Intuitively, putting more padding around a football player’s head might sound like a good idea, but there’s little independent research showing that it reduces the force of blows to the head or that it prevents head injuries.
Lab studies in which researchers simulate hits to the head have shown that the caps can reduce impact forces. But the handful of published studies that have tested the caps on college football players running drills have failed to find any benefit compared with helmets alone. There are no published independent studies that have tried to measure whether Guardian Caps reduce concussions or head injuries in players and no testing to see if they might work for younger players.
Guardian Caps have gotten a big boost from the NFL, which now allows all players to wear them during regular-season games. The league also mandates them for most players during every preseason practice, as well as regular and postseason practices with contact.
CleanTechnica: Hundreds of Volkswagen Staff at Xpeng Offices — Where Is This Heading?
Well, back from the start, it was indicated that this partnership would lead to two new Volkswagen models for China that are based on the same platform as the Xpeng G9 uses. This would modernize Volkswagen vehicles for China, improve their tech, and make them much more palatable for Chinese buyers, who have evolved a ton in recent years and expect the best and newest technology. By many accounts, Xpeng is at the front of the market for the “smart” side of what they call “smart electric vehicles” now. So, providing the brains and muscle of new Volkswagen EVs should be a big step forward for them. Presumably, that’s the key thing “hundreds” of Volkswagen staff have been working on in Xpeng offices. After all, if it’s based on the G9 platform, it’s really more of an Xpeng than a Volkswagen, but then Volkswagen’s got to get its imprint and design on there.
BBC: Ozempic weight loss: Jabs could slow ageing, researchers say
Semaglutide, better known as Ozempic, “has far-reaching benefits beyond what we initially imagined,” Prof Harlan Krumholz, from the Yale School of Medicine, said following the publication of several new studies.
They found that the drug could be used to treat a wide range of illnesses linked to heart failure, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and even cancer.
“It wouldn’t surprise me that improving people’s health this way actually slows down the ageing process,” Prof Krumholz was quoted on Friday as telling the European Society of Cardiology Conference 2024, where the studies were presented.
AppleInsider: Canada’s Digital Services tax on tech giants faces US pushback
Canada’s new Digital Services tax could cost iPhone maker Apple billions, but the US says the fees are discriminating against American tech companies — and is pushing for a delay.
Canada first proposed the legislation in 2021 as an interim measure, following a statement from the G20 allowing for international digital service tax (DST) reform. The G20 countries have been working together to create a multilateral tax on profits made by global tech companies through services, but progress has been slow.
Canada and other countries want to be able to impose taxes on profits made from online marketplace services, advertising services, social media services, and revenue made from selling user data. To qualify under the Canadian law, a tech company would have to have made $750 million or more in qualifying revenue per year, of which at least $20 million would have come directly from Canadian users.
Futurism: Boeing Execs Yelled at NASA Leaders When They Didn’t Get What They Wanted
“The thinking around here was that Boeing was being wildly irresponsible.”
Futurism: NASA’s Moon Launcher Is in Big Trouble
Building the tower won’t come cheap, with NASA estimating that it’ll cost a whopping $1.8 billion and be delivered by September 2027.
Now, according to a scathing new report by NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), the tower may end up being even more expensive than initially thought. The office projects that the “total cost could reach $2.7 billion” – a bewildering price tag that could greatly undermine NASA’s continued efforts to build out a more permanent presence on and around the Moon.
Baltimore Sun: Residents applaud downzoning of Lutherville Station
The council, at Councilman Wade Kach’s request, voted Tuesday to zone a property next to a light rail station in Lutherville for single-family housing, which caps the number of apartments that can be built at 16 units per acre and bars buildings higher than 60 feet. Kach, a Timonium Republican, had previously said he wanted residents and the developer, Mark Renbaum, to reach a compromise. Residents had fiercely protested the proposal.
“We are currently reviewing last night’s downzoning decision by Councilman Kach and the implications for the project,” Renbaum said Wednesday via spokesperson Rick Abbruzzese. “On its face, the downzoning appears to be an unreasonable limitation to a state transit-oriented development under House Bill 538. Lutherville Station is the first real test case for this important legislation.”
via Jason Becker
Slashdot: Tech Worker Builds Free AI-Powered Tool For Fighting US Health Insurance Denials
“A Fight Health Insurance user can scan their insurance denial, and the system will craft several appeal letters to choose from and modify.” With the slogan “Make your health insurance company cry too,” [San Francisco tech worker Holden Karau’s site] makes filing appeals faster and easier. A recent study found that Affordable Care Act patients appeal only about 0.1% of rejected claims, and she hopes her platform will encourage more people to fight back…
The “dirty secret” of the insurance industry is that most denials can be successfully appealed, according to Dr. Harley Schultz, a patient advocate in the Bay Area. “Very few people know about the process, and even fewer take advantage of it, because it’s rather cumbersome, arcane, and confusing, by design,” he said. “But if you fight hard enough and long enough, most denials get overturned…."_
ScienceAlert: This Stunning Image Is The Highest Resolution We’ve Ever Seen Atoms
The image you see above was made back in 2021 by a team led by physicist Zhen Chen, formerly of Cornell University and now at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Those dots are the atoms in the crystal lattice of a piece ofpraseodymium orthoscandate (PrScO3), at a magnification of 100 million.
The only reason the image looks a little fuzzy around the edges is not because the resolution is poor, but because atoms don’t stop jiggling about, which results in a little thermal motion blur.
⋮
You can find the team’s full paper in Science.
Last Updated: 31.Aug.2024 22:50 EDT
