Elon Musk's SpaceX Starship explodes on test stand
SpaceX's Starship spacecraft exploded on its test stand late Wednesday, sending a large fireball into the South Texas sky and dealing another major setback to Elon Musk's company.
It was the fourth time the company has lost a Starship spacecraft this year. In three previous test flights, the vehicle came apart or detonated during its flight.
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Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How your ear wax could tell you if you have Parkinson's disease, according to experts
Could your ear wax tell you if you have Parkinson's disease? Some 90,000 people are diagnosed with the degenerative neurological condition in the U.S. each year, and annual deaths have surged in recent decades to tens of thousands. Now, researchers at the American Chemical Society claim they have developed a new system that could help catch the disease at an early stage. The identifier is in the odor of ear wax's main ingredient, known as sebum. The oily substance is produced by the body to lubricate and protect the skin. Sebum from people with Parkinson's may have a characteristic and musky smell because the volatile organic compounds released by sebum are altered by disease progression. This association has been identified in previous research. To identify the compounds released by sebum in people with the disease, the researchers swabbed the ear canals of 209 participants, more than half of which were diagnosed with the condition. Then, they analyzed what was collected using gas chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques. Four of the volatile organic compounds they found in people with Parkinson's were different than people without it. Those include ethylbenzene, 4-ethyltoluene, pentanal, and 2-pentadecyl-1,3-dioxolane. The researchers said they are potential biomarkers for Parkinson's. Using these findings, published this week in the journal Analytical Chemistry, they were able to develop a system that inexpensively screens for Parkinson's. They trained an artificial intelligence olfactory system - a robotic model that can mimic how we smell - with their ear wax compound data. Using the model, they found it was able to categorize samples with and without Parkinson's with 94 percent accuracy. Some 1.1 million Americans are living with Parkinson's right now. Because most treatments for Parkinson's only slow the progression of disease, catching it early is critical. Current testing is also costly, and can be subjective. This AI system, the researchers say, could be used as a first-line screening tool for early detection. 'This method is a small-scale single-center experiment in China,' explained author Hao Dong. 'The next step is to conduct further research at different stages of the disease, in multiple research centers and among multiple ethnic groups, in order to determine whether this method has greater practical application value.'
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Marijuana's Links to Heart Attack and Stroke Are Becoming Clearer
While most Americans consider marijuana safe, new research published this week found that use of the drug is associated with a higher risk of stroke and heart attack, including among younger adults. The analysis, which examined data from 24 studies and was published in the journal Heart, also found that marijuana use was associated with a twofold increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. While this data only shows a correlation and cannot prove that marijuana caused these effects, it is well-established that the drug can raise blood pressure and heart rate and alter the heart's rhythm, said Dr. Ersilia DeFilippis, a cardiologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. And a number of other studies have also suggested a link between the drug and cardiovascular issues. The analysis comes at a time when nearly half of U.S. states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and when a record share of U.S. adults — 15 percent in 2022 — report using it. Emilie Jouanjus, the senior author of the new study and a pharmacologist at the University of Toulouse in France, said that while there may be good reasons for people to take marijuana, including for stress and anxiety, patients can't assume that it is harmless. She and other experts said that everyone should be treating marijuana with caution, and suggested several ways people can mitigate their risk. Who is most at risk? Generally speaking, older adults and people with underlying conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol or pre-existing heart issues are at the greatest risk, experts said. That's because their cardiovascular systems tend to be more fragile, and marijuana further stresses the heart. In 2023, about 7 percent of U.S. adults age 65 and older reported using marijuana in the past month. But the average age of patients included in the new analysis was just 38, an indication that marijuana increases risks among younger people, too. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Medscape
an hour ago
- Medscape
Lisa Sanders: Full Interview Summary
Medscape 2050: The Future of Medicine In just 25 years, your annual medical checkup will undergo a makeover that would make Marcus Welby, MD, think he'd stepped onto the set of Star Trek. There will be no waiting room; you will check yourself in on a digital tablet. Your doctor will still greet you wearing a stethoscope, but it will be outfitted with a mini-ultrasound tool so your MD can see, as well as hear, your heart rate and breathing. Even the standard physician's clipboard will get an upgrade — becoming a mini-tablet containing all of your digital medical records, and the entire global library of medical data. These are just a few ways the practice of medicine (and the traditional annual physical) will change by 2050, according to Lisa Sanders, MD, professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine and medical director of Yale's Long Covid Multidisciplinary Care Center. New technologies — artificial intelligence, electronic medical records, and other med-tech innovations — will make those sci-fi medical transponders Dr McCoy used on 'Star Trek' seem old-fashioned by comparison, Sanders says. She even believes an entirely new medical specialty will emerge: the 'diagnostician,' trained in how best to combine the latest medical technologies with the human touch MDs bring to their practices. But one thing that won't change and may even become more central to the practice of medicine 25 years from now: The connection between doctor and patient. 'Now we have AI and I think that the potential for AI has been tremendous. But…it's still new,' she says. 'You know, people are already trying to get past the physical exam…but the physical exam was invented so that we could try to get a sense of what's going on inside the body. The out to be very important… It's part of a relationship you have — an intimate relationship — with a patient.' That's something Sanders says was emphasized during her treatment of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, when no medical technology could diagnose or treat the condition. Welcome to Modern Medicine 2050.
