Latest news with #UniversityOfCalifornia
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tom Lehrer, Song Satirist and Mathematician, Dies at 97
Tom Lehrer, the popular and erudite song satirist who lampooned marriage, politics, racism and the Cold War, then largely abandoned his music career to return to teaching math at Harvard and other universities, has died. He was 97. Longtime friend David Herder said Lehrer died Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He did not specify a cause of death. More from Billboard Gone But Not Forgotten: Musicians We Lost in 2025 Pantera Cancel Tour Dates to Mourn Ozzy Osbourne Ed Sheeran Expands 2026 Australia and New Zealand Tour Lehrer had remained on the math faculty of the University of California at Santa Cruz well into his late 70s. In 2020, he even turned away from his own copyright, granting the public permission to use his lyrics in any format without any fee in return. A Harvard prodigy (he had earned a math degree from the institution at age 18), Lehrer soon turned his very sharp mind to old traditions and current events. His songs included 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,' 'The Old Dope Peddler' (set to a tune reminiscent of 'The Old Lamplighter'), 'Be Prepared' (in which he mocked the Boy Scouts) and 'The Vatican Rag,' in which Lehrer, an atheist, poked at the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church. (Sample lyrics: 'Get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries. Bow your head with great respect, and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.') Accompanying himself on piano, he performed the songs in a colorful style reminiscent of such musical heroes as Gilbert and Sullivan and Stephen Sondheim, the latter a lifelong friend. Lehrer was often likened to such contemporaries as Allen Sherman and Stan Freberg for his comic riffs on culture and politics and he was cited by Randy Newman and 'Weird Al' Yankovic among others as an influence. He mocked the forms of music he didn't like (modern folk songs, rock 'n' roll and modern jazz), laughed at the threat of nuclear annihilation and denounced he attacked in such an erudite, even polite, manner that almost no one objected. 'Tom Lehrer is the most brilliant song satirist ever recorded,' musicologist Barry Hansen once said. Hansen co-produced the 2000 boxed set of Lehrer's songs The Remains of Tom Lehrer and had featured Lehrer's music for decades on his syndicated 'Dr. Demento' radio show. Lehrer's body of work was actually quite small, amounting to about three dozen songs. 'When I got a funny idea for a song, I wrote it. And if I didn't, I didn't,' Lehrer told The Associated Press in 2000 during a rare interview. 'I wasn't like a real writer who would sit down and put a piece of paper in the typewriter. And when I quit writing, I just quit. … It wasn't like I had writer's block.' He'd gotten into performing accidentally when he began to compose songs in the early 1950s to amuse his friends. Soon he was performing them at coffeehouses around Cambridge, Mass., while he remained at Harvard to teach and obtain a master's degree in math. He cut his first record in 1953, Songs by Tom Lehrer, which included 'I Wanna Go Back to Dixie,' lampooning the attitudes of the Old South, and 'Fight Fiercely, Harvard,' suggesting how a prissy Harvard blueblood might sing a football fight song. After a two-year stint in the Army, Lehrer began to perform concerts of his material in venues around the world. In 1959, he released another LP called More of Tom Lehrer and a live recording called An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer, nominated for a Grammy for best comedy performance (musical) in 1960. But around the same time, he largely quit touring and returned to teaching math, though he did some writing and performing on the side. Lehrer said he was never comfortable appearing in public. 'I enjoyed it up to a point,' he told The AP in 2000. 'But to me, going out and performing the concert every night when it was all available on record would be like a novelist going out and reading his novel every night.' He did produce a political satire song each week for the 1964 television show That Was the Week That Was, a groundbreaking topical comedy show that anticipated Saturday Night Live a decade later. He released the songs the following year in an album titled That Was the Year That Was. The material included the song 'Who's Next?' that ponders which government will be the next to get the nuclear bomb … perhaps Alabama? (He didn't need to tell his listeners that it was a bastion of segregation at the time.) 'Pollution' takes a look at the then-new concept that perhaps rivers and lakes should be cleaned up. He also wrote songs for the 1970s educational children's show The Electric Company. He told The AP in 2000 that hearing from people who had benefited from them gave him far more satisfaction than praise for any of his satirical works. His songs were revived in the 1980 musical revue Tomfoolery and he made a rare public appearance in London in 1998 at a celebration honoring that musical's producer, Cameron Mackintosh. Lehrer was born in 1928, in New York City, the son of a successful necktie designer. He recalled an idyllic childhood on Manhattan's Upper West Side that included attending Broadway shows with his family and walking through Central Park day or night. After skipping two grades in school, he entered Harvard at 15 and, after receiving his master's degree, he spent several years unsuccessfully pursuing a doctorate. 'I spent many, many years satisfying all the requirements, as many years as possible, and I started on the thesis,' he once said. 'But I just wanted to be a grad student, it's a wonderful life. That's what I wanted to be, and unfortunately, you can't be a Ph.D. and a grad student at the same time.' He began to teach part-time at Santa Cruz in the 1970s, mainly to escape the harsh New England winters. From time to time, he acknowledged, a student would enroll in one of his classes based on knowledge of his songs. 'But it's a real math class,' he said at the time. 'I don't do any funny theorems. So those people go away pretty quickly.' Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
6 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Earth is spinning faster and is about to see one of its shortest days ever
The Earth is spinning at its fastest rate since records began, and astronomers predict that 5 August will be one of the shortest days ever measured. New estimates released this month suggest that the first Tuesday of August will be around 1.25 milliseconds shorter than it should be. The average rotation of our planet is 24 hours, or 86,400 seconds, however there are several variables that cause Earth to spin faster or slower. The Moon's gravitational influence on Earth typically causes it to slow time over time and for days to lengthen. There is no conclusive reason for why Earth's rotation is accelerating, though a 2024 study suggested that melting polar ice caps and rising sea levels could be influencing it. The shortest day ever recorded was on 5 July, 2024, measuring 1.66 milliseconds shorter, with recent years seeing the rotation speeding up. Scientists have proposed a negative leap second to compensate for the lost time, meaning all of the world's clocks will need to be adjusted. 'This is an unprecedented situation and a big deal,' said geophysicist Duncan Agnew from the University of California, who wrote about the issue in a paper published in the journal Nature last year. 'It's not a huge change in the Earth's rotation that's going to lead to some catastrophe or anything, but it is something notable. It's yet another indication that we're in a very unusual time.' There have been 27 leap seconds added to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) since 1972, when the present form of the time standard was adopted, in order to match atomic time to astronomical time. This would be the first time that a second has been subtracted, and it is not clear how current computing infrastructure would cope with the shift. Patrizia Tavella from the Time Department at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, wrote in an accompanying article to the Nature paper that any potential risks should be assessed before a negative leap second is applied. 'A negative leap second has never been added or tested,' she said, 'so the problems it could create are without precedent.'
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
These two cancer drugs may help lower your risk of Alzheimer's disease, study shows
Scientists have identified two cancer drugs that may also lower the risk of Alzheimer's disease as they search for some way to lower its impact on an aging population. In a study published on Monday in the medical journal Cell, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, combed through more than 1,300 candidate drugs — from antipsychotics to antibiotics — for anything that could help alleviate the incurable condition. Only 90 of those drugs targeted the brain cell genes thought to influence Alzheimer's, and of those only five showed evidence of actually reducing the risk of Alzheimer's in human patients. The scientists then chose letrozole, designed to fight breast cancer, and irinotecan, intended for treating colon and lung cancer, to test on mice. 'We didn't expect cancer drugs to come up," study co-author Marina Sirota told NBC News. In fact, the two drugs used in combination did appear to improve memory and brain function in aging mice who had begun to show signs of dementia. The effects still need to be proven in human studies (PA Wire) That result still needs to be tested in humans, and the drugs may prove less effective in humans. Still, the finding is significant because pharmaceutical companies have so far struggled to develop purpose-built drugs for the disease. "Developing a new drug can take hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars, on average take more than ten years," said study co-author Dr. Yadong Huang. "For this repurposed drug, usually it just takes two or three years, and then you can go to the clinical trial and the cost is much, much lower. "We still haven't generated or produced any very effective drugs that can really slow dramatically the cognitive decline," he added. Over seven million Americans live with Alzheimer's disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association, including 1 in 9 people aged over 65. The number is only likely to grow as the average age of the U.S. population continues to climb, with care costs for people with dementia projected to grow from $384 billion in 2025 to nearly $1 trillion by 2050.
CNA
19-07-2025
- Health
- CNA
Does breathing actually matter for your workout? Here's what works and what doesn't
Of all the things to worry about when working out – what exercise to do, how fast to go, how much to lift – breathing seems like it should come near the bottom of the list. You do it automatically, so why complicate things? To a certain extent, experts say, that approach is correct. As your exercise gets harder, your body naturally produces more carbon dioxide and you breathe faster to expel it and bring in as much oxygen as you need. 'Your body should more or less increase or decrease your breathing in relation to your effort and need,' said Dr Brian Y Kim, a professor at University of California, Irvine, and a team doctor for its athletic programme. However, research suggests that some breathing techniques, like diaphragmatic breathing, can help with performance during aerobic or high intensity anaerobic activities and also encourage recovery. For other popular breathing strategies, like nasal breathing, there isn't much evidence that it can improve athletic performance. The most important thing, experts said, is to avoid short, shallow breaths while exercising and make sure you're getting as much oxygen as possible. Beyond that, here's what fitness experts say about how the way you breathe can – or can't – affect your workout. BELLY BREATHING CAN HELP A LITTLE DURING AEROBIC WORKOUTS If you are interested in breathing more effectively to improve exercise performance, the first thing to try is diaphragmatic or belly breathing, said Judd Van Sickle, director of the sports performance and wellness programme at UC Davis Health. The diaphragm is a muscle at the base of your lungs, and learning to take deep breaths from your belly, not just the chest, helps deliver more oxygen to your body, he added. If you aren't sure how to belly breathe correctly, he suggested practising what's called 'crocodile breathing.' Lie face down on the floor, with your hands under your forehead. As you breathe with your abdomen pressed into the floor, you'll find you need to expand your lower back and ribs out to the side to get a full breath. This is what belly breathing feels like. Next, try doing the same thing with each breath at some point as you go about your day and then when you are exercising. While research shows practising diaphragmatic breathing during exercise might only result in a 3 to 5 per cent improvement in performance, this type of breathing can bring other positive health benefits, including helping to reduce blood pressure and lowering resting heart rate. FOR RECOVERY, CHANGE UP THE RHYTHM Once your workout is done, what's the best way to breathe to bounce back more quickly? The key to recovering faster is to slow down your breathing. One way to do this post-workout is with box breathing: Inhale for four seconds, hold your breath, exhale for four seconds and then hold your breath for another four seconds. Another technique is to make your exhale longer than your inhale, said Anatolia Vick-Kregel, senior assistant director of health and well-being at Rice University. 'When you inhale, your heart rate speeds up, when you exhale, it slows down,' she said. 'Take some deep breaths with emphasis on that exhale.' DON'T MAKE IT TOO COMPLICATED Over the last several years, some wellness influencers have claimed nasal breathing can improve exercise performance. Breathing through your nose can have some benefits for people with asthma, Dr Kim said, because the air gets warmer and more humid as it goes through the nose and into the lungs. However, Van Sickle said more research is needed to show it can improve performance more generally. The harder you exercise, the more difficult it is to breathe through your nose. If you try to breathe through your nose during a HIIT workout or sprints you'll probably experience what's called ' air hunger,' Dr Kim said, when your chest gets tight and you're gasping for air. 'It's not something that you want to try right away on a hard run,' he said. In addition to nasal breathing, some coaches recommend specific breathing cadences while running, like inhaling for three steps and exhaling for two. However, research suggests that the best breathing rhythm for running is probably just breathing naturally. Your body often already synchronises breathing with movement – inhaling when one foot hits the ground and exhaling with the other, which can help reduce muscle fatigue, especially at high intensity or during long workouts. The bottom line, especially if you're new to exercising, is to just breathe normally, Dr Vick-Kregel said. 'We want people to exercise and enjoy it, not feel like they're being suffocated.'
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
I'm an expert on ageing. Here's what I know about thriving in later life
Anyone who says 'age is just a number' has not reached the high numbers. Ageing is not easy, and 'forever young' is not a plan. Regardless of how many burpees you can do or protein smoothies you chug, the passing of time brings challenges. Roles that you relished change, words on menus seem to shrink, necks sag, diagnoses arise. On the other hand, ageing is not the downhill slide that people believe it is. A multibillion-dollar antiageing industry profits when you feel awful about yourself and fear ageing like the plague. The tragedy of ageing is not that we will all grow old and die, but that ageing has been made unnecessarily, and at times excruciatingly, painful and humiliating. Ageing does not have to be this way. I taught geriatric medicine and gerontology for 19 years at the University of California, Irvine school of medicine. At UCI's senior health center, I had a front-row seat to observe people, and their families, navigate old age. What struck me most was the radical differences in how people experienced their own ageing process. For some, it is a frustrating, degrading, painful trajectory of ever-increasing decline. For others, there is visible delight, spirituality, and joy in occupying their eighth, ninth, and 10th decades. When it comes to longevity, the primary focus has been lifespan, the length of life. More recently though, the scope has expanded beyond years of life to years of life in good health, or healthspan. This is a welcome shift, because we all want to live as healthy as possible for as long as possible. But there's a catch. A long life, even a long life in good health, doesn't mean much if you don't like your life. As geriatrician Dr Louise Aronson observes: 'We've added a couple of decades, essentially an entire generation, onto our lives, and we haven't figured out how to handle that.' To thrive in old age means to live a fulfilling, purposeful and satisfying life despite the challenges that accompany ageing. It involves maximizing physical health, cognitive function, emotional wellbeing, social connections, and a sense of meaning. Thriving doesn't mean being free of all health problems or challenges; rather, it emphasizes resilience, adaptability, and the ability to find joy and value in life. People don't thrive in longevity by mistake or luck. People who thrive in longevity actively maximize the quality of their lives. But how? I scoured the findings of 35 years of empirical testing on psychological wellbeing in longevity. The deeper I dug into the findings, the more I recognized a profound underlying pattern. The hundreds of predictors found in thousands of studies on what is necessary to thrive in longevity consistently group into four essential elements. Grow: They continue to expand and explore. Connect: They put time into new and existing relationships. Adapt: They adjust to changing and challenging situations. Give: They share themselves. Each of these elements is non-negotiable for wellbeing in longevity, and you can improve in each area. What we've been missing is a practical vocabulary and approach to maximizing the quality of our long lives. It's not enough to have a long lifespan and healthspan; we want what I call a long joyspan. Joyspan, or the experience of wellbeing and satisfaction in longevity, matters because without it, long life is a drag. The American Psychological Association defines joy as the feeling that arises from a sense of wellbeing or satisfaction. Experiencing joy is different from feeling happy. Happiness comes and goes and is often dependent on external circumstances. Joy can be experienced even in adverse situations. More akin to contentment than to ecstasy, joy may show up in the form of a smile, but many times it does not. You cannot always ascertain someone's joy by observing them. One older woman looking at the trees through her window may be lonely and miserable, while a different older woman looking at the same trees may be experiencing great joy. Regardless of your current age, you hold one of two mindsets: ageing as decline or ageing as continued growth. The decline mindset believes everything gets worse as you grow older and then you die. Sadly, this mindset is the most prevalent. The growth mindset sees ageing as a time of continued progress in becoming who you are. This mindset recognizes not only the challenges and losses of growing older but also the opportunities and strengths. Take my neighbor Dee, who is 81. A few days ago, I saw her on her front porch while I was walking the dogs, and she waved me over so she could tell me all about her sore hands, the 'absolute drivel' on TV, and how bad the hot weather makes her feel. Because Dee sees her life as a downward free fall, she's stopped showing up for it. She does not pursue her former interests, reach out to friends, or challenge herself. The long hours spent in her recliner have seriously weakened her legs, which she blames on the curse of being old. Our conversations never have room for topics beyond her discomfort. Despite our many conversations, Dee doesn't know anything about me other than the fact that I have two golden retrievers. There isn't any space for me to share my life, because her life, as miserable as she finds it, is the topic that dominates her mind. Dee definitely holds a decline mindset. I often run into another neighbor, Joan, who walks the same loop I do. I absolutely love it when I run into Joan. She is 82 and just radiant. Soon after our middle daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumor, I saw Joan and she noticed right away that something was off. She asked me what was going on in a way that felt safe for me to share. She listened intensely, then suggested ways to adjust to this 'new normal'. Joan has had so many new normals. Always very interested in something – a new plant she's potted, a new recipe, an interesting book, an upcoming art exhibit – Joan has a growth mindset. Growing older is about, well, growing, about becoming. Joan knows that interior strengths can continue to develop throughout life. I once told Joan how much I admire her attitude, and she laughed, saying: 'I find life fascinating. I'm still growing now, just as I have in every other phase of my life.' This is an adapted excerpt from Joyspan by Dr Kerry Burnight. For 18 years, she taught geriatric medicine and gerontology at the University of California, Irvine school of medicine. Used with permission from Worthy Books, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
