Study Finds No Significant Health Effects from Wind Turbine Exposure

King Donald is wrong again

By Bioengineer 

In a groundbreaking study published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on May 19, 2026, researchers have shed light on a subject of mounting public interest and controversy: the health impacts of living near wind turbines. 

Opposing the narrative popularized in some media and public discourse that posits wind turbines as a source of significant health problems, the collaborative research involving the University of Pittsburgh, Columbia University, and the University of Augsburg delivers rigorously analyzed, empirical evidence that challenges these claims.

Wind energy is heralded globally as a pivotal element in the transition from fossil fuels toward sustainable energy systems. However, despite the environmental benefits, there remains a persistent public apprehension regarding the potential health effects of turbines, with claims ranging from sleep disturbances and headaches to heightened depression and even increased suicide rates. These assertions have often led to local opposition against turbine installations, complicating the advancement of wind energy projects.

Sen. DiMario, Rep. Fogarty introduce legislation to address loopholes in campaign finance law

Bills need action before General Assembly session ends 

Here is a prime example of the kind of election abuse
this legislation is designed to fight. From the League
of Rhode Island Businesses (LORIB) which set up
40 PACs and is running candidates against nearly
every Democratic woman legislator in South County.

Sen. Alana M. DiMario and Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty have introduced legislation to close a variety of loopholes in state campaign finance law.

“As elected officials, our constituents expect us to represent their best interests and not the best interests of wealthy donors,” said Senator DiMario (D-Dist. 36, Narragansett, North Kingstown, New Shoreham). 

“Furthermore, our state constitution charges the General Assembly with setting limits on political donations and ensuring that campaign donations and expenditures are clearly and publicly reported. But as with many laws that we pass, we have to keep an eye on them so that they work as intended. This bill seeks to close the gaps between intention and practice in campaign finance by closing loopholes that have become apparent over the years. It’s time for the letter of the law to reflect the spirit of open, fair and transparent campaigning set down in our constitution.”

The bill (2026-S 2720, 2026-H 7450) would strengthen Rhode Island’s campaign finance laws in a variety of ways, including closing a loophole that allows campaigns to receive unlimited donations from vendors if those vendors agree to allow an outstanding invoice for their services to remain unpaid for an indefinite period of time. The bill would set a time limit for unpaid invoices before they must be classified as donations.

“This is critical legislation that closes loopholes surrounding election donations and campaign expenditures,” said Representative Fogarty (D-Dist. 35, South Kingstown). “Our laws are clearly intended to place reasonable limits on the role of money in politics and make sure its influence is transparently reported. But we’ve been falling behind upholding these ideals as donors, candidates and political action committees have found and exploited loopholes since our laws were last updated. By addressing areas where our laws are coming up short, this bill will increase transparency and boost public confidence in the electoral process.”

The bill would also prohibit using multiple political action committees under the control of the same person or group of people to evade the annual $2,000 limit on contributions to a political candidate — a practice already outlawed in federal elections — and strengthen the penalties for illegal straw donations that are similarly used to subvert contribution limits.

It would also clarify the definition of an in-kind contribution, require campaigns to itemize payments to vendors, tighten rules for political action committees to stop them from scamming donors by spending the bulk of their funds on overhead and close a loophole that could allow corporations that are banned from donating to candidates in Rhode Island to evade the ban by donating paid personal services.

Senator DiMario and Representative Fogarty’s legislation was supported in committee by the Rhode Island Board of Elections, the Campaign Legal Center and Common Cause Rhode Island, the latter of which wrote “together these changes will make our campaign finance limits and reporting more effective and reduce the role of money in our politics.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: LORIB has targeted Charlestown state Rep. Tina Spears as well as our state Senator Victoria Gu. The authors of the legislation, Rep. Kathy Fogarty and Sen. Alana DiMario are also targets, as are Rep. Teresa Tanzi, Rep. Carol McEntee, and Sen. Bridgette ValVerde. Many of these challenges take the form of putting up a DINO (Democrat in name only) candidate up against a real Democrat in the September 9 Democratic Primary. That's the case in Charlestown where a pro-gun lawyer specializing in defending clients charged with sex crimes is up against our hard-working state Rep. Tina Spears.    - Will Collette

Introducing TRUMPGroceries

Burn her!

Leave the babies alone!

Respect Wildlife - Don't Touch!

The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) asks the public to give baby wildlife some space, especially fawns – the tiny spotted deer that are often mistakenly thought to be “abandoned” when they’re right where Mom left them. 

As tempting as it may be to “rescue” a lone fawn, touching or moving it is putting its survival at risk. 

“In nature, it’s normal for a fawn to be hidden in grass or brush for the first week after birth, as it can’t yet follow its mother,” said Dylan Ferreira, a wildlife biologist in DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW). “Sometimes well-intentioned people wrongly assume that a fawn is abandoned and take it home and try to rescue it, but the mother is usually nearby and returns to feed it. If you see a fawn alone, please leave it alone – it does not need help and should not be handled.”

Childhood junk food may rewire the brain for life

Bites back later in life

University College Cork

Childhood junk food may secretly rewire the brain for life — but gut bacteria could help fight back.

Children who regularly eat high-fat, high-sugar foods may experience lasting changes in the brain that continue long after their diets improve, according to a new study from University College Cork (UCC). Researchers also found that beneficial gut bacteria and prebiotic fibers could help reduce some of these long-term effects and support healthier eating behaviors later in life.

Scientists at APC Microbiome, a leading research center based at UCC, discovered that unhealthy diets during early life can alter how the brain controls appetite and feeding. These changes persisted even after the unhealthy diet ended and body weight returned to normal.

Today's children are surrounded by highly processed foods that are heavily marketed and easy to access. Sugary and fatty foods have become common at birthday parties, school events, sports activities, and even as rewards for good behavior. Researchers say this constant exposure may shape food preferences from an early age and encourage eating habits that continue into adulthood.

Childhood Diets and Long-Term Brain Changes

The study, published in Nature Communications, found that early exposure to calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods can leave lasting effects on feeding behavior. Researchers used a preclinical mouse model and found that animals exposed to a high-fat, high-sugar diet early in life showed persistent changes in eating behavior as adults.

The team linked these behavioral effects to disruptions in the hypothalamus, a brain region responsible for regulating appetite and energy balance.

The research also explored whether targeting the gut microbiome could help counter these effects. Scientists tested a beneficial bacterial strain (Bifidobacterium longum APC1472) along with prebiotic fibers (fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) and galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), naturally present in foods such as onions, garlic, leeks, asparagus and bananas, and widely available in fortified foods and prebiotic supplements).

According to the findings, both approaches showed potential benefits when given throughout life.

Gut Bacteria May Help Restore Healthy Eating Patterns

"Our findings show that what we eat early in life really matters." said Dr. Cristina Cuesta-Martí, first author of the study. "Early dietary exposure may leave hidden, long-term effects on feeding behavior that are not immediately visible through weight alone."

Researchers found that unhealthy diets early in life disrupted brain pathways linked to feeding behavior, with effects continuing into adulthood. The findings suggest this could raise the risk of obesity later in life.

Importantly, scientists found that modifying the gut microbiota helped reduce these long-term effects. The probiotic strain Bifidobacterium longum APC1472 significantly improved feeding behavior while causing only minor changes to the overall microbiome, suggesting a highly targeted effect. Meanwhile, the prebiotic combination (FOS+GOS) produced broader changes across the gut microbiome.

Microbiome Research Opens New Possibilities

"Crucially, our findings show that targeting the gut microbiota can mitigate the long-term effects of an unhealthy early-life diet on later feeding behavior. Supporting the gut microbiota from birth helps maintain healthier food-related behaviors into later life." said Dr. Harriet Schellekens, lead investigator of the study.

Professor John F. Cryan, Vice President for Research & Innovation at UCC and collaborator on the project, said: "Studies like this exemplify how fundamental research can lead to potential innovative solutions for major societal challenges. By revealing how early-life diet shapes brain pathways involved in the regulation of feeding, this work opens new opportunities for microbiota-based interventions."

The UCC-led study involved collaborators from the University of Seville (Spain), University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and Teagasc Food Research Centre (Fermoy, Ireland). Funding came from Research Ireland, a Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship, and a research award from the Biostime Institute for Nutrition & Care.

Journal Reference:

1. Cristina Cuesta-Marti, Eduardo Ponce-España, Friederike Uhlig, Iris Stoltenborg, Luiza A. Wasiewska, Lamiah Kareem, Dara Hedayatpour, Loreto Olavarría-Ramírez, Cristina Rosell-Cardona, Thomaz. F. S. Bastiaanssen, Gabriel. S. S. Tofani, Benjamin Valderrama, Klara Vlckova, Suzanne L. Dickson, Aonghus Lavelle, Catherine Stanton, R. Paul Ross, John F. Cryan, Timothy G. Dinan, Gerard Clarke, Siobhain M. O’Mahony, Harriët Schellekens. Bifidobacterium longum and prebiotic interventions restore early-life high-fat/high-sugar diet-induced alterations in feeding behavior in adult mice. Nature Communications, 2026; 17 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-68968-2

Retirees Are Worried About the Cost of Healthcare – and Who Can Blame Them?

Rising premiums, deductibles, co-pays, supplemental coverage and out of pocket costs hurt

Alicia H. Munnell 

The 10-percent increase in Medicare Part B premiums for 2026 has reignited concerns about how much Social Security and total income people will have after they cover their out-of-pocket (OOP) health spending.  Fortunately, my colleague Matt Rutledge has updated earlier research to answer precisely that question.

Even though retirees ages 65+ have Medicare, they still face considerable costs. In the case of Medicare Part A, which covers inpatient hospital care and is financed primarily by payroll taxes, beneficiaries face cost-sharing. Medicare Part B, which covers physician and outpatient hospital services, and Part D, which covers prescription drugs, are partly financed by premiums and include further cost-sharing. 

Because Medicare’s OOP costs are often substantial, many enrollees buy supplemental coverage, which may include additional premiums. Finally, many services, such as dental, vision, and hearing, are not covered by Medicare.

To identify total out-of-pocket healthcare costs, Matt used the 2018, 2020, and 2022 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The sample included respondents who were ages 65+ and were receiving both Social Security and Medicare. In terms of expenditures, the HRS captures prescription drugs, special facilities, surgery, and medical visits to doctors, hospitals, and dentists. It also includes self-reported premiums paid for Medicare Part D, Medicare Advantage, and private supplemental plans. Medicare Part B income-related premiums were estimated based on the individual’s income. 

The central finding was the percentage of Social Security left after paying out-of-pocket health costs and how those results changed over the three surveys. As shown in Figure 1, the median percentage remaining in 2022 after medical OOP spending was 71 percent for Social Security benefits and 88 percent for total income. And these percentages were virtually unchanged over the three surveys.

In other words, OOP takes a big chuck of retirees’ resources, and the 10-percent increase in Medicare Part B premium suggests no relief on the horizon.

Corruptonomics

A memo to Democratic candidates on connecting Trump’s lousy economy to his corrupt regime.

Robert Reich

Friends,

Here’s a memo to Democrats as they begin campaigning in earnest for control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections. (Please send to any candidates you care about.)

***

TO: Democratic candidates in the 2026 midterm elections

RE: Connect Trump’s lousy economy to his corrupt regime.

The purpose of this memo is to help you shape your midterm message around the crisis of affordability and Trump Republican corruption. I urge you to present these two issues as aspects of the same underlying problem: The economy is lousy for most Americans because Trump Republicans are enabling super-rich oligarchs to siphon off most of its gains while exerting increasing control over it. Their — and Trump’s — self-dealing is undermining trust and confidence in the U.S. economic system.

1. Republicans in the House and Senate have put oligarchs in charge of America.

House and Senate Republicans have allowed Trump’s war and his tariffs to drive up prices and Trump’s corruption to undermine faith in the economy. They’ve allowed Trump to gild his White House in gold leaf, plan a giant Arc de Trump, throw lavish parties, and build a Billionaire’s Ballroom — at a time when most Americans can’t afford gas or groceries.

They raided Medicaid to pay for Trump’s giant tax cut, whose benefits are going mostly to the rich. Legislative efforts advanced by House Republicans and signed into law have targeted up to $2 trillion in federal health care cuts, forcing millions of Americans off Medicaid rolls to pay for these tax reductions.

They refused to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. This is causing average premiums to more than double and has already pushed 1.2 million people off coverage because they can’t afford it. Coverage losses are mounting as many who initially selected a plan or who were automatically reenrolled have to drop coverage.

Big Tech oligarchs — centi-billionaires Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, Ellison, and other robber barons — paid for Trump’s 2024 election, his inauguration, and his ballroom and are major donors to Senate and House Republicans. They’ve shown up at Trump’s inauguration, White House dinners, and official visits to China.

In return, these oligarchs have been allowed to monopolize and drive up the prices we pay and silence Trump critics. Bezos’s Amazon, for example, won’t allow any seller on the site to post lower prices on any other site, and Bezos won’t allow his Washington Post editorial page to criticize Trump. Larry and David Ellison have bought CBS and sanitized “60 Minutes” of Trump criticism and effectively canceled Stephen Colbert. After buying X (formerly Twitter), Musk turned it into a pro-Trump voice box.

The AI oligarchs have bribed Trump and congressional Republicans to allow unfettered and unregulated growth of AI and its data centers, threatening millions of jobs and posing potential dangers to human life itself.

The crypto oligarchs have bribed Trump and congressional Republicans to allow them to create the world’s largest Ponzi scheme — which is enriching Trump and his family while providing a means for criminals to hide insider trades, child trafficking, and drug deals.

The Big Oil and aerospace oligarchs have bribed congressional Republicans to allow Trump to go to war in Iran, resulting in massive profits for Big Oil — while the rest of us pay $1.50 more per gallon of gas — and giant profits for giant military contractors.

This war spending has also contributed to higher inflation, which the rest of us pay for in higher mortgage rates and higher rates on car loans and education loans. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has surged to over 6.6 percent, reaching its highest level in nearly nine months, driven by rising Treasury yields, higher oil prices, and broader economic inflation concerns stemming from the war in Iran. The major beneficiaries of these higher rates — who pocket the higher payments we have to make — are the biggest banks and super-rich who make the loans.

Oligarchs have also bribed Trump and congressional Republicans to (1) get no-bid contracts, (2) deregulate Wall Street, (3) roll back environmental safeguards and worker safety, and (4) get massive subsidies for their corporations — all of which have made them even richer while making life for the rest of us more dangerous and more costly.

The art of the deal

From the folks who looted a kids' cancer charity

The brain's night shift: How sleep, waste clearance and dementia may be linked

Maybe it's a bad idea to spend all night shit-posting on social media

By University of Rochester Medical Center

Edited by Sadie Harley, reviewed by Robert Egan

Why are conditions such as chronic stress, depression, cardiovascular disease, fragmented sleep, and aging all associated with a higher risk of dementia? 

In a new review piece in Science, University of Rochester Medicine neuroscientist Maiken Nedergaard, MD, DMSc, proposes that many of these seemingly different conditions may converge on the same biological problem: disruption of a sleep-dependent brain rhythm that helps clear waste from the brain.

The article presents a new way of thinking about sleep, not simply as a period of rest, but as a highly organized biological state that coordinates brain chemistry, blood vessel movement, and cerebrospinal fluid flow to support the brain's nightly cleaning process.

The piece also points to a potential biomarker, heart rate variability, which can already be tracked with consumer wearables, as a simple, noninvasive way to assess sleep-related brain health and identify people at increased risk for cognitive decline.

Scientists uncover cancer-causing chemicals hidden in everyday foods

Moderate your cooking style

Seoul National University of Science & Technology 

More people are paying close attention to what they eat, often tracking calories, exercising daily, and filling their plates with foods that seem naturally healthy, including fruits and vegetables. 

Yet even nutritious foods can carry hidden chemical concerns. Some contaminants can enter food from the environment, while others can form during high heat cooking methods such as heating, smoking, grilling, roasting, and frying.

Among the compounds of concern are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs (hydrophobic organic compounds comprising multiple fused aromatic rings). 

Some PAHs are known for their cancer causing potential, which makes reliable food testing an important part of protecting public health.

EPA Claims ‘Overwhelming Rejection’ of EVs as It Moves to Loosen Air Pollution Rules

Based on false premise, EPA moves to create more smog

By Anika Jane Beamer

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

After eliminating the electric vehicle tax credit, rolling back fuel economy standards and blocking California’s stringent vehicle emissions rules, the Trump administration is now citing slowed electric vehicle growth as its rationale for loosening automobile air pollution standards.

In a rulemaking proposal released Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to delay the adoption of Biden-era Tier 4 air pollution standards for passenger cars and trucks and, going forward, to reconsider them.

The agency said that the proposed change is in response to “the overwhelming rejection of Electric Vehicles (EVs) by the American people and manufacturers shifting away from them.” It comes amid debate over environmental regulation and the influence of industry interests in the Trump administration.

Established in April 2024, the Tier 4 Criteria Pollutant Standards represent the most recent batch of vehicle emissions standards adopted under the Clean Air Act. The standards would have required manufacturers to meet fleet-average limits on smog-producing volatile organic compounds, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter tailpipe emissions, with phase-in beginning in 2027.

When the standards were first adopted in 2024, electric vehicles accounted for 8 percent of new light-duty vehicles (cars, vans and trucks weighing less than 8,500 pounds) sold in the United States.

EV growth was projected to continue. But soon after President Donald Trump took office for his second term in January 2025, he initiated a series of deregulatory actions that stunted EV market growth.

With Miller, it could always be worse

June 5: South County Rising community meeting