"History suggests that once a country crosses the threshold of negative population growth, there is little that its government can do to reverse it." This line is an excerpt from a 2023 NYT article: Can China Reverse Its Population Decline? Just Ask Sweden. Another 2023 quote: "The negative population growth trend cannot be reversed, but behavior and expectations...
Demographics
Why Japanese couples aren’t having kids (Bloomberg)
12 Mar, 2023
Bloomberg title: Why Japanese couples aren’t having kids By: Kanoko Matsuyama Date: 6 March 2023 “Last week, Japan announced it had welcomed fewer than 800,000 babies in 2022, the lowest number since record-keeping began in 1899. The country has been trying to boost its birth rate for years. The government is increasing its lump sum payment to...
DNA might help us live to be 150 years old (Bloomberg)
3 Mar, 2023
Bloomberg title: DNA might help us live to be 150 years old By: Margaret Sutherlin Date: 23 February 2023 "It may sound like a vampire movie, but there are studies that suggest the blood of younger humans could play a role in the anti-aging process. In the premiere episode of her new show for Bloomberg Originals, The Future with Hannah Fry, the...
Why there are so few babies in southern Europe (the Economist)
25 Feb, 2023
The Economist title: Why there are so few babies in southern Europe Economist subtitle: It’s mostly economics Date: 16 February 2023 "The museo degli innocenti in Florence has an unusual name and hosts an unusual display: a collection of small broken objects, mostly medallions. They were split in two when a baby was delivered to Florence’s hospital for...
How long can this go on?
24 Feb, 2023
Today, it's a year ago that Russia invaded Ukraine. It was supposed to be a (very) quick victory; in weeks rather than months. Russia even expected the Ukrainian population to welcome their soldiers. Today, about 97% of the Russian army is in Ukraine and is still struggling to advance (eg, BBC, WSJ). I'm not impartial. I don't even believe in neutrality in this...
The silo mentality in scientific articles
23 Feb, 2023
Last week, I noticed a Big Think article: Why are flood myths so common in stories from ancient cultures around the world? I've written about this in several blogs (eg, my 2016 blog). Actually, there is no flood myth; it's part of our geological history. Also see Wiki on the post-glacial sea level rise. The above might be viewed as yet another example of my recent...
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