virusrex comments

Posted in: Japan society on transgender issues to drop 'disorder' from name See in context

Sex is not assigned.

Which is why it is not what is says in your quote.

Speaking of gender , how is it determined and assigned at birth?

Do you believe at birth all people are treated as genderless babies? if not you can easily answer your own question.

Japan is slowly going to lose everything it holds dear if it continues making decisions like this.

Lose everything because it adequate itself to the best possible standards of human health according to the scientific consensus? not likely at all.

 But now we are dealing with and pushing (in the west) irrevecable damages on these kids bodies

But thanks to improvements like the one in this article this damage is less and less accepted. Again, this is based on the best available scientific knowledge, and it is not refuted just because "before it was different".

There you go.... Just to have the belief that "trans" women are not women makes you a bigot.

You mean denying something that can objectively be proved just because you don't want to accept it? that would be a valid way to define bigotry. Do you know an easy way to find out who is wrong? just check what the scientific authorities (worldwide) have to say about a topic, if the person says you have to ignore the experts and listen to him then this person is wrong.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: A new strategy to attack aggressive brain cancer shrank tumors in two early tests See in context

Huge positive news in the fight against a very aggressive variety of cancer that is unfortunately also one of the most common in the brain. When CAR-T cells were first developed a lot of people were very optimistic, not only because the efficacy at that moment, but because it meant a shift on the way of treating the different diseases that are grouped on the category of "cancer", the new generation cells are a consequence of this change and there is a lot of other possibilities being tested already artificial cells targeting several specific antigens, producing specific cytokines that enhance their anti-tumor properties, homing cells, switchable cells, etc. As the technology advances more cancers are being cured with the different approaches.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: Antarctic scientists warn of bird flu spread as penguin cases confirmed See in context

If the penguins become extinct they won't be seen in captivity.

Species becoming extinct in the wild is a valid worry, it is very difficult to reintroduce a whole species when their natural niche is lost by the cascade of consequences of their abscense.

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Posted in: Antarctic scientists warn of bird flu spread as penguin cases confirmed See in context

Antartic avian species are already in risk thanks to climate change, influenza may be the extra burden that ends up causing the extinction of many of those species. It is terribly sad that there is a very real possibility future generations may only see some (all?) of these penguins in captivity or museums.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Posted in: Will AI save humanity? U.S. tech fest offers reality check See in context

This in no way demonstrate any replacement of a human that is still in charge of the warning systems, it is at best a tool that facilitates the job, but not something that can do all the tasks a person have to do in one. This of course applies much more to the healthcare industry, there is nobody being replaced, not in France not in any other country in the world. The sources explicitly disproved this claim saying AI is (again) just a tool that can facilitate the work of a professional, but nowhere near enough to replace anybody.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: More foreign students set to be eligible for Japan gov't scholarships See in context

I would guess that most ‘foreign students’ in Japan would prefer the greener pastures and higher wages available in most other countries.

If that is the case there would be no interest in a degree from a Japanese University either, it would be a disadvantage in the international market. Those that choose to enroll in a university in Japan are more interested in remaining in the country.

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Posted in: Study raises questions about plastic pollution's effect on heart health See in context

Plastic is fundamental to peoples' lives and isn't going anywhere until someone innovates alternatives that work, scale and cost less.

There are many things we have replaced with more expensive alternatives simply because they old ones are much more damaging to humans, saying that we should simply accept a possible public health problem of giant proportions and the huge costs it brings just because you can save a portion of that money makes no sense.

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Posted in: In climate push, German chemical maker swaps oil for sugar See in context

The use of plant matter in manufacturing may cut out fossil fuels but whether it can lead to carbon neutrality "is often questionable", Jens Guenther, from Germany's Federal Environment Agency, told AFP.

This is particularly the case when it comes to the use of "so-called cultivated biomass like maize, sugar cane and sugar beet," he said.

Another serious problem is that using crops means changes in the priorities for agriculture and complications when things usually reserved for food are used for other industries, this can mean further expansion of cultivated fields (with ecological costs) or increase in the price of foodstuff because of higher demand.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Posted in: Get your steps in with this Thanko Footrest See in context

because they are being given bad advice.

That is not the explanation given by the experts in the field, that is just an excuse people to supposedly justify not being empathic with people that fail changing their lifestyle, even when many perfectly valid reasons are given for this failure.

So you speak for "most people"?!

The experts do, when they characterize the problem and demonstrate it with statistics that show failure is the standard result from trying to lose weight, not the exception.

It's a medical consensus. You can find the information easily.

Not even you (that made the claim) could do it, that shows there is no evidence that support this being the consensus, in reality this is just a claim you personally are making, without support from the actual experts.

Neither the FDA nor the PMDA prescribe drugs

No part of the text you quote says the regulatory agencies prescribe drugs, what it says is that these organization allow for the drugs to be prescribed with the purpose of losing weight, the experts in these agencies agree there is a need for these drugs, what evidence do you have they are wrong and the drugs are completely unnecessary? obviously they are much more likely to be correct.

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Posted in: Get your steps in with this Thanko Footrest See in context

So now you speak for every user of weight loss drugs!

There is a huge difference between "most people" and "every user", the one that tried to make a claim involving all patients was you when you said there is no need for drugs, even when the experts clearly say there is a need for many of them.

No, the other sources don't say it is necessary to combine with other exercise.

You have brought zero sources that prove your point, that means you are recognizing it is just a baseless claim product of a mistaken understanding from your part. Where is the source that supposedly proves waking 5-8000 steps is the only thing you need to lose weight? if it was a consensus as you claimed it would be easier to bring that reference than trying to excuse yourself for not being able to present it.

So your claims above prove there is no consensus for your personal claims.

No, of yours that go against what organizations like the FDA or PMDA say when they openly recognize the need for pharmacological help for patients to lose weight. You still have presented no evidence that they made a mistake by approving these drugs since (according to you) they are unnecessary/

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Posted in: School bullying cases leading to police investigations hit 10-year high See in context

This could be a real elevation of the cases or (optimistically) just an elevation of the cases that are now being prosecuted, if the latter case is true that could mean a change in the perception of bullying that would make it something less acceptable and might even end up being reduced because of this change.

Among a total of 404 people either criminally investigated or placed in protective custody, 125 were elementary school students, 189 were from junior high schools and 90 were from high schools.

Not really useful data the way it is written since it groups together victims and perpetrators in a single total.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Get your steps in with this Thanko Footrest See in context

The best and healthiest way to maintain weight is to eat healthy and exercise, no weight loss drugs,

Weight loss drugs are being used because most people fail to lose weight just by trying to change their lifestyle, that is the whole justification for being approved for commercialization for this purpose, it is not "best" to fail if there is something that can make the person more likely to succeed.

and 5-8000 steps a day will do the trick, according to medical journals

You have brought no source that say 5-8000 steps is enough to make any person lose weight. Most sources say it is necessary to combine this with other forms of excercise and also diet, which is why so many people fail to lose weight, it is not something that everybody can simply do without problem.

in fact, it is a medical consensus.

When you are unable to bring even one single reference to support this claim it becomes clear this is not the consensus.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Posted in: Get your steps in with this Thanko Footrest See in context

People need to move their whole body. not just their feet.

Machines like this are not meant to replace the time people take doing proper excercise but the time sitting on a desk doing no excercise at all.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Posted in: A blood test for colon cancer performed well in a study, expanding options for screening See in context

You've presented evidence you do not understand either the word or the function of the FDA.

Still no claim from the FDA that its role includes supporting the development or commercialization of any medical intervention. This clearly indicates the one that did not understand what is the actual role of the agency is you.

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Posted in: The issue of the death penalty covers a wide range of fields, such as law, philosophy, ethics, politics and culture. We hope to take the debate on the death penalty to the next level. See in context

An eye for an eye (The Old Testament) or it's better to forgive and turn the other cheek (The New Testament)?

Or neither, and instead act as a civilized nation and punish criminals as a human society instead of keeping ancient forms of punishment just because it feels better to kill people you hate.

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Posted in: A blood test for colon cancer performed well in a study, expanding options for screening See in context

The FDA most certainly does

You have presented no evidence of this being the case, so the claim is still baseless. Not even the FDA says this, and its role approving or regulating drugs do not constitute "backing" in any way.

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Posted in: Australia's southeast sweats in early autumn heatwave See in context

A natural occurrence with a long history,

What is neither natural not has been happening for long is the human activity derived climate change, which is why these kind of occurrences are becoming more frequent and severe, record breaking temperatures for the last year being a clear example.

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Posted in: Study raises questions about plastic pollution's effect on heart health See in context

This seems like a good exploratory study, raising the possibility that plastics may be involved, but as the article helpfully adds there are several problems that make it impossible to conclude the relationship found is causative. Still, the suggestion discovered in the article is plausible and worth examining in greater detail

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Posted in: Japanese high court rules same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional See in context

Why didn't the couple just fly to Osaka or anywhere else that recognizes same sex mariages and get married there?

Because their marriage would not be recognized once they went back to their place of residency? the whole point is that they are claiming they are being unfairly discriminated against, that would still apply if they were forced to travel to other cities to have their rights recognized, much more because even by doing that they would still be considered unmarried where they live.

13 ( +19 / -6 )

Posted in: A blood test for colon cancer performed well in a study, expanding options for screening See in context

The FDA do not "back" medical interventions, it does not support either their development or testing, just evaluate if it is adequate and whether it can or not be put on the market for the US.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Posted in: Get your steps in with this Thanko Footrest See in context

What advantage does this have over the many already available "cycling" machines that are specifically designed to be used under your desk? some options are significantly cheaper than this.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Posted in: COVID lowered life expectancy by 1.6 years worldwide: study See in context

Especially the isolation measures taken by the Chinese government, which resulted in the lowest infection rate in the world according to medical experts.

Not at all, hiding the real infection rates did nothing to prevent a huge "unexplained" increase of deaths when the chinese governement recognized the failure that represented their policy, that is what happens when people in power refuse to follow the science (that clearly indicated isolation by itself would not replace the value of vaccines).

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/16/the-dire-aftermath-of-chinas-untenable-zero-covid-policy

Saying their approach was correct is as mistaken as pretending it is false that vaccines have demonstrated efficacy.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

Posted in: A blood test for colon cancer performed well in a study, expanding options for screening See in context

While the blood test caught 83% of the cancers found by colonoscopy, it missed 17%. That's on par with stool-based tests.

There were also false alarms: For 10% of the people where the colonoscopy found nothing, the blood test falsely indicated they might have colon cancer.

The results seems to indicate usefulness, but the false positives can make the test not feasible, getting a few false positives on 100 patients tested doesn't seem so bad, but if you are going to test a million people that ends up with thousands of colonoscopies performed without a real need.

Fortunately many patients can now be cured from cancer, specially when detected on time, so a certain amount of discomfort or inconvenience may be justified if that means more patients being detected on time to reach the "cured" status. Still, this has to be balanced with the risks that come from every medical procedure, colonoscopies (or even blood tests) are not free from risks, and even if infrequent complications do happen, so the indispensable requisite to implement a new way of testing is that it can save more lives than what it could cost if it was done for all the population at risk.

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Posted in: COVID lowered life expectancy by 1.6 years worldwide: study See in context

It was a China-US collaboration

Magical thinking is not basis for actual accusations, there is plenty of scientific proof the disease came naturally from host animals, no "collaboration" of any governments.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8715

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8337

Yes, it would have been much better in terms of health and economy.

Not at all, the theory behind it was based on falsehoods and the evidence clearly disproved it as anything but a terrible idea that would have made things much worse.

-5 ( +5 / -10 )

Posted in: COVID lowered life expectancy by 1.6 years worldwide: study See in context

So it seems like the ridiculous and usless measures undertaken accounted for a huge amounts of morality in addition to just the virus.

That would be completely incorrect, neither the article nor you provide any evidence that the measures were nor ridiculous nor useless, in fact the measures (isolation, masking, vaccines, etc.) have been recognized as very effective and preventing millions of deaths.

Should have just dealt with the virus for with a focus on the elderly and immunocompromised and left everyone else to live as normal.

This approach has been proved to be a much worse option, not only because it would fail protecting the most vulnerable, but because it would let a lot more population exposed to serious risks to the health that have been identified, from immune disarray to cloting problems and brain damage.

Covid or something around that time fried my brain. I don’t think I will ever be 100% again.

Covid has already been correlated to brain damage, and this gets more and more serious with further reinfections, this explains why people can feel a decrease on mental capacity after the disease.

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/new-evidence-suggests-long-covid-could-be-brain-injury-2024a10002v0?form=fpf

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/even-fully-recovered-survivors-mild-covid-can-lose-iq-points-study-suggests

Participants with persistent symptoms had the equivalent of a 6-point loss in IQ, while those who had been admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) experienced the equivalent of a 9-point loss in IQ.

...reinfection was tied to an IQ loss of nearly 2 points, compared with no reinfection

-5 ( +5 / -10 )

Posted in: COVID lowered life expectancy by 1.6 years worldwide: study See in context

The study basically concludes that many things related to the pandemic resulted in excess deaths, while the above article implies that the deaths were only due to the infections and disruptions

Disruptions is just another way of describing the changes that happened because of covid/the pandemic, there is no increase of details in using one or the other.

Yes, they provided evidence of the excess deaths. I agree.

Which are a direct/indirect consequence of covid.

Has this study increased our understanding of the disease?

Yes, definitely. It helps defining more closely the importance of the disease compared how it was understood before it was published. That is a very elementary requirement for scientific research studies to be published in recognized journals, like The Lancet.

-6 ( +4 / -10 )

Posted in: Good manners See in context

Are they saying foreigners don't cover their mouth, I'm assuming that is a foreigner drawing because of the size of the nose.

Not really, looking at other examples of similar posters

https://japantoday.com/category/picture-of-the-day/orderly-manner

It just seems the artist likes drawing big noses on men.

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Posted in: What do you think of home schooling? See in context

There is no evidence at all that supports that assertion

There are some studies that point out to this, but it is very difficult to reach conclusions because it is very difficult to control for socioeconomic variables of importance.

Not all families can homeschool, which means that those that do can be assumed to have a better situation than the average. Is like comparing long term success of children that practice piano and those that don't, the comparison is biased because one group is likely to have a better socioeconomic status than the other.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: COVID lowered life expectancy by 1.6 years worldwide: study See in context

The actual study describes it more accurately

How is the same thing said differently "more accurate"? the deaths being a direct or indirect consequence from covid is the same as being a direct or indirect consequence of the pandemic.

BTW, the study was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

And it has solid methodologies and the conclusions are well substantiated by the evidence being presented. From all the different things money can be used, understanding disease is one of the best.

-6 ( +5 / -11 )

Posted in: New TV anime series of 'Dragon Ball' to be aired in fall See in context

It depicts the adventures and battles of protagonist Goku who shrinks during the series.

The original Dragon Ball is hugely popular and it did not need to involve battles that decided the destiny of the universe nor endless transformations to reach god-like levels of power. Maybe this new series is trying to go back to those origins and make it again an adventure instead of just fights.

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