In a New York Times op-ed, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wrote that the U.S. needs to focus on its "epidemic of loneliness," and that half of Americans are lonely — including himself. He pointed out that some of the health risks of loneliness, such as depression, anxiety, heart disease, dementia, and stroke, make it comparable to smoking daily. He proposed a three-step process to help with the epidemic: invest in social infrastructure, reconsider how we use technology, and strengthen our personal connections.
PREVENTING DEMENTIA
A new study shows that being bilingual can help prevent dementia. Researchers tested hundreds of older people on learning, memory, language, and decision-making and found that those who used two languages daily performed consistently better than those who knew only one language.
CANCER-DETECTING AI
Researchers and doctors at the National Health Service in the United Kingdom have built an artificial intelligence application that can detect cancer. According to new research published in The Lancet, the AI tool was developed using hundreds of lung scans from real patients, training it on the subtle differences between cancerous and non-cancerous growths that are often difficult to see with the human eye.
Palestinians in the sealed-off Gaza Strip are scrambling to find safety, as Israeli strikes demolish entire neighborhoods, hospitals run low on supplies and a power blackout is expected within hours.
Claudia Goldin, a Harvard University professor, was awarded the Nobel economics prize on Monday for research that helps explain why women around the world are less likely than men to work and to earn less money when they do.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Sunday he has ordered the Ford carrier strike group to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready to assist Israel after the attack by Hamas that has left more than 1,000 dead on both sides. Americans were reported to be among those killed and missing.
Men dug through rubble with their bare hands and shovels in western Afghanistan on Sunday in desperate attempts to pull victims from the wreckage of earthquakes that killed at least 2,000 people.
Israel’s military ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip on Monday, halting entry of food, fuel and supplies to its 2.3 million people as it pounded the Hamas-ruled territory with waves of airstrikes in retaliation for the militants’ bloody weekend incursion.
