Tuesday, May 13, 2025

BIG Wrap

Study highlights steep costs of homelessness in hospitals and mental health

(University of Michigan) Six years ago, U.S. hospitals officially received the ability to document patients' housing status, including housing instability and homelessness. The new "Z codes" reflect an increasing recognition of the role of housing as one of the key social determinants of health. A new study that harnesses those data reveals vast differences in diagnoses between patients with and without housing issues who are admitted to hospitals. This includes a sharp divide in care for mental,...

NASA’s rover investigates intriguing Martian bedrock

(Jet Propulsion Laboratory) NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has begun exploring an area the science team calls "Yori Pass" near the base of Jezero Crater's ancient river delta. They have been eager to explore the region for several months after spotting a rock similar to one Perseverance collected samples from in July. The feature is so tantalizing to the scientists because it is sandstone, which is composed of fine grains that have been carried from elsewhere by...

Three found guilty in downing of airliner over eastern Ukraine in 2014

(BBC News) A Dutch court has found three men guilty of murder for shooting down a passenger jet over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing 298 people. The court found that a Russian-made missile fired by an armed group under Russian control brought down flight MH17. The men – two Russians and one Ukrainian – were found guilty in absentia and sentenced to life in jail. A third Russian was acquitted. Many of the victims' relatives believe if...

Long-range forecast: Earth will be erased, but Sun will soldier on

(Universe Today) What will happen to our Sun? In several billion years, it will cease fusion, shrivel into a white dwarf, and emanate only remnant heat, writes Evan Gough for Universe Today. There it will sit, dormant and comatose. But the sun anchors the entire solar system. What will happen to Earth? To the rest of the planets? To the rest of the objects in the solar system? Our Sun appears relatively placid during a human lifetime. It...

Iran issues more death sentences to protesters

(BBC News) Four people have been sentenced to death on the charge of "enmity against God" in connection with the recent anti-government protests in Iran. Revolutionary Courts in Tehran said one of the unnamed "rioters" hit and killed a policeman with his car, the judiciary's Mizan news agency said. The second possessed a knife and a gun, and the third blocked traffic and caused "terror", it alleged. The fourth was convicted of a knife attack, Mizan reported...

Computer scientists solve algorithmic riddle from 1950s

(University of Copenhagen) For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been struggling with an algorithmic problem known as "the single source shortest path problem." The problem is essentially about how to devise a mathematical recipe that best finds the shortest route between a node and all other nodes in a network, where there may be connections with negative weights. Sound complicated? Possibly. But in fact, this type of calculation is already...

Three of four bitcoin investors have lost money, says study

(AFP) Roughly three-quarters of people who have bought bitcoin have lost money according to a study published Monday as the cryptocurrency sector reels from the collapse of a major exchange. Economists at the Bank of International Settlements, an institution widely considered as the central banks of central banks, analysed data on investors in cryptocurrencies in 95 countries between 2015 and 2022. "Overall, back of the envelope calculations suggest that around three-quarters of users have lost money...

Crypto collapse – FTX files for bankruptcy

(BBC News) Embattled cryptocurrency exchange FTX has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., seeking court protection as it looks for a way to return money to users. Former boss Sam Bankman-Fried has stepped down as chief executive, the company said. It is a massive turn of fortunes for the 30-year-old, who had headed the world's second largest crypto exchange. In just over a week, his FTX empire has collapsed, shaking confidence in the already troubled crypto market. "I'm...

Rats! Humans can no longer claim to be only animals that naturally bop to the beat

(University of Tokyo) Accurately moving to a musical beat was thought to be a skill innately unique to humans. However, new research shows that rats also have this ability. The optimal tempo for nodding along was found to depend on the time constant in the brain (the speed at which our brains can respond to something), which is similar across all species. This means that the ability of our auditory and motor systems to interact...

Taliban ban women from Kabul parks

(BBC News) The Taliban have banned women from visiting all parks in Kabul, excluding them further from public life in Afghanistan. A spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry told the BBC that those managing parks in the capital had been told not to allow women in. The group claims Islamic laws were not being followed at parks. Women's rights and freedoms have been severely restricted since the militant Islamists seized power in August 2021. Under Taliban rules...