ve been told my empathy might get in the way. How do you manage that?
   
4. Has anyone here been to John A Gupton College in Nashville? That’s the closest school to me.
   

My first year teaching at a low-income, rural high school, I did a survey of my students on what they wanted to be when they grew up. The number one response was professional athlete. The number two most popular response was more surprising: Mortician.
Apparently, many of my students went to church with a mortician who owned a funeral home in town. He made around $100k, and was the most financially successful person my students knew.
I have a vision of launching a project to expose low-income students to diverse career paths. The idea is to have professionals record themselves talking about their jobs: necessary education, day in the life, career prospects, salary, etc.
I think a podcast is the best format for the project. However, I want to find spend my time finding great speakers and getting the content to students. I don’t want to spend a ton of my time editing or adding my own commentary: quantity over consistent quality. I’ve never created a podcast before. My goal is to get 20+ talks uploaded every month.
I’d like feedback on my idea for the process:

1. Speaker records their talk however is most convenient for them. I’d even take voice memos from their phone.
   
2. Speaker sends me their audio. I assume Dropbox would be best for this?
   
3. I use one of the all-in-one-podcast services to add a brief intro and outro. I’m thinking about using Anchor?
   
4. Again, I would not spend much time editing the quality of the audio. I’d publish, promote, and repeat. I figure if a student is interested in a career, they’ll be forgiving on audio quality.
   

Does the plan sound doable? Any advice?
EDIT: Thank you for all the amazing advice! What an incredible community.

1. The consensus is unanimous, I need to edit. I reluctantly agree with this. Listeners expect a decent level of sound quality. God knows teenagers can be ruthless. A huge thank you to those who shared tips and resources.
   
2. Lots of folks are saying I’m shooting for too many episodes. I don’t think I was clear in my original post. I envision this project as a library of “career day” style talks about professions. Teachers and career counselors will share the resources with students. I’ll have a searchable database on my website. Students will be able to pick and choose the episodes that interest them. For me, if I’m not able to get a library of a couple hundred careers fairly quickly, the project probably isn’t worth doing.
   

I LOVE the idea a few folks had about structuring the interviews with set questions so students know what to expect. I’m now considering using a self-paced, video interview platform like myinterview.com. Not only would that provide a structured interview, but it would allow me to publish the content in a video format too!
Y’all are amazing! Thank you!

I'm planning on becoming a mortician. I've done a google search on incomes, but it was pretty unhelpful since there was such a huge gap between the high and low salaries. If you dont mind me asking, how much do you make, what do you do, and where around do you work?