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And the Best Country in the World Is...Ireland! (U.S. Ranks 21st)
A new compilation of data called the Good Country Index has placed Ireland at the top of the world's countries when it comes to contributing to humanity's larger goals.
What's the Latest?
A new compilation of data called the Good Country Index has placed Ireland at the top of the world's countries when it comes to contributing to humanity's larger goals in areas like Prosperity and Equality, Culture, and Health and Wellbeing. The index was compiled by British policy analyst Simon Anholt and is based on 35 separate indicators from the UN, World Bank, and other international organizations. "Using a wide range of data from the UN and other international organisations, we've given each country a balance-sheet to show at a glance whether it’s a net creditor to mankind, a burden on the planet, or something in between."
What's the Big Idea?
Ireland faltered in areas like Science and Technology as well as International Peace and Security. The United States took 21st place and was harmed most by poor ratings in the International Peace and Security category. "Outside of western Europe and the English-speaking world, the highest ranked country was Costa Rica, which finished in 22nd place, while Chile was ranked in 24th place. The African nation deemed to contribute most was Kenya in 26th place." Anholt says the new index is meant to encourage countries to contribute more widely to humanity's general welfare, not just that of its domestic citizens.
Read more at the Irish Times
Photo credit: Patryk Kosmider/Shutterstock.com
LIVE TOMORROW | Jordan Klepper: Comedians vs. the apocalypse
Join The Daily Show comedian Jordan Klepper and elite improviser Bob Kulhan live at 1 pm ET on Tuesday, July 14!
13 July, 2020
Big Think LIVE
Add event to calendar
<p>
These days, if you don't laugh, you might just scream. Enter comedian and
<em>The Daily Show </em>regular Jordan Klepper! In this Big Think Live session, Klepper will be in conversation with Bob Kulhan, CEO of Business Improv, talking creativity, adaptability and comedy in the age of COVID-19. How does <em>The Daily Show</em> team work remotely? What's it like to brainstorm in real-time on live TV? And what has comedy done for <em>you</em> lately? All this and more at 1 pm ET on Tuesday July 14.
</p><p>
Ask your questions for Jordan Klepper during the Q&A!
</p><p>
<strong>Join Jordan Klepper live on Big Think at 1 pm ET on Tuesday July 14.
</strong></p><p>
STREAMING LINKS</p><p>
<a href="https://edge.bigthink.com/live_streams/102">Big Think Edge</a> | <a href="https://youtu.be/CFQNox-j3wQ">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom/posts/10157503083698527">Facebook</a>
</p><p>---</p>
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Scientists see 'rarest event ever recorded' in search for dark matter
The team caught a glimpse of a process that takes 18,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years.
24 April, 2019
Image source: Pixabay
Surprising Science
- In Italy, a team of scientists is using a highly sophisticated detector to hunt for dark matter.
- The team observed an ultra-rare particle interaction that reveals the half-life of a xenon-124 atom to be 18 sextillion years.
- The half-life of a process is how long it takes for half of the radioactive nuclei present in a sample to decay.
</li></ul>
<p>Scientists have observed an extremely rare particle physics event using a detector that's hunting for dark matter, the mysterious material that physicists have yet to observe.</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1124-4" target="_blank">paper published in </a><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1124-4" target="_blank">the journal <em>Nature</em></a>, researchers with the XENON Collaboration said they'd observed the radioactive decay of a substance called xenon-124, an isotope of the element xenon — a colorless and odorless noble gas found in tiny amounts in the atmosphere. The event — a "two-neutrino double electron capture" — has eluded scientists for decades. </p><p>It happens when "two protons in a nucleus are simultaneously converted into neutrons by the absorption of two electrons from one of the atomic shells and the emission of two electron neutrinos." After this occurs, the event shoots out a predictable cascade of X-rays and Auger electrons that scientists look for using an ultra-sensitive detector, buried about 5,000 feet beneath Italy's Gran Sasso mountain where it's shielded from cosmic rays.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We have shown that we can observe the rarest events ever recorded," Ethan Brown, a professor of physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and co-author of the study, told <em><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/dark-matter-hunters-observe-rarest-event-ever-recorded-1404823" target="_blank">Newsweek</a></em>. "The key finding is that an isotope formerly thought to be completely stable has now been shown to decay on an unimaginably long timescale."</p><p>How long is that timescale? The team estimated that xenon-124's half-life is about 18 sextillion years — or 18,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years — which is than one trillion times the age of our universe, according to the team. It's the slowest process ever measured directly, the team wrote in a statement. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"It's an amazing to have witnessed this process, and it says that our detector can measure the rarest thing ever recorded," Brown told <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/dark-matter-rarest-ever-event-xenon-half-life-radioactive-discovery-breakthrough-latest-science-a8884896.html" target="_blank"><em>The Independent.</em></a></p>
<div id="31261" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="F55APY1568274781"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1121097717781028864" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We are extremely excited to share with you that we have observed the rarest decay process ever measured! It is the… https://t.co/7ILxlSMGUf</div> — XENON1T (@XENON1T)<a href="https://twitter.com/Xenon1T/statuses/1121097717781028864">1556125499.0</a></blockquote></div><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We designed the XENON1T experiment to look for dark matter, a new kind of matter that makes up 85 percent of the mass of the universe, but interacts so rarely that it's never been observed," Brown said. "This experiment is so sensitive to very rare events that we can make all kinds of other rare physics measurements. One of those is this decay of xenon-124. Although our primary goal was always the discovery of dark matter, we knew there was a good chance we could see this rare decay, so we set out to do so."</p><p>To get that good chance, the team had to expose their detector to a huge amount of xenon atoms by stocking it with 3.2 tons worth of liquid xenon.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"XENON1T is a giant vat of liquid xenon surrounded by light sensors," Brown said. "When dark matter collides in the xenon, or when a radioactive decay occurs inside, we get a tiny flash of light and a little bunch of charge out of the xenon. We measure these with the light sensors and reconstruct everything we can about the original event that caused the light and charge."</p><p>Although the team didn't observe dark matter — which is the primary purpose of the detector — the recent observations could help scientists learn more about neutrinos, one of the least understood fundamental particles in the universe.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"It proves that this XENON detector technology we use for dark matter is much more versatile," graduate student Christian Wittweg, Ph.D student at the University of Münster in Germany, told <em><a href="https://gizmodo.com/dark-matter-detector-makes-incredible-neutrino-observat-1834270148" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a></em>. "We get all these cool analyses... for free after having built an experiment sensitive enough to hunt for dark matter."</p><p>The team plans to use its newer XENONnT detector to continue hunting for dark matter, the elusive material that's estimated to comprise about <a href="https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/scientists-figure-out-how-to-trap-dark-matter" target="_blank">26.8 percent of all the content in the universe</a>.</p>
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LGBTQ+ community sees spike in first-time depression in wake of coronavirus
Gender and sexual minority populations are experiencing rising anxiety and depression rates during the pandemic.
13 July, 2020
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Coronavirus
- Anxiety and depression rates are spiking in the LGBTQ+ community, and especially in individuals who hadn't struggled with those issues in the past.
- Overall, depression increased by an average PHQ-9 score of 1.21 and anxiety increased by an average GAD-7 score of 3.11.
- The researchers recommended that health care providers check in with LGBTQ+ patients about stress and screen for mood and anxiety disorders—even among those with no prior history of anxiety or depression.
<p>In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety and depression rates are spiking in the LGBTQ+ community, especially in individuals who hadn't struggled with those issues in the past, say researchers. </p><p>"What I was hearing at the beginning of the pandemic was that people who were already anxious were more anxious than ever, and we didn't find that," <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-07-06/coronavirus-ups-anxiety-depression-in-the-lgbtq-community" target="_blank">said researcher Annesa Flentje</a>, an assistant professor in the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing, in a university press release. "In looking at averages across the LGBTQ+ population, we found the greatest changes in anxiety were among people who weren't anxious prior to the pandemic." </p>
Study findings
<p>For the study, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-020-05970-4" target="_blank">published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine</a><em>, </em>Flentje and her team evaluated survey responses from nearly 2,300 individuals who identified as being in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community. Most of the participants were white, while nearly 19 percent identified as a racial or ethnic minority. Multiple genders were represented with cisgender women (27.2 percent) and men (24.6 percent) making up a majority of the participants. Sixty-three percent had been assigned female at birth. For the most part, participants identified their sexual orientations as queer (40.3 percent), gay (36.5 percent), and bisexual (30.3 percent).</p><p>The JGIM study participants were recruited from the 18,000-participant <a href="https://pridestudy.org/" target="_blank">PRIDE Study</a> (Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality), which is the first large-scale, long-term national study focusing on American adults who identify as LGBTQ+. It conducts annual questionnaires to understand factors related to health and disease in this population. </p><p>Participants filled out an annual questionnaire (starting in June 2019) and a COVID-19 impact survey this past spring. Flentje noted that on an individual level, some people may not have experienced a big change in anxiety or depression levels, but for others there was. Overall, depression increased by a <a href="https://patient.info/doctor/patient-health-questionnaire-phq-9" target="_blank">PHQ-9 score</a> of 1.21, putting it at 8.31 on average. Anxiety went up by a <a href="https://www.mdcalc.com/gad-7-general-anxiety-disorder-7" target="_blank">GAD-7</a> score of 3.11 to an average of 8.89. Interestingly, the average PHQ-9 scores for those who screened positive for depression at the first 2019 survey decreased by 1.08. Those who screened negative for depression saw their PHQ-9 scores increase by 2.17 on average. As for anxiety, researchers detected no GAD-7 change among the study participants who screened positive for anxiety in the first survey, but did see an overall increase of 3.93 among those who had initially been evaluated as negative for the disorder. </p>Risks among gender and sexual minorities
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fc3fd1ae68b77bbbf58a6995638d6d65"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EnUqDjCqg0A?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><p>The LGBTQ+ community is a vulnerable population to mental health concerns because of their fear of stigmatization and previous discriminatory experiences.</p> <p>Previous research by the Human Rights Campaign has found "that LGBTQ Americans are more likely than the <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/tags/general+population/" target="_blank">general population</a> to live in poverty and lack access to adequate medical care, paid <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/tags/medical+leave/" target="_blank">medical leave</a>, and basic necessities during the pandemic," said researcher Tari Hanneman, director of the health and aging program at the campaign.</p> <p>"Therefore, it is not surprising to see this increase in anxiety and depression among this population," Hanneman said in the release. "This study highlights the need for <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/tags/health+care+professionals/" target="_blank">health care professionals</a> to support, affirm and provide <a href="https://medicalxpress.com/tags/critical+care/" target="_blank">critical care</a> for the LGBTQ community to manage and maintain their mental health, as well as their physical health, during this pandemic."</p>What should health care providers do?
<p>The authors of the study recommend that health care providers check in with LGBTQ+ patients about stress and screen for mood and anxiety disorders in members of that community—even among those with no prior history of anxiety or depression.</p><p>As cases of COVID-19 continue to mount, the sustained social distancing, potential isolation, economic precariousness, and personal illness, grief, and loss are bound to have increased and varied impacts on mental health. Effective treatments may include individual therapy and medications as well as more large-scale coronavirus support programs like peer-led groups and mindfulness practices. </p><p>"It will be important to find out what happens over time and to identify who is most at risk, so we can be sure to roll out public health interventions to support the mental health of our communities in the best and most effective ways," said Flentje.</p>
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The mind-blowing science of black holes
What we know about black holes is both fascinating and scary.
13 July, 2020
Videos
- When it comes to black holes, science simultaneously knows so much and so little, which is why they are so fascinating. Focusing on what we do know, this group of astronomers, educators, and physicists share some of the most incredible facts about the powerful and mysterious objects.
- A black hole is so massive that light (and anything else it swallows) can't escape, says Bill Nye. You can't see a black hole, theoretical physicists Michio Kaku and Christophe Galfard explain, because it is too dark. What you can see, however, is the distortion of light around it caused by its extreme gravity.
- Explaining one unsettling concept from astrophysics called spaghettification, astronomer Michelle Thaller says that "If you got close to a black hole there would be tides over your body that small that would rip you apart into basically a strand of spaghetti that would fall down the black hole."
Surprising Science
Space travel could create language unintelligible to people on Earth
A new study looks at what would happen to human language on a long journey to other star systems.
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