Tag Archives: everyday

Guide #218: For Gen Z, YouTube is More Than an App—It’s the Background of Our Everyday Lives

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BMonths pass with minimal updates on streaming platforms surpassing traditional television. YouTube remains the leader with 2.5 billion viewers monthly. For those of us around 28 and younger, YouTube is less of an application and more of a response to the omnipresent background noise of today’s life. While my mother fills the house with Radio 4 or has BBC News flickering in the background, I’m engrossed in a video essay on Japan’s innovative urban planning. It’s not that I entirely avoid traditional TV (though I primarily access it through various streaming services), but after a long day, the thought of enduring another hour of intense programming feels overwhelming. More often than not, I gravitate towards YouTube, meaning it’s improbable that we’re viewing the same content.

When Google acquired the platform for $1.65 billion in 2006, the amount seemed outrageous. Many critics doubted whether any video platform could justify such a valuation. The reasoning was straightforward: Unless YouTube could eclipse television, it would never attain that worth. Fast forward nearly two decades, and that perspective significantly underestimates YouTube’s evolution. It hasn’t merely replaced TV; it has also pioneered entirely new content formats, such as vodcasts, vlogs, video essays, reaction videos, ASMR, and its controversial counterpart, mukbang. The platform has effortlessly adapted to emerging trends, establishing an alternate ‘online mainstream’. Long before podcasters, TikTokers, substack writers, or influencers emerged, there were YouTubers.

I began my YouTube Premium subscription during the COVID-19 lockdown when I found myself with ample time, no commute, and extra cash. Currently, it’s the only subscription I don’t question in terms of value; instead, I contemplate whether it significantly impacts my personal growth. Regrettably, my gym membership doesn’t match this criteria.

The standout advantage of a premium subscription is the absence of ads. Additionally, the smart downloads feature, which automatically curates episodes for your queue based on viewing habits, has been invaluable during lengthy subway rides. I rarely experience boredom nowadays. On my daily commute instead of staring vacantly out the window, I enjoy sports highlights or listen to podcasts. I find myself immersed in YouTube without a second thought.

Donald Trump (right) appears on Joe Rogan’s podcast on YouTube. Photo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBMoPUAeLnY

I feel a bit sheepish admitting that a random burst of short stories about guitar instructors and teenage garage bands reignited my passion for playing. It’s akin to confessing you met your significant other on Hinge. Yet, that’s precisely the point. YouTube has democratized expertise in a manner that traditional media never achieved. Moreover, it aligns with the social norms around media consumption on mobile devices. I wouldn’t dare watch a Spielberg or Scorsese film on a 6-inch screen; it feels disrespectful to the artistry. However, behind-the-scenes footage and promotional tour clips? That’s the ideal use for YouTube.

I indulge in a mix of homegrown YouTube creators, such as Amelia DiMoldenburg’s Chicken Shop Date, XXSyHighroller for NBA analysis, Tifo Football for tactical breakdowns, and Happy Sad Confused for film interviews. Additionally, I consume a steady stream of content initially designed for television and print but now reaches vast audiences through YouTube, including shows like Graham Norton, Saturday Night Live, and fellow journalists like Owen Jones and Mark Kermode. Sports highlights also thrive on the platform, providing an unparalleled convenience that traditional broadcasters struggle to offer, especially regarding paywalled sports like cricket and the NFL, which demand significant financial and temporal investment to access live.

Nevertheless, this convenience isn’t without its challenges. YouTube’s intensely personalized algorithms ensure that everyone’s viewing experience is unique. While previous generations could bond over the question, “Did you catch that last night?” now people are entrenched in their individual algorithmic bubbles. Despite the abundance of choices, we’ve lost the shared cultural experience. Even YouTube’s significant moments are splintered in a way that Saturday night television never was. When far-right politicians lament societal divisions, their focus might be better directed toward our viewing behaviors instead of immigration concerns. My enjoyment of algorithms might be more aligned with a 28-year-old in Bangalore than with the 45-year-old neighbor next door.

While this reality can be unsettling, there’s a noteworthy exception. Although YouTube intensifies viewing discrepancies across many demographics, it has forged a near-monoculture among younger audiences. Figures like Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Rex Fridman, and a revolving group of intellectuals, including podcasters aligned with President Trump and the late Charlie Kirk, have fostered a pervasive and relaxed dialogue among men in my age group. Although YouTube has democratized access to long-form discussions in enriching ways, it has also facilitated a pipeline for increasingly detrimental content. The platform’s algorithms not only highlight what piques your interest but also what captures your attention longer, which aren’t always the same. This phenomenon tends to elevate extreme viewpoints and fringe theories, leading viewers on a gradual journey from innocuous to genuinely harmful misinformation without them realizing it. Furthermore, it’s challenging for communities to self-regulate since everyone within a demographic shares a similar experience.

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Recent statistics show that YouTube users consume over 1 billion hours of content daily around the globe. For better or worse, YouTube has emerged victorious, and I’m mostly okay with that. You might want to consult your outdated TV guide to figure out what’s on BBC Two at 9 PM. However, perhaps we should reassess the balance—not only between YouTube and competing platforms but also between YouTube and everything else. I’m uncertain about the solution…but I’m fairly confident there’s a video essay that can tell me what I should think.

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Source: www.theguardian.com

Everyday Sugar Could Help Uncover Dark Matter

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A thin crystalline film of table sugar, or sucrose, captured using a polarized light microscope.

Carl Gough/Science Photo Library

Researchers have developed a novel method to probe dark matter utilizing expansive crystals of sucrose, or table sugar, yet their findings thus far yield nothing more than a bittersweet outcome.

Dark matter is believed to exist due to its elusive gravitational pull on galaxies; however, despite decades of exploration for potential dark matter particles, little evidence has surfaced. Historically, many searches focused on weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), considered leading candidates for dark matter. Yet, even the most meticulous searches have proven fruitless.

Conventional WIMP detectors aim to identify light flashes produced by interactions between dark matter particles and regular matter, assuming that these particles are relatively sizable, around 2 to 10,000 times the mass of a proton. Although this explanation is the most straightforward, the possibility exists that WIMPs are lighter, albeit creating challenges with the theory.

Recently, Federica Petricca and her team at the Max Planck Institute for Physics in Munich, Germany, have sought these lighter WIMPs utilizing a detector constructed from sugar crystals chilled to extremely low temperatures.

Very light WIMPs are expected to predominantly interact with extremely light atoms like hydrogen; however, utilizing pure hydrogen as a detector is challenging due to its low density, which diminishes interaction probabilities. On the other hand, sucrose comprises 22 hydrogen atoms in each molecule, leading to a significantly higher density than pure hydrogen.

Petricca and her colleagues initially cultivated sucrose crystals from a concentrated sugar solution over the span of a week before reducing the temperature of the crystals to 7 thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. They monitored potential dark matter interactions by employing highly sensitive thermometers to detect minimal heat increases and photon sensors to register flashes of light.

Following 19 hours of experimentation, the sugar crystals did emit light at levels comparable to interactions with larger particles; however, they did not capture the weaker signals that might indicate the presence of WIMPs.

Scientists assert that sugar crystals offer surprising sensitivity for detecting potential dark matter interactions. Carlos Blanco of Penn State notes that researchers may be able to identify subtle recoils from lightweight WIMPs. However, it remains uncertain if this experiment can effectively exclude other potential sources of crystal formation, like radioactive carbon-14, commonly present in various sugars.

CERN and Mont Blanc: Dark Matter and Frozen Matter in Switzerland and France

Get ready to be inspired by CERN, the heart of particle physics in Europe, situated near the lovely Swiss city of Geneva, where researchers manage the well-known Large Hadron Collider.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Common Gut Bacteria Can Transform Everyday Plastic Waste into Paracetamol

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Paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, is a pain reliever traditionally produced from a diminished supply of fossil fuels, such as crude oil. Every year, thousands of tons of fossil fuels, alongside numerous drugs and chemicals, are utilized to transport painkillers to manufacturing facilities. Professor Stephen Wallace from the University of Edinburgh and his team discovered that E. coli bacteria can transform molecules derived from waste plastic bottles into paracetamol.

Johnson et al. Reporting the reorganization of phosphate-catalyzed loss of biocompatibility in bacteria E. coli Activated acylhydroxamate is transformed into primary amine-containing metabolites in living cells. Image credit: Johnson et al. , doi: 10.1038/s41557-025-01845-5.

The issue of plastic waste is increasingly pressing, making the quest for sustainable plastic upcycling solutions a priority.

Metabolic engineering combines organic chemistry with the exploitation of biological cell chemical reaction networks to create new small molecules.

However, it remains uncertain whether these reactions can be effectively combined to convert plastics into useful products.

“Our research indicates that polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic is not merely waste, but can be converted by microorganisms into valuable new products with potential applications in disease treatment,” stated Professor Wallace.

In their study, Professor Wallace and co-authors found that a specific type of chemical reaction, known as loss rearrangement, occurs within living cells and is catalyzed by internal phosphates in E. coli.

This reaction produces nitrogen-containing organic compounds that are vital for cellular metabolism.

The researchers demonstrated that chemical processes can decompose PET plastic to yield starting molecules for further reactions, allowing cellular metabolism to regenerate these plastic-derived molecules.

Additionally, they discovered that this plastic-derived compound can serve as a precursor for paracetamol production in E. coli, achieving a yield of 92%.

This finding may mark the first instance of paracetamol synthesized from E. coli waste materials.

Future research will focus on exploring how other bacteria and types of plastics can yield beneficial products.

“Thus, biocompatible chemistry should be viewed as a complement to early enzyme design research and non-biological chemistry engineering, integrating collaboratively as a tool for biological cells to enhance potential synthetic chemistry within biological systems,” the scientists noted.

The team’s study was published in the journal Nature Chemistry on June 23, 2025.

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NW Johnson et al. Relocation of loss of biocompatibility in E. coli. Nat. Chem. Published online on June 23, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41557-025-01845-5

Source: www.sci.news

Struggle for Power: Could Brazil’s Growing Data Center Industry Leave Everyday People Behind?

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tWith a wide range of boating hours from Manaus, the capital of the Amazonas province, Deodato Alves Da Silva is hoping for enough power to keep his Tucumã and Cupuaçu Fruits fresh. These highly nutritious Amazon superfoods are rich in antioxidants and vitamins and serve as the main source of income for farmers in the Silva region. However, there is a lack of electricity to refrigerate the fruit, making it difficult to sell produce.

Silva's fruit cultivation work is located in the village of Boa Frente in Novo Alipuana, one of the most energy-poor regions in Brazil, with only one diesel-powered generator working several hours a day.

Seventeen families in the community pay for diesel, but due to the high prices, everyone agrees to use the generator between 6pm and 10pm. This is also the only time they can communicate with the outside world. There is no mobile phone connection in this area, only satellite internet.

“The power is supplied for four hours per night. The motor is off and the switch is turned back the next night,” says Silva, 72, a rural health worker and fruit grower who has lived in the area since birth.

“If we have the power to preserve Cupuaçupulp, we will have much higher incomes. Our community is a massive producer of Tucumã, but lack of power prevents conservation.”

More than 1.3 million Brazilians still live, like Silva. There is one of them, but
The cleanest power grid in the worldthe country has vulnerabilities. Reliance on hydroelectric power causes fluctuations in power generation and power outages during severe droughts.

Source: www.theguardian.com