Universal Basic Income (UBI) #2

A German experiment has found that people are likely to continue working full-time even if they receive no-strings-attached universal basic income payments.

Universal basic income, also known as guaranteed income, is the idea of giving money to everyone regardless of how much they already earn – to give them the freedom to move between jobs, train for new positions, provide care, or engage in creative pursuits….

Unlike the control group, those receiving a basic income were more likely to change jobs or enroll in further education. They reported greater satisfaction in their working life – and were “significantly” more satisfied with their income.

Full article (900 words): https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/11/health/germany-universal-basic-income-study-intl-scli-wellness/index.html. Also see https://laughlearnlinks.home.blog/2022/11/10/universal-basic-income-ubi/.

And good news from Fix the News:

The just-released 2025 Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer reveals cancer mortality in the United States declined by 1.5% per year between 2018 and 2022, painting an encouraging picture of progress against America’s second-leading cause of death.
– Lung cancer showed the steepest decline with death rates dropping 4.5% annually among men and 3.4% among women.
– Childhood cancer mortality continues to decline at 1.5% annually.
– Overall cancer death rates have decreased by over 33% since 1991 (and no.. it’s not just because people have stopped smoking).

The Roman way to trash a republic

“When you’re the emperor Augustus, they let you do it.”

The Roman Republic lasted nearly 500 years, about twice as long as Americans have had theirs. As was surely true for the Romans, most Americans can hardly imagine that their system of self-government might break and be replaced by an imperial dynasty. That is why considering what undid the Roman Republic is useful today—if we can learn from the Romans’ mistakes.

Augustus was Rome’s first emperor. In so becoming, he dismantled the republic and founded a monarchy that would last for more than a millennium. In Rome, most aristocratic men were also senators and usually held that position for life. In the later republic, some of those men—notably, Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus—grew so extraordinarily rich and influential that they began to ignore the constraints of the Senate and the law. In the first century B.C.E., decades of aristocratic overreach and the authoritarian violence of Augustus’s predecessors Sulla and Caesar brought Rome to the brink more than once, but Augustus pushed it over the edge.

Full article: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/04/rome-senators-republic-augustus/682469/. Approximately 1,250 words. Contact me if the article is blocked by a paywall.

And good news from Fix the News:

Solar and battery prices keep on falling… solar panel prices dropped 37-46% and batteries fell by 20% last year. This cost reduction drove nearly 600GW of global solar installations, with 700GW expected this year and 1,000GW annually by 2030. Solar manufacturing capacity is now three times current global demand, while 30% of all new battery storage is getting paired with solar, an irresistible combination. Renew Economy

Chicken Little: The Sequel

You know the story of Chicken Little. An acorn fell on her head in the forest, and she thought the sky was falling, and she frightened all the other animals into fearing that the sky was falling. It ended badly.

I found a sequel to this story:

Foxy Loxy is walking along the forest path. He is surprised to see Chicken Little lying in the path on her back, feet pointing at the sky.

Foxy Loxy asks, “Chicken Little! What are you doing?”

Chicken Little replies, “You know that the sky is falling, right?”

Foxy Loxy says, “Yes yes yes, we all know that. But what are you doing there?”

“I’m going to try to hold up the sky.”

“But Chicken Little — you’re just a little chicken! You can’t hold up the sky!”

And Chicken Little replies, “Yes, I know. But you do what you can.”

❖❖❖

And good news from Fix the News:

In 2019, Iceland became one of the first countries to implement a four-day workweek. Today, nearly 90% of Icelandic workers have shifted from a 40- to 36-hour workweek, with no loss in pay. Six years later, research indicates that productivity remained stable or even increased in some sectors, all while workers reported better mental health. Parents reported more equal household sharing responsibilities. WEBC

AI against cancer?

This article does a nice job explaining cancer and our techniques to fight it, and how AI (in its early forms) can help find more techniques:

Digesting reams of CODEX data is where artificial intelligence comes in. AI is quickly becoming a central tool in cancer research. AI could identify which cells, or combination of cells, are associated with patients who respond to treatments and patients who do not respond to them. It could then suggest solutions—and even design drugs that eliminate whatever it is that is preventing a patient’s immune system from defeating the cancer.

Full article is at https://www.newsweek.com/2023/12/08/ai-cancer-fighting-tool-weve-been-waiting-1845842.html. About 4,200 words, but covers a lot of territory.

And good news from Fix the News:

Every generation in the United States has a lower risk of dementia than the last. While previous projections estimated U.S. dementia cases would double by 2050, a new analysis finds that age-adjusted prevalence has dropped by 67% over the past 40 years. If this trend continues, total cases may rise by only 25% instead of doubling. ALZFORUM