| Great news for anyone embarrassed by their Candy Crush win streak: "Two long-term studies add to a growing body of evidence that people can boost their brain health by doing mentally stimulating activities, such as learning a language, visiting a museum or playing chess. They also show that consciously working to build cognitive resiliency can delay the onset of dementia for years," writes Lisa Jarvis. In the late 1990s, 2,000 Medicare patients participated in the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) trial. They played three computer games, each testing either speed, memory or reasoning. Twenty years later, Lisa says the speed gamers came out victorious: About 25% fewer people in the cohort developed dementia compared with the people who weren't offered the intervention. A separate study, meanwhile, showed that being mentally stimulated early in life could pay dividends down the road. So, if you do anything today, play a game! Preferably either Bloomberg's Pointed or Alphadots, but I won't blame you if you'd rather play Connections for the free matcha. Bonus Aging Population Reading: Health care has emerged as the most appealing career option in the job market. But what happens when those openings start drying up? — Conor Sen When you see a US submarine sink an Iranian warship in a matter of seconds, perhaps you think: Hey, maybe the Navy has this thing under control. Not so fast, James Stavridis says: Even if Iran's forces are weakened at sea, "there remains a different, very tricky kind of lethal threat: mines." In the Strait of Hormuz alone, he suspects there are probably more than 5,000 naval mines. "The Iranians can lay them covertly with small boats, diesel submarines and even civilian craft such as the ubiquitous dhows of the Gulf." To destroy them, the US has three to six minesweepers in the area. There's just one small problem: "Minesweeping is a very slow business," James notes. "I have watched US craft, the best in the business, take weeks to clear an exercise minefield of a few hundred mines." So much for a short war.  It's every economist's worst nightmare: Oil prices shoot up and boom — it's 1973 all over again and the government's asking people to ration toilet paper. But Jonathan Levin isn't so sure that standstill traffic in the Strait of Hormuz will lead to a repeat of history: "While the 1970s and 2022 shocks supercharged US inflation, a sustained conflict with Iran would primarily hit the American economy through slower growth," he argues. "Even under a more pessimistic scenario in which oil shoots above $100 a barrel, it seems somewhat odd for investors to bet on tighter-for-longer policy rates." It was a year that the IRS might want to forget. — Bloomberg Editorial Board Dubai and its neighbors face a huge dilemma over Iran. — Marc Champion If Marco Rubio told the truth on Israel, that is bloodcurdling. — Andreas Kluth China's defense budget is even bigger than you think. — Karishma Vaswani Trump's Winston Churchill jibe has missed its mark. — Rosa Prince Javier Milei's insults energize his base. Investors, not so much. — Juan Pablo Spinetto As wealthy investors come knocking, private credit gets a liquidity lesson. — Paul J. Davies The ICE queen got iced out of her job. The White House ballroom is not popular. Oracle is cutting jobs as data center costs rise. Knitting over nude statues. (h/t Andrea Felsted) Mercury is on the menu again. (h/t Lara Williams) Maybe ACOTAR autumn will save us. Trump's New York golf club has rats. Storage is the new status symbol. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment