• WITHIN THE NEXT DECADE, HALF OF U.S. ADULTS WILL PROBABLY BE OBESE. Already 42% are, along with another 32% who are overweight, according to CDC analysis and forecasting. “Women, African-Americans, and those with ‘low socioeconomic status’ are affected at a significantly higher rate… Genetics plays a role, but sedentary lifestyle and diets heavy in ultra-processed foods – carbonated & artificially flavored drinks, ice cream, breakfast cereals, chips, heat-and-serve dishes – are largely responsible… We are in the middle of an obesity epidemic.”  [LIFE EXTENSION – May 20]
  • THANKS TO VIDEO-CONFERENCING, BUSINESS IS STILL BEING CONDUCTED, and most people are alleviating lock-down stress. But privacy & security carry risk of different consequences from using video-conference platforms. “Privacy relates to user’s rights to control their data; Security is how that data is protected. The most private platforms (Signal, FaceTime, Webex) use end-to-end encryption to ensure only controlled access to anyone’s communication… Other platforms (notably Microsoft) maintain security but compromise privacy by collecting info and selling data to third-parties for marketing purposes… Worst case is when platforms (like Zoom, Skype) both fail to prevent data breaches and also share personal info… Best protection is to utilize complex passwords, turn on enhanced security features like waiting rooms & channel moderation, and make sure conferences are restricted to intended guests.”  [THE CONVERSATION.COM – 4/10/20]
  • CORONAVIRUS ANTIBODY TESTING IS CLOSE to determining COVID-19-Resistant people who’d then qualify for an ‘Immunity Certificate’ allowing return to work without fostering a second wave of infection. Federal, State, private companies, labs and foreign governments are all close to a reliable testing process. However, major concerns remain, including: (1) “Immunity Passports could create a two-tiered workforce with perverse incentives for people to try to contract the virus, particularly millennials who might feel their chances of survival are high – like the ‘chickenpox parties’ of old, when parents deliberately exposed their children at a young age when symptoms tend to be milder; (2) Scientists still don’t know how long immunity may last; and (3) Testing positive for antibodies which can develop after the first week doesn’t guarantee a person being non-infectious at that point.”  But it’s a big step in restarting the economy.  [BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK – 4/13/20]
  • ELON MUSK’S SPACEX PROGRAM TO PROVIDE GLOBAL BROADBAND COVERAGE through a million ‘Starlink Satellites’ – 12,000 round 19” terminals which “look like a little UFO on a stick” – has now launched enough to begin U.S. operations later this year. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has licensed a 15-year master plan for up to a million “fixed earth stations that will communicate with a non-geostationary orbit satellite system… simple enough for general users to install by only plugging-in and pointing at the sky.” When fully operational, the system could serve around 3.6 million households in communities where telephone companies have trouble with landlines or cell radio stations.  [ZD NET – 3/24/20]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:   A intelligent discussion from Bill Maher about the stupidity of ‘P.C. Police’ in the current coronavirus pandemic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEfDwc2G2_8

 “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt