Intelligent Future: Physician behind ‘Early Medical' Speaks to CNN about Longevity
CNN's Becky Anderson is launching a new series, "Intelligent Future," exploring how technology is revolutionizing our world today and reshaping the way we will live tomorrow. In the second installment, she speaks with Dr. Peter Attia, founder of Early Medical and author of "Outlive" on what health and longevity mean in this day and age.
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13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Why Is Elon Musk Tweeting About Me at 3 A.M.?
If elected, I would be the poorest member of Congress—and the world's richest man just attacked me in a 3:00 am tweet for supporting universal healthcare. You might have seen a clip of me on CNN last week, debating with Scott Jennings on whether healthcare is a basic human right. In that clip, Jennings—a long-time Republican strategist and pro-Trump contributor at CNN—asks, 'Even illegals?' To which I respond, 'Every single person in the world deserves healthcare... How is this controversial?' It shouldn't be controversial. And I'm not afraid to say that as a person or as a congressional candidate. The state of our country's healthcare has been front and center for many Americans over the last few weeks, as President Trump's so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill' threatens healthcare coverage for 11 million people—including thousands of families right here in Illinois' Ninth Congressional District, where I am running. Why? So Republicans can slash taxes for the ultra-rich, decimate oversight for AI, and spend $125 billion on a 'Golden Dome' which will make America less safe – all for the low, low price of workers' health, food, and clean air. Our healthcare system is one of the worst in the developed world. Medical debt is the cause of 66% of bankruptcies in the US. In Canada, the runner up in this bleak competition, that number is 19%. We spend more on healthcare than any other wealthy country and yet have the worst outcomes. We take Ubers instead of ambulances, take fish antibiotics instead of prescriptions, and often skip medical treatment altogether because of the expected cost. These hardships are uniquely American. In 1944, Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed a Second Bill of Rights to Congress, encouraging legislators to enshrine into law additional rights not already enumerated in the Constitution. His proposals were prescient, reflecting trials many Americans face today: the right to earn a decent living, the right to trade free of monopolies, the right to education. He also said that every American should be guaranteed 'the right to medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.' Congress did not pass it. It's been more than 80 years since FDR proposed his Second Bill of Rights and healthcare is still not a legal right for any American. While the Affordable Care Act made progress on this front, treatment and prescription costs are still expensive, insurance bureaucracy is still predatory, and most Americans' coverage is still tied to their employment. I lost my own health insurance for over a year when I was laid off last May. Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' would continue the death by a thousand cuts approach to the ACA that Republicans have pushed every time they're in power. Donald Trump and the Republicans want to make this worse. By creating even more hoops for Americans to jump through just to get care that is often lackluster, by demonizing the poor, and by insisting healthcare is something you must earn, this administration is bragging about its own inhumanity. When I said, 'Every person in the world deserves healthcare,' Jennings couldn't fathom that idea. His first instinct was to blurt out, 'Even illegals?' The answer is yes. If you are a person, you deserve healthcare, no matter where you are or who you are. No one deserves to die because they can't afford insulin or because they're too scared of bankruptcy to seek medical attention. If you show up at my doorstep starving or injured, I am not going to ask for papers before I help you. Conservatives struggle with this idea. Elon Musk seems to think this idea and my comments are 'suicidal empathy.' Illinois Republicans were so incensed that my campaign office stocks food, clothes, and other resources for whoever needs them, that they thought I was somehow breaking the law. But in most other wealthy countries, this mindset is barbaric. In much of the rest of the world, if you need care, you get it. In fact, I have needed to see an emergency doctor in three foreign countries since I was a kid and all of those visits cost less than any urgent care clinic visit I've had in the United States. But when you say any of this, the Republican instinct is to ask, 'How will we pay for this?' The answer is pretty simple and we've known it for a long time. Universal, single-payer healthcare—a system where our tax dollars pay for our healthcare without the private insurance middleman—would actually save us money and lead to better health outcomes. We save lives, reduce waste, and guarantee a baseline of human dignity. Of course, predatory insurance companies would lose the ability to profit off of our basic existence, but that's a sacrifice we should all be willing to make. One of the main reasons I'm running for Congress is because our leaders have conditioned us into thinking we don't deserve good things, especially if we aren't rich. But we do. You do. Every American deserves to afford housing, groceries, and healthcare with money left over to save and spend. We deserve to thrive, not just survive. And every single human being in every single country deserves to know that they can find the help they need on the worst day of their lives, when they are at their weakest and most vulnerable. For most Americans this concept isn't hard to grasp, but when it comes to Elon Musk and right-wing pundits, they simply can't fathom having even an ounce of basic humanity.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
What if your house changed color with the seasons? This ‘climate-responsive' paint could make it happen
Editor's Note: Design for Impact is a series spotlighting innovative solutions for communities affected by the climate crisis, natural disasters and other humanitarian emergencies. When Joe Doucet bought a new house in Katonah, New York, he wanted to make it as environmentally friendly as possible. As a designer and inventor, he immediately found himself wondering whether the exterior of his home could play a role in mitigating the effects of climate change. 'One of the things I had not really considered before was: What color should I paint the house?' he told CNN, speaking in a video call. It's well known that light-colored buildings reflect heat and stay cooler while darker ones absorb — just compare chilly Scandinavia's black housing tradition to the whitewashed homes found across warm Mediterranean countries. But what shade would perform best in a climate like New York's, with hot summers but dark and snowy winters? Doucet started by 3D-printing small scale models of his house, complete with similar levels of insulation, and painting them in different colors. Over the course of a year, he found that in winter the inside temperature of the black model was on average 7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the white one. In summer, the white model house was 12 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. 'The answer wasn't, 'Should I paint it black or white?' The answer was: It should be black in winter and white in summer,' he said of the findings. 'It is not really feasible to paint a house twice a year. I began to think, 'Surely there are other ways of doing this?'' Doucet's solution was inspired by his childhood interest in mood rings, which feature manmade 'stones' that change appearance according to the wearer's finger temperature. 'I recall a fascination I had with a mood ring I received as a child and really trying to dig in and understand what it was,' he explained. 'I knew, even as 7-year-old, that (the ring's changing color) had nothing to do with my mood, that there was some type of chemistry at play. The chemistry that creates that change is very, very similar to what I used.' The process in question is called a thermochromic response, which refers to how chains of liquid crystals react to atmospheric temperature. In a mood ring, these liquid crystals are contained within the 'gemstone,' causing its color to change. Doucet developed a kind of thermochromic pigment containing the crystals and started experimenting with a tin of ordinary housepaint and different additives. The result was a substance that could change color by absorbing ultra-violet light (which produces heat) above a certain temperature. Despite what he called the 'great success' of his initial trials, Doucet found his new paints would slowly degrade in the sunlight. But after experimenting for another year, the designer solved the issue with the help of a protective additive. His climate-responsive paint, as he dubs it, appears 'very, very dark gray' below 77 degrees Fahrenheit and gradually turns lighter as the temperature rises. Doucet has since filed a patent application for the technology. He admits his invention won't be especially useful for people in consistently hot or cold climates. But Doucet believes his paint could be a 'game changer' for those living in the world's temperate zones — including large parts of North America, Europe and Asia — where average temperatures are typically higher than 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the warmest months but no lower than 26.6 degrees Fahrenheit in the coldest. Last year was the hottest year on record. It was also the first calendar year to breach 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a critical climate threshold. Doucet sees his invention as a direct response to this changing climate, rather than innovative new technology: 'This could have been done 70 years ago, there was just no need for it,' he explained. 'Climate change wasn't an issue at the time.' But more than helping homeowners respond to rising temperatures, Doucet's invention could have an impact on their climate pollution amid increasing energy costs and dependence on air conditioning (in 2020, 88% of US households used AC, up from 77% two decades ago). The operation of buildings accounts for 30% of global energy consumption, according to the International Energy Agency. But homes with improved thermal control consume less power by reducing demand for both air conditioning and heating. Doucet's modeling 'conservatively' predicts his paint could help households save between 15% to 30% on their energy costs. Beyond the science, Doucet believes there is beauty in the idea that buildings might shift with the seasons, like the leaves on a tree. 'There's something poetic about seeing the built environment and the built world change with the seasons in the way nature does,' he said. He also notes that new climate-responsive paints need not only change from white to black: 'You can tint this pretty much any color,' he explained. A house could turn light blue in warmer months before turning a darker blue in the wintertime, he offered as an example. So, with his prototype technology developed, how long until people can paint their houses with it? 'Five to 10 years,' said Doucet, caveating that its proliferation will depend on how people react to it. So far, he said, responses have ranged from 'amazing' to 'I don't believe you.' The changing political climate may also impact his product's route to market. President Donald Trump's promise to 'terminate' his predecessor Joe Biden's clean energy policies — which he has called the 'Green New Scam' — has created an uncertain climate for eco-investing. Doucet, who is also involved with an wind energy venture, says the resulting change in how investors respond to green projects has made him reluctant to raise venture capital and go at it alone. Instead, he hopes to find a partner that can bring the invention to market, like a paint company, a chemical company or some combination of both. 'When situations change,' he said, referencing the Trump administration's plans to cut subsidies and tax rebates for clean energy projects, 'you need to change with them.' Nevertheless, Doucet appears confident that his creation has a potentially huge market. Not only could the paint be used on homes, but also larger buildings like schools, factories and other structures requiring a controlled internal environment. Though he is careful not to oversell the impact of his invention. 'There is no single solution to climate change. It's a series of steps and small actions,' he said. 'But this could be a meaningful one.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
The science of sleep paralysis, a brain-body glitch making people see demons and witches
Sign up for CNN's Sleep, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide has helpful hints to achieve better sleep. Baland Jalal lay in bed terrified, experiencing his own real-life horror film. Newly awake, the 19-year-old could see his surroundings but couldn't move or speak, and he didn't know why. He thought, ''My God, what do I do?'' Jalal, now 39, said of that moment in 2005. 'I tried to call my mom (and) dad, but no words would emerge from my throat. … I had this ominous presence of a monster, and it lifted my legs up and down. 'It strangled me, trying to kill me. And I was 100% sure that I was going to die,' Jalal added. 'It literally feels like all the evil of the universe is condensed into a bubble, and it's in your bedroom.' This type of hallucination is a hallmark for many people with sleep paralysis. It occurs during transitions into or out of rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep, similar to a traffic jam at a busy intersection — your brain, awake and alert, and body, still asleep and immobilized, collide momentarily, said Dr. Matthew P. Walker, director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley, via email. Following deep sleep, REM sleep is the next critical phase of sleep cycles, characterized by more dreaming that's also extra vivid and lifelike, and by faster heart rate and breathing. It's essential for memory, concentration, mood regulation and immune function. Jalal's experiences propelled him to study this phenomenon around the world. He aimed to discover the cause of sleep paralysis, he said, and why some people with the diagnosis 'have these powerful encounters where it feels like evil of epic proportions.' He has since earned a doctorate in psychiatry and is now a researcher in Harvard University's psychology department and a leading expert on sleep paralysis. He also treats patients struggling with it. An estimated 30% of people worldwide experience at least one episode of sleep paralysis in their lifetime, according to the Cleveland Clinic. How many of those people have recurring and impairing sleep paralysis isn't clear, but the percentage is likely low, Jalal said. Here's what else you should know about sleep paralysis and how it can be managed. In REM sleep, our bodies are paralyzed so we don't act out our dreams and risk hurting ourselves or others, Jalal said. Sleep paralysis episodes are usually only a few minutes long but can last up to 20 minutes, according to the Cleveland Clinic. During sleep paralysis, however, 'we regain consciousness before the muscles regain their freedom from REM-induced paralysis,' said Walker, who is also a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley About 40% of people with sleep paralysis have visual, auditory or tactile hallucinations, such as pressure on one's chest or feeling out of body, Jalal said. For about 90% of those individuals, the illusions are terrifying. They can include ghosts or cat- or alien-like creatures, and their actions can be as innocuous as simply approaching them or as nefarious as molesting or trying to kill them. In Jalal's academic travels, he discovered the contents and interpretations of hallucinations, views on what causes sleep paralysis, and episode frequency and duration can all also have a cultural basis. People living in Egypt and Italy, for example, would often see witches and evil genies, hold them responsible and think they could die from sleep paralysis, Jalal said. People in Denmark, Poland and parts of the United States, on the other hand, have less supernatural or exotic explanations and less fear. 'Why do we see these monsters? Is it the dreaming imagery … that's spilling over into conscious awareness?' Jalal said. 'My answer to that is, according to my research, no, not exactly. But it's part of it.' When you're aware yet paralyzed and confused, your natural reaction is to escape that situation. Your brain is bombarding your body with signals to move, but your body can't return any feedback. Jalal's theory, in short, is that your brain says, 'to hell with it' and concocts a story it thinks your body must be facing to be experiencing such bizarre symptoms. The reduced activity in your prefrontal cortex — responsible for reason and logic — also contributes to hallucinations becoming 'extremely realistic and emotionally charged, amplified by an overly active amygdala, the brain's emotional alarm center,' Walker said. Though scientists know that wake-sleep glitch is what's happening during a sleep paralysis episode, they're not entirely sure why. But there are several factors that can increase the risk of fragmented sleep and sleep paralysis. Those factors include stress and related conditions such as anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder and panic disorder, experts said. Much of Jalal's sleep paralysis occurred when he was in school. Now when he has an episode once or twice per year, it's usually during a high-stress period, he said. (Once you've experienced sleep paralysis, you can be conscious of that during an episode but still feel afraid.) Other common contributors are sleep deprivation, jet lag, an irregular sleep schedule, sleep disorders such as narcolepsy, and genetic factors, Walker and Jalal said. Obstructive sleep apnea, substance use disorder and some medications — such as those for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — can also raise risk, according to the Cleveland Clinic. As scary as sleep paralysis may sound, it's not actually dangerous, experts said. But depending on how recurring it is, sleep paralysis can be a sign of an underlying sleep disorder, Jalal said. Regular episodes can also lead to anxiety around sleep and then avoidance of sleep, Jalal said. This pattern can interfere with your daily energy and ability to function. And if you often have frightening hallucinations, that can lead to anxiety or trauma-like symptoms. Sleep paralysis can be significantly alleviated with several practices or treatments, Walker said — starting with healthy sleep habits, for one. That includes seven to nine hours of restful sleep nightly. Maintaining a sleep schedule consistent in quality and quantity 'acts like tuning your internal clock, reducing the chance of disruptive wake-sleep overlaps — much like ensuring all parts of an orchestra are synchronized for perfect harmony,' Walker said. Also prioritize stress management, by using, for example, mindfulness and relaxation exercises, Walker said. Therapies can relieve certain underlying issues triggering sleep paralysis, including cognitive behavioral therapy, especially the version for people with insomnia. In more serious situations, medications are sometimes used, Walker said. Those include SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) or tricyclic antidepressants that can help manage a smooth flow between sleep stages or even reduce the REM phase of sleep. Generally, boosting the brain's serotonin levels somehow compensates for the loss of the REM phase, Jalal said. But rarely, long-term antidepressant use has been linked with REM sleep behavior disorder. While the aforementioned treatments can help reduce the frequency or length of sleep paralysis episodes, there isn't yet a gold-standard treatment that can stop an episode once it's happening. Jalal has been trying to officially create one over the past decade, though, and it's self-inspired. Called meditation relaxation therapy, the treatment reduced sleep paralysis by 50% after eight weeks for six people with narcolepsy, compared with a control group of four participants, found a small pilot study Jalal published in 2020. He currently has another study of the same treatment with more participants underway at Harvard. And the steps of Jalal's therapy are as follows: Cognitively reappraise the meaning of the attack. Close your eyes and remind yourself that your experience is common and you won't die from it. Emotionally distance yourself from it. Tell yourself that since your brain is just playing tricks on you, there's no reason for you to be scared or risk the situation getting worse because of your own negative expectations. Focus on something positive. Whether it's praying or imagining a loved one's face, this refocusing can make thoughts more pleasant rather than monstrous. Relax your muscles and don't move. Some experts say trying to slightly move your fingers or toes one by one may help you come out of an episode sooner. But Jalal's fourth step advises against this movement since you'd still be sending signals to paralyzed muscles and maybe triggering hallucinations. Viewing your own biology in a more objective way by learning more about the scientific basis of sleep paralysis is also helpful, Jalal said.
