Have another cup!

 

If you have atrial fibrillation, have another cup of coffee.  In fact, have five.

Drinking Five Cups of Coffee a Day May Stave Off Mental Decline in People With Atrial Fibrillation

“It is known that regular coffee consumption benefits cognitive performance among healthy people. The most frequent cardiac arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, is known to independently increase the risk of dementia,” said Massimo Barbagallo, M.D., lead author of the study and a resident in the neuro intensive care unit at the University Hospital Zürich. “Thus, the question is whether coffee might offset the increased risk of cognitive impairment in people with AFib.”

“Many myths are around, but our study found no reason to discourage or forbid a patient with AFib from drinking coffee. Instead, say, ‘Enjoy, it may even be good for you!’” said Jürg H. Beer, M.D., senior author of the study and professor of medicine and hematology at the University of Zürich in Switzerland.

The study found:

• Overall, higher cognitive test scores were associated with higher coffee consumption. 
• Specifically, scores for processing speed, visuomotor coordination and attention improved significantly by 11% among coffee consumers compared to non-consumers. 
• Cognitive age was calculated to be 6.7 years younger among those who drank the most coffee compared to those who drank the least. 
• Inflammatory markers were more than 20% lower in participants drinking five cups daily than in participants drinking less than one cup daily. 
• Researchers did not find any interaction between age, sex and coffee consumption."

Quite good-looking

 

Every now and then you come across something entirely unexpected and worth the time to contemplate and explore.

That's the case with Inga Sunagatullina.

I can't really show all of her qualities, but they aren't hard to find. Enjoy what I've provided here, and if you agree with me, employ the grand capabilities of web searching. 

Prescient in December

 

As we know now that science (particularly climate change science, but likely epidemiology, environment and pollution, and biomedical research) is under attack by the new and stupid Trump administration, this article from December is so future-predictive it's scary. But it's not like we didn't expect that this was going to happen. 

As Trump escalates war on facts, scientists warn “we are going to get screwed”

"Bennett [director of senior policy at the activist group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)] heard stories from EPA employees across the country during Trump’s first term, detailing how their contributions to scientific knowledge were politicized and ignored. She warned that “every single employee” at the EPA is “at risk” right now. Having worked at the EPA for almost 10 years as wetlands enforcement coordinator in New England, Bennett understands EPA workers’ plight viscerally as well as intellectually. Perhaps that’s why she is unapologetically frank when speaking on behalf of government scientists, especially about the millions of American voters who share Trump’s hostility to science."

And there's this:

"Another EPA official who left during Trump's first term, who requested to remain anonymous, experienced this hostility directly. The official explains that a lot of their work “pretty much stalled” during all four years when Trump was in office. Even though Trump, Musk, Kennedy and others in the MAGA camp characterize themselves as champions of free speech, this official noted a chilling effect against all references to climate change being caused by the fossil fuel industry.

“We kind of had to talk about the work differently,” they told Salon. “No one used the word ‘climate.’ Everybody kind of just talked about, ‘What are the outcomes of climate work?’ and not necessarily name ‘climate’ just as it is, if that makes sense.”

On a practical level, this made it essentially impossible for scientists to do their jobs, all of which require dispassionate analysis of empirical data without regard to any special interest groups their conclusions might offend. Many scientists, who entered the field out of passion for knowledge and a desire to protect nature, became demoralized and quit."

There's a war going on -- against science. As if we didn't know.

This book is slated for July -- if the current fascist government in the United States allows it to be published and distributed. 

Likable (I spelled that right)

 

Wow, it's been a long week this first week of Apocalypse February (which is now). The U.S. government it being prepared for total collapse and capitulation to the rule and whims of a criminal and egocentric idiot, aided and abetted by a putative genius who is also an egocentric eccentric. And that's putting it mildly. 

So there is much to be blogged and discussed, and I have yet to fully catch up on a massive information backlog. So who knows what's going to happen in the next number of posts.

First, we'll catch up with Christina Aguilera, the talented, good-looking, and talkative singer/dancer/host, who just turned 44 years old. She always did seem like a fun date.

Christina Aguilera puts on a busty display as she turns 44 with topless 'birthday suit' snap

Here's one of the reasons she might be a fun date.

"Speaking during a recent interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast, the singer wasn't shy in revealing what turns her on in the bedroom, revealing that vibrators were a 'game changer', while she detailed the wild places she likes to get intimate.

The performer, who is well known for her hit track Dirrty and the racy video that accompanied it, has been dating fiancé Matthew Rutler since 2009 and it's clear that the spark is far from diminishing from their long-term relationship.

Opening up about her skills between the sheets, the Christina spoke about her accomplishments when it came to oral sex, telling how she 'enjoys' the oral sex act and is rather good at it.

When asked what her best sex skill was, Christina confessed: 'Hands down it’s gotta be blowjobs. I love blowjobs. I enjoy it.

'I know every different part and the sensitive areas. I do enjoy it. It’s a turn on.'

Indeed it is.

The best advertisement is results

 

Luiza Gondim is a fitness model. I'm providing free advertising for her.

Website: Lulu Fitness

Instagram:  lulugondim

She's good. But don't take my word for it; take hers. She knows what she's doing. Consider that she has a truly magnificent abdominal section, and she also (apparently, inferring from some of the Instagram pictures) has a son. (Probably a husband, too.)  Factor that in, and Wow. 

I don't think she's related to Shakira, by the way. But there is a bit of a resemblance. 

Another reason to end fossil fuel use

 

When you watch what happens, you'll understand why ending the use of fossil fuels is paramount. Nuclear energy can get us to a fossil-fuel-free future. For the sake of climate and the sake of humanity, we need to do it. 

WATCH: Horrifying Moment Russian Oil Tanker Split in Half by Storm Sinks, Spilling Oil Into Black Sea

Lighthouse of the Week, January 26-February 1, 2024: Portpatrick Light, Scotland

 

This is the first of two Lighthouse of the Week posts featuring lighthouses on the southwestern coast of Scotland. You'll see where they are in a moment. One is old and inactive (but still looks maintained and historical); the other is more prominent, and looks well-maintained, but is also inactive. More on that next week.

This week, the lighthouse is the Portpatrick Light. As noted, it's in Scotland, about the closest point of Scotland to Northern Ireland. Visualize that here. (A little to the north there is a point that might be a couple of km closer, but is not heavily inhabited, though there is a lighthouse up there, too.)

There isn't a lot to learn about this one; the Lighthouse Directory provides what there is to learn.

"1839 (station established 1774). Inactive since 1900; sometimes lit decoratively on holidays. Approx. 11 m (36 ft) round cylindrical brick tower with lantern and gallery. Tower is unpainted yellow brick; lantern painted white with a black roof. ... In the early 1900s the light was shone landward as a streetlight. The original lighthouse is said to have been dismantled and shipped for reassembly in Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon. The tower is privately owned; Michael Spencer reports that the keys are kept at the Lighthouse Pottery nearby and "polite enquiry will secure their loan." Located on the south side of the harbor entrance in Portpatrick."

Four pictures are below. There is another good picture here, similar to the first one below:  Portpatrick Harbour and Lighthouse