Ina Hallström

It's only in mice so far but still cool since it can lead to a better understanding and discoveries ahead.

Research on reversing Alzheimer’s reveals lithium as potential key Years of investigation by scientists at Harvard has revealed that lithium is deeply involved in Alzheimer’s disease, a finding that could lead to new treatments.

They used lithium to reverse alzheimers – very cool!

"they were able to reverse the disease in mice and restore brain function with small amounts of the compound lithium orotate, enough to mimic the metal’s natural level in the brain."

The idea that a bulk of the population reached a "high cultural level" probably refers to the substantial expansion of welfare state policies in Sweden from the 1930s to the 1950s.

EBV induces CNS homing of B cells attracting inflammatory T cells - Nature Epstein–Barr virus infection generates a neuroinvasive B cell subset, which recruits activated T cells to the central nervous system, promoting multiple sclerosis.

How does Epstein- Barr virus induce multiple sclerosis?
The infection leads to B cells that get into the brain, attracting pro-inflammatory T cells (mouse model)
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Sontag on Sweden:
"To repress anger as extensively as people do here greatly exceeds the demands of justice and rational self-control; I find it little short of pathological."

Murder Officially Plunged in 2024 That and more takeaways from the FBI's 2024 Reported Crime in the Nation report.

New data from the FBI: Murder fell 15% in 2024, the fastest drop ever recorded & violent/property crime rates fell to levels not seen since the 1960s. Murder returned to pre-COVID levels in 2024 & is may be the lowest level ever recorded in 2025.

jasher.substack.com/p/murder-off...

Foucault on Sweden:
"In its calmness, Sweden reveals a brave new world where we discover that the human is no longer necessary."

Best low-key brutal description of Sweden since Foucault's and Sontag's:

"a certain level of economic stability and a certain thin measure of sophistication"

Ouch, Baldwin!

Looking forward to the next Enlightenment.

This is a key table to understanding public opinion on migration. *When confronted with the real trade offs* people go for protecting the NHS and the economy over reducing migration.

The problem as per the rest of the thread is many don't believe those trade offs exist.

Etretat, the Beach and the Porte d'Aval - 1884 #artbots #monet
https://botfrens.com/collections/41/contents/9865

This image depicts a line graph showing cardiovascular mortality rates in the United States from 1933 to 2023, alongside key advancements in medicine, surgery, and public health. The y-axis represents age-standardized death rates from cardiovascular disease, ranging from 0 to 600. The x-axis represents years from 1933 to 2023. The graph starts at around 600 deaths per 100,000 people in 1933 and trends downward sharply over the decades, indicating a significant decline in mortality rates. Key advancements are marked along the timeline, including the introduction of the first heart-lung machine in 1953, the first cardiac CT scan in 1977, and the first 3D-printed heart models in 2012. Footnote information states that data begins in 1933 when all U.S. states started reporting cardiovascular mortality rates, sourced from the National Center for Heart Statistics in 2020 and the CDC Wonder in 2025. The chart is published by Saloni Dattani at Our World in Data.

New article by me!

Cardiovascular disease mortality rates have declined by around three-quarters since 1950, but we rarely hear about it.

I explore some of the reasons behind the decline.
ourworldindata.org/cardiovascul...

Are you saying the non-profit Harvard Corporation wouldn't sell it? Yes, I guess there are details like that to consider.

Trump Fired America’s Economic Data Collector. History Shows the Perils.

Another good piece.

"Official statistics, government statistics are a mirror that society holds up to itself,” he said. If that mirror is distorted, or broken entirely, then the accountability that is central to a democratic system cannot work."

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/b...

I know people react to the use of the term "echo" in the headline, but the article as such is worth reading.

Reasonable exposé of Trump’s war on facts – firing those who bring bad news, distorting reality, and mirroring tactics from China, Turkey, and the USSR.

Trump’s Efforts to Control Information Echo an Authoritarian Playbook

"Democracy can’t realistically exist without reliable epistemic infrastructure."

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/u...

let’s have a crisis of femininity, as a treat

Economist Amartya Sen won a Nobel in part for asking: Why did India avoid the mass famines that killed tens of millions in China? His answer: a free press. Journalists could expose suffering and shame governments into action. Silence and avoidance, by contrast, can be deadly.

Norway should buy Harvard Academic excellence has never been more affordable.

Haha, bold proposal from a Norwegian Business School professor!

"Norway should seize this historic opportunity by using the Oil Fund to buy Harvard, construct a state-of-the-art facility near Oslo, and relocate much of its faculty and students to Norway."

www.dn.no/innlegg/norw...

The great crime paradox Disorder is rising in public consciousness. Is it rising in reality?

Fascinating look at the "crime paradox": Violent crime is down, but visible offenses like shoplifting and theft are up. These visible crimes contribute to a perception of disorder in society.

"America and Britain are less dangerous than ever, but more disorderly than they have been in some time."

30°C = 86°F

"Swedish radio reported that foreign tourists heading north to Scandinavia for 'coolcations' had instead encountered dangerous heat warnings."

Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented’ heatwave Scientists record longest streak of temperatures higher than 30C in region in records going back to 1961

It's been crazy hot this summer in Sweden and across the Nordics.

Above 30°C even in the Arctic Circle isn't just hot, it’s historic.

A name to remember.

Not exactly the same thing, but the Pew Research Centre did a survey a few years ago that showed that teens tend to share their parents' political (and religious) affiliations.

www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...

What's his other side? Level-headed and thoughtful?

In political science, there has been a long and frustrating debate over what about democracy, precisely, leads to growth. Of course, it’s multi-causal. But I always emphasize the information environment. Markets can’t work when info is bad. Info is likely to be bad in authoritarian circumstances.

If we want more accurate calculations in the future, we must examine how the assumptions behind them went so wrong.

Additionally, we need increased transparency regarding such crucial assessments.

At first, they didn’t even seem to realize that this view was controversial.

Indeed, there was an unsupported and overly optimistic belief that herd immunity would be reached quickly and easily, before vaccines became available.

Tegnell stated that his statisticians expected this to be achieved "sometime in May [of 2020]," which was pure hopium.

His winning streak is whenever he says he's on a winning streak?