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Touting this hangover cure is troubling

(CNN)Nursing a hangover has long been a part of American drinking culture, and it's a tradition many are observing on the first day of 2019. Pedialyte, a drink manufactured by Abbott Nutrition, was originally marketed as a rehydration solution for sick children. But sales among adults increased 57% between 2012 and mid-2015, according to the market research firm Nielsen.

The company recently released powdered packets of Pedialyte called "Sparkling Rush" in time for New Year's Eve excess. While there are other rehydration products from sports drinks to coconut water, the makers of Pedialyte seem to be intensifying their efforts to market the product to millennials and other adults as an antidote to hard partying.

It's troubling to see the company's social media posts that position Pedialyte next to glasses of craft beer, and captions urging followers to share their "best bounce-back selfie." As the company seems to be set on making its new product the toast of the young social media influencer set, this is a perfect moment for a little hangover lesson.

Though Pedialyte is used in children's hospitals and by sick kids at home for dehydration caused by a variety of illnesses, "oral electrolyte replacement products intended to treat diarrhea are regulated as medical foods," according to the FDA, and are not regulated as drugs. Abbott can't make direct medical claims about treating the common hangover without the FDA's approval. Yet through social media and thinly veiled winks and nods, the company appears to be targeting people who are feeling worse for wear after nights out.

"The holiday season is unfortunately rife with dehydration pitfalls. With flu season in full effect, air travel to visit loved ones, and even those late nights out with friends, you've got a recipe for your body to lose more water than it takes in, causing dehydration," Abbott writes in its press release announcing Sparkling Rush.

What's really happening on those late nights? For a clearer explanation, turn to Pedialyte's Twitter account, where a pinned tweet shows an ice-filled tub of Lagunitas beer joined by bottles of Pedialtye. Scroll through social media and we see the company retweeting young people showing off branded Pedialyte gear. In one tweet shared by Pedialyte, a man writes, "Only one way to enjoy the new Pedialyte sparkling rush," with a photograph of himself with the drink -- which he appears to be enjoying from a wine glass.

Abbott told me via email: "We do not endorse or promote the irresponsible or excessive drinking of alcohol, and we know there is no cure for a hangover." But the company's marketing sends a different message.

It's all great fun until you recognize that a hangover is the sign of an injury. The fatigue, nausea, headache and upset stomach are messages from your body to your brain asking, "Hey Bud, what are you doing to me?" Like carelessly burning yourself on a hot stove, a hangover affords an opportunity for reflection on how to avoid the injury next time. Instead, Pedialyte's marketing suggests there's a way to power through the pain without understanding the root cause, or the consequences.

"Alcohol is a diuretic, and if you don't replace the fluids lost even after just a couple alcoholic beverages, it may lead to dehydration," wrote Molly Sustar, Abbott's global director of public affairs. Hangover biology is complicated, and still being investigated, but we know that dehydration is only one piece of the puzzle. Abbott is correct that alcohol is a diuretic, which, like many types of blood pressure pills, encourages the kidneys to dump water. With alcohol, your body's water loss rate over a few hours can be as much as four times the volume of the alcoholic beverage you're enjoying.

Will an electrolyte beverage like Pedialyte help you stay hydrated? Yes. But a little dehydration isn't all that's going on in your body when you drink to excess.

You probably already know that your liver and brain don't appreciate heavy alcohol consumption and that over time you can significantly damage these vital organs. A huge recent study that analyzed data from 195 countries challenges the formerly popular notion that light drinking, by contrast, confers health benefits.

And we're also learning that markers of bodily inflammation called cytokines shoot up in people suffering hangovers the day after drinking excessively as the blood alcohol level returns to zero. Inflammation is the body's response to injury, and immune system dysfunction is increasingly linked to numerous diseases.

There's no evidence that Pedialyte protects your vital organs or your immune system from the ill effects of alcohol intoxication, and it's quite reasonable to worry that these products might mask your body's warning signs that it's had too much. It would be a disservice if people incorrectly assume they can consume large quantities of alcohol and undo the adverse effects by downing Pedialyte the next day.

And even if Pedialyte helps ease the next day's hangover, that hangover was a critical message from your body to your brain that you're on the wrong trajectory. The painful messages our bodies send us about our behaviors are crucially important to our overall health. These physical tolls translate into subconscious wariness of the excessive food or drink that made us sick, helping us avoid that level of over-consumption next time around.

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Truly sophisticated drinkers need nothing more than tap water and self control to have an enjoyable night with a few alcoholic beverages on board. If instead you're suffering hangovers that ruin the following day without dialing back and taking heed of the consequences to your life, you can be at risk for alcoholism. Indeed, such warping of your decision-making thanks to this addictive chemical is part of the definition of alcoholism.

The makers of Pedialyte certainly aren't the first ones to promote a remedy for alcohol's effects. Alka Seltzer's "Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz" campaigns of yore employed everyone from night life stars like Sammy Davis, Jr. to regular guys who've had too much beer to sell their indigestion treatment.

Pedialyte's incursion into a hangover culture that's already the subject of a three-part Hollywood franchise celebrating alcohol-induced debauchery isn't the crisis of our time. But Abbott, an otherwise respectable healthcare behemoth, is at risk of making a serious mistake. It's time for the company to step back from the edge before its unwise marketing efforts do anything to encourage alcohol abuse and over drinking.

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richardlionhearth · 7 years ago

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Nancy Pelosi Says Rashida Tlaib’s ‘Motherf**ker’ Comment No Worse Than Trump

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not upset over Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s vulgar comment on impeaching President Donald Trump, said just hours after Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony on the House floor.

Asked for her reaction to Tlaib’s “colorful language” ― the new Democratic congresswoman vowed to “impeach that motherfucker,” referring to Trump ― Pelosi said it was a free speech issue.

“I probably have a generational reaction to it, but in any event I’m not in the censorship business,” she told MSNBC’s Joy Reid in a town hall interview set to air in full Friday evening.

“I don’t like that language. I wouldn’t use that language,” the House speaker continued, noting that she doesn’t tell her colleagues what to say.

“But I don’t think it’s any worse than what the president has said,” she concluded. Trump infamously bragged about grabbing women “by the pussy” in a leaked tape from 2005; since taking office he has referred to certain other nations as “shithole countries” and slung insults at a wide range of political foes.

Pelosi reasoned that while Trump’s comments have the power to “impact people’s lives,” the new congresswoman’s comments do not.

Tlaib, who became one of the first Muslim women in Congress on Thursday, dropped the expletive as she spoke to a crowd of supporters at an event hosted by the progressive group MoveOn.

Talking about her victory, she said: “And when your son looks at you and says, ‘Mama, look, you won. Bullies don’t win.’ And I say, ‘Baby, they don’t.’ Because we’re gonna go in there, and we’re gonna impeach the motherfucker.”

As she passed the microphone, the crowd erupted into cheers.

Pelosi told Reid that the comment might fire up Trump’s base, but doesn’t actually make much of a difference to actual House business.

Any controversy over Tlaib’s comment concerns the “freedom of speech of an individual member,” not the stance of the Democratic caucus, Pelosi said.

Trump appeared to respond to Tlaib over Twitter Friday morning, writing: “They only want to impeach me because they know they can’t win in 2020, too much success!”

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richardlionhearth · 7 years ago

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Tesla’s tax credit is getting sliced in half at the worst possible time

New York (CNN Business)Tesla buyers can say goodbye to a $7,500 tax credit in the new year.

The credit starts to phase out three months after the end of the quarter during which an automaker sells 200,000 eligible electric cars in the United States. Tesla reached that mark in July — the first automaker to do so.

For Tesla (TSLA), the tax credit is winding down at a terrible time. It is getting ready to offer a $35,000 version of the Model 3 in 2019, its lowest-cost model targeting budget-conscious buyers. The expiring tax credit will make the Model 3 at least $3,750 more expensive.

Tesla will also face increased competition from other automakers bringing long-range electric vehicles to market in 2019.

For the first six months of the phase-out, the credit falls by 50%, and another 50% for the six months after that.

So Tesla buyers will get a $3,750 tax credit for purchases completed in January through June 2019, and $1,875 for purchases made in July through December 2019. The tax credit for Tesla purchases ends in 2020.

Buyers who lease a Tesla rather than buy it outright don't qualify for the tax credit themselves. But in that case, Tesla gets the tax credit and will lower the lease price by the same amount.

It is difficult to walk into a Tesla store today and buy the exact model a buyer wants. Unlike traditional auto dealers, Tesla has limited inventory in its stores as it continues to ramp up production. It can take weeks or months between the time a Tesla is ordered and when it's delivered. Tesla still won't make the least expensive version of the Model 3, its lowest priced car, for another five or six months, according CEO Elon Musk in a recent interview with CBS' "60 Minutes."

But Tesla has been doing everything it can to help American buyers complete their purchases in time to qualify for the full credit.

It is selling the demonstration models off of its stores' lots, with the anticipation of replacing them with new versions of the car in the new year. And it is also releasing cars for purchase that other buyers have ordered if the original buyers can't take delivery by today.

And Musk said in a tweet earlier this month that if Tesla committed to December delivery and the customer made a "good faith effort" to receive it before year end, Tesla will cover the tax credit difference if the car doesn't get there until next year.

General Motors (GM) is next up for the phase-out of the tax credit. It likely hit the 200,000 mark this quarter, meaning its phase-out will start in April.

GM is on record saying it would like to see change in the law to end the phase-out of the tax credit, but it's not clear that such legislation could pass Congress.

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New Year’s Resolutions You Should Make Based On Science And How To Keep Them

The most common New Year's resolutions tend to be vague goals like losing weight, eating healthier food, or exercising more.

But most people don't successfully follow through on their resolutions — largely because they're so general and non-specific.

That's where science can help. Using specific, science-backed resolutions, you can boost your chances of successfully transforming your life in the New Year.

These are some of our favorite resolution ideas, all backed by recent science. Some have to do with fitness, others with diet or health, and others with boosting productivity. A few are simply intended to help you maximize happiness.

You don't need to attempt all at once, but pick one or two that'll get you closest to your goals.

This post has been updated. Kevin Loria wrote an earlier version, which was published in December 2017.

To help you lose weight, eat healthier, and feel better, resolve to fix your sleeping habits.

Some research shows that getting enough sleep makes it easier to avoid cravings for unhealthy foods, keep off excess weight, and that it's key for psychological health.

In the long run, sleep could be even more important: in several studies published in the summer of 2017, researchers demonstrated that after disrupted sleep, individuals had higher levels of proteins associated with Alzheimer's and dementia in the brain.

And as sleep expert Matthew Walker, author of the book, "Why We Sleep," previously told Business Insider, you really can't get by on six or seven hours of sleep — the vast majority of people need an average of eight hours a night.

To improve your sleep, experts recommend going to bed and getting up at the same time every night, improving your sleep environment, and avoiding screens for at least a half hour before bed, if not longer. If you're struggling with insomnia, there are science-backed tips for that too.

Resolve to get moving.

Shutterstock/Dusan Petkovic

Exercise resolutions are common, and for good reason. Along with fixing your sleep, little else will have as transformative an effect on your life as working out.

Exercise provides such a laundry list of physical and mental health benefits that it's basically the closest thing we have to a wonder drug.

Exercise can improve your heart health, up your sex drive, improve your sleep, and boost your mood. Research has also shown that working out may help keep the brain young, improve memory, and fight cognitive impairment.

The trick is figuring out the targeted exercise resolution that's going to work for you — saying you'll just "go to the gym (more)" probably won't cut it.

If it fits your schedule, make an early morning cardio workout a new habit.

Morning workouts aren't for everyone, but experts say that if you can get some morning exercise that'll get your heart going and expose you to some morning sunlight, that'll kickstart your circadian rhythm, which will wake you up for the day and make it easier to sleep at night.

Getting a good amount of cardio exercise is strongly linked to many of the biggest benefits of exercise, and some research suggests that morning is best time of day to work out to lose weight.

To provide motivation to actually get out of bed and complete your morning run, swim, or ride, experts suggest working towards a goal (like a race), training with a friend, or adding in an element of competition.

But the best exercise resolution is one you can keep, so pick something you're likely to stick with.

Don't make a resolution you know you won't keep. If you hate the morning or simply don't have time to work out then, start an evening routine.

There's a reason why approximately 60% of the gym memberships people start in January never get used— they're started by people with good intentions but who don't really enjoy making gym visits a part of their life.

Experts recommend finding an activity that you like enough to do regularly.

For some people, that might be rock climbing, for others, running or swimming. Join a soccer league if the team bonding and competition involved encourage you to stick with workouts week-in and week-out.

If you're going to try a diet in the new year, pick a way to eat healthy that's backed by science.

U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr

An abundance of recent research supports the idea that if you want to cut back on one popular ingredient, it should probably be sugar — and not fat, as many used to think.

Sugar consumption is more strongly linked to heart disease and overall risk of death than fat consumption is, according to a major analysis published in August 2017.

If you want an official "diet" that's highly praised by researchers, you could also consider the DASH diet, which has dieters cut sodium levels and switch from sugary foods and red meats to whole grains, lean proteins, and produce.

But an even simpler approach that many experts favor is just eating "real food," meaning nothing overly processed.

One easy resolution to eat healthier could involve vowing to cook a meal using no pre-prepared ingredients at least once more per week.

Another way to transform your diet and health is to set a resolution about what you drink.

A healthy resolution could be eliminating sodas or other sugary beverages from your diet. Much of the average person's sugar intake comes from what they drink. In a November 2017 study, scientists revealed how data indicating that sugar consumption increased risks for cancer and heart disease had been hidden from the public for decades.

When it comes to booze, moderation is the safest best. Some studies indicate that moderate, regular alcohol consumption is linked with lower risk for diabetes or cognitive decline. But any amount of alcohol likely increases cancer risk, so a resolution limiting your consumption is probably a good idea.

One thing you don't have to worry about drinking less of is coffee, which is associated in many ways with better health or a longer life (but avoid those sugar-packed coffee drinks).

If you want to be more productive, resolve to take more breaks and work less.

Contrary to what the workaholics of the world might believe, humans have limits.

There are some times when we can grind away at a project hour after hour, but we can't work like that all the time.

In fact, psychologist K. Anders Ericsson told Business Insider that for the most part, we can only engage in heavy mental work for four or five hours at a time — not eight or 10 or 12.

In their book "Peak Performance: Elevate your Game, Avoid Burnout and Thrive with the New Science of Success", published in 2017, performance experts Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness wrote that most people who want to be more productive at work should learn to take breaks.

In the short term, that means that when your energy is running low, you should get up and go for a walk or do something else to really gives your mind a rest. In the longer term (if it's possible), research indicates you might be best off setting yourself up to work fewer hours every week.

You could also resolve to start reading regularly.

There's psychological evidence that reading — especially literary fiction — can make it easier to empathize with others or to imagine other lives in the world.

Luminaries of the tech and finance worlds like Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffett agree about the myriad benefits of books. They often attribute much of their success to regular reading habits.

Plus, reading is simply a fun, easy way to pass the time and take a break from the internet-connected world.

Pick a goal — one book each month or even one per week, depending on how much you already read. Create or join a book club if the prospect of chatting with friends (likely over snacks and drinks) will encourage you to turn the pages.

Finally, if you simply want to be happier, resolve to make choices that will give you more time to enjoy life with family and friends.

Paxson Woelber/Flickr

It can seem like we all have a million tasks to complete and needs to meet, leaving little time for relaxation. While it's important to meet our obligations, a significant amount of psychological research indicates that people who have more time and who make decisions that prioritize time over money are happier.

In a study published in the summer of 2017, researchers found that people who spent money on a time-saving purchase instead of a material item got a small but significant happiness boost. That corresponds with a growing body of existing research.

In a 2017 TED Talk, psychologist Adam Alter suggested that one reason many people feel like we have so little free time these days is that we spend many precious free minutes flicking through our phones. Give yourself your free time back — and use it to cook a meal, get in a workout, or do some reading. It'll be one step towards a better 2019.

Read next on Business Insider: How to make this the winter you finally stay in shape

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richardlionhearth · 7 years ago

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New York City sees massive lines for salads after eat healthy New Year’s resolutions

Long lines for salads in New York create anarchy in the days after "eat healthy" New Year's resolutions. (USDA)

They’ve gone from fast food to extremely slow salads.

New Yorkers trying to make good on “eat healthy” resolutions are mobbing salad joints — leaving many on long lines cursing their radicchio-strewn diets.

“You guys can go f–k yourselves!” one very hangry businessman in a Patagonia puffer vest was overheard telling his colleagues at lunchtime on Thursday, as he ditched the 100-plus-long line at Chopt on West 51st Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues.

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“The last few days after New Year’s have been crazy because of the resolutions and people wanting to eat healthy,” said another business-suited, kale-clutching customer there.

“Yesterday, there was a line out the door,” Maya Dillon, 46, said as she left Just Salad at East 51st Street and Park Avenue.

“It’s always the busiest time of the year, right after New Year’s,” said one worker.

“Everyone decides to be healthier for their New Year’s resolution.”

It’s no wonder that nearby fast-food joints that offer less leafy lunches are seeing a slowdown.

“Usually, it’s very, very busy,” said a security guard Thursday at McDonald’s on East 42nd Street between Madison and Fifth avenues. “Today — very, very slow.”

It was also “extra slow” at the Chick-fil-A at East 42nd Street between Vanderbilt and Madison avenues, an employee told The Post.

“In December, there were a lot of tourists and it was very busy,” said another worker there.

“Now in January, you see a dip in business.”

Meanwhile, at Sweetgreen on East 55th Street, Julie Pastor, 30, had to wait in a line of 50 people to get her guacamole-and-greens bowl.

“The line was outside the door and wrapping around the sidewalk,” she said.

Click here for more from The New York Post.

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A Definitive Ranking Of Miley Cyrus Exes Betches

In case you missed it, a Christmas miracle took place last weekend, and I’m not even talking about my mother uttering the words “you were right” in my presence. No, last weekend Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth GOT MARRIED in a private ceremony held in their Nashville home. That’s right, the woman who made twerking a national pastime and the second-hottest Hemsworth brother are married. Are you squealing yet? BECAUSE I AM SQUEALING. I don’t know about you, but I’d say this is definitive proof that love is real you can get your ex back after miming a sex act during your VMAs performance and it’s a win for me, personally delusional girls all over the world.

Now, if you’ll recall, the couple met in 2009 on the set of The Last Song, way back when Miley had brown hair and was still legally allowed to associate with the Disney Channel. Ah, simpler times. They first got engaged in 2012, before calling it off a year later so Miley could have her space to grow as a person go through that wild phase.

Sure, Jan. Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night.

But they reconnected in 2015 and seemed to be really happy, despite the fact that it made her new music only subpar. (Sorry, but it’s true.) Personally, I’ve been rooting for these two for a long time. And I’m not just saying that because after a drinking a bottle of moscato I used to drunk dial my ex and belt “Wrecking Ball” into his voicemail box. No, I’m genuinely rooting for Miley and Liam as only a complete stranger with no personal or emotional ties to them can. And now they’re married!! So to celebrate the occasion, I thought it would be fun to revisit her exes in what I like to call “Thank U, Next: The Miley Cyrus Edition.” Let’s get started, shall we?

6. Justin Gaston

If you’re wondering who this person is, you’re not alone, because I had to Google him as well. According to his IMDB page his greatest claim to fame is playing Romeo in Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” music video. So basically he’s about as relevant as my Juicy tracksuit Plato’s Closet passed on last weekend. They dated for about nine months when Miley was 15, and broke up right before she went to film The Last Song. Some say they broke up because she rekindled her friendship with Nick Jonas, and I guess 20 year old Justin felt threatened by a 14-year-old boy with a straightening iron, but I think it’s because she realized he was going about as far as Nashville’s Broad Street. Last place for you, Justin.

5. Patrick Schwarzenegger

After Miley called off her engagement to Liam, she dated Patrick Schwarzenegger for about five months and, honestly, it’s a solid rebound. The boy is fiiiine in, like, a preppy, rich kid who will definitely keep your nudes for revenge porn kind of way. So snaps for you, Miley. They broke up after photos surfaced of Patrick hanging out with his ex, which feels very on brand for him personally. He gets fifth place because he reminds me of my ex while he’s p attractive he’s also probably a piece of sh*t and I’m not tolerating a**holes for one more godd*mn minute in 2018.

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Patley at pre-grammys party in 2014. #mileyfuckingcyrus #mileyraycyrus #destinyhopecyrus #destinyhope #smiley #smileymiley #relationshipgoals #couple #patrickschwarzenegger #mileycyrus #mileyandpatrick #grammys #patley #patleyforever #cutest #couplegoals

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4. Stella Maxwell

I have nothing to say about this relationship mostly because I don’t think there was a relationship. There were rumors that Miley and Stella Maxwell were dating in 2015 because they made out a few times in public but, like, what’s your point? If I had to formally acknowledge every person I make out with I would legit need witness protection. Nah, I’m not buying it. This was also the year that Miley and Liam reconnected, so let’s call this what it is: too many vodka crans. Next.

3. Dylan Sprouse

Lol. I know, right? According to Popsugar the two dated for “a day when they were 11 or 12” and a day is all it takes for me to be jealous of any b*tch lucky enough to date a Sprouse. For those of you who read my Riverdale recaps, you know The CW has been making me feel things about a Sprouse that is legit making me question my mental health. And even though Miley only dated the twin whose most successful business venture since The Suite Life has been opening a “meadery” in Williamsburg, I’m still ridiculously jealous.

2. Liam Hemsworth

Technically, Liam was her ex at some point so he makes the list. He’s not number one because although I root for him, there’s someone else who tops the list. SORRY NOT SORRY. Which brings us to my favorite Miley ex…

1. Nick Jonas

Nick f*cking Jonas. That’s right, people, I still stan this relationship and I will stan this relationship until either one of them releases a song that’s better than “Before The Storm.” I’m sorry but “Standing out in the rain /Need to know if it’s over /Flooded with all this pain /Knowing that I’ll never hold her /Like I did before the storm”?? F*cking iconic. I don’t care that Nick gave his purity ring to Priyanka Chopra or that Miley and Liam have been together for ten years, 14 year old me is still hoping Disney will pull rank their contracts out and make them contractually obligated to write another teenage love ballad. PLEASE IT’S ALL I ASK FOR.

But, like, every happiness to you and Liam, Miley!

Images: Giphy (3); @mileymileys /Instagram (1)

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US ambassador issues trade deal warning

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Image caption Woody Johnson with Donald and Melania Trump on their UK visit this summer

Donald Trump's offer of a "quick, massive, bilateral trade deal" will not be possible if Theresa May's EU withdrawal agreement is approved, the US ambassador to the UK has warned.

President Trump had previously said her Brexit proposal sounded like a "great deal for the EU".

Woody Johnson told the BBC the UK was "in need of leadership" over Brexit.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said Mr Johnson recently said the UK was "the perfect trading partner for the US".

The UK-US trade relationship in five charts

What are the challenges ahead for a UK-US trade deal?

Mr Johnson told Radio 4's Today programme there was still hope for a UK-US trade deal.

"What I'm focusing on here is something the president has also said - that is looking forward to, and hoping, that the environment will lead to the ability for the US to do a quick, very massive bilateral trade deal," he said.

He added it could be "the precursor of future trade deals with other countries around the world for Great Britain that will really take you way, way into an exciting future".

"We're still going through the stages of deciding exactly where the country is going," said Mr Johnson. "If it goes in a way that allows these kinds of agreements to occur then I think that will be very positive in the president's eyes."

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Johnson said a trade deal with the US would be "positive" in Mr Trump's eyes

Asked if that would go ahead under the current proposed Brexit deal, which MPs are due to vote on in January, he replied: "It doesn't look like it would be possible."

He said ministers - and the prime minister - had to "measure the impact of all the other trade offs" and how different trade agreements would benefit the UK.

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Your guide to Brexit jargon

Mr Trump has said Mrs May's deal could leave Britain unable to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the US.

Mr Johnson did not give more details about what such a deal would entail.

However, while the UK is either in a transition period after Brexit - or in a temporary customs union - it will not be able to implement its own free trade deals, with the US or any other third country.

Reacting to Mr Johnson's comments on Brexit, the Downing Street spokeswoman said both the UK and the US had been clear that "we want an ambitious trade agreement and we stand ready to conclude such an agreement as a priority after we leave the European Union".

Is Trump right about Brexit?

The cost of Trump's UK visit

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Image caption President Trump met the Queen in July - could a state visit be on the cards for 2019?

Mr Johnson also said that he had been surprised by the "defeatism" felt in the UK over Brexit.

"All of the reporting looks back and it looks at a very static future, rather than an active British future - about solving problems, entrepreneurialism and taking advantage of opportunities and being very innovative," said Mr Johnson.

"If you look back and try to project the past into the present and future, it's going to be bleak.

"But you're leaving out the great thing that Britain has to offer and that is all of the people and all of their efforts and their ability to solve problems. If you factor that in, I think the future is extremely positive, extremely bright."

He added that it would be "great" if President Trump's postponed state visit could take place in May, around the time of World War Two commemorations - if his schedule, and that of the Queen, allowed.

Related Topics

Donald Trump

Brexit

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richardlionhearth · 7 years ago

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Our national parks are mired in human feces and garbageis this what ‘great’ looks like?

The government shutdown is having some disturbing—and disgusting—consequences for our beloved public lands.

For decades, the U.S. national parks have been a strong point of pride for our nation. Tourists come from all over the world to witness the diverse majesty and beauty preserved and maintained in 59 American national parks. More than 330 million people visited these wonders in 2017.

However, that point of pride is quickly becoming a source of embarrassment as the government shutdown has hampered the parks' ability to keep up with this year's holiday wave of visitors. With no one to clean bathrooms or empty trash cans, people have resorted to doing their business out in the open and leaving their messes behind. Reports of garbage and human feces littering the parks have been pouring across the media, much to the dismay of nature lovers everywhere.

#governmentshutdown #shutdown Quick pic on my bike ride in. That’s the White House in the background. The National Park can’t empty trash cans next to the Washington Monument. pic.twitter.com/qC93aPVkq5

— Nick Schwellenbach (@schwellenbach) January 2, 2019

A report from an anonymous Ranger at Yosemite highlights the problems facing National Park Service employees.

The Alt National Park Service posted a report from an unnamed ranger at Yosemite National Park on their Facebook page:

National Alert: The government shutdown is destroying our parks! Words from a Ranger in Yosemite National Park. Name of...

Posted by Alt National Park Service on Tuesday, January 1, 2019

It reads:

"Today I worked. We held Yosemite open to 4th of July-level traffic with no support staff whatsoever. We did so with 4 rangers in Wawona/Badger, 4 in Yosemite Valley and (may be slightly off....) 4 in Mather. That is 12 people working while we were seeing 240-270 cars per hour coming into South Entrance. Let that sink in. TWELVE people. In a park the size of Rhode Island. Badger sold almost 1,000 lift tickets today (their limit is 1200)."

"There are piles if human shit everywhere. Gross, but so seriously true. Every roadside turnout has toilet paper and trash. Garbage cans are overflowing until we can get time to pick it up. People are screaming about paying their taxes and having rights, people are fighting over tickets issued for violating closures when they duck under barricades and walk past signs so they can do what they want."

"Keeping parks accessible is reasonable if people can fend for themselves and care for the park themselves, but the large majority can't. The large majority needs a map because their GPS quits working when cell service drops, and they don't have one because the Entrance staff wasn't there to give them one. The large majority has no idea what a cat hole is and would never consider picking up their used toilet paper and sticking in their purse. The large majority doesn't know what to do if they break an ankle and can't get 911 on the phone. The large majority cannot use their public lands in a way that allows them to remain unimpaired for their kid's children. That is why they hire the National Park Service. To provide a service to the vast majority who don't know how to be a true steward for their land or don't care to be. I beg all of you to stay home and not visit your parks until everyone comes back to work. Your experience will be ten thousand times better.”

(By the way, the Alt National Park Service is a group "created by a coalition of National Park Service employees, state park employees, local park employees, National Forest Service employees, EPA employees, USDA employees, NOAA employees, BLM employees, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees, and environmental scientists," formed early in Trump's presidency "in response to the new administration, who has shown little mercy for the environment and wildlife.")

Some private citizens are trying to help mitigate the mess and mass of humanity.

CBS News reported that Ethan Feltges, who runs a gift shop outside Joshua Tree National Park, and other business owners have tried to help protect the park and help visitors in the absence of park rangers and employees. He set up a portable toilet at his store and offered guidance and tips to tourists. Some business owners have brought in trailers to empty the overflowing trash cans.

"The whole community has come together," Feltges told CBS. "Everyone loves the park. And there's a lot of businesses that actually need the park."

However, their efforts were not enough to keep the park running. Joshua Tree's campgrounds have been closed due to full pit toilets and overflowing garbage, though the park itself remains open.

In some previous government shutdowns, national parks have been closed altogether. While not ideal, that certainly seems preferable to keeping them open without the personnel needed to maintain them at a very basic level.

Yes, some people are horrible stewards. That's why we have the National Park Service to begin with.

Some have begun complaining that people are abusing our national parks in the absence of maintenance crews, gatekeepers, and rule enforcers. But that's why we have those people in place in the first place. When you get large numbers of humans in one place, there has to be a system in place to manage it—not just to take out their trash and clean their bathrooms, but to make sure they don't start mucking things up.

It's like when Will Smith's character in "Men in Black" asserted that people were smart enough to handle knowing about aliens, and Tommy Lee Jones' character responded, "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it." He wasn't wrong.

And when people are faced with arriving at at National Park that they didn't know was going to be affected in such a way, needing to use a bathroom that isn't available, what are they supposed to do? And if too many employees are furloughed to keep the parks running without risk to the public, why keep them open?

The decisions being made during this shutdown are baffling—and embarrassing. We've just entered 2019 with our beautiful National Parks overflowing with literal crap and garbage. If this is what being "great again" looks like, I think I'll pass.

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richardlionhearth · 7 years ago

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What we learned about green living from a 7-day experiment

Image copyright SWNS.COM

Buy less meat and dairy. Walk, don't drive. Dry laundry on a rack.

They're all things we know could help save the planet. But how far are any of us prepared to go? And what's stopping us from doing more?

We challenged three people to spend one week making as many changes as possible to live a greener life. Here's how they got on.

Charlotte Cumming

Image copyright SWNS.com

About: I'm a 25-year-old senior associate at a consultancy firm, who lives wherever my latest project is. Home is Fife but for the time being I'm living and working in Glasgow, which means I can get everywhere on foot. I like to cook from scratch and socialise with friends and my team.

My week: I made a really conscious effort not to buy any meat or fish. Buying vegetarian or vegan food was not particularly tough but eating out was trickier when it looked so tempting - and I did eat a prawn curry at a restaurant.

Avoiding cow's milk was not hard - I already drink soy milk, prefer my coffee black and recently discovered chocolate oat milk. I tried vegan parmesan for the first time, and was pleasantly surprised that it tasted like the real thing and even melts.

Plant-based diets 'help combat global warming'

I tried not to throw anything away (I froze spinach before it went off) and bought loose vegetables instead of pre-packaged bags.

My biggest shift was checking where food was from. One day my blueberries were from Perth, Scotland, the next, from Peru. Yet both packets suggested they were produced locally. Even my "seasonal" butternut squash was from Spain.

Once I started spending a few seconds (and that really is all it takes) checking the source, I felt more inclined to pick local.

Image copyright SWNS.com

I watched documentaries including Mission Blue and Cowspiracy [about marine conservation and intensive farming, respectively], and started following Zanna Van Dijk and The Happy Pear [environmental/fitness and vegetarian/lifestyle bloggers] online for inspiration and information.

My friends and I discussed how social media could inspire but also make you feel so far off the end goal - you've just bought a coffee in a reusable cup, then you read about fast-fashion and think: "God, I've just bought this T-shirt."

I spoke to my consultant colleagues, who are in and out of hotels, about leaving big plastic bottles of toiletries in their office locker or at hotels over weekends to avoid buying mini ones each week.

One told me how they can't recycle takeaway food packaging in hotels, so bring it to work to put in office recycling bins.

In Glasgow, I walk everywhere but, in the past, my job has involved driving, flying, getting a train and a bus just to get to the office. Where possible though, we do use video conferencing with colleagues and clients.

What I learned:

Image copyright Charlotte Cumming

Image caption Spot the difference? One pack's grown in Italy, the other in the UK

Look at the labels - is it grown locally?

Buy minimal, responsibly-sourced meat from the meat counter (less plastic packaging)

Take baby steps to inform yourself

Try vegan cheese - with an open mind

Top tip: Buy a reusable coffee cup, water bottle and Tupperware - and actually use them.

Claudia Neuray

Image copyright Lee McLean

About: I'm a healthy history student who hits the gym four times a week and eats eggs and chicken to keep up my protein levels. I mainly travel around Manchester by bus or foot, and share a house - but not usually meals - with my flatmates. I'm 20, and grew up in a nature-loving family in Belgium where food was never thrown away and leftovers were always for tomorrow.

My week: Living in the UK - where everything is easily available and students live in houses where rent includes bills - means people leave taps on, lights on and put the heating up as high as they want. It's a problem.

Every day I turned the heating off or down to 18C. I also bought insulating tape to block out draughts in my bedroom. I made a conscious effort to have shorter showers and use less dishwater.

I swapped bananas for stewed UK-grown pears on my breakfast, and bought soya milk for the first time in my life - but I wasn't convinced. Cow's milk just tastes better and we always buy milk communally for the flat.

One night I made a vegan stew for my flatmates - all the vegetables were UK-grown except the butter beans and lentils. I'd never cooked for them all before and was scared I'd bottle it. But they all really liked it.

Image copyright Lee McLean

I tried, unsuccessfully, to find a more environmentally-friendly shampoo, but they're £6-7, and I'd usually spend £3.

But I did invest £20 in a menstrual cup to cut down on waste and save money (a woman spends an average £4,800 on period products in her lifetime, according to the charity Bloody Good Period). My flatmates thought it a bit gross but I found it was just as good once I got used to it.

Why menstrual cups are becoming more popular

How shampoo is harming the environment

What I learned:

Image copyright Lee McLean

It only takes three or four days before it becomes automatic to think: buy loose, buy British and take your own bag

Food is ridiculously over-packaged. I think it's a British thing to wrap fruit in plastic and cardboard - you wouldn't see it in Belgium

Don't put the heating on, put a jumper on

To my surprise, I've become pretty much vegetarian since the challenge - I don't even buy chicken any more

Top tip: Prepare meals at the start of the week to reduce plastic and food waste - and save money.

Andy Harris

Image copyright Tristan Potter/SWNS.COM

About: I'm a 31-year-old primary school teacher living in Bicester, Oxfordshire, with my partner and 18-month-old boy. Since my son's birth, I'm giving more thought to the sort of world he - and my class of nine and 10-year-olds - will grow up in.

My week: At home, I made lots of small, simple changes which quickly became routine. My son wears disposable nappies which we usually put in a plastic nappy bag before binning. Instead, we only bagged up soiled nappies.

Instead of a deep bath, we gave my little boy a shower over the bath with a plug in, using less water and he still got to splash around and play with his ducks. He loved that.

I like my dairy and meat too much to have made any dietary changes - and my son is struggling to eat at the moment, so we carried on as normal with food. However, I did take leftovers from the previous night's dinner to work in Tupperware.

I turned off the tap when I was brushing my teeth - or brushed them while in the shower.

I monitored the heating, which was rarely above 15C (our semi-detached is well-insulated) and charged my mobile phone before bedtime so it wasn't charging through the night.

Designers create the 'impossible' zero-carbon house

Image copyright Tristan Potter/SWNS.COM

In the classroom, I talked about the changes I was making in my life and asked each of the children to make one change at home. Theirs included turning the light off when they left a room; using a torch or fairy lights to read by at bedtime; using reusable water bottles, and turning the TV off at the switch.

About 80% stuck to it for the whole week, and I felt proud and humbled they'd come on board.

Change has a ripple effect - as a teacher you can influence 30 children, who then might influence 60 adults.

At nine and 10, children are really positive, empathetic and absorb everything, like sponges. Next term, I plan to talk to them about energy and climate change in science lessons.

What I learned: We are a throwaway society. We don't mend things any more nor realise quite how much we waste. We should think very carefully about what we use, why we use it and its impact on the environment and the world.

Top tip: Charge your phone on airplane mode well before bedtime (it only takes an hour and reduces any fire risk).

To find out the climate impact of what you eat and drink, choose from one of the 34 items in our calculator and pick how often you have it.

How do your food choices impact on the environment?

Don't cry because you can't play with our interactive. /> Update your browser to have a go!

How do your food choices impact on the environment?

Which food would you like? How often do you have it?

Find out

Your results are below

Kilograms of greenhouse gases per serving

All figures for each food in the calculator are global averages. If you cannot view the food calculator, click to launch the interactive content.

Design by Prina Shah, development by Felix Stephenson and Becky Rush.

All pictures subject to copyright

What do you do to help the environment? Have you made lifestyle changes that affect your day-to-day life? Email [email protected]

Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:

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Related Topics

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The Most Mind-Blowing, Life-Altering Scientific Discoveries of 2018

In 2018, scientists succeeded in some impressive feats: Engineers at SpaceX sent a red sports car flying past Mars, Chinese researchers cloned a pair of monkeys, and people in Egypt found cheese that was manufactured 3,000 years ago. (Don't eat it.)

Over the past year, scientists also figured out how to "touch" the sun using a heat-resistant probe, use tiny robots to kill cancer, and stop painful migraines.

These and other accomplishments were an encouraging reminder that scientists across the globe are learning more about how life and the universe work every day .

As the new year approaches, take a look back at some of the most marvelous, life-changing, and astonishing scientific discoveries and feats from 2018.

In February, SpaceX nailed an impressive feat: the company launched its reusable, 27-engine Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time. It's the company's most powerful yet.

After Falcon Heavy launched on February 6, 2018, two of the rocket's three reusable boosters landed safely on the ground in Florida.

The core booster, however, missed its landing pad on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Apparently it hit the water at 300 miles an hour and took out two of the engines on the drone ship," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said. That loss was relatively minor in the context of the launch's overall success, though.

The payload on that Falcon Heavy rocket was Musk's red Tesla Roadster, complete with a dummy driver and a note on the dash: "DON'T PANIC!"

The car is still cruising the solar system today. In November, SpaceX announced it had sailed past Mars.

In March, scientists at NASA revealed new findings about how living in space can mess with your eyes and immune system.

When NASA astronaut Scott Kelly left his identical twin brother, Mark, on Earth and spent a year in space, scientists seized on the opportunity to learn more about out how life away from our home planet can change a person.

Researchers found that up to 7% of Scott's gene expression hasn't returned to its Earthly "normal" state since he came back. Those changes may be part of the body's response to the stress of living in space, and they could lead to lasting consequences for Kelly's immune system and retinas.

Star-gazers spotted a new kind of aurora that travels farther south than most. Its name is STEVE.

STEVE, or Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, and the MIlky Way at Childs Lake, Manitoba, Canada. Krista Trinder/ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The purplish aurora travels on different magnetic field lines than others, so it can appear much closer to the equator than the Northern Lights.

The strange lights were first reported by citizen scientists in Canada in 2015. The amateurs formed a group and started working with researchers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The result of that collaboration — the discovery of a new kind of aurora — was published in the journal Science Advances on March 14.

STEVE, or Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement, can be tough to see, though, because the display typically lasts for less than an hour.

After three years of studying Mars, Italian scientists determined in July that it's possible the red planet has a 20-kilometer-wide lake of liquid water at its polar ice cap.

"If these researchers are right, this is the first time we've found evidence of a large water body on Mars," Cassie Stuurman, a geophysicist at the University of Texas, told the Associated Press.

Other parts of Mars are too cold for water to stay liquid.

Astronomers found a ghost particle in Antarctica, revealing a source of some of the most high-energy radiation in the universe.

Researchers found the particle, a neutrino, in September using IceCube, an array of sensors embedded in Antarctic ice.

"When scientists tracked the particle back to its source they found a galactic monster called a blazar: a rapidly spinning black hole, millions of times the mass of the sun, that's gobbling up gas and dust," Business Insider's Dave Mosher reported.

Humans came closer to touching the sun than ever before, after the Parker Solar Probe launched in November.

The Parker Solar Probe will come closer to the sun than any other probe before it. NASA Goddard / Youtube

The probe is now the fastest human-made object, capable of flying past the sun at speeds up to 213,200 miles an hour.

Solar experts hope that by traveling through scorching-hot areas of the sun, which can be 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit, the robot will help unlock mysteries about how our star works.

Back on Earth, a bountiful pirate's booty worth as much as $17 billion was discovered off the coast of Columbia.

The treasure comes from a 310-year-old Spanish ship, the San José, which sank in the Caribbean Sea during a 1708 battle with British ships during the War of the Spanish Succession.

The wreck was found in 2015, and engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in Massachusetts, sent a submarine drone down to explore it in more detail. In May 2018, they finally revealed the details of their discovery.

The sunken bounty may include gold, silver, and emeralds.

A 24-year-old Dutchman invented and launched a plastic-trapping pipe that he hopes will help heal our oceans. (But it's running into some technical issues.)

Boyan Slat hopes that his Ocean Cleanup device, which launched in September, will help make a dent in the growing plastic pollution problem. Plastics in the ocean are killing sea turtles and other life in the water at alarming rates.

But as the device combs through plastic stuck in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it's letting some of that plastic waste escape back out into the ocean, Slat wrote in November.

"We are positive we are close to making it work," he said.

Drugmakers scored some wins this year, too. There's a new pill for peanut allergies, but it can come with nasty side effects.

New allergy drugs like the one from Aimmune aim to retrain people's immune systems to tolerate allergens like peanuts. Promising data from a trial, which was published in November, showed that after a year on the treatment, 67% of kids with peanut allergies were able to tolerate about two peanuts, compared to only 4% of those who got the placebo.

But the results aren't always finger-licking good — because the drug includes peanuts, people can have severe reactions. More than 50 people in that trial had to get a shot of epinephrine after they had an allergic reaction.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly created a new kind of migraine drug, but it costs $575 a month.

The treatment, which got the green light from the US Food and Drug Administration in September, is the first drug that's been approved to treat migraines. Previously, migraine treatment involved tools or medications originally created to serve a different purpose, like Botox and anti-seizure medicines.

The FDA also approved a new drug that targets cancers based on DNA instead of tumor location.

ktsdesign/Shutterstock

The drug, called Vitrakvi (larotrectinib), was developed by pharmaceutical company Loxo Oncology and approved by the FDA in November. Vitrakvi has already been tested on patients with lung, colon, breast, and thyroid cancers.

Rather than going after certain types of cancer, the drug targets cancers based on genetically similar features (biomarkers).

"This new site-agnostic oncology therapy isn't specific to a cancer arising in a particular body organ, such as breast or colon cancer," FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a release. "Its approval reflects advances in the use of biomarkers to guide drug development and the more targeted delivery of medicine."

According to data released in October, Loxo said that 81% of patients who tried the drug saw their tumors shrink, while 17% of patients had their tumors disappear entirely.

The drug comes with a steep price tag, though: $393,000 a year.

Researchers have also been developing medical robots that are 1,000 times smaller than a human hair and can suffocate tumors.

This IV-injectable robot has been successfully deployed inside mice and pigs with breast, skin, ovary, and lung cancers. After five years of research, the team of scientists behind the nanorobot published their work in February.

The killer robot attacks the tumor by blocking off its supply of fresh blood. Scientists haven't tested it out in humans yet, though.

Cancer researchers also found new evidence that high-fat, low-sugar diets might help kill cancer cells when used in tandem with a certain type of drug.

Researchers are zeroing in on ways to make cancer drugs more effective by changing patients' diets.

In July, a team of doctors published the results of a study in which they put mice with cancer on low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diets while administering a treatment called a PI3K inhibitor that's designed to kill tumors. The results showed that the diet-treatment combination improved the medication's effects.

Scientists are now moving forward with a human trial.

"We hope very much that we would see, in the future, a much more careful assessment of what diet means and how diet can affect chemotherapy," Siddartha Mukherjee, the study's lead coauthor and an oncologist at Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, told Business Insider.

Scientists figured out a way to grow meat in a lab without relying on any products from slaughtered animals.

A handful of startups are racing to create real pieces of meat out of animal cells in a lab.

But for the most part, the food that's used to coax those cells to proliferate is an animal product called fetal bovine serum, which comes from slaughtered cows. That means the lab-grown meat isn't yet cruelty-free.

However, the Dutch startup Meatable claims to have solved that problem by using only stem cells from animals' umbilical cords.

"This way, we don't harm the animals at all, and it's material that would otherwise get thrown away," Krijn De Nood, Meatable's CEO, told Business Insider in September.

The company aims to begin serving its slaughter-free burgers and sausages to restaurants in roughly four years.

In Egypt, archaeologists opened a 30-ton black sarcophagus and found three skeletons — amid raw sewage.

The 2,000-year-old sarcophagus was discovered in July by a construction crew working in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

Some people worried that opening the casket might unlock a nasty curse, but archaeologist Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of Egypt's antiquities ministry, pooh-poohed that idea.

"I was the first to put my whole head inside the sarcophagus," Waziri said. "Here I stand before you ... I am fine."

The three skeletons found in the sarcophagus were most likely soldiers, according to Egypt's antiquities ministry, and one skull showed signs of fractures caused by a sharp instrument.

Egyptian excavators also found a 3,200-year-old dairy product: the world's oldest cheese.

The cheese was found in the tomb of a 13th-century BCE mayor of Memphis, Egypt, excavators announced in August.

Investigators think it's either cow cheese or goat-milk cheese.

Cheese-lovers on social media quickly exclaimed that they wanted to eat the ancient curd, even though it might contain deadly bacteria.

Chinese scientists announced in January that they'd cloned monkeys, thereby breaking the "technical barrier" for cloning humans.

The scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Neuroscience cloned the monkeys using the same technique that produced Dolly the sheep two decades ago. But it's still very difficult to clone primates: It took 127 eggs to produce two live macaques. (Scientists named the baby monkeys Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua.)

The researchers said they do not intend to clone people anytime soon. Instead, they want to use the scientific breakthrough to better study diseases and new drugs.

Researchers also figured out other advanced new ways to make babies. But a recent announcement about genetically edited babies drew questions and criticism from scientists around the world.

Shutterstock/vchal

In October, scientists announced that they'd birthed healthy baby mice from two moms and no dad. And this month, doctors reported a woman who received a transplanted womb from a deceased organ donor gave birth to a baby girl.

But a more controversial announcement came from Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who claims to have successfully edited the genes in a pair of twins born in China in November. By using a cut-and-paste DNA-editing technique called CRISPR, he said, the babies were born immune to HIV.

Jiankui hasn't produced any evidence to back up his claims, though, and it's not clear why anyone would need to genetically edit babies to ward off HIV, since life-saving drugs already exist for the auto-immune disease.

Scientists also worry that if Jiankui's claims are true, the changes he made could have far-reaching consequences, since any genetic mutations the babies may have would get passed on to their offspring.

Scientists also learned more about our human ancestors this year. It turns out that early humans didn't hesitate to get freaky with other species, and interbred with hominins like Denisovans and Neanderthals.

A genetic study published in March revealed that as early Homo sapiens made their way out of Africa, they had sex and interbred with Denisovans on numerous occasions.

For only the third time, a woman won the Nobel Prize in physics.

Donna Strickland, an associate professor of physics at the University of Waterloo, in Canada, shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in physics with a French scientist for her work on lasers.

The Nobel in physics has been awarded to 210 people. Strickland, whose Wikipedia entry had previously been rejected because she wasn't famous enough, was surprised to learn that out of all those winners, she was only the third woman.

"Is that all, really? I thought there might have been more," she said. "We need to celebrate women physicists, because we're out there."

This year, a female chemist won the Nobel Prize too. Frances Arnold became the fifth woman since 1901 to get it. The award recognized her work in using directed evolution to produce enzymes for new chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

"All this tremendous beauty and complexity of the biological world all comes about through this one simple, beautiful design algorithm," Arnold said after she won half of the 2018 prize. "What I do is use that algorithm to build new biological things."

The Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded to 181 people since 1901.

Scientists discovered two new kinds of giant dinosaurs.

A study about one new species, discovered in Argentina, was published in July. The creature is called Ingentia prima, a name derived from the Latin words for "huge" and "first." The dinosaur weighed as much as three African elephants when it roamed 210 million years ago (that's 30 million years earlier than scientists previously thought giant dinosaurs existed).

Another dinosaur, called Ledumahadi mafube, was discovered in South Africa, according to research published in September. It's believed to have lived 200 million years ago. That means both creatures would've been around at the time of Pangea, when the world's land was still one supercontinent.

"It shows how easily dinosaurs could have walked from Johannesburg to Buenos Aires at that time," Wits University paleoscientist Jonah Choiniere said.

Climate scientists learned more about how our warming planet is hurting us.

michelmond/Shutterstock

Scientists estimatedHurricane Florence, which hit the US in September, was more than 50% wetter than the storm would have been without climate change.

The heat-trapping gas that's been added to Earth's atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels also means that a trillion dollars in coastal real estate could be threatened by the end of this century. That's according to a recent report released by the Trump administration, which also found that thousands more people will die each year from heat-related conditions if we keep up business as usual.

But scientists are also coming up with promising solutions that could limit the planet's temperature rise if we take action now.

Investigators cracked the Golden State Killer case using DNA matching. The implications of that strategy are huge.

The suspected Golden State Killer, who'd been at large for more than three decades, was finally caught in April because a distant relative's DNA was available on a public genealogy website.

A study released in October estimates that 60% of white Americans — the biggest consumers of DNA testing services — could now be identified up to a "third cousin or closer" using available DNA data.

This was a banner year for scientists in US politics: Americans elected at least 10 new science pros to Congress.

Nearly all of those successful scientist candidates were Democrats who unseated Republican incumbents in the 2018 midterm elections.

After 129 years, the world started using a more accurate measurement of a kilogram.

The weight used to measure kilograms previously, a hunk of platinum-iridium called Le Grand K, was losing mass.

Scientists gathered in Paris in November and voted to retire the old weight, which had been in use since 1889. Instead, they voted in favor of using the Planck constant (h), which is based on the amount of electricity needed to counteract a kilogram's force.

Several couples started trying out a new kind of male birth control that comes in the form of a shoulder-rub gel.

The hormonal gel is designed to be rubbed into a man's shoulders once a day.

Researchers hope it'll give men and their families more male birth-control options than the standard condoms and vasectomies.

The year-long trial just got underway, but no pharmaceutical companies have stepped forward yet to fund the drug.

A Paris-sized impact crater was discovered under Greenland's ice. The meteorite responsible may have have weighed 5 billion tons.

An illustration of asteroids careening toward northern Greenland. Natural History Museum of Denmark/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

A study published in November described the crater, which was made by a half-mile-wide iron asteroid that slammed into Greenland between 12,000 and 3 million years ago.

A giant meteor could still slam into us today, which is why one retired astronaut is urging NASA to send a telescope up into space to spot the threats.

"For God's sake, fund it," retired NASA astronaut Russell "Rusty" Schweickart told Business Insider.

There's a lot more fascinating science to look forward to in 2019. For one, there's a new lander on Mars.

The NASA InSight lander spent more than six months careening through space before it landed safely on Martian soil in November.

The quake-hunting robot could reveal new secrets about why Earth became such a nice place for us to live, while Mars wound up a cold desert planet.

People will continue striving to push human limits on Earth, too. At the bottom of the world, two men are attempting to travel across Antarctica unaided — which would be a first for humanity.

"Everyone has reservoirs of untapped potential inside of themselves and can achieve really incredible things," 33-year-old adventurer Colin O'Brady said in November, before starting his 70-day trek.

Read next on Business Insider: The 9 strangest animal discoveries of 2018 (so far)

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richardlionhearth · 7 years ago

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Fox News finishes 2018 as most-watched cable network as Hannity dominates

“Hannity” finished 2018 as the most-watched cable news program, averaging 3.3 million viewers.

Fox News Channel officially finished 2018 as the most-watched basic cable network for the third consecutive year among both primetime and total day viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Fox News averaged 2.4 million primetime viewers, the highest-rated year since launching 22 years ago. No other basic cable network surpassed the two-million average viewership plateau, with��ESPN averaging 1.9 million primetime viewers to finish second. MSNBC, HGTV and USA rounded out the top five, while CNN averaged only 988,000 primetime viewers to finish eleventh overall.

“Fox News continues to outperform other basic cable networks, proving once again that our news coverage and premiere team of journalists and opinion hosts are the best in the business. With the recent launch of Fox Nation, an increased focus on digital and the strong ratings momentum we have built, we are confident that 2019 will offer our loyal viewers even more ways to engage with Fox News,” CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace said in a joint statement.

As for total day ratings, Fox News averaged 1.4 million viewers with second-place MSNBC falling short of the one-million mark. MSNBC averaged 994,000 viewers with Nickelodeon, ESPN and HGTV joining FNC among the top five. CNN averaged 706,000 total day viewers to finish seventh among cable networks.

“Hannity” finished 2018 as the most-watched cable news program, averaging 3.3 million viewers. MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” averaged 2.9 million to finish second, while Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” “The Ingraham Angle,” “The Five” and “Special Report with Bret Baier” made up the six most-watched news programs.

Fox News’ victory was widely reported last month but became official when the year wrapped up on Monday evening. Fox News Channel secured 10 of the top 15 programs in total viewers while CNN’s most-watched show was “Cuomo Prime Time,” which finished No. 23 overall. CNN’s top show finished behind 14 Fox News shows and eight different programs on rival MSNBC.

“Hannity” also finished 2018 as the most-watched show on cable among the key demo of adults age 25-54, averaging 635,000 viewers in the category most important to advertisers. Maddow finished second, followed by Carlson, and Ingraham.

Fox News had eight of the top 15 spots among the demo, compared to MSNBC’s four and CNN’s three. FNC also finished as the No. 1 network among households with an income of $100,000 per year.

FNC was the fifth most-watched in all of TV -- including broadcast -- for the third consecutive year and had the No. 1 non-sports rated telecast among total viewers of all basic cable when it covered President Trump’s State of the Union Address.

Fox News’ dominant primetime performance finished behind only broadcast networks as the most-watched station in all of television for 2018, but the brand’s digital properties thrived, too.

Fox News Digital page views increased by 10 percent and visits increased by 22 percent, according to Adobe Analytics. Fox News Digital also won across social media, finishing as the No. 1 news brand with nearly twice as many interactions as its closest competitor, CNN.

During 2018, Fox News was No. 1 on Facebook, accounting for 53 percent of all Facebook Live video views in the competitive set. Meanwhile, Fox News’ sister, Fox Business Network, finished 2018 with its second consecutive yearly win over CNBC in Business Day viewers.

Brian Flood covers the media for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @briansflood.

On Our Radar

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