New Research.

First I have to report that THE jigsaw was completed at 1:00 am today - that is apart from the 3 missing pieces - I had been predicting it to happen a couple of hours later.

Later, our usual Friday lunch plans were scuppered by the venue being still closed for the new year. We next tried the Flat-Pack Emporium - they do a reasonable lunch in their coffee shop - the car park was pretty full but we did find a wee corner, took one look inside before wheeling round and returning to the car; a friend who works there complains that, in the old days, families would go to the zoo or museum for a day's entertainment, they now go and look at furniture. Our third attempt was at the food emporium where lunch was surprisingly good, the usual staff were absent and the replacements hadn't had time to learn how to produce meals to the normal standards.

We picked up this paper to read while waiting; it is normally quite good, presenting a balanced view of the world at an attractive price. The other day, I had a little rant about the status of engineering in modern society; today, it's a bigger rant about the status of science.
The report did not include anything about "groundbreaking research," there was nothing mentioned that wasn't 30 years old, and many of the facts and emphases were wrong. Nearly all cases of cancer (if not all of them) are caused by random mutations and the vast majority of cases have life-style as a contributory cause. The article confuses types of cancer with cases of cancer, not the same thing at all. And again, since mutations can only occur in genes, all cancers - by definition - are linked to genes, not what is stated in the “I“.
I could go on, but will just leave it that these headlines indicate that science education in the developed world is in a very sorry state.

Counter-intuitively, a healthy life style can increase the incidence of cancers. The Old Lady, dying at the age of 101¾ was suffering from a handful of different chronic cancer diseases; her good diet and active interest in sport were significant contributors to her longevity and, ultimately, most cancers are statistically more likely to afflict the elderly.