How a ‘brain coach’ might help you beat the odds of developing dementia | Germany is in a bizarre fiscal mess of its own making | Oil prices could reach $100 a barrel in 2024 if OPEC+ members fulfil pledges for voluntary cuts | Anduril unveils Roadrunner, "a fighter jet weapon that lands like a Falcon 9" | TechCrunch

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� � � � � � You Might Like � � � � � � � � � How a 'brain coach' might help you beat the odds of developing dementia - Fortune Well    There’s the personal trainer for fitness, the life coach for finding purpose, and the menopause coach for managing the onset of symptoms. Now, research suggests older adults may benefit from another personalized motivator: A brain-boosting coach.  A new study found older adults with a personalized health coach improved their cognitive function 74% more after two years compared to those who did not have a coach. The study, published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine, collected data from 172 participants between 2018 and 2022, all of whom had at least two of eight risk factors for dementia—such as high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, or physical inactivity. Half of the cohort met with a coach every few months to examine their risk factors and change their habits accordingly. Researchers distributed a standard informational packet on dementia risk and reduction to the other half.   “For the first time, we assessed what risk factors people had and then asked what they wanted to focus on and how,” Yaffe tells Fortune. “Our idea was that that would be more motivating to produce behavior change.” New interventions tackling dementias like Alzheimer’s are welcomed as more than 6 million Americans live with the degenerative disease—a number estimated to approach 13 million by 2050.  Continued here � � � � � � You Might Like � � � � � � � � � Germany is in a bizarre fiscal mess of its own making - The Economist    Germany mAY pride itself on its fiscal prudence, but over the past fortnight it has been in the grip of a bizarre fiscal panic. At the heart of the drama lies the much-revered “debt brake”, a constitutional clause that limits the country’s budget deficit, but which the government has resorted to circumventing through a series of special funds. On November 15th the country’s constitutional court ruled that one such wheeze to finance €60bn ($66bn), or 1.5% of GDP, in climate spending was illegal, jeopardising all the financing done in this way. The consequences have been shambolic. As lawmakers have scrambled to plug fiscal holes, members of the ruling coalition have resorted to squabbling and the opposition are divided, too. On November 28th Olaf Scholz, the Social Democratic chancellor, promised in the Bundestag that some fixes would be found. The government will invoke an emergency clause to ensure its spending for 2023 passes legal muster, but there was no explanation of where the money for future years would come from. Because of its obsession with its debt rule, Europe’s largest economy now looks unable to revive domestic demand, to finance an energy transition or to achieve its geopolitical aims. Unless Germany can lead by example, other countries in Europe are unlikely to offer more aid for Ukraine. The strange thing is that the fiscal mess has nothing to do with economics. Germany is the envy of the rich world because it still has room to borrow. Its public debts are equivalent to about 65% of GDP, compared with an average of 90% across the oecd club of mostly rich countries. And the case for investing is crystal clear. Its growth is lagging behind its peers’; after decades of neglect, its infrastructure desperately needs refreshing. Because the benefits of such spending accrue over time, debt finance, which smooths the costs of investment, makes sense. Continued here � � � � � � You Might Like � � � � � � � � � Don't like ads? Go ad-free with TradeBriefs Premium Oil prices could reach $100 a barrel in 2024 if OPEC+ members fulfil pledges for voluntary cuts - CNBC    Oil prices are expected to rise in the new year after some OPEC+ oil producers voluntarily pledged to cut output. The oil cartelon Thursday released a statementthat did not formally endorse production cuts, but individual countries announcedvoluntary reductionstotaling 2.2 million barrels per day for the first quarter of 2024. Leading the cuts is OPEC kingpin and largest member Saudi Arabia. Riyadh agreed to extend its voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels per day — which has been in place since July — until the end of the first quarter of 2024. Russia said it will cut supply by 300,000 barrels per day of crude and 200,000 barrels per day of petroleum products over the same period. Continued here � � � � � � You Might Like � � � � � � � � � Anduril unveils Roadrunner, "a fighter jet weapon that lands like a Falcon 9" | TechCrunch - TechCrunch    Leading defense tech startup Anduril has developed a new product designed to take-on the proliferation of low-cost, high-powered aerial threats. The product is called Roadrunner, a modular, twin-jet powered autonomous vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) air vehicle that’s designed for low costs. Anduril has also developed a variant called Roadrunner-Munition, or Roadrunner-M, a “high-explosive interceptor,” meaning it can carry a warhead and also defensively destroy aerial threats. Roadrunner is unusual both in appearance and capability: it can take-off, following, and destroying targets; if there is no need to intercept the target, the vehicle can autonomously maneuver back to base for refueling and reuse. As Anduril’s chief strategy officer Chris Brose put it in a recent interview, “We’ve basically built a fighter jet weapon that lands like a Falcon 9.” Continued here

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