Beards were reserved for lumberjacks and hipsters who were busy drinking deconstructed coffee. Now, the tables have turned completely. Today, men seem to be all about facial hair; and it’s not just the lumberjacks and hipsters hopping aboard. A trend has begun and rather than shaving their faces for a baby smooth look and feel, many are opting for a more rugged look. And several grooming companies and blogs have begun to devote themselves to the new man who’s rocking the facial hair. A simple Google search will net you all kinds of content: how to care for your beard, the best products for it, what beard fits your face, and how to meticulously care for it in the comfort of your own home. Many barbershops have also begun posting content and YouTube videos showing off some killer beard styles and how to achieve them. This just further shows how important facial hair has become to today’s man. And for many, the beard has become a way of life. A lot of time and effort is put into beard maintenance. “Back in the day, my facial routine was done in about 15 minutes; now it takes over an hour,” says one guy. “I take a lot of time and put a lot of care into my beard. I make sure it’s even, conditioned well, and maintained. The girls love it and I love it.” However, according to recent studies that have been conducted, men might want to rethink their grooming habits or their beard altogether. According to these studies, the germs residing within all of those whiskers far outside those that dogs have in their fur. And no, we’re not joking. Women would be better off putting their faces in their dog’s fur than cuddling up with their hubbies. Reaching this conclusionBBC recently published the results of the beards versus dogs study and it went viral almost instantly. From the moment it popped up on social media, people began to spread it all over like wildfire. YouTubers were also quick to post videos regarding the subject matter and their thoughts. Some even went as far as to shave their facial hair off. “I’m not going to be dirtier than my dog,” they said. Researchers from the Hirslanden Clinic, which is located near Zurich, Switzerland, are responsible for the disturbing study. The researchers were interested in seeing whether or not scanning both dogs and humans inside the same MRI machine would be hygienic. They also performed a test that compared the bacteria in CFU, or colony-forming units, of human pathogenic microorganisms to those in furry dogs and bearded men. For their study, they used samples from 18 men and 30 dogs. The team also examined the levels of bacterial contamination within the MRI scanner used on both the dogs and the men. They then compared the results to scanners used by humans only. “I don’t know what we really hoped or planned to find, but this definitely wasn’t it. The results left us sick to our stomachs. It was absolutely disgusting. Yeah in the back of our minds we were expecting some high levels of bacteria and germs to be present within beards, but not at the level that we found,” said the researchers. All of the men who took part in the study showed exceptionally high microbial counts (bacteria). However, only 23 of the 30 dogs that also took part in the study did. “We expected to find high microbial counts on ALL the dogs, not just 23. And while that’s still more than half of the dogs surveyed, the fact that all of the men had high levels of bacteria present but not all of the dogs did speaks volumes,” researchers say. But wait, there’s more!Researchers also turned back to examine the scanner that was used by both subject parties and they were completely shocked by their findings. According to the results, the scanner that was used by both the dogs and the humans had less bacteria than the one that was used on humans only. Yuck! “We found a significantly higher bacterial load in the scanner where we put the bearded men only than we did in the one that was used to scan both the humans and the dogs. We had originally predicted that the scanner used on both parties would be much, much more contaminated than the human one. However, the humans only scanner was far dirtier,” researchers said. Even though the scanner that sampled both the dogs and humans saw far more traffic than its “people only” counterpart, the scanner was much cleaner. “There were levels of bacteria present of course, but it was far cleaner than the scanner we used on the men only. 48 participants, both human and dog passed through the first scanner. Only 18 passed through the second. With that kind of traffic, and especially considering the presence of dogs who engage in less than hygienic practices like licking genitals then licking their fur or rolling in dead animals, we expected the results to be much different,” researchers continued. “We also found a higher bacteria count in specimens taken from the beards than those taken from the fur of the dogs,” Professor Andreas Gutzeit, a study author, said. “We can arguably say that dogs can be considered far cleaner than bearded men.” It gets worseHowever, if those results aren’t bad enough on their own, it gets worse. “Our findings didn’t just stop with, ‘men’s beards are dirtier than dogs’; it escalated to the fact that seven of our human participants had so much bacteria present within their beards that they were actually at risk of becoming sick,” researchers lamented. Yikes! “We did expect to find some bacteria levels as we stated before, but we didn’t expect them to be as high as our findings showed. We also weren’t prepared for the results of the seven. We were shocked to learn that the amount of bacteria that was present within their whiskers was high enough to put them at risk of becoming sick. And not just common cold levels of sick (though that was certainly present as well), but also ‘you could end up in the hospital’ levels of bacteria. That’s worrisome,” the researchers continued. Throwing back to 2015, a study was conducted to examine the cleanliness of beards. According to the study, most beards are just as filthy and bacteria ridden as a household toilet seat. “If you have a beard or you cuddle with someone who does, you’re basically rubbing your face on a toilet seat,” concluded the study. Many people lamented when the results went viral and others were quick to grab a razor. But what kind of bacteria and germs are we talking about? Well, researchers point out that fecal matter is one of the most common foreign substances and bacteria present within the beard. “It’s no secret that beards contain fecal matter and thus levels of E. coli. Whether it’s due to unhygienic practices or something else, that bacterium is certainly present. And with it being so close to the mouth, there’s a huge risk of ingesting it and getting sick,” researchers worry. The 2015 study also concluded that the beards were full of “enteric bacteria”, which is a part of the human biome that’s frequently found within fecal matter. Researchers also point out that partners who cuddle with their bearded significant other, play with their whiskers, or nuzzle the furry areas are also at risk. “E. coli and fecal matter is content to travel. It doesn’t have to stay in one place; it’s more than happy to latch onto your fingers or face and make a home on you too. This means that you’re also at risk of getting seriously ill just from exposure,” and doctors support this claim. Are bearded men really that gross?Once the latest study hit the airwaves, men were quick to defend themselves. “Who are they testing? The homeless? Men who eat off of the floor? Those that don’t wash their hands after a deuce? Of course you’re going to find all kinds of nasty stuff within beards if you’re studying people with less than perfect hygiene. Sample mine and I’m sure the results will be much different,” is the sentiment that a lot of bearded men share. Others point out that hair in general contains trillions of bacteria. They also argue that almost all of the surfaces we come across contain some level of bacterium. “You can’t escape it. Every day we’re put into contact with bacteria. And even if you’re washing your hands and cleaning your house religiously, you’re still being exposed to it. But for the most part, it’s harmless. Some are even necessary for our bodies. This is just modern fear mongering from people who hate the beards. I’d like to see tests done on more than just the whiskers on a man’s face; I bet the hair on women’s heads is pretty dirty too,” say some. But fecal matter being present is far worse than the everyday bacteria we come across. But many insist that that’s just the product of improper hygiene. “If you’re not in the habit of frequently washing your hands, especially after finishing up in the bathroom, then of course you’re going to transfer the bacteria to your beard. But those same people are also transferring it to the hair on their heads, their cell phones, and their keyboards.” So while the results could definitely be skewed or biased, it’s enough to at least convince some men to take a stronger look at their beard care routines. Scare tacticsOnce again, men are taking up arms to defend themselves against the results and the studies that continue to come out that says the beard has to go. “It’s easy to scare people now a days; especially with a ‘scientific’ study such as this one. However what they’re not telling you and what we don’t know is the condition of the men surveyed. Are these guys practicing proper hygiene or are they lax on it? Also, nobody pays attention to the studies that refute this kind of misinformation. They don’t get as much attention because they’re not clickbait or scary. It’s a like a train wreck, we have to tune in despite our better judgments,” says one man. Specifically, he is referencing a hospital study that was conducted. According to this study, beards might actually be less likely to store bacteria than clean-shaven faces. According to dermatologist Carrie L. Kovarik, who specializes in infectious diseases of the skin, concluded that the premise of the test was simple: if it was true that facial hair played host to more abundant pathogens than smooth skin, bearded men would pose a far greater risk of spreading infections. “And that’s just not something we’ve seen,” she said. To test this theory, researchers conducted a test that studied 409 hospital staff. The numbers were evenly divided between clean shaven men and those who possessed a beard. Each of those who participated in the study were regularly in contact with patients and gave samples from their upper lips as well as their cheeks. Dr. Kovarik said, “not only did the bearded men harbor less bacteria than those who were clean shaven, the baby faces actually had higher rates of certain bacterium. We suspect that this is due to micro-trauma associated with shaving.” Beards are natural spongesDespite the doctor’s findings, men were quick to argue that beards are playgrounds for bacteria. Dr. Kovarik agreed to a certain extent. “Beards are like natural sponges; they soak up things around them. Just like your husband might have enough crumbs in his beard after dinner for a second meal, these hairs are also collecting other less desirables around them. However, in the same way that your husband can easily dispatch these crumbs by washing his face, the same can be done with bacteria. As long as you’re washing the hairs regularly, there’s no reason to believe or evidence for that matter either, that the hairs are ‘clinging’ to the bacteria,” she said. She also noted that some beards are incredibly coarse, almost like brillo pads. Because of this, they’re prone to picking up dirt and debris. “This often leads us to think of them as being dirtier than clean skin. After all, you can often see the dirt in side the beard but it’s just not true. Washing those hairs will clean them and remove any unattractive debris. It’s common sense really,” Kovarik continued. So in other words, as long as you’re washing your whiskers thoroughly with antibacterial soap and warm water, you’re fine. What are your thoughts?Do you think this study is reason enough to “fear the beard” or are you siding with those who claim that the study is biased and inaccurate? Does this make you rethink your skincare routine if you’re a male or does it dissuade you from cuddling from your bearded partner? Let us know in the comment section below! We’d love to hear from you. The post According to Studies, Bearded Men have more Germs than Your Four-Legged BFF appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/bearded-men-have-more-germs/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/according-to-studies-bearded-men-have.html
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Days Gone is the latest game that’s been released for PS4. Following the hype of single player action games where the player must survive against a horde of zombies, the title was expected to do well; it had earned a lot of hype before its release. Articles, blog posts, and social media have been all a buzz about the game and its impending release. Many fans were chomping at the bit to get their hands on the game and according to companies like GameStop, the preorders were through the roof. The day it was released, fans also swarmed their local video game stores to pick up a copy. The game is also following a very successful line of blockbuster titles released by tech giant Sony. Following in the footsteps of Spider-Man, the God of War reboot, and Horizon Zero Dawn, fans were extremely excited to get their hands on Sony’s latest project. “They’ve been knocking games out of the park the last few years. We all just knew that Days Gone was going to be another blockbuster title. Plus the zombie apocalypse theme is really hot right now. Plenty of other franchises have done the theme justice but we all know that Sony can do even better,” fans tweeted. Unfortunately, the game seems to have flopped almost immediately. Players called it “boring” and “lackluster.” Which is strange; you’d expect a game in which you’re fighting for your life and resources against hordes of zombies to be at least somewhat interesting. However, players insisted that not even the zombies could save it. They were quick to admit that the graphics were flawless, but that the story was uninteresting, unappealing, and just generally boring. Which when said about a Sony title sounds almost impossible. What is Days Gone about?Days Gone is set in a post-apocalyptic world just two years after a global pandemic. The game takes place in Oregon and there is near constant rain. Like many other zombie plots, the pandemic wipes out a significant portion of humanity and turns the others into mindless zombie-like creatures that hunt primarily at night. In the game, they are referred to as “Freakers.” The game centers around Deacon St. John, who refers to himself as Deek for short, who is a former outlaw that’s turned drifter and moonlights as a bounty hunter. Deacon spends much of his time on the road rather than settling into permanent or even semi permanent wilderness camps. It was clear even from the very first trailers of the game that Deacon has a vendetta. And why wouldn’t he? A zombie game without a character that’s been personally effected and is now seeking revenge wouldn’t make much sense. It’s revealed early on in the game that the main character was forced to separate from Sarah, his then girlfriend, when the outbreak hit. Since their separation, Deacon insists that he’s spent the last 700 days or so “simply surviving and nothing else” alongside his fellow biker and best friend, Boozer. As the story progresses, the plot thickens a little bit. Deacon is trying to figure out what exactly happened to his girlfriend. He’s also trying to uncover the truth behind what he believes is a government conspiracy regarding the Freakers, and of course the various pockets of humans that have survived are also trying to figure out how to coexist in this strange new world. And of course, they’re not really doing very well at it. As you journey through the game, you’ll stumble across these story threads. Features of the gameDays Gone is an action-adventure survival horror game that is single player. The game itself is open world, meaning that players can free roam the environment. It’s played from a third-person perspective so you’re given unbridled access to appreciate the world around you. And to also see danger coming hopefully before it gets to you. Like previously mentioned, the player can expect to come across zombies, aka Freakers. And as if facing off against hordes of zombies isn’t bad enough, the Freakers are also quickly evolving. The two most common Freakers St. John faces are called Newts and Hordes. However, the pandemic isn’t only limited to humans; infected animals such as wolves and bears are also carrying the virus. Throughout the game, there are multiple objectives that can be completed in a number of different ways, really giving the player full control over the game and decisions. You can make use of stealth abilities, long and short ranged weapons to accomplish your task. According to the designers, choices you make will affect the game in a number of manners. Sony also saw it fit to implement weather patterns into the game. There is also a day and night cycle. During the day, the Freakers are weaker, slower, and easier to pick off. They can easily be avoided or even outran. During the night, they’re much more mobile and stronger. Running into them will also guarantee combat. In order to maneuver the terrain, St. John uses a motorcycle. And like any zombie apocalypse vehicle worth its salt, it’s been retrofitted. The speed, durability, and maneuverability of the bike have been significantly increased. As the game progresses, players are able to craft items to enhance features of the bike as well as improve their combat efficiency. There are also camps spread about the world where he can rest and regroup before going back out into the wilderness. This is also where you’ll craft your items, purchase goods, and make enhancements. The game also has a number of impressive details and well-thought out little features. Close attention has been paid to even the most minute of details and the game is stunning visually as well as massive. There are snowflakes that will fall from the sky when it’s cold, piling up on the ground to really give the player the feeling that they’re actually in this world. Human characters within the game have also been meticulously crafted; they have just the right amount of weight and sheen to them, making them hyper-realistic. Even the spiked bats that flutter around have blood-spatters that are incredibly detailed. The world itself looks very real, has history and thought behind, and it’s incredibly large. According to the designers, you can get at least 30 hours of game play out of Days Gone but much, much more if you’re a roamer and like to explore. When the game is paused, you’ll also see how many days it’s been since the outbreak, which in our opinion, is a pretty cool feature. Putting faith in SonyWhat sets Sony apart from so many other companies out there is the fact that Sony remains one of the last bastions of support for story-driven titles; most publishes have phased into live-service games, which are far more lucrative. So once word got out that the company was developing an immersive first person game that’s plot driven, people were quick to jump on the bandwagon. “They’re known for their graphics and their intense story lines. Sony puts out games that are different from all the others; you actually get invested in the characters, the story, and the world. It becomes more than just a game. We all had hope that Days Gone would be another successful title in Sony’s long list of fantastic games,” fans said. Days Gone promised buyers killer graphics and a rich, engaging storyline. People bit into the promise hook, line, and sinker. So when the game was released and people discovered that the storyline wasn’t as great as what they had originally though, many were left disappointed and desperately wanting something more. Is it really that bad?Given the graphics, the storyline, and the fact that Sony is producing it, it’s hard to believe that the game is as bad as everyone is claiming it is. Unfortunately, nobody has had anything positive to say regarding the storyline. Many refer to the game as a “yikes on bikes”, a “snore fest”, and others say that if the zombies don’t kill you, boredom will. Ouch! According to critics, the problem with the game is that it’s all tied to one seriously generic, overdone zombie story. “It relies too heavily on the storyline to move you through the game and since it’s such an overdone theme, it ends up playing out just like the other dozen zombie games that predated it. You’re paying $60 to play something you’ve likely already played numerous times. There’s nothing unique about it really.” Critics are also quick to point out that that Sony is capable of doing better. “Where it really falls apart for me is the fact that Sony is capable of doing so much more. Look at The Last of Us. This was another ‘generic’ post-apocalyptic zombie narrative, but Sony transformed it into so much more. They took it into really interesting and new directions. We were engaged and we were connected with the characters. The graphics were also beautiful and the world was huge; we were expecting something similar from Days Gone and instead we got a game that’s just like every other zombie franchise before it.” Others are also blown away by how dull the game is. “It’s the end of the world! You expect to feel some sort of pressure, intrigue, or at least interest but instead it’s incredibly bland and boring. It’s almost impressive how boring Sony made the end of the world feel with this game.” In regards to the stories that unfold as you progress through the game, critics insist that the bulk of these are unoriginal and uninteresting. “You spend a lot of time exploring and when you unlock a new piece of the storyline, you expect to be rewarded for your hard work. Instead, you’re given this overdone story. It’s also easy to predict what’s going to happen to a lot of the main characters. And because the storyline is so bland, you don’t really get attached to them so you don’t care either way.” Not even zombies can save itThose who have played the game insist that not even the zombies can save you from boredom. “It’s almost like it’s too little too late with the hordes of zombies. Sure, they’re fun to fight against, especially at night, but they don’t really breathe much life into the game. You’re still left with a bitter dude as your main character and a bland storyline. Not to mention it’s all very predictable. Within the first few minutes of meeting a new character, I can already tell if they’re going to live or die. And since they’re not very ‘fleshed’ out so to speak, I don’t really care if they do or don’t,” argue critics. Despite the less than positive reviews and harsh critiques the game has garnered, many insist that it isn’t bad. “It’s not a bad game at all; it’s very well done. Unfortunately, it’s just boring. If they would have done something more with the plot and focused on making it less generic, you’d easily have a game of the year on your hands. They spent all this time on the weather system and even rocks and leaves have shadows. The most insignificant things that the average player probably won’t even notice have been painstakingly rendered. I just wish they would have invested that same level of care into the storyline,” say some. GamesRadar insists its worthGamesRadar is one of the giants when it comes to video game reviews. A lot of people turn to this website when deciding whether or not it’s worth buying. Many expected GamesRadar to rip Days Gone apart, but the website gave the “scrappy but satisfying adventure” game a 3.5 out of 5 stars. Not necessarily a high rating, but it’s definitely above average. The website also reviewed the pros and cons then dissected the game in length after a thorough play through. According to the website, the pros of the game include: the beautiful graphics, the open-ended zombie survival, and remarks that the zombie hordes are impressive. Even in negative reviews, critics are praising these as well. “Nobody’s saying the game isn’t beautifully constructed or that the zombies aren’t cool; we’re just saying the storyline is dull and we can’t get caught up in it.” As far as the cons go, GamesRadar also noted the plot line was a little lacking. “The story is messy; especially at the beginning. It doesn’t really make sense and you’re just kind of thrown in with little to no introduction. It untangles itself a bit throughout the game play though,” the website says. According to GamesRadar, the game also has a lot of minor bugs. “They’re not really a big deal but when you consider the fact that this game was delayed for a year, you don’t expect to stumble across the number of bugs that we did. They don’t affect game play or the storyline for the most part, but they’re distracting.” What are your thoughts?If you’ve picked up the game and played, let us know what you think. Do you find the plot to be as boring and bland as many insist or do you think the general public is just expecting too much? And if you haven’t picked up the game, do you plan to? If you don’t plan on getting the game, is it because of the less than stellar reviews or is it because it’s something that just doesn’t appeal to you? If you’re planning on getting the game will you buy it new or wait for it to go on sale knowing what others have said about it? Let us know in the comments below! The post Days Gone: An Undead Apocalypse that’s Nothing Short of Boring appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/days-gone-game-is-very-boring/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/days-gone-undead-apocalypse-thats.html Arguably, the Samsung Galaxy Fold was one of the most hyped phone launches we’ve had in a long time. People around the world had fallen in love with the foldable design of the phone and praised its uniqueness. The slim, folding design meant that users could enjoy a large screen size without worrying about finding a place to stick it when it’s not in use. And in unless you have large pockets or a big purse, most of Samsung’s giant smart phones aren’t fitting anywhere. “We didn’t want to compromise the screen size that so many of our users love and it’s become something we’ve been known for. However, we also understand the impracticality of toting around such a large device. This led us to the foldable design; it appeals to both audiences of large and small devices, performing double duties,” Samsung said. The fold, which was tested and reviewed by a number of tech journalists, was supposed to be released April 26, 2019. However, the phone not only isn’t on shelves anywhere, but it’s also been delayed indefinitely according to sources. These same sources told The Wall Street Journal that a new rollout could be announced in the next coming weeks. As far as to an exact date, nobody seems to know. The term coming weeks is also used loosely; we don’t know if we’ll have information in 1 week or 6. The news came just one day after the Galaxy Fold’s launch was delayed in China. Many believed however that the US launch of the smart phone would proceed as expected, but it clearly didn’t. Before we talk about the reason why the phone didn’t make its launch, let’s look at the device itself and some of its features (just in case you’ve been living in a cave.) What is the Galaxy fold?The Galaxy Fold is another in a long list of giant smart phones released by global tech giant Samsung. The folding design is a trend that the mobile tech community has been preparing itself for a long time. “A massive influx of folding phones is right away the corner. We’ve been talking about them for years, but tech companies are finally finding ways to actually produce them and get them out to the general public,” say many techies. The first of which was supposed to be the Galaxy Fold. In addition to being the first of its kind, the Fold is loaded with all of the latest tech: 7nm processors, 12GB of ram, and 512GB of storage that can be upgraded. Despite the fact that it folds, something that many expected to compromise the screen and its quality, Samsung refused to bend on the display. The phone boasts an impressive 7.3-inch Dynamic AMOLED display that delivers crisp true to life colors. Samsung has been known for their stunning AMOLED displays and fans were excited to see the technology continue on with the Fold. The phone can be folded down to 4.6”, making it a perfect fit for pockets and purses. However when you want more screen, the phone easily unfolds to a full 7.3” and Samsung boasts that when unfolded, you’ll become far more immersed and you’ll be able to multitask as well as seamlessly transition apps from the front display. “We sought to turn a tablet into a smartphone. We wanted to include all of the features of a tablet such as large screen size and display, but we wanted to also pair it with the convenience of a smart phone. By making the design foldable, we’re giving users the best of both worlds,” Samsung remarked. The phone also features a hinge that’s been inspired heavily by watch mechanics. The hinge allows the Galaxy Fold to open smoothly and consistently like a book, while closing flat with a satisfying click. Samsung also remarks that the hinge has been tested up to 200,000 folds and remains as crisp and flawless then as it did when it was brand new. And not to be outdone by Apple, but Galaxy is also including a pair of their Galaxy Buds. The Buds work via Bluetooth to deliver hands-free music and you can even charge them wirelessly inside their case. Galaxy also includes a Slim Cover that protects your phone from dust and damage. It’s made of a feather light and durable Kevlar. And considering the fact that the phone costs a staggering $1,900 that Kevlar is much desired; the last thing you want to do is even put a tiny scuff into that phone. Why was it delayed?Officially, the phone has been delayed by Samsung following some seriously negative reviews from early users. According to these reviews, the phone needs some major improvements and has a lot of issues. To say the least, people around the world were shocked when the brand pulled its latest innovation from the market just a day shy of its release. “You’d expect these kinds of kinks to have already been worked out by the time the phone is about to be released. Sure there’s always last minute bugs but those are usually resolved with a swift update made shortly after the phone’s launch. To actually delay its release right before its launch is weird. It must have had some serious problems, but why did it take them so long to announce the delay?” According to tech journalists and YouTubers, Samsung conducted an extremely limited review program for the fold. Only a few technical teams were given access to the device for a hands-on session and even then, their time was limited. “We were given an hour to look the phone over and play with it. For such a high profile smartphone, we expected to have a lot more time than just an hour; typically we’re granted a few days or even a week with a device. And since the Fold is so revolutionary, we were all expecting to get to hang onto the device for a good amount of time. And an hour isn’t enough to give us an accurate depiction of the device,” said some of the teams. However, this really shouldn’t have been all that surprising. At the phone’s initial launch at the Galaxy Unpacked even back in February of this year, the Fold was actually kept behind glass. Many remarked that it was barely visible. “We couldn’t get a clear view of the phone and its design. It was hard to make out the features and the folding aspect wasn’t really clear. For such a hyped device, we expected to at least have a team member demonstrate some of its functions to us.” Currently, Samsung hasn’t made any comments regarding how long the launch’s delay will take. “We’ll have a new release date for you all in the next coming weeks. We have a lot to think about and we don’t want to release a product that’s anything less than the absolute best to our customers,” they said in a press release. Less than great reviews and a number of issuesAs mentioned earlier, the phone received less than glowing reviews. Those did have access to the phone had little to nothing positive to say about it. In fact, they were quick to point out a number of significant issues that would impact its everyday use and performance. Many were quick to attack the phone’s design and “lack of thought” put into the folding design. Roel Vertegaal, who is the CEO of Human Media Lab, Inc. is no stranger to folding phone designs. He’s been toying with both folding and flexible displays for over 15 years. He believes that Samsung’s decision to have the phone close on the inside, much like a book, is not only a poor design choice aesthetically, but is also likely the cause of a lot of the phone’s technical issues. “We’re still limited with what we can do. Samsung is trying to push the envelope too far and this design just doesn’t work. Regardless of how bad you want it to, it just doesn’t. At the end of the day, we can only do what we can,” he said. Others were quick to agree with Vertegaal’s statement. “If you look closely at the design you’ll realize that the device doesn’t actually close. And there’s a good reason for designing it that way; you can’t crease a screen in the way that you would a piece of paper. Bending or folding a screen in that same manner would kill it. This is why others, like the PaperFold, have designed the fold to be on the outside. Plus, it gives you a much thinner, more attractive fold.” Several tech outlets and online experts reviewed the Galaxy Fold and they also had less than positive things to say. They insisted that one of the phone’s biggest issues is its screen appearance. “I mistakenly peeled out what I originally thought was just a screen protector. Most phones come out of the box with these on them to protect the screens during shipping. So I naturally assumed that what I was looking at was a protective film. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a screen protector and I messed up the inside display. It severely malfunctioned,” said one of the reviewers. Others chimed in with the same issue and some claimed the device stopped working once they accidentally peeled this section off. However, the phone’s screen issues weren’t limited to the film removal; others noticed that after several days of use, one side of the display would flicker. “I’ve had this phone for awhile now and one side of the display is flickering; that side is unusable for the most part. I take good care of my devices and I’m not overworking the Fold; it’s getting a normal amount of use. You don’t expect this kind of issue to crop up days into your purchase or even a year for that matter, but here it is,” said one of the reviewers in a Tweet. Another insisted they were having what they referred to as a “jelly” problem. One side of the phone was responding far faster than the other, causing a significant amount of lag to happen on one half of the device. This often occurred while looking at webpages that occupied both sides of the screen. Scrolling vertically also seemed to exasperate the problem. All of these negative reviews caused Samsung to take immediate action, preventing the device from hitting the shelves. And unfortunately, all of the complaints listed above are just what we know what’s wrong with the phone; the actual extent of issues remains to be seen. Possible reason for the screen issuesOnce the decision to delay the Fold’s release was made public, Samsung began gathering up all of the phones that were currently lent out. “Some of the devices are in the hands of reviewers, tech journalists, and others. We’re currently working on retrieving all of them,” the company remarked. However, this didn’t stop one review site, iFixit, from doing its usual job of reviewing devices. On their repairability scale, meaning how easy it is to fix and how often it breaks, they gave the Fold a 2 out of 10, putting it on the same level as the latest iPad Air. While Samsung was less than thrilled with the review, they should definitely be grateful because thanks to iFixit’s look at the device, they have also discovered the source of its problems. When looking at the repair teardown, it’s easy to see where the design probably went wrong. At step three, the website closely inspects the device’s fold from the front. In this step, they noted that there was a small gap in the device’s bezel. This gap was also very close to the bend. Since bezels interfere with bends, this area has to remain uncovered. But by leaving it exposed, they’ve also given dirt and small particles a way of accessing and entering the device. “It’s easy to believe that even a small particle of dust or cat fur could screw up the entire display. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this was truly the source of the phone’s issues. A small particle could easily lead to the issues causing the recall of this device and its review units,” said one YouTuber. Many are confident that this is the source of the phone’s issues. Thus it would seem like the problem is extremely easy to fix; just plug up the gap. However, this is definitely one of those circumstances in which it’s easier said than done. For starters, the material used to plug the gap would need to be incredibly flexible; after all, it’s supporting a bend. It would also need to be both tough and durable since it’s going to be withstanding the repeated stress of bending. Will it eventually be released?Because of the super fast delay of the Galaxy Fold and the fact that they’re now recalling all of their tester units, many suspect that this is the end of the device altogether. “It’s sad that this stellar, revolutionary phone design is dead before it even hit the water. This would have changed the phone market for sure and I was looking forward to seeing all of the other companies adapt,” laments a few Twitter users. However, Samsung and other tech websites encourage the public to remain positive and not to give up hope. “This isn’t the end of the Samsung Galaxy Fold,” the global tech giant said. “This is just our way of pulling a product back that wasn’t completely finished and wasn’t ready for the market. We’re going to make significant improvements, address issues, and get back to you all with a much better device.” Others insist that this is Samsung’s way of protecting itself. “The company doesn’t want any negative reviews regarding their devices; especially something as new and unique as the Fold. That’s why they’re taking extra care and they won’t give us an official date. They want to take their time and make sure it works,” say some. The phone still could potentially be released this year, but we’ll have to wait for Samsung to make the official release date. Since there seems to be a number of issues with the phone and some of the problems seem to be a little tougher to fix, we anticipate that it’s going to take several months in the least to get the device ready for release. Until then, we’ll just hold our breaths and wait for Samsung to update us within the next few weeks on the phone’s status. What are your thoughts?Even though the phone has technically been “indefinitely delayed” do you believe that it will hit the markets within this year like many suspect or do you think that the device’s current issues will prove to difficult to solve and it’ll be scrapped altogether? We also want to know what you think about the phone’s features in general. Is this design something that you’re interested in? Would you consider purchasing it? And if so, what do you think about the price point of the device? Let us know in the comments! The post Samsung Galaxy Fold’s Launch has been Indefinitely Delayed appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/samsung-galaxy-folds-launch-has-been-indefinitely-delayed/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/samsung-galaxy-folds-launch-has-been.html Arguably, Earth Day isn’t a huge holiday. On many calendars, it often goes unlabeled and for the most part people remain oblivious to it until they tune into social media and realize it’s Earth Day. However, a lot of people are actually off school today and some businesses are closed. Unfortunately, it’s not in honor of the environment; it’s mostly a leftover celebration from Easter. However, this doesn’t make Earth Day any less special or important for that matter; especially given the worrisome condition our planet is in. Today, Google celebrated the holiday by featuring a Google Doodle of six creatures. Their goal is to remind us that we’re a part of a nature; it rolls with this year’s theme of “Protect Our Species” that Google announced earlier in the year. Despite the beautiful artwork and what once inspired people to go outside and pick up trash, Earth Day this year is incredibly sobering. Ocean levels are steadily rising, Earth is warming faster than ever before, migrants are forced to flee their homes due to environmental disasters brought about by mankind, and several species of animals, plants, and insects have become severely endangered or extinct altogether. Taxpayers are also shoulder the cost of repairing communities that have been devastated by climate-linked hurricanes and wildfires. Luckily, a lot of blind eyes have begun to open and measures have been taken to start protecting the environment. The Trump Adminstration plans to go live with polices designed to protect both the environment and our health soon. In the meantime, people all around the world are calling for action and bringing this dreary subject matter to the light. In fact, a wave of young environmental activists are paving the way for a better future for our planet. These activists have been taking to the streets and striking for a safer climate. Classrooms, courtrooms, and even Congress members have hopped on board thanks to the efforts of these activitists. Because of this young wave’s work, the Green New Deal is getting a lot of attention and backing. This deal aims to employ a number of tactics designed to protect the environment. So for this Earth Day, we’ll not only take a brief look at the history of the holiday, but we’ll also focus in keeping up with traditions set in place by former Vox writers. In keeping with these traditions, we’ll be reviewing a few things we’ve learned about our planet since the last time we celebrated this holiday. Earth Day: a brief historyEarth Day often gets confused with Earth Hour or people assume that both of these happen on the same day. However, they’re not the same holiday. In March, we have what is called Earth Hour. At a certain time, people are encouraged to switch off their power in order to not only give our planet a break from energy consumption, but to also appreciate the natural beauty. “By switching off your power and everyone else around you doing it, you really get a feeling of connection with the world. You can see so many stars and hear so many animals that you previously couldn’t hear. It’s amazing,” people write. However, Earth Day doesn’t include an Earth Hour. People of course are encouraged to lighten their load on this holiday, but the main focus of this particular one is to alert people to the state of the world. It’s also used to garner support for environmental protection and to help others see as well as realize the impact we’re having on our planet. “You can also think of it as a yearly checkup but for the planet. Just like you go on for a yearly physical and the doctor gives you a status report, Earth Day is the same. We look back at the previous years and compare them to today. We then take our findings and use them to make the public aware of what’s going on,” say experts. “Unfortunately, it’s usually not good news that we’re reporting. Since 1970, Earth Day has been celebrated annually on April 22. Events are held worldwide to draw in support for the environment as well as encourage changes for the better. These events stretch to more than 193 countries; all of which are globally coordinated by the Earth Day Network. Today’s kids are mad as hell at us and for good reasonAs the world’s population continues to grow, we bring more and more people into the world that may very well be around to see the end of the century. Even those close to the age of 18 could very easily still be here when the year 2100 rolls around. And for the bulk of them, they’re incredibly angry about the world and the climate that they’re inheriting. According to current trajectories, the planet is expected to warm globally by about 4 degrees Celsius by the time the clock strikes midnight on the year 2100. While this might not sound like a big deal at first, 4 degrees is a significant change. It can lead to a number of deadly factors such as natural disasters, droughts, disease, and even food shortages. “That degree change is enough to increase the speed that the ice caps are melting and that’s dangerous in and of itself. However, with climate change also comes over factors like more earthquakes, tornadoes, violent storms, etc.,” activists say. The younger generations are also quick to point fingers back at the older generation. “The world we’re left to inherit isn’t in good hands. You didn’t take care of it. You didn’t listen to the warnings and you abused the planet beyond repair and then you hand it over to us like it’s a gift! Instead, we’re left scrambling to see if we can even fix the mess left behind,” many lament. “If our parents and their parents would have just altered their lifestyles a little bit the world would be so much better off than it is now.” In 120 countries, students went on strike. This happened in March and they were demanding that action be taking regarding climate change. “They won’t take us seriously or even listen to us unless we do something drastic,” said the strikers. “We didn’t want it to come to this, but they’ve got to listen.” These strikes are a youth-led activism movement and is just one part of many regarding the movement. There’s currently another global strike being planned by the same group that will take place on May 24th. This movement, #FridaysForFuture, was brought to life by Greta Thunberg. Great is a 16-year-old from Sweden. She began picketing outside of her skip and skipping classes in order to protest the government’s inaction regarding climate change. Since then, others have joined in on the cause. Greta Thunberg has also become a global ambassador and role model for youths who are concerned about climate change. At a speech in Davos, Greta said “I want to tell you that our house is on fire. Not just my house, but your house is well; the Earth is everyone’s house. I don’t want you to have false hope; I don’t want you to tell us that ‘everything will be okay.’ I want you to panic. I want you to wake up in fear and be unable to sleep at night because of it. I want us to take action.” Plastic is becoming an even bigger issuePlastic has always been an area of contention. It’s bad for the environment, but so many products we rely on daily use it. Even though it was going into the ocean, many people took action back in the early 90s to protect fish, turtles, and dolphins by cutting plastic soda rings. “It was a good start, but we need far more action taken against not only plastic, but trash in general,” activists say. Even though many soda and drink manufacturers no longer make the plastic rings, that hasn’t stopped plastic from spilling out into our oceans. Every day, it’s becoming more and more concerning and common to hear about plastic washing ashore or killing wildlife. In fact earlier this month, a sperm whale was found dead along the coast of Sardinia, Italy. The cause of her death? 49 pounds worth of plastic was present in her stomach. Back in March, a Cuvier’s beaked whale was vomiting blood near a coast in the Philippines. Nothing could be done for the whale and it died a few short hours later. When examined by scientists, they discovered 88 pounds of plastic waste inside its stomach. But how much plastic trash are we allowing into the ocean each year? According to scientists, the equivalent to the plastic’s mass would be something along the sides of the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. This means every year we essentially push a massive pyramid of plastic into the waters where it is accidentally eaten by sea animals. The croak of a frog isn’t as cute anymoreFor many, the sound of frogs chirping/croaking is incredibly relaxing and beautiful. Unfortunately once you realize the cause of some of the frogs’ croaking, it suddenly doesn’t become so sweet and magical. According to scientists, the spread of amphibian fungus or Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, or Bd for short, is causing serious concern in the frog community. Some time back, scientists discovered that this fungus, which causes the frogs to croak in an effort to “clear” it from their airways, is responsible for the decline and extinction of 200 frog species. However, they’re now reporting this pathogen is responsible for more deaths that they realized. “Bd has killed off 90 species of frogs and 124 other species have declined in numbers by an astonishing 90 percent. This population crash is significant and you’d expect it to stretch back further than 50 years, but it doesn’t. It’s extremely concerning and we could easily see frogs as a whole making their way to the critically endangered species list,” scientists say. But what does that have to do with us? Well, the fungus is certainly deadly on its own and grows on its own as well, but humans have definitely contributed to its spread around the globe. And as more and more forests and habitats are taken down, frogs are pushed into smaller areas where they’re likely to come in contact with the disease. The disease is also incredibly hard to treat and get rid of. A little over a decade of the “best case scenario” remainsMany are still hopeful that there’s plenty of time to fix things, but according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which houses the world’s top scientists, put out a report that left everyone in a state of shock. According to their report, there’s very little time left to restrict global warming to just under 1.5 degrees Celsius, and even that is incredibly ambitious. “We have just over a decade to hit this target goal before the window closes completely. And in order to do this, we’re going to have to really change our lifestyles. Global greenhouse emission gases for starters will have to be cut in half by the year 2030. If we can do this, then the next goal is to push for zero emissions by 2050 and eventually we would have to start withdrawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere itself,” scientists say. “If we can’t reach these goals, then the 1.5 degrees Celsius window closes for good and we’re left to more warming.” Unfortunately, we’re far off track from reaching those numbers and we’re only getting further away. “We know what we have to do, but we haven’t seen any improvements; in fact, we’re only getting worse. In 2018, we hit an all-time high with global carbon dioxide emissions. It was a record of 411 parts CO2 per million. This is the highest level we’re hit since the dawn of mankind. And in the US, energy usage also hit a record high and greenhouse gases are expected to rise again as well.” What are your thoughts?We’d like to know what you think about this piece. Are you shocked to learn about the amount of plastic being dumped into the oceans? And what do you think of the target goal of 1.5 Celsius? Do you think it’s a goal we can actually hit, or do you have very little hope like many of the scientists? Especially considering how far off track we are from hitting the numbers. What do you think the solutions are, if any, for getting more people motivated to take action? Let us know in the comment section! The post Happy Earth Day! Here’s what We have Learned since the Last One appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/happy-earth-day-heres-what-we-have-learned-since-the-last-one/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/happy-earth-day-heres-what-we-have.html It’s no secret that the ice caps are melting; it’s something that scientists, environmentalists and activists around the world have been harking on for more than two decades. In fact, YouTubers have also begun heavily discussing the hot button topic and possible solutions as well within the last five years. However, what we didn’t previously know is that the ice caps are melting much faster than we originally thought. In fact, scientists have called the rate at which they’re melting “alarming”. Glaciers as well as ice are losing an estimated 1% of their mass every year. These numbers refer to the most affected areas in the world, but even the less affected are seeing significant losses in mass. While it might not seem like a large or significant amount being lost, researchers are worried. Michael Zemp, who is a director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service at the University of Zurich, expressed his concern regarding the loss of mass. “At the current loss rate, these glaciers will not last through the century.” The ice melting is also responsible for close to one third of the rising sea levels. “We will only see levels continue to rise over the coming years as more and more ice melts. Eventually, these levels will reach a detrimental peak and we will see a lot of coastal areas go under. It’s worrisome to say the least,” Zemp continued. How fast are we talking?Back in the 1960s, climate change wasn’t a pressing issue. “I wish we would have been paying attention sooner,” Zemp laments, “we might have been able to do more to stop it.” But alas, we were a world on the cusp of large technological breakthroughs and in order to make them happen, we needed fossil fuels and a blind eye to the suffering environment. Now, climate change is everywhere and is a hot button news topic. But for many, it’s just that: a news topic that can be easily bypassed. That’s why it’s important to share some really scary facts: since 1960, 10.6 trillion tons of ice has melted away. And while that’s probably difficult to picture, imagine it this way: that would be a 1.2 meter sheet of ice that would easily cover all of the lowest 48 states in the US. Recently, Nature published a study regarding the polar ice caps melting. In their study, they included the above information but also some frightening news as well. Not only were the world’s ice caps and glaciers melting at an alarming pace, but also they were melting much, much faster than we’d thought. According to Nature, the ice is disappearing 18% faster. This number is compared to an estimate that scientists came up with six years ago. And if that isn’t enough to keep you up at night picture this: that rate is a staggering five times faster than it was in the 1960s. What’s causing this to happen?The short answer? Us! Technology has been good to us and we’ve made major improvements to it over the last few hundred years, but now people are starting to question the cost of such developments. Fossil fuels has done irreparable damage to the planet and we’ve heavily dependent upon them. We have a high rate of consumption when it comes to fossil fuels and they’re used for almost everything in our day to day lives. In the United States alone, nearly 81% of all of our energy are coal, oil, or natural gas; all of which are fossil fuels. We use these to power our vehicles, heat our houses, run electricity, and both power and manufacturing industries rely heavily on fossil fuels. These fuels are extremely harsh on the environment. They heavily impact the ozone, increase our carbon footprints, and are a major contributing factor in regards to climate change. And it’s not just the smog filled cities like the one pictured above that are damaging things; even small cities are responsible for contributing to global warming. “Dependency on technology, fossil fuels, and the such are significantly hurting the world we live in. And it’s not just the large industrial cities that we have to worry about. Sure, they’re contributing the most but every time you flip on your home’s lights or throw away food, you’re hurting the environment. Every little bit matters and the ozone as well as the polar ice caps don’t care how ‘little’ the decision is; it’s still hurting it,” activists say. “At present, we can’t sustain this consumption rate,” say many scientists. “We are causing irreparable damage to the environment and the ozone on a daily basis. There are attempts being made to reduce our impact, but that are from small groups and it’s not enough.” Not only are we causing significant damage to the world we live in, but we also can’t sustain our dependency on fossil fuels. According to scientists, we will run out of oil within the next 53 years based on our current levels of production. We will also lose natural gas in 54 years and coal will cease to exist in 110. “We have somehow managed to deplete all of these fossil fuels in less than 200 years since we discovered them,” say scientists. “These fuels date back somewhere between 541 and 66 million years ago. It should have taken a lot longer to go through them. And since they’re fossil fuels, meaning they’re derived from fossils/bones, we’re not exactly producing anymore that can be used.” You’ve heard the phrase carbon footprint but what does it mean and why is it important?Chances are, you’ve probably heard the term carbon footprint at least a dozen times. It’s one of the hottest topics right now. But what exactly is it and why should you be concerned? Well for starters, carbon footprints are one of the leading causes of climate change and global factors such as melting ice caps. A carbon footprint defined as the amount of greenhouse gases consumed to support a person’s daily life. It’s typically measured in equivalent tons of CO2 (carbon dioxide.) Almost everything you do leaves behind a footprint; driving your car, heating/powering your house, using products that affect the ozone such as certain hairsprays, etc. And we all have one. “What people don’t realize is that their everyday decisions have a huge impact on the environment. Every time you opt to drive your car instead of walking or biking, you’re increasing your footprint. Every time you support large agricultural industries by purchasing meat, you’re hurting the environment. And a lot of people often think, ‘well it’s just one decision’ or ‘I’m only one person,’ but that kind of mentality is what’s hurting the ice caps so much. We need to make moves as a collective to minimize our impact,” say activists. It’s hard to break away from our carbon footprint, but it is possible to significantly reduce it. There are also websites available where you can input your information and see the size of your carbon footprint. From there, you can make conscientious decisions to help reduce the size. Minimizing your impact on the environmentFor a lot of people, minimizing the carbon footprint that’s left behind is important. Many have turned to self-sustained living, tiny homes in eco-friendly areas, and some even live “off the grid”; which is to say that they are not wired into anything. No electricity wires, no sewer, no Internet. They self sustain through composting toilets and solar powered energy. Of course, this is on the far side of the scale. For others, making eco conscientious decisions is a big part of how they minimize their carbon footprint. Tiny houses, non-GMO products, organic foods, and avoiding any products that contain chemicals that are hard on the environment are a way of dramatically shrinking that footprint. Others make simple changes to their everyday routine. Instead of driving to the store that’s just a few blocks away, they’ll walk or ride their bicycle instead. Or while they’re at work during the day, they’ll turn off the lights and use natural lighting instead while raising the AC or lowering the heat to prevent the system from kicking on so much. You may also opt to open your window when the weather outside is to your liking instead of using the heating/cooling system. “You don’t have to throw out your toilet and start composting in order to lessen your footprint,” activists say. “Simply making conscientious decisions throughout the day will significantly reduce your footprint and help the environment. You can start by recycling, abstaining from unnecessary plastic containers or simply reusing your own, and avoiding products that are bad for the environment. It might not seem like much, but if everyone starts making these kinds of decisions, we could see a huge change in the environment for the better.” What happens if the ice caps melt completely?Since the start of the article and the debate, this is likely the question that has been on your mind. As the polar ice caps continue to disappear, you can expect more frequent and far more violet weather to happen. As the ice caps melt, more precipitation is released into the air. It goes without saying that this causes rain and unfavorable weather patterns. However, because the amount melting is staggering, there is a ton of moisture that is making its way up at a fast rate. This means that not only will you see more rain storms, but you’ll see far more violent weather conditions as well. Long term, coastal states and areas will become more vulnerable to hurricanes and tsunamis as these occur more frequently due to climate change. Flooding is also an issue and at some point, these areas might completely disappear beneath the sea as the water levels rise. Others theorize that this is a gross overestimate. “Think of a glass of ice water. Once the ice melts, the water level doesn’t rise in your glass. The same would apply to us should the ice caps fully melt,” say some scientists. The ice that melts below sea level would just be replaced by salt water, causing the levels to remain the same. Of course water isn’t the only thing we’d have to worry about should the ice caps melt. Earthquakes could also be on the horizon as the water levels rise. In order to explain this, Anthony Fordham created an analogy that’s extremely user friendly. Think of the Earth as a Ping-Pong ball with a dent in it. The dent is all of the pressure that’s been caused by the sheet of ice that’s resting on top of Antarctica. Remove the ice and the Earth’s crust becomes exposed, causing earthquakes all over. Oh, and as a bonus, it can also activate volcanoes. Oddly enough, our days would also be a little bit longer. According to Steven Dutch, the polar ice caps melting would add 2/3 of a second to the day. How exactly would this add time to our days? Well, Dutch postulates that the water being redistributed across Earth would affect the “moment of inertia”, slowing the Earth’s rotation every so slightly. The release of prehistoric virusesArguably one of the scariest and most likely situations that could happen with the melting of the polar ice caps is the release of prehistoric viruses. Many scientists, including biologist Elena Giorgi, believe that there are deadly prehistoric viruses lying just beneath the surface of the Antarctic ice. “We’ve been kept safe from them for a long, long time thanks to the ice and permafrost,” Giorgi says. “However, with the ice caps melting at an alarming rate, it wouldn’t take long for the pathogens to become exposed and to make their way into our lives. And I don’t have to tell you that we aren’t prepared to fight them.” According to The Huffington Post researchers have already proven that this is more than just the plot of the next blockbuster scary movie. “This isn’t a theory, we’ve discovered a large prehistoric virus lying dormant under the Siberian permafrost. We’ve named it ‘pithovirus’ and it’s not hard to imagine that there are more like it hiding under the Antarctic ice,” says Giorgi. According to research the pithovirus has similar properties to modern day viruses. Unfortunately because it hasn’t been around in such a long time, we have no way of fighting it and currently no vaccine/remedy available for it should it be released. “I’m sure in time we’ll develop a way of fighting it, but not before it wipes out a portion of the population,” scientists theorize. Humans won’t be the only ones impacted by thisOf course, humans won’t be the only ones to suffer; animals will also pay the price for our mistakes. Should the Arctic ice disappear, polar bears will die off completely. Alun Anderson explains this in his After the Ice: Life, Death, and Geopolitics in the New Arctic. “By the year 2050, the Arctic will consist mostly of open ocean. This means that the polar bears will have very few areas to call home, rest, and raise cubs. These small pockets of territory will become so heavily fought over, that many polar bears will die in competition or from lack of space/food.” He also suggests that the killer whale will become to the new Arctic symbol, replacing the polar bear wandering along ice. “Killer whales will thrive. There will be much larger areas for them to hunt in and they won’t have to compete with polar bears for food. This means that they will have access to their prey without competition outside of their own species.” Anderson also speculates that walruses will feel the impact. “They use the ice to birth their pups. Because there will be so little of it left, the walrus population will significantly decrease. I don’t believe that they’ll become completely extinct, but their numbers will definitely dwindle.” Penguins and seals will also feel the effects of global warming. With very few areas available to nest and get them out of the water away from predators, their numbers will also dwindle like the walruses. However, Anderson believes that they won’t go extinct either. “There’s still plenty of food for them to find in the ocean. More ocean means more fish so there’s no reason to believe that they’ll cease to exist. However, the lack of space will reduce colony size significantly.” What are your thoughts?We’d like to start by asking your thoughts regarding global warming. For many, it’s an extremely controversial topic. A lot of people deny its existence outright while others are fighting tooth and nail to slow down the process. We’d like to know where on the scale you fall. Do you fall somewhere in the middle or you more one side or the other? Are you actively doing anything to reduce your footprint? Let us know in the comment section below! The post According to New Studies, Glaciers are Melting much Faster than Previously Thought appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/whats-going-to-happen-if-glaciers-melt/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/according-to-new-studies-glaciers-are.html When it comes to our food, we assume that several safety precautions have gone into effect before it arrives at the store for our consumption. We trust facilities to practice good hygiene and process as well as package our meats in the best, most sanitary way possible. We then put our trust into the grocery stores to sell us quality products that aren’t past date and are safe to eat. After all, there are regulations and rules for what can and can’t pass through from the processing plant to our tables. Right? However, it seems that our trust has been misplaced after recent studies concluded that the meat you purchase might not only contain trace amounts of fecal matter, but that it’s also legal. According to PCRM, or the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the meat you’re consuming could contain trace amounts of fecal matter. And that it’s also legal; or in the very least, a blind eye has been turned to these facilities. This group is also fighting tooth and nail to ensure that the food we consume is healthy and safe. “We want to make sure that people are not only healthy, but that they’re aware of what could potentially be in their food. Fecal matter that’s present, even if it’s just trace amounts, can have severe and deadly consequences,” the group said. Not to mention, it’s disgusting to think that the hamburger we consumed might have had a little bit of animal feces buried within it somewhere. Yuck! The New JungleWe’d like to think that we’re far removed from the days of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. In 1904, the journalist turned novelist blew the cover off of how disgusting food processing plants are. The novel was originally designed to bring awareness to the exploited lives and harsh working conditions of immigrants; especially in these types of facilities. However, in his novel Sinclair shocked the world by describing scenes that sounded like they were straight out of a horror movie. “I was aiming for the public’s heart when I wrote The Jungle but it seems that I missed and hit them in the stomach instead,” the author said regarding his book. In the infamous novel, Sinclair describes the scenes in gory detail: flies circling around piles of stinking, rotting meat, the presence of dead bugs that get swept into the meat as it goes along, sick animals being slaughtered and hung alongside healthy animals, and pus as well as boils that were either removed or left in the mix. “Sometimes the blister was removed and discarded, other times it was left in the meat. Regardless of where it ends up, do you really want to eat something that’s had that on it? The risk of infection becomes much, much higher.” Sinclair also noticed the animal excrement that was present within the facilities. “Animals would sometimes be slaughtered in their own filth then strung up. Other times, the meat was dangerously close to the piles of filth. And as far as sanitary practices are concerned, there was no hand washing or use of gloves. Carcasses, filth, and live animals were handled rather indiscriminately.” The book left Sinclair’s audience hungry for change. The exposed health violations and unsanitary practices taking place in America’s meat packing industry resulted in a massive public outcry. This prompted a number of reforms to take place, including the Meat Inspection Act. Since then, we’ve trusted our meats to be of quality and safe for consumption. However, this apparently isn’t the case anymore. Even though we’re over 100 years removed from Sinclair’s The Jungle, it appears that conditions and rules have once again become lax in the meat packing plants. Blurred linesNo, we aren’t talking about the controversial Robin Thicke song; we’re talking about the possibility that the USDA is turning a blind eye to this sort of thing. A spokeswoman for the US Department of Agriculture was quick to defend their inspection system. “We have a zero tolerance policy for feces on poultry and meat. It’s not something that we allow or would ever allow to pass from our facility to a store where it can be purchased for consumption,” she said in an interview. The USDA regularly sends inspectors to various facilities. “Their job is to closely inspect carcass samples chosen at random throughout the production shift. They are looking for fecal matter, blisters, boils, and any number of containments that would make the product unsafe and unfit to eat. They take their job seriously and so do we,” the spokeswoman continued. “Should we find even trace amounts of feces on the animal’s carcass, we ensure that it never makes its way into the food supply. And if our inspectors find repeat infractions, the FSIS takes ‘progressive enforcement action’ against the company.” With this in mind, it becomes hard to believe that fecal matter really is present within our foods. As discussed below, some have accused the physicians’ group of trying to push their own agenda for a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle. However, the Press is quick to point that out flaws with the current inspection policy. “At current, the USDA’s policy for inspection isn’t good enough. It’s only applied to feces that are visible on the production line; not fecal matter traces that could be present within the meat or hidden on the animal,” they argue. They also point out that the USDA has become lax on its rules regarding the speed at which poultry facilities can process birds. When the rules were first set into place, the facility could process a max of 140 birds per minute. Now, it’s an upwards of 175 birds per minute allowed. “This means that those doing the inspection would need to scan three birds every second. And they’re doing so with the naked eye. It’s impossible to thoroughly search what’s going down the line in that short amount of time. Thus, fecal matter and other containments can easily be overlooked.” “There’s also the concern of human error. It’s easy to zone out when doing the same task day in and day out. Think about how many times you’ve been driving only to stop in your driveway and think, ‘did I stop at the red lights?’ The same applies to these plants. You can start out as diligent as you want, but chances are you’re going to slip up. So even if the meat is passing by at a reasonable speed, stuff is likely to slip by,” PCRM argues. What lies beneathOf course it’s not just what’s on the surface of the animal that we have to worry about; we also need to be concerned about what’s inside the animal as well. “Currently, the laws and regulations in place focus on “visible” fecal matter. However, that completely negates what’s going on inside of the chickens; particularly their bowels,” PCRM says. “We had a federal inspector speak to us regarding this matter. They told us that it’s not uncommon to see birds going down the line with their intestines still in place. Obviously there’s fecal matter within the intestines and it’s sitting either right beside or actually attached to meat that you’re going to purchase. And the sad thing is we can’t do anything about it; as long as there’s no visible fecal matter on the bird’s skin, we have to just let it pass down the line. Plus the intestines are literally just dragging microbes and bacteria that you can’t see along the belt. Once the belt cycles back, these microbes can then be transferred to even healthy birds.” However, the sick factor doesn’t stop there. According to the inspector, the bird then finds itself in a large vat of water, or chill tank, after it has made its way down the line. “In this vat, there are a ton of birds and the water can easily flush out the bowels. In fact, it’s kind of supposed to. Obviously, this means that all of the carcasses in the tank are exposed to fecal matter; and a lot of it. We call this a ‘fecal soup’. And the water obviously isn’t going to kill the microbes or bacteria; it’s only going to spread it.” There’s also the concern of unseen diseases present with the carcasses. “We can’t always tell if a bird was healthy at slaughter; sometimes it looks just like the rest but it’s actually full of bacteria and disease,” the inspector continued. Fighting for our foodThis product “may contain fecal matter”: a consumer rights advocacy group is pushing to have this label added to many of the packaged meat products we find within the grocery store. “It’s more of a tongue-in-cheek recommendation,” Deborah Press, who is an attorney for the Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine, said. “However, we want to draw awareness to the fact that your meat could potentially have fecal matter in it. And we want to make these plants take responsibility for their actions and improve conditions.” Deborah also notes that by doing this, her group is also drawing awareness to concerns that they have regarding the US Department of Agriculture’s food safety inspection program. “And it’s not just us that should be concerned; the general population should be wary as well.” Deborah’s organization includes 12,000 physicians who have been arguing the necessity of plant-based diets as well as ethical scientific research since their start. The group has been questioning the presence of fecal matter for at least six years. “We haven’t been able to get much accomplished unfortunately. We’re either ignored, or we’re not taken seriously. It’s difficult to stand up against the USDA; they’re a huge corporation and they’ve earned the trust of many. It’s an uphill battle,” Deborah said. “Questions like these matter for more than just the ‘obvious’ gross reasons. Of course nobody wants to eat feces because it’s disgusting, but it’s more than that; consuming microbes like E. coli and other bacteria that’s present with fecal matter can cause a number of health issues; even death,” Deborah lamented. Despite the group’s diligence, PCRM maintains that they’re not getting any straight answers regarding food inspection processes. This prompted the group to send a petition in 2013 to the USDA. In their petition, they requested that rules that apply to fecal contamination be changed. They also suggested that the word “wholesome” should be removed from labels and food categories. “You can’t call something ‘wholesome’ if it contains harmful microbes. It’s misleading,” the group says. To further support their claims, PCRM ran its own independent study on chicken. They tested a number of chicken products and found that an astonishing 48% tested positive in regards to fecal contamination. Their evidence also referenced a Consumer Reports study that was done prior. The results of the Consumer Reports study were very close in numbers to what PCRM found: “over half of the packages of patties and ground meat tested positive for feces,” the report read. The USDA had no response. In 2017, PCRM took it a step further after the USDA remained silent and refused to answer questions. The group filed a Freedom of Information Act request. In their request, they asked for a number of records. “We want access to how many USDA poultry inspectors there, the current detection rates for visible fecal matter in poultry, the average poultry inspection line speed, USDA rates of poultry inspection, and training processes for inspection.” Once again, the USDA remained silent and avoided straight forward answers. On Tuesday, the group decided it had had enough and filed a lawsuit in the federal district court. The lawsuit claims that the USDA violated the Freedom Information act by failing to respond to the request regarding feces contamination rates. According to federal laws, agencies have 20 days with respond to the FOIA. No statements have been released on the pending litigation. PCRM = the new PETA?PETA at one point in time was a huge force. The group was responsible for inspiring people to make better lifestyle choices and they were the voice that so many animals desperately needed. However, the group quickly became the butt of nearly everyone’s jokes and the group fell from grace when it was discovered that they were doing more than good. Now, many are voicing these same concerns in regards to PCRM. Many are concerned that they’re the new PETA; especially given their history of encouraging others to switch to a plant-based diet. Many have even begun to question the legitimacy of the group’s claims. “What evidence is there to support their claims? It’s easy to fake results to swing in your favor; you can purchase meat products from other countries where the standards aren’t as high as our own or you can even fake your own results by contaminating the products themselves.” Others have even gone as far as to accuse PCRM of furthering its own agenda. “They’re just another PETA organization trying to bully us into following their own lifestyle. They want everyone to quit eating meat and the best way they’ve found to do this is through scare tactics.” The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has actively defended itself against these types of responses, but it has done little to dissuade those that are against them. “We’re looking out for the safety of the American population and we want to raise awareness regarding the products you’re purchasing. And if what we’re publishing sounds like scare tactics, then that’s probably because this is seriously scary, concerning stuff,” Deborah said. Others have also been quick to step up to the group’s defense. “Do you really think your meat is safe when somebody’s being paid minimum wage or less to eyeball 3 birds a second that pass by for 8+ hours a day?” Many have also reminded those against the group that insect parts are not also common in food, especially pepper, but there are laws in place that allow for X amount to be present. “Ground pepper samples have confirmed that an average of 475+ insect parts are present within every 50 grams and that’s perfectly legal.” What are your thoughts? What are your thoughts regarding the article? Are you completely disgusted and shocked to learn that your favorite meat products could potentially contain fecal matter? Or are you really not all that surprised? We also want to know your thoughts about the current safety regulations. Do you think 175 birds a minute is a reasonable number or should it be drastically lowered? We also want to know what you think about the group of doctors that are fighting to expose this sort of thing. Do you think they’re the new PETA and are just pushing their agenda or do you believe they have our best interests at heart? Let us know in the comments below! The post Watch what You Eat: It’s Legal for Meat to have Trace Amounts of Fecal Matter in it appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/watch-what-you-eat-its-legal-for-meat-to-have-trace-amounts-of-fecal-matter-in-it/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/watch-what-you-eat-its-legal-for-meat.html Once you have sorted out your pre travel expenses such as flight tickets, your next big budget expense will be your accommodation. There is a misconception of backpacking that you will have to rough it in some really dodgy dorms with bed bug infested sheets and disease inducing shared showers, but this isn’t the case. Yes many backpackers do stay in hostels and dorms, but outside of some of the more expensive westernised countries, there is so much competition between hostel accommodation that prices are extremely low and quality can be extremely high, in some cases better than the cheaper guesthouses. Depending on where you travel you can get some really nice places for relatively very little money. How much you choose to budget for your accommodation is completely down to how you want to travel and what type of accommodation you want to stay in. Prices vary a lot around the world and from location to location, some countries are vastly cheaper than others and more rural, less visited places will be a lot cheaper than well trafficked cities. However, there are some averages you can take into consideration. If you are backpacking for an extended period then odds are you will be staying in budget accommodation. This type of place can be a hostel bed, a small beach hut or even an often basic quality room to yourself, perhaps with a fan instead of air con for example, and most often with a shared bathroom. Although at this level accommodation may be basic, remember that it doesn’t always have to mean bad. I have stayed in some amazing budget accommodation throughout Africa or South East Asia that can put some package hotel places in Europe to shame! Beach huts right on the beach itself or modern, clean and comfortable hostels can cost less than a beer or two back home per night and are perfect if you plan on staying somewhere for a little while. A weeks accommodation costs can add up to less than a meal out in a restaurant back home! Amenities such as TV, air con and swimming pools are usually thin on the ground but the quality and cleanliness of what you do get may be very high indeed, and the prices are good. Ask yourself do you really need anything more than a bed, a fan and a bathroom? There are of course really bad places too, and for every good budget place you find there are bound to be a couple of really bad ones nearby, usually right next door, often going for the exact same price. That is why it is really important to look around at a few and check out what you are getting before you commit. You can get a decent hostel bed or a beach hut from between £3 to £10 GBP per night in many places and prices are usually very easy to haggle with. Often good savings can be had if you book over the internet in advance or even haggle once you arrive for those places who don’t have a website. Prices can often go up in cities or tourist popular areas and will soar during public holidays or special festivals, but competition usually stops these prices from going too high. Mid range accommodation is the type of room that varies the most in quality. This can range from fleapit hotel rooms and fancy hostels, to unique stays (such as pod rooms) and even really high quality boutique hotels. The prices vary just as much too, and you can usually find a really nice place for around £10 to £40 GBP a night. However in some of the more expensive countries, Britain or Europe for example you can expect this level of accommodation to cost double that or even more. On average in places like South East Asia, parts of South America, Egypt or India for just a few examples, £15 to £20 GBP or less a night will get you a really nice private room, air con, a TV and an en suite shower room. Most backpackers will supplement staying in hostels with perhaps a few nights in midrange accommodation when they fancy some time alone or a bit of privacy, and at mid range prices in many countries it can easily be budgeted for. You can really raise your expectations with this quality of room, and you can find some extremely nice places at really reasonable rates if you are prepared to look around a little and bargain hard. Walk in rates are often a lot higher than what they are prepared to sell room rates at however, so always ask if that is the best rate they are prepared to offer. More often than not you will get an instant discount. Discount rates can also apply if you book in advance over the internet too. I stay in this type of accommodation frequently, and I always try to explain to people who dismiss backpacking out of hand because they have a fixed idea in their head of hostels and a lack of comforts and amenities that this simply doesn’t have to be the case. I constantly find very nice rooms with a TV, en suite shower, air con and other amenities for anywhere between £5 and £20 a night depending where I am, simply by walking in to a place I find once I get there. In many cases the rooms and hotels I have stayed in have been far superior to the pictures of package holiday rooms friends have shown me on the return from their all inclusive holidays, and at a fraction of the price too! Luxury accommodation really needs no description, it is what it says. Luxury hotels and complexes, private villas and unique buildings with all the amenities, often with spas or swimming pools on site, staff on hand to cater to your every need and everything you could want. The rates are usually really high, especially in developed countries, but quite often these are the type of rooms that can usually give you the biggest savings too, especially if you are in a less economically developed country, in off season or if you search out internet deals. If you are lucky, and just a little bit cheeky, you may be able to walk into a really fancy luxury hotel and blag a room for the same price as the mid range place you looked at down the road. You may also be chased off by security the second you walk into the atrium with your Khao San Road dreadlocks, fisherman pants and backpack, but hey, it’s worth a try! If you feel like spoiling yourself or giving yourself a treat, then there is no harm in trying! Unless you are secretly loaded staying in places like this will be a rare treat, but it can be worth splurging on occasion if you can get a great deal. Sometimes it can be really nice to spoil yourself for a night or two before flying home or after an extended adventure trek. Food Safety Tips When Traveling Abroad
After accommodation eating will be your next big expense, and again your budget will depend almost entirely on how and where you like to eat. You really can eat on a few pounds a day or blow hundreds on one meal depending on where you are and where you eat. Backpackers can often find they can eat for very little by buying fresh food at local markets and existing on raw fruit and vegetables, sometimes using the kitchens in hostels or home stays to cook up some rice and meat to supplement their meals. This is a great way to keep down costs when you are travelling over the long term, but it really isn’t necessary to do this all of the time. You will want to experience some genuine local food and enjoy yourself too, so by all means prepare your own meals to keep costs down, but try and get a little balance too. Street stalls are perhaps one of the cheapest options for eating in many places abroad and are often some of the nicest places to eat. Many people who have never travelled have a misconception about street food that it is unhygienic or unsafe, but this is absolute nonsense. From Kushari in Cairo to Pad Thai in Bangkok, you will get a real taste of local culture at these places and some of the best food you will ever taste, and you can often get a great meal for a pound or two. For backpackers and travellers on a budget, street food really cannot be beat. Another cheap alternative to street food is the food courts and hawker centres that locals regularly eat at. These are often essentially still street stalls, but in a fixed location and sometimes within fixed buildings. You can pick up really tasty, cheap meals at places like this for next to nothing and are perfect for travelling on a budget. Local cafe’s and smaller restaurants are also often fairly cheap, and can often offer great meals at really great prices. You can budget around £5 to £10 GBP a day eating all of your meals in smaller local restaurants. Hopping from fancy restaurant to restaurant on the other hand, or even eating at some of the fancier hotels, can eat up a backpackers entire budget in a single meal, you can blow hundreds of pounds on one sitting in some places, especially in some of the larger cities, so whilst there is nothing wrong with budgeting to allow yourself a nice restaurant meal once in a while, doing so every single night will be very difficult on a tight budget. The post Choosing the Right Travel Accommodations appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/choosing-the-right-travel-accommodations/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/choosing-right-travel-accommodations.html At some point in our lives, we’ve all imagined what it would be like to have super powers. We’ve dreamed of being able to fly, possessing Wolverine’s ability to heal his wounds, Aquaman’s good looks and underwater powers, and even Deadpool’s ridiculously upbeat attitude despite the circumstances he’s put in has become something we covet. Seriously, how does he manage to keep a good attitude despite the fact that he gets ripped to pieces and life sucks for him? We’re insanely jealous! That’s a power in and of itself. And of course with the recent influx of superhero movies that are taking over the big screens, these fantasies have become even more popular. In fact, there are tons of forums, blogs, and social media posts dedicated to asking fans around the world what kind of super hero powers they’d have and why. The rise in popularity of these posts is almost certainly directly related to the superhero movies that are taking over the big screen. Unfortunately, the superhero business is left to the comics and movies where a special universe exists that allows these types of powers to exist. All we can really do is daydream or hope to one day inherit a bank account the size of Batman’s. That way we can at least claim our super power is money and use our wealth to stop crime. Also, people have done the research on the amount of money it would actually take to be the Batman from the DC universe and it’s staggering; $682 million is how much you’d need to invest in Bruce Wayne’s lifestyle and crime fighting gadgets. Of course it’s fun to daydream but for one woman in Scotland it’s more than a fantasy; it’s her everyday life. Yes, you read that right, a woman in Scotland has some superhero like powers. A rare gene mutation has left her unable to feel pain. And as an added bonus, she doesn’t feel anxiety or fear either. Pain doesn’t exist for JoJo, a 71 year-old woman from Scotland feels no pain at all. She also doesn’t feel anxiety or fear for the most part either. “I’m not really afraid of anything and I never feel anxious,” Jo said. “I don’t know what it’s like to be afraid of something. Most of us are afraid of things that causes of mutation or pain and this can trigger anxiety and fear. Like, you might be scared to go rock climbing because the fall could really hurt. Since I don’t feel pain, there’s nothing to fear about climbing. If I fall, it won’t hurt.” Doctors also note that with the gene mutation, that feelings of fear and anxiety really aren’t prevalent. “Sure, you probably won’t be afraid of say surgery because you don’t feel any pain, but this gene mutation also limits the fear and anxiety response within the brain. We’re still not really sure why,” doctors say. So in other words, those with the gene mutation won’t feel anxious or afraid. And since no pain is associated with things either, the brain has even less reason to be afraid. One of the questions that often gets raised in regards to Jo’s condition is that maybe she just has a really high pain tolerance. However, this isn’t the case; Jo’s body is incapable of feeling pain. In fact, she even described childbirth as “being quite enjoyable,” a remark that probably leaves a lot of women in shock. And while you’d imagine an enjoyable childbirth would throw up some red flags, Jo says it didn’t. “I had read about women having easy childbirths. I just figured I fell into that category as well,” she said with a shrug. “Looking back, all the signs were there but if you’ve grown up believing that you’re just like everyone else, then you don’t really seen the signs. You just assume that everyone else is just like you and that this is how we all function.” This isn’t normal?Before Jo’s rare gene mutation was diagnosed, she believed that she was just an average person; albeit a very healthy one. “I just assumed that I was like everyone else. I had nothing to compare myself to in a way so I figured this was just how it was for everyone. I mean my friends got sick way more often than I did, but I just figured that was because I was really healthy. I didn’t attribute it to anything more than that. Turns out, it was much more than just being very healthy; I can’t feel pain and I can’t feel when something is wrong with my body such as sickness in many cases,” Jo states. There were plenty of instances when red flags should have popped up, but they went largely unnoticed. Even when childbirth was easy for Jo, she and others never assumed anything was wrong or out of the norm for the Scottish woman. As mentioned earlier, Jo just assumed that she was one of the lucky ones who had an easy childbirth. After all, there are cases of women reporting little to no pain during childbirth and some even describe the experience as pleasurable. Jo and others just assumed she fell into this category. She’s also one of only two people known to have the condition. Doctors suggest that there may be others out there with Jo’s rare gene mutation, but they remain undiscovered. “They could be just like Jo but not realize that they’re any different,” doctors have said. And because the condition is so rare, there was never really any reason to question Jo’s pain tolerance and health. “We don’t actively check for this gene mutation and why would we in the first place? People have different levels of tolerance for pain. If we checked every person who came in with a broken bone not complaining about the pain they’re in for the gene, we’d be checking a lot of people.” Plus with the gene being so uncommon, it’s not something that is often checked for anyways. “We typically just assume their body is different from others in how it interprets and handles pain.” It took 65 years to diagnose/discover her conditionWhile Jo’s interesting power is shocking enough on its own, what’s even more bizarre is that she lived 65 years with the rare mutation without even realizing that it wasn’t normal. According to BBC, it wasn’t until she had surgery on her hand that she learned that she was different from others. Doctors were shocked when Jo didn’t need any painkillers after the surgery and it set off some concerns/alarm bells. “This is a major surgery,” said one of the doctors, “it’s no uncommon for patients to require some heavy painkillers for some time after the surgery. The healing process is painful and Jo never asked for any. We were concerned and didn’t believe her at first. She was extremely insistent that she didn’t need any pain medication and we wondered if maybe she had a history of abuse with pills and was abstaining from them for that reason.” The doctors then prowled through her medical history for answers. As they looked through charts and documents, they realized that Jo had never asked for painkillers in her life. Physicians became fascinated with their discovery. “This wasn’t just a high pain tolerance, this had to be something more. Regardless of the pain levels associated with some of the surgeries and what have you that Jo has gone through, she’s never requested any form of pain management. There’s something more to her than just a high tolerance for pain,” doctors remarked. This is when they recommended that she see specialists in England to further examine her. Congenital insensitivity to painAs stated throughout the article, Jo’s remarkable powers are all thanks to a mutation in a gene. Originally, the gene was thought to be useless within the body. However given Jo’s inability to feel pain, scientists are rethinking their stance on the gene. The mutation is referred to as congenital insensitivity to pain and like the name implies, the condition prevents the body from interpreting physical pain. And this condition also begins from the time of birth. It’s also not limited to just one specific part of the body; as demonstrated by Jo, the entire body is incapable of processing pain. However, this doesn’t mean that the body isn’t capable of feeling anything. People with congenital insensitivity to pain can tell a difference between feelings of hot and cold and sharp or dull. They can feel the heat of a flame beneath their hand, but they cannot feel the pain of it burning their skin. Because of this, health issues can easily go undetected; just as they did for Jo. Other side effects of mutation condition include lack of fear, anxiety, and even the complete loss of the sense of smell. For Jo, she’s able to smell things. This condition is also considered to be a form of peripheral neuropathy since it affects the peripheral nervous system. This system connects the spinal cord and the brain to the muscles and cells throughout the body that are responsible for detecting sensations such as pain, touch, and smell. Side effects of her super powerNo superhero perk is without its downfalls though. Wolverine’s ability to heal means that he’s immortal and will live to see all of his loved ones and friends perish. For Mr. Glass, is body is extremely fragile and he’s limited to a wheelchair. And the same applies to Jo. With age, the body starts to fall apart. Muscles and bones deteriorate over time. For most people, we start seeing signs of this pretty early on. Physical symptoms such as pain, stiffness in joints, and fatigue queue us in that something is wrong with our bodies and we can get to the doctor in time to get it fixed before it gets too bad. However for Jo, since she is incapable of feeling pain, these warning signs don’t come. She’s often left assuming nothing is wrong until it gets to the point where something is seriously wrong. Jo’s hip deteriorated over time due to age. The bone and muscle grew extremely weak but since Jo is unable to feel pain, she didn’t know something was up until she couldn’t walk. “I didn’t know anything was wrong with my body until I physically couldn’t get out of bed. I had help and realized that I couldn’t even walk; I could hardly stand. Nothing of course hurt, but something was seriously wrong,” she commented. Jo was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in her hip. Scans were done on the affected area and doctors discovered that her joints were severely degenerated. “It was bizarre. Here’s this woman with joints that are incredibly deteriorated, so much so that she can’t even walk. However, she’s not complaining about being in any type of gene mutation or pain. She only realized something was wrong when she couldn’t walk. She should have had significant pain long before getting to this point. And she should also be in a lot of pain now. The fact that she wasn’t should have been a red flag, but we overlooked it for some reason,” said doctors. In fact when Jo’s doctors were looking through her charts, this was one of the instances that really caught their eye. “This was what made us refer her to specialists in England,” they said. Medical potential with Jo’s gene mutationBecause of Jo’s condition, she has become a fascinating case study for doctors. Many have also begun to wonder whether or not her genetic makeup could be the key in pain relief for others. “If there’s something present within her genetic composition, maybe we can study it and isolate it. If that were possible, we could help people with debilitating pain manage their symptoms and lead fuller, happier lives. Of course, we don’t completely eradicate the body’s ability to feel pain, but if we could manipulate the genes mutation in a way that reduces the pain to a more manageable level, this would be a game changer.” Doctors also believe that Jo’s body heals faster than a regular person’s does. They hope in the future that they will be able to replicate this in others in order to speed up the healing process. Of course this has stirred up a lot of controversy within the medical field regarding ethical and moral standards, but right now doctors are still trying to understand the genetic mutation. “We’re no where near the ability of replicating, mutating, or messing with this kind of stuff right now. But it’s interesting to think about the possibilities.” What are your thoughts of mutation? We want to start off by asking whether or not you’d like to have Jo’s mutation powers. Do you think it would be cool being unable to feel pain or are you more concerned about having injuries go unnoticed such as Jo’s deteriorating hip? We also want to know what you think about the idea of doctors manipulating these genes mutation in order to relieve pain for suffering individuals. It’s quite controversial so we’d like to know your stance on the subject matter. The post Rare Genetic Mutation Prevents Woman from Feeling Pain appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/rare-genetic-mutation-prevents-woman-from-feeling-pain/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/rare-genetic-mutation-prevents-woman.html People around the world were shocked to learn that Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, had finally been arrested. All of this happened within a span of just a few hours and the world was left in shock. Nothing had been released regarding Assange up to this incident. Many reported that up until his arrests, there was nothing in the works that was known. “If there was a plot being made against him, it was kept very well under wraps. Nobody had any idea that moves were being made against him. We assumed that he’d stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London under their political asylum. We just assumed he’d always have their protection,” said many of the reporters. “He’d been under protection for 7 years. We never saw that changing.” However, this was not to be the case. On April 11, 2019 the Ecuadorian Embassy that Assange called both his home and his refuge surrendered him. He was immediately arrested and taken into custody where he will face a number of charges. He’ll also face some significant jail time for the “crimes” he committed. Many sources report that the minimum number of years he’ll serve will be 5 while others suggest that 5 is much, much too low. “They’ve been after this guy for a while. There’s no way they’ll let him sit in jail for 5 years before they release him back out into the world. They’re going to keep him there until he rots or at least try their best to do so. Assange has slipped through their fingers so many times. This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to arrest him since he was granted asylum, but it is the first time they’ve gotten him since he went under Ecuador’s protection. There’s no way they’re going to let him slip through their fingers again.” Wikileaks and Julian AssangeBefore the creation of Wikileaks, nobody had really heard of Julian Assange. He was simply another name in a pool of nearly 8 billion. However, in 2006, when Wikileaks made its debut, Julian Assange became a household name. “He went from an absolute nobody to one of the most controversial people to date seemingly overnight. Some thought he was a hero for sharing this information with the world and making government secrets public knowledge. Others thought he was a villain and a traitor. Many wanted to see him hang while others worshipped the ground he walked on. And it this was all thanks to Wikileaks.” The goal of Wikileaks was to obtain as well as publish previously confidential files, images, and documents to the public. Government databases and secrets were no longer safe; they were to be made public knowledge thanks to Assange and Wikileaks. “We as the public have the right to know what’s going on in the government. We have a right to know the secrets that they are keeping from us,” Assange stated when asked about his website. It took four years for Wikileaks to really gain any ground though despite its promise to open the public’s eyes. Headlines everywhere featured Assange’s website when Wikileaks published footage of American soldiers killing innocent civilians in Iraq from a helicopter. The American population was disgusted and so was the rest of the world. “I thought we were over there to get rid of the terrorists, not to become terrorists ourselves! You can’t kill innocents like that!” Many rallied behind the leak an were quick to turn on the government and those responsible. Others were quick to label Julian Assange as a whistleblower and claimed that he was doing more harm than good. “We don’t know all of the circumstances behind that video; we can only make assumptions and that’s dangerous. Assange’s leak is riling up people all over the world and has the potential to cause more harm than good. There’s a reason why a lot of this material is classified, and it should stay that way. Assange has no valid reason to share this kind of content,” many argued. That same year, Chelsea Manning, who had worked with Assange to gather these documents, was arrested. Because of the former US intelligence analyst’s work, over 700,000 confidential videos, documents, and diplomatic cables were handed over to Wikileaks with the intent of being shared with the public. When confronted about her choices, Manning maintained that she only gave up these documents “to spark debates about foreign policy”. Officials, however, said that the leak put a lot of lives at risk. Julian Assange seeks refugeShockingly, it wasn’t Wikileaks and the rift it caused with American authorities that drove Julian Assange into asylum, though it certainly kept him there. In 2012 Julian Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy. He did so to avoid being extradited to Swedenin regards to a sexual assault case levied against him. Assange was accused of rape, which he adamantly denied. However, the charges of this case have since then been dropped. Even though the original charges were dropped, Julian Assange remained in asylum for 7 years, up until his arrest. Because of Wikileaks and Julian Assange’s now notorious history of leaking classified documents, Assange couldn’t leave the embassy without fear of being arrested Wikileaks founder couldn’t even leave the embassy; if he was to address the media or the public, it was done from his balcony or within the building itself. “If I leave this place, if I take one step off of the property, I’m going to be arrested,” maintained Assange. The fact that police officers were often present at the building or trying to get to him further confirmed this. “They’re waiting for me to slip up so they can get me. I can’t even go get my own meals, I must have them brought to me. Imagine now being able to even go to the grocery store, but that’s the price you pay for spreading the truth,” he said. “He would have spent the rest of his days there in the embassy had Ecuador not surrendered him,” said many of the press websites when news of his arrest began circulating. Julian Assange’s arrestJulian Assange was arrested at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. This had been his home for 7 long years. After Ecuador withdrew its protection, British police officers made their way into the embassy where they promptly arrested the Wikileaks founder. In the above image, you can see British officers as they escort Assange out of the embassy. Many sources, and as evidenced in the above photo, Julian Assange didn’t go willingly. “They had to carry him out so to speak and, in some cases, they were even dragging him. He was also pleading with the officers as they took him out: ‘the UK must resist this attempt made by the Trump administration.’ He repeated that mantra over and over again.” He was then taken into custody at a London police station. Others who were present at Julian Assange’s arrest said that he was so out of control that he had to be restrained. “He was definitely resisting. He kept shouting, ‘this isn’t lawful! I won’t leave!’ It took several officers to escort him out of the building. It was absolute chaos,” said a witness. Police also confirmed later that Assange was “arrested further”, by American authorities for an extradition warrant. Since the authorities were unable to be present, this was done on their behalf. He could face charges in both countries.When questioned about this further arrest, Home Office’s spokesperson said, “Julian Assange has been accused in the United States of America as being guilty of computer related offences and infractions.” The US indictment, which contains only a single count of conspiracy to commit computer intrusion, was published early this morning. However, this isn’t just a simple conspiracy charge the US is levying against Assange; the Wikileaks founder is being held responsible for what has been deemed one of the largest government secrets leaks ever. An extradition hearing is scheduled to take place later at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The hearing will help the UK decide whether or not to extradite Julian Assange due to the allegations levied against him by the United States Department of Justice. If convicted, he will face up to five years in a US prison. However, his lawyer Jennifer Robinson said that they will be fighting the request for an extradition. “If we allow him to be extradited, then this will set a dangerous precedent in motion. Any journalist could thus face charges in the United States for publishing information that is truthful about the US. They could be punished for going to and then using sources. We can’t allow that,” Robinson said. Jennifer Robinson said she also visited Assange in the holding cell. Here he thanked supporters of his and told her, “I told you so.” This is a throwback to Assange’s prediction that he would face extradition to the United States if he ever left the embassy. US charges the Wikileaks founder facesDespite what seems like an infinite amount of charges that could be levied against Assange, the one that seems to have put him into hot water is the allegation that he conspired with Chelsea Manning, a former US intelligence analysis, to downloaded databases that are highly classified. “Not only did he conspire with her against the United States and the American people, but he manipulated her into gathering more and more evidence. She would bring Assange documents that he would okay and then he would ask for more. ‘Yeah, this is great, but can you get more,’ was always on his mind. We simply cannot allow this behavior to exist,” said authorities. The indictment was issued last year in Virginia. According to the indictment, Assange conspired with Chelsea Manning in 2010 to access, obtain, and distribute classified information from the Department of Defense computers. “He was given unbridled access through Manning to files, documents, and a lot of sensitive information that could be used against the country. He then chose to upload a lot of the content to the web where it could be seen by the world. That’s dangerous,” said authorities. Manning successfully downloaded four databases from agencies and departments within the US. All of this happened between January and May 2010 according to the indictment. The information was then given to Wikileaks to be distributed as they saw fit. “This is one of the biggest compromises of sensitive, classified information in American history,” said the US Justice Department. Why did Ecuador give him up?After 7 years of living under their protection, Ecuador finally gave up Julian Assange. This decision shocked a lot of people and left the world wondering why. Many had simply assumed that the embassy would house Assange until his death. When asked about the decision, Lenin Moreno, president of Ecuador, told the press that his country had “reached its limit regarding Mr. Assange’s behavior.” Moreno went on to say that Assange had a habit of blocking security cameras within the embassy. “He also accessed security files that he was not given permission to access and he was always confronting guards. He was very rude and demanding.” There were apparently numerous arguments regarding what Assange could and couldn’t do inside the embassy. “He was always toeing the line,” Moreno said. However, the straw that broke the camel’s back came in January 2019. At this time, Wikileaks published Vatican documents that had been leaked. “Other publications were made at the same time and it just confirmed that Mr. Assange is still tied to Wikileaks. He’s still involved them and is still intervening into internal affairs that he shouldn’t be,” Moreno stated. Of course, this caused people to suspect that something more was going on. “Of course he’s involved with Wikileaks and still is! Nobody’s dumb enough to assume that Assange gave all of that up. There’s evidence of it everywhere and has been for years. This isn’t the reason Ecuador gave him up, it was personal,” argued supporters of Assange. Many also pointed to the fact that Assange’s arrest happened just a day after Wikileaks announced that it had discovered a huge spy operation against Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy. “They were spying on him and once Wikileaks took that public, Ecuador was done. This was a grudge. It was there way of getting him back for saying something unfavorable about them,” supporters continued. Many were worried that after his arrest Assange would face the death penalty or possibly torture. Moreno put the world’s mind at peace when he said that the British government had confirmed in writing that Assange would not be extradited to any country where torture or the death penalty would be inflicted upon him. “Just because we ceased our amnesty of Mr. Assange doesn’t mean that we wish him any ill will and we don’t want to see him hurt,” said Moreno. Possible dead man switchesOne of the notorious factors about Wikileaks is that it supposedly contains what’s referred to as “dead man switches”. A dead man switch is exactly what it sounds like; programs and codes are put to into place that will release information or cause problems upon someone’s death. If you’re familiar with the show Lost,then you probably have a good idea on the basis of the switch. If you remember the underground bunker, Desmond had to enter a code every so often or “something bad would happen.” Nobody knew what would happen if you didn’t type in the code. Eventually, the code wasn’t entered and the bunker blew up. The same model applies to Wikileaks. Should Julian Assange not be present to enter a password, keycode, or however he has his website set up, Wikileaks is set to release an unbridled amount of information to the public. “Sure, we’ve released some things in the past that have changed the world. But we’ve kept the really bad stuff to ourselves. If anything happens, then Wikileaks is set to reveal this information to the world,” Assange said.
And in the past, Wikileaks’s Twitter has gone crazy with strange posts and things like “protect our information, torrent Wikileaks” in the past. This occurred shortly after Assange’s computer privileges were revoked within the embassy. This caused the public to go nuts; especially given the titles of some of the documents that were threatened to be released. These types of posts have occurred 4 times since 2010 but Assange maintains that no dead man switch has been tripped yet. “This is just insurance,” he said regarding the strange posts and threats to release information. With all of this in mind, the world is now keeping a close eye on both Wikileaks and its social media accounts. “We’re expecting to see absolute chaos and for hell to break loose now that Assange has been arrested,” say supporters. Of course, many don’t believe in the dead man switch and suggest that this will “prove that the dead man switch is a lie; it was his bargaining tool and that’s the extent of it.” Only time will tell at this point. What are your thoughts?We’d like to know whether or not you’re a fan of Julian Assange. Do you think it’s doing good things for the world by releasing these documents via Wikileaks or do you think it’s doing more harm than good? How long do you think he’ll remain in prison and do you believe Britain’s promise that Assange will not be tortured or executed? We also want to know whether or not you buy into the dead man switch and if you do, what do you expect to see released now that he is jail? The post Julian Assange, Founder of the Notorious Wikileaks, has been Arrested appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/do-you-know-julian-assange/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/julian-assange-founder-of-notorious.html For those of us that struggle daily with depression or any other mental illness, it can be incredibly debilitating. Finding the right medication to help treat and manage our symptoms is a lot like rolling the dice; everybody’s depression is different and what works for one person might give the other person suicidal thoughts. Not only does this get incredibly expensive when you’re trying to find the right medication, but it can get frustrating and discouraging. As such, many resort to just managing their symptoms on their own and this can have dire consequences. Therapy and medication, once you’ve found what works for you, can definitely improve your wellbeing, but it doesn’t fix the issue; instead, you’re managing your symptoms. Obviously this is better than the alternative of feeling like absolute misery on a daily basis, but you’re not fixing the problem. You’re simply rewrapping a leaky pipe with tape and hoping that it holds. And if you have tremors, the news can be even more bleak. Great advances have been made, but a lot of people are still left trying their best to manage the symptoms. For a lot of people, medication can lessen the power of the tremors, but it can’t eradicate them altogether. This leaves people at the mercy of their body and they have to alter their every day lives in order to live with the condition. This can include physical therapy, lifestyle changes, and even changing how you eat to accommodate the tremors. Once again, we’re only managing the issues instead of correcting them. Fixing the actual issues, however, has been a thing of dreams and fantasies until recently. Now scientists have begun experimenting with brain implants that can not only alter our moods, but fix the actual problems causing the tremors or depression. Sounds too good to be true or like something out of a sci-fi movie or comic, right? We thought so too at first, but we assure that it’s very much a real thing that’s being done. And so far, the results are extremely promising. Fixing short circuits within the brainEvery single thought we have, including our fears and sadness, as well as sensations and movements all stem from electrical blips courtesy of billions of neurons that are present within our brain. These streams of electricity flow from neural centers and are responsible for the actions of the body and the brain. Because of this, many scientists believe that a lot of psychiatric and neurological disorders may actually be the result of circuits that aren’t functioning properly. Think of your brain in the way that you think of your desktop computer. There are a bunch of circuits, wires, ports, and streams of electricity that are responsible for powering your device and insuring that it functions properly. Even though some of these may be smaller than half the size of a grain of rice (think the circuit chips), if one is malfunctioning you’ll definitely notice. Your computer needs all of these things to function and run properly. Even something as small as one malfunctioning circuit chip (or in your brain’s case a handful of tiny electrodes out of the billions present) can screw everything up. Your brain is the same way; if there’s a short circuit somewhere in that pink mass, then you’ll definitely see signs of it in the form of depression, anxiety, tremors, OCD, etc. And even though it’s hard to believe that something the size of an electrode can affect you on such a powerful level, scientists are convinced that these short circuits, regardless of how insignificant they may seem, are responsible for many of the neurobiological illnesses that plague us. Over the course of time, scientists have invested a lot of time and research into furthering their understanding of the brain and its circuits. Many have speculated that if they could just reach these malfunctioning circuits and reroute the flow, they can treat underlying neurobiological issues that cause depression, tremors, and more. And if we once again think of brain in the way that we think of our computer, it makes a lot of sense. If something is short-circuiting or isn’t functioning properly, then rerouting/fixing the problem would fix the overall issue, right? Scientists agree. Deep brain stimulation: what is it and how does it work?Even though we’re really just now hearing about this, deep brain stimulation is not a new or foreign concept. Scientists have been toying with the idea for a while. They’ve also been doing deep brain stimulation, which is essentially what would fix our brains, since the 1930s. Of course at this time, they were using electroconvulsive therapy. This arguably causes more problems than it fixes and is extremely controversial. However to this day, people still seek mild forms of electroconvulsive therapy to help their depression and tremors. If the idea of shocking your brain into cooperating isn’t in your wheelhouse of things you’re willing to try, don’t worry. Scientists won’t be strapping your head to a table, sliding a wooden block into your mouth and frying your brain in order to correct the issues. Deep brain stimulation has come a long way from its crude historical roots. Neurosurgeons have been “touching” brain areas with electrodes for a long time and observing the results. However, we weren’t able to paint a very clear picture until recently. Most of it was guess work; we didn’t really know what exactly we wanted to target and of course the electrodes weren’t always the most reliable or precise for that matter. And of course, the results were also up for debate. Now of course, we have a much more detailed map of the brain’s networks as well as the neutron nodes that are involved in different ailments such as Parkinson’s, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and more. We’re also able to narrow down the neutrons responsible for certain behaviors, emotions, and thought patterns. Deep brain stimulation, or DBS for short, would use precision timed electric pulses in specific regions of the brain in order to help it function better. An electrode would be inserted deep into the brain surgically and then controlled by a device inserted into the collarbone. Once both are fitted into place, doctors can tailor the pulses via the collarbone device to the frequency that they believe will fix the malfunctioning circuit. Utilizing these electrodes in order to deliver electrical currents around and in small areas of brain cells would modulate their activity or “turn them on” if they’re not functioning. “If we can modify the circuit, then we can certainly modify the behavior,” scientists have noted. Hope on the horizon for depressionIf you’re one of the 300 million people worldwide that suffer from depression, then this new research could spell relief for you. Imagine a world where your depression, anxiety, and even physical illnesses like tremors could be fixed with an implant in your brain. Sounds like paradise right? We think so too! The implant that’s currently being studied would fix circuits within your brain that have aren’t properly functioning.
DBS not only brings new hope to those who haven’t found consistent or permanent relief from therapy and medication, but also helps to relieve the stigma that’s been attached to mental illness for so long. It promises to bring new insights into the matter and to bring ailments like depression and anxiety to the forefront. “They won’t be hidden, overlooked, or treated as unimportant compared to physical ailments anymore,” scientists promise. And honestly, we’re on board. If DBS can save even just one life, it’s worth it. After all, this might have saved Anthony Bourdain, Kate Spade, Chester Bennington, or any number of those who turned to suicide as the answer. In addition to dealing with the stigma, deep brain stimulation would also provide more consistent, permanent relief. As we mentioned before, not all depression medications are created equal. And just because your medication works for now, doesn’t mean that it will work forever. This is why doctors feel it’s imperative for sufferers to also seek psychotherapy; to learn coping mechanisms that will help when the medication isn’t. However, it’s easy for a person to relapse. With an implant within the brain, your doctor would only need to make minor adjustments in order to get you back on the right path. This is much easier and better than having to start all over from square one (finding new coping mechanisms, medication, etc.) and can mean the difference between life and death. However, this isn’t to say that therapy and medication won’t have their place. This will be another powerful tool in the bag to help those struggling. Current research and findingsAt the moment, DBS is only being used to treat a number of conditions such as dystonia, symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, as well as a type of epilepsy that has been treatment-resistant up until now. Now, scientists are hopeful that deep brain stimulation can expand its boundaries and help more people in need of its services. And research has thus far been promising. Currently, the FDA has only approved DBS for the ailments above, but many scientists are conducting experiments using the technology in hopes of treating more conditions. “We hope that through our experiments and trials that we will show the world that DBS can help a large number of people live more satisfying, fulfilling and happier lives,” scientists say. The results of the clinical studies are mixed so far. Some patients have claimed to have been completely transformed by the process. Others say that they don’t feel any different at all. And for some, their ailments get worse. Despite the number of those who either didn’t feel any different or got worse, the results are promising according to scientists. “The fact that it’s worked on some means that there’s potential. We continue to work with the technology and alter it so that it will work for everyone. We’re confident that we can do just that,” says many of the scientists. Patients are also awake when the implant is inserted. Since they’re awake during the process, but under local anesthesia, they’re able to help the neurosurgeon accurately plant and alter the device so that it works best for them. Of course, more fine-tuning can be done after the surgery concludes since the device can be altered externally. “This means that we can continue to tune and alter how the device works for the patient long after they leave our facilities. This also means that they don’t have to come back for repeat surgeries if it isn’t living up to their standards. Simply pop in for a visit, tell us your problems, and we can alter it as necessary.” How does DBS compare to medication?One of the biggest things that people want to know regarding the technology is how it compares to medication. Of course, we already touched base on this subject a loosely, but we wanted to go more in depth. And for those wondering, no you would not need to take medication alongside the implant. The implant would function on its own. Antidepressant drugs are like throwing water on your face when you’re thirsty or putting a Band-Aid on a gushing wound. Sure, you’re helping in a way, but it’s not fixing the problem. Remember the leaky pipe? DPS would work like drinking a glass of water when you’re thirsty, getting stitches for the wound, or actually fixing the pipe. In other words, it’s a more effective tool and it actually fixes the problem. The fact that it can be turned on and off is also a plus. Since it’s able to adjusted on the fly, it’s a flexible tool that’s great for precisely altering the mood for the better. “It isn’t like antidepressants where you have to wait several weeks just to see results. And if you’re having an off day where even your medication, therapy, and coping mechanisms can’t seem to fix the problem, you’re pretty much out of luck. With the implant, you can swing by your doctor’s office and we can adjust it for you for immediate relief,” neuroscientists say. Of course this also brings up the question of when do we implement the device? Is it a last resort after medication has failed? Do we put it in right away after the diagnosis? For neuroscientists, this is currently the biggest question that needs to be answered. “We certainly don’t want to jump the gun so to speak, but we also don’t want to wait too long either. For example, we definitely don’t want to wait until the person is completely miserable and frustrated with life years down the road when we could have done something early on. But finding the right time is crucial and something we’re still working on.” Issues of ethicsDespite the potential of the device and the good it could do, many are questioning its ethics. “Something that has the potential to powerfully and instantly change moods is concerning,” many say. “Should we really be changing our emotions and thought patterns at will? What are the repercussions of doing this?” Of course, it’s impossible to say what the repercussions of all of this could be. However for those with neurobiological issues, being able to change your thought pattern and mood at will could be the difference between life and death. “Suicide is often a quick decision; not very many people plan it so to speak. It’s sort of a ‘I’m done with this, let’s do it,’ decision that’s made in haste. If we could alter our thought patterns in an instant, then perhaps these people could alter those suicidal thoughts and turn them into something more productive. This could save lives,” others argue. A lot of people are also worried that DBS will be used for the wrong reasons. “If I don’t like an aspect of my or my kid’s personality, DBS would allow me to alter it. Let’s say I want to be more outgoing, I could hop by the doctor’s office and leave as a very outgoing person. This is a dangerous path to get started on. We shouldn’t be playing God or altering ourselves like that,” are the concerns that many share in regards to deep brain stimulation. Others fear that this technology might be used within the U.S. military. “Are we going to start brain implants mind control our soldiers too? Are we going to manipulate their emotions and thought patterns and make them better killing machines?” Of course there’s always the potential to use something in a negative, toxic manner. But should we really let fears like that get in the way or something that could provide relief to so many people and save lives? We’re sure that there will be ethical limitations placed upon the technology and that it will be limited in ways to protect the general public. What are your thoughts?Do you think that this technology could be the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel that so many have been desperately looking for? Do you think that once it’s ready to released to the general public that it’ll be 100% effective or that there will still be a portion of people who won’t benefits of brain implants? We also want to know whether or not you’d consider getting the implant. If you have depression or another neurobiological issue, is this something that you could see working for you? Would you try it? Do you see any ethical, moral or risks of brain implants issues with the device? Let us know in the comment section below! The post Brain Implant Could Potentially Fix Neurobiological Issues appeared first on Ishli.com. source https://ishli.com/brain-implant-could-potentially-fix-neurobiological-issues/ Via https://ishliblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/brain-implant-could-potentially-fix.html |