Latest news with #BostonUniversity
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Scientists discover food that flushes out cancer-causing forever chemicals
Eating more fiber might help flush out cancer-causing 'forever chemicals,' a study suggests. Researchers in Boston compared men who took a fiber supplement three times a day to those who had a rice-based supplement for four weeks. Blood tests revealed those who took beta-glucan fiber, found in mushrooms and oats, before every meal for four weeks had an eight percent reduction in 'forever chemicals.' Also known as PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), these toxic chemicals don't naturally break down in the environment. Instead, they leech from plastic containers and nonstick cookware into food and build up in vital organs, increasing the risk of organ failure, infertility and some forms of cancer. The researchers believe fiber helps filter out excess bile from the digestive tract, which PFAS latches on to to get absorbed by the bloodstream. While mountains of research has demonstrated the deadly effects of forever chemicals on the body, the new study is one of the first to offer a scientifically proven way to get rid of the toxins, which were thought to live in the body forever. But it comes as nine in 10 Americans don't consume enough fiber, raising their risk of other rising conditions like colon cancer. The researchers, from Boston University, wrote: 'Despite the growing concerns about the toxicity of PFAS, specific interventions to reduce PFAS levels in the body are limited.' The study, published in the journal Environmental Health in March, looked at 72 adult men ages 18 to 65 with detectable levels of PFAS in their blood. Of these, 42 consumed a one-gram supplement of oat beta-glucan, a type of fiber naturally found in oats, mushrooms and seeds, three times a day, about 10 minutes before a meal. The other 30 participants consumed a rice-based control supplement instead. Researchers collected blood samples from each participant before and after the four-week experiment. Each test looked for 17 forms of PFAS. At baseline, 70 percent of participants had 11 of 17 forms of PFAS in their blood, and five forms were in every participant's blood. The study found men who took the fiber supplement saw an eight percent decrease in perfluorooctanoate acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), which are considered two of the most dangerous forms of PFAS. PFOA and PFOS are synthetic chemicals used in firefighting foam, non-stick cookware and stain repellents to make them water and stain resistant. PFOA is considered a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), meaning it causes cancer in animals. PFOS, meanwhile, is a Group 2 carcinogen, suggesting it may cause cancer in animals. Both chemicals are also thought to to be endocrine-disrupting chemicals, meaning they imitate the body's hormones and interfere with the production of - and response to - natural hormones like estrogen and testosterone. This increases the risk of developing hormone-sensitive cancers like breast and ovarian cancer. The researchers believe dietary fiber forms a gel that stips cells lining the gut from absorbing PFAS. This is because that gel stops bile acids, which help break down fats, from being reabsorbed into the bloodstream. Instead, that excess bile gets excreted through feces. PFAS is thought to latch on to bile and travel through the gut, so fiber may help flush forever chemicals out of the body before they can linger and cause lasting damage. The researchers cautioned not all fiber gets rid of PFAS, and more research is needed to determine if other types have a similar effect. In addition to ridding the body of PFAS, fiber is also well known for adding weight to stools and making them easier to pass, reducing the risk of constipation and promoting regular bowel movements. Smoother stools spend less time lingering in the colon, reducing the risk of harmful contaminants causing inflammation and triggering cells to grow uncontrollably. This lowers the likelihood of developing colon cancer. However, 90 percent of Americans don't get the recommended 22 to 34 grams of fiber every day. There were several limitations to the new study, with the main one being that PFAS can live in the body for two to seven years, so a four-week experiment was not enough time to properly assess the relationship. The team also noted consuming higher levels of fiber may be necessary to reduce PFAS levels in the long term.
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump administration's move against Chinese students is an overreach, experts say
Advertisement In announcing the move late Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave few specifics, offering only that the U.S. government would 'aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Related : How that vaguely defined standard will be enforced is not yet clear, but the directive is part of a broad campaign by the Trump administration to force major changes in American higher education. College campuses, administration officials say, are in crisis, and only the federal government is willing and able to fix the problems. Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller on Friday outlined what the administration viewed as a threat to its interests. 'We're not going to be awarding visas to individuals who have a risk of being engaged in any form of malign conduct in the United States, which of course would include espionage, theft of trade secrets, theft of technology or other actions that would degrade the security of our industrial base,' he said. Advertisement Some 277,000 students from China attended school in the United States last year, second only to the number of students from India. Federal authorities have long grappled with the challenge of trying to prevent individuals from within that large group from stealthily siphoning critical technology or expertise to Chinese companies or government officials. Milonovich said that U.S. officials had long worried about the risks posed by some Chinese students but that the administration's most recent push would ultimately harm the advancement of U.S. technology. Some students arrive in the United States with preexisting affiliations with Chinese government and intelligence agencies, while 'many others are contacted, recruited or co-opted while they are in the U.S. studying,' he said. Related : Authorities say that is what happened when Yanqing Ye came to study science at Boston University. Ye, according to an indictment unsealed in 2020, was a lieutenant in the Chinese army before she arrived in the United States, and as a student in Boston, she continued to carry out assignments for her Chinese superior officers, sending American documents and information to China. Still, Milonovich added, given that the United States employs 'tremendous numbers' of scientific and technological experts originally from China or other foreign countries, 'we need this continued pipeline of intellect and skill.' Peter Zeidenberg, a lawyer who has defended college professors accused or suspected of economic espionage, said that the administration had yet to articulate the national security danger it is trying to avoid, but that it had already succeeded in scaring talented people away from the United States. Advertisement 'This is a self-defeating and self-destructive strategy, if you can call it a strategy,' he said. 'These students fill our labs and they perform all the research. They're some of the smartest, most talented scientists in America and I have no idea how these labs are going to operate without them.' Related : FBI officials have long argued that China is engaged in a relentless and far-reaching effort to steal as much scientific expertise as it can from the United States, to benefit Chinese companies and markets. National security officials say that while much of that suspicious activity occurs in the business world, a great deal also goes on among college researchers. To counter that threat, federal agents have for years delivered classified briefings to select college officials, and broader warnings to colleges generally. While those efforts have produced a significant number of tips and criminal cases, they also have elicited some controversy and distrust between educators and investigators. In 2018, the FBI director, Christopher Wray, faulted what he called the 'naivete' of some college administrators toward the danger posed by Chinese students, teachers, and researchers. 'The use of nontraditional collectors, especially in the academic setting -- whether it's professors, scientists, students -- we see in almost every field office that the FBI has around the country,' he said. That year, the Justice Department began what it called the China Initiative, to crack down on trade secret theft, including at universities. Most of the criminal cases that emerged from the initiative focused on professors rather than students. Yet not all of those indictments won convictions in court, and critics accused federal prosecutors and agents of casting a cynical eye at people of Chinese descent. In the face of such criticism, the Biden administration shuttered the initiative in 2022, though it continued to investigate possible crimes by Chinese academics. Advertisement The security concerns around Chinese students did not disappear, and in fact go back decades. In 1998, a congressional report warned that the FBI 'has inadequate resources in light of the extensive numbers' of visitors from China, including 'students, diplomats, business representatives and others who may be involved in intelligence and military-related technology transfer operations in the United States.' Current and former officials have said that the resources to monitor and investigate possible student spies only face further strain given the administration's focus on immigration. It has pressed hundreds of FBI agents into duty backing up Department of Homeland Security agents seeking to apprehend and deport immigrants living in the country illegally. This article originally appeared in
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
New doc tells story of Holocaust survivor, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel
An Elie Wiesel documentary presents a compelling portrait of a Holocaust survivor who bore witness. Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire, the new documentary portrait of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Holocaust survivor, and Jewish writer who devoted his life to sharing the story of what millions of his fellow victims couldn't, received the Yad Vashem Award and was just shown at the Docaviv Festival. The documentary opens with a telling quote from Wiesel: 'Whoever listens to a witness, becomes a witness.' That encapsulates his life's mission: He wanted to create a world of witnesses, and he did so by bringing the story of the tragedy of the Holocaust to millions. But living a life filled with this sense of mission took a toll on him, personally, and on those around him, as this candid and very compelling documentary by Oren Rudavsky shows. The film came about because the director's friend, author and Holocaust film historian Annette Insdorf, who was close to the Wiesel family, had been getting requests from filmmakers who wanted to tell Wiesel's story since he died in 2016. But she felt that Rudavsky and his late partner, Menachem Daum, who collaborated on such documentaries as Hiding and Seeking: Faith and Tolerance After the Holocaust, would be a good fit for a Wiesel film. 'The process of making a film is partially by choice, partially by chance, and partially whether you can raise the money to make it,' Rudavsky said. He decided to make the film despite all the obstacles. 'I think a figure like Elie Wiesel is somebody whose message of tolerance and speaking up in times of crisis is very relevant today,' he said. 'His kind, prophetic, messianic way he spoke is very… well, timely is the wrong word because he's timeless, I think.' Rudavsky admitted that it was a challenge to create a film portrait of a man who was so revered by many. His mother had studied with Wiesel at Boston University, and his parents had Wiesel's books. As he read over Wiesel's works, such as Night, an autobiographical novel about his Holocaust experiences, and watched many of Wiesel's speeches, he said, 'It was daunting – absolutely!' But after he gained the trust of Wiesel's widow, Marion, who recently passed away, and his son, Elisha, who told him their stories and were honest about how difficult it could be to be close to Wiesel and to be in his shadow, he began to formulate a structure for the film. THE DOCUMENTARY uses rare photographs and clips, as well as interviews with his family members and short animations to tell the story of Wiesel's happy childhood in the heart of a close-knit Jewish community he was born into in 1928 in Sighet, a village which was alternately part of Romania and Hungary. He was encouraged by his parents to study both Torah and literature, and he spoke multiple languages. 'As in a dusty mirror, I look at my childhood and wonder if it really was mine,' Wiesel says in the film. He shares his vivid memories of how his family was put in a ghetto under Nazi rule and then deported to Auschwitz when he was 14. His mother instructed him not to stay with her and his three sisters but to go to the men's camp with his father. The father and son were able to stay together through the concentration camp, a death march, and Buchenwald, where his father eventually died, and Wiesel recalls his anguish at being helpless as his father passed away. Taken to a Jewish children's home in France following the war, he realized that the Holocaust experience would always be a key part of who he was. 'Whether we want it or not, we are still living in the era of the Holocaust. The language is still the language of the Holocaust. The fears are linked to it. The perspectives, unfortunately, are tied to it,' he said in a speech years later. His parents and younger sister were killed in the war, but he was reunited with his older sisters afterward, and one of them is interviewed in the film. For about 10 years, he did not talk or speak about the war, studying at the Sorbonne and working as a journalist. Eventually, in response to encouragement from the author Francois Mauriac, he wrote a long book on the war in Yiddish, The World Was Silent, which he then shortened and translated into French, changing its title to Night. The documentary dramatizes, through its animations, some of the most horrific moments from the book. 'Why do I write?' Wiesel says to an interviewer. 'What else could I do? I write to bear witness.' He went on to write many more books, including novels, autobiographies, and memoirs, and his fame grew. But the movie details how he remained isolated from others, resolving not to become close to anyone until he met Marion, a translator, whom he married. WHILE HE traveled the world speaking about his life and his writings, he had a special moment in the spotlight in 1985 when he opposed then-president Ronald Reagan's visit to a military cemetery in Bitburg, Germany, that contained graves of SS officers. While Reagan seemed not to have known about the presence of the SS graves when he was first invited there, Reagan compounded the faux pas by saying that these SS members were victims of the Nazis 'just as surely as' those who were killed in the death camps. The planning of the Bitburg visit coincided with the moment when Wiesel was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by Reagan. In a small meeting, which was caught on tape and is included in the documentary, and in a public speech when accepting the medal, Wiesel very respectfully – but very directly – challenged the president, imploring him not to lay a wreath on the graves of those who murdered his family and millions of others. 'This medal is not mine alone. It belongs to all those who remember what SS killers have done to their victims… While I feel responsible for the living, I feel equally responsible to the dead. Their memory dwells in my memory. Forty years ago, a young man woke up and found himself an orphan in an orphaned world. 'What have I learned in those 40 years? I learned the perils of language and those of silence. I learned that in extreme situations, when human lives and dignity are at stake, neutrality is a sin. It helps the killers, not the victims. But I've also learned that suffering confers no privileges. It all depends on what one does with it,' he said. He went on to say, 'I, too, wish to truly attain reconciliation with the German people. I do not believe in collective guilt nor in collective responsibility. Only the killers were guilty; their sons and daughters are not, and I believe, Mr. President, that we can and we must work together with them and with all people, and we must work to bring peace and understanding to a tormented world that, as you know, is still awaiting redemption.' Rudavsky said he was impressed by 'that speech, which I consider as one of his top few speeches. His eloquence, the whole circumstance considering where we are now with our politics… the way he spoke so gently and persuasively to President Reagan...' The film goes on to show Wiesel's speech at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in 1986 and other important moments, such as his visit to Auschwitz with Oprah Winfrey, who featured him on her show. 'He always saw himself as a teacher,' said Rudavsky, and one of the highlights of the film is a scene in which a class of African-American high school students in the US discuss Night, completely engaged by it. As he worked to finance the film, Rudavsky said he was grateful to a number of his producing partners, among them the Claims Conference, Jewish Story Partners, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, the Public Broadcasting Service's American Masters, and Patti Askwith Kenner. The film has been shown at and will be shown at Jewish film festivals in America, and Rudvasky is hopeful for a limited theatrical release of the film in the fall in the US. Eventually, it will be shown on the PBS American Masters series. It has won Audience awards at several US film festivals and will likely turn up on one of Israel's documentary channels. Asked at a recent screening – and virtually all screenings – what Wiesel would say about what's happening in the world today, Rudavsky said, 'I can't speak for Elie, but he would be crying for those who are suffering.'
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Trump gives Elon Musk an Oval Office sendoff, crediting him with ‘colossal change'
'I think the DOGE team is doing an incredible job,' Musk said after accepting a ceremonial key from the president. 'They're going to continue to be doing an incredible job.' Advertisement He left a searing mark on the federal bureaucracy, including thousands of employees who were fired or pushed out. Some government functions were eviscerated, such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had provided a lifeline for impoverished people around the world. Boston University researchers estimate that hundreds of thousands of people have already died as a result of the cuts. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The State Department responded by saying most of USAID's programs on HIV, known as PEPFAR, remained operational. However, the statement did not address any of the other cuts while calling on 'other nations to dramatically increase their humanitarian efforts.' Elon Musk at Friday's new conference in the Oval Office. Musk told reporters that he thinks the team at DOGE is "going to continue to be doing an incredible job" even in his absence. Evan Vucci/Associated Press Despite the upheaval, Musk also fell far short of his goals. After promising to cut $1 trillion or even $2 trillion in federal spending, he lowered expectations to only $150 billion in the current fiscal year. Advertisement It's unclear whether that target has been hit. The DOGE website tallies $175 billion in savings, but its information has been riddled with errors and embellishments. Musk had a bruise next to his right eye in the Oval Office, which he explained by saying he had been 'horsing around' with his young son. 'I said, go ahead punch me in the face,' he said. 'And he did.' Trump said Musk had led the 'most sweeping and consequential government reform effort in generations.' He suggested that Musk is 'really not leaving' and 'he's going to be back and forth' to keep tabs on what's happening in the administration. There were signs, however, that attention was already shifting away from Musk, who once appeared omnipresent in Washington. He often stood quietly next to Trump as reporters peppered him with questions about the French president (he's great), Joe Biden's autopen (it's bad) and the potential for pardoning Sean 'Diddy' Combs (he'll look at the facts). When Musk was asked about the impact of tariffs on Tesla — something Musk has expressed concerns about in the past — Trump jumped in to answer. Musk, the world's richest person, recently said he would reduce his political donations. He was Trump's top donor in last year's presidential campaign. Trump appeared eager to end Musk's service on a high note. 'This will be his last day, but not really, because he will, always, be with us, helping all the way,' Trump wrote on social media on Thursday evening. 'Elon is terrific!' As a special government employee, Musk's position was designed to be temporary. However, he had speculated about staying 'indefinitely,' working part time for the administration, if Trump still wanted his help. Advertisement Musk has brushed off questions about how DOGE would continue without him, even suggesting it could 'gain momentum' in the future. 'DOGE is a way of life,' he told reporters recently. 'Like Buddhism.' Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report.
Phone Arena
3 days ago
- Business
- Phone Arena
$406 billion moved through the App Store last year and most of it skipped Apple's cut
The App Store is the main hub where iOS users and developers come together. Apple backs it with plenty of resources and tools to keep things safe and trustworthy. Speaking of which, just recently, Apple revealed it has stopped over $9 billion in fraud over the last five years. And now, the company is opening up with even more impressive stats about the App just dropped some big numbers about its App Store, showing just how massive the ecosystem has become – and I think it's clearly trying to show regulators and critics that it's not as greedy as some claim. According to a new study backed by Apple, the App Store facilitated $406 billion in developer billings and sales in 2024 in the US alone and over 90% of that didn't result in any commission going to Apple. That stat might raise eyebrows, but here's the catch: Apple's definition of "facilitated by the App Store" includes stuff like Uber rides, DoorDash orders, retail purchases through store apps and even ad revenue. Since Apple doesn't take a cut from physical goods, real-world services or in-app ads, most of that massive $406B doesn't go through Apple's commission system, but even more on that in just a bit. The study, conducted by Boston University professor Andrey Fradkin and economist Dr. Jessica Burley, highlights just how much the App Store has grown. In fact, the ecosystem has nearly tripled in size since 2019 – back then it was $142 billion. Earnings for US developers more than doubled in that same period and small developers saw a 76% increase in revenues from 2021 to 2024. – Tim Cook , Apple's CEO, May 2025 In 2024 alone, the App Store helped drive a massive $406 billion in developer billings and sales in the US. | Image credit – Apple In 2024, the App Store ecosystem in the US broke down like this: $277 billion from physical goods and services (think retail shopping, food delivery, travel) $75 billion from in-app advertising $53 billion from digital goods and services (like in-app purchases, subscriptions, etc.) Apple says spending on physical goods and services has more than tripled since 2019. Travel and food delivery even passed ride-hailing in 2024. Meanwhile, digital goods and in-app ad spending more than remained the top-earning category, but productivity, education and business apps also saw strong says US-based developers are finding success worldwide, with their apps ranking among the top 5 most downloaded in 170 out of 175 storefronts. The App Store's global payment and commerce system is a big reason why developers are able to monetize easily around the world. The company is also rolling out more tools to help developers grow, including updates to App Store Connect, better analytics and new features like App Store Accessibility Nutrition Labels coming later this year. So, back to that 90% figure – it's not that Apple suddenly got generous. It's more about how it defines what counts as App Store-related revenue. If someone buys a meal through a restaurant's app or grabs an item off Amazon, Apple facilitates that transaction by hosting the app but doesn't take a cut. But when it comes to digital goods – like game items, subscriptions or premium features – Apple definitely takes its slice. It's 15% for smaller devs and 30% for the bigger ones. That cut has been the center of a lot of criticism and legal fights, like the battle with Epic Games that recently forced Apple to allow alternate payment options in the US. Apple says its fee covers way more than just processing payments. It points to things like fraud prevention, customer support, app discovery and tight integration across devices. Still, for many developers, that 30% feels steep – especially when their entire business depends on in-app started back in 2008 as a pretty simple setup – devs make apps, Apple takes a small cut – has now become one of the biggest platforms in the world. And the debate over how it monetizes that ecosystem isn't going away anytime soon.
