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The Most Valuable Commodity in the World is Friction
 April 30th, 2025. 35,000 feet above the ground. It's 3:17 AM and I'm on a flight from San Francisco circling somewhere above Ohio after being diverted from Cleveland in an attempt to get to NYC. My phone still promises I'll land at Newark on time, albeit 5 hours later than intended, its nice little frictionless interface undisturbed by reality. The pilot's voice crackles over the intercom: "Folks, we're being told the weather's too bad to land. We're heading to DC to refuel." A collective groan ripples through the cabin. The physical world is breaking down again, while the digital tried its best to maintain a comforting illusion.
We were taught that effort matters! That working hard, learning well, and building value would be rewarded. I sound a little like old-man-yelling-at-cloud, but I promise I have a point - we have a world where friction gets automated out of experiences, aestheticized in curated lifestyles, and dumped onto underfunded infrastructure and overworked labor. The effort doesn't disappear; it just moves.
Continued here
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Built by TradeBriefs - trusted by 200,000+ professionals. InboxScore.email Editor's Note: This is what a frictionless world looks like. Everything accelerates, until you forget what it means to try. Apps load faster. Papers write themselves. Job interviews are browser tricks. 60-hour raves, just in your VR Goggles. Speech patterns converge. Aesthetics flatten. Even identity becomes an efficiency layer.
WorkWorkWorkTracking the Short-Run Price Impact of U.S. TariffsApril 20, 2025, Paper: "This paper examines the short-run impact of the 2025 U.S. tariffs on consumer prices using a unique integration of high-frequency retail pricing data, product-level country-of origin information, and detailed tariff classifications. By linking daily prices from major U.S. retailers to Harmonized System (HS) codes and import origins, we construct custom price indices that isolate the direct effects of tariff changes across product categories and trading partners. Our analysis reveals rapid pricing responses, though their magnitude remains modest relative to the announced tariff rates and varies by country of origin. Both imported and domestic goods are affected, suggesting broader pricing and supply chain spillovers. These findings offer timely evidence for policymakers, businesses, and consumers navigating the immediate consequences of trade policy changes." WorkHealthspan Research Review | Methylene Blue for the Aging Brain: Mitochondrial Mechanisms Driving Neuroprotective and Cognitive Benefits Methylene blue, originally synthesized in the late 19th century as a textile dye, has emerged over the past few decades as a fascinating agent of neuroprotection and neuroenhancement. At the cellular level, methylene blue acts as a redox mediator, capable of bypassing dysfunctional segments of the electron transport chain to sustain ATP production and reduce reactive oxygen species. This mechanistic foundation, clarified by the pioneering work of Dr. Francisco Gonzalez-Lima and colleagues at The University of Texas at Austin, catalyzed a resurgence of interest in the compound’s hormetic and neurometabolic effects. Since then, mounting evidence—ranging from cellular assays to animal models and preliminary clinical findings—has unveiled methylene blue’s potential to support memory consolidation, diminish neurotoxic byproducts, and safeguard neurons in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, tauopathies, and ischemia/reperfusion injury. These effects are attributed to its dual role as both an antioxidant and a mitochondrial electron cycler, particularly under conditions of metabolic stress. In this narrative review, we synthesize the key biochemical mechanisms, highlight critical safety considerations regarding dose and purity, and discuss the compound’s targeted applications in neurological and psychiatric settings. While large-scale randomized trials remain necessary, current findings position methylene blue as a compelling, if unconventional, candidate in the evolving toolkit of neuroprotective therapeutics—functioning, in essence, as a cellular “battery charger” that supports brain resilience.
WorkCaffeine's Dirty Little Secret On a Tuesday in January 2024, curiosity finally got the best of me. How potent could Panera’s Charged Lemonades really be? Within minutes of my first sip of the hyper-caffeinated drink in its strawberry-lemon-mint flavor, I understood why memes have likened it to an illicit drug. My vision sharpened; sweat slicked my palms. WorkWorkWork
WorkWorkWorkWorkCrypto founder faked own death. We found him alive at his dad's house Jeffy Yu was days away from his 23rd birthday when he appeared to take his own life Sunday in a video. A flattering obituary appeared, calling the aspiring crypto mogul “a visionary artist, technologist, and cultural force” and “a tech prodigy from an early age.” A memecoin in Yu’s honor went up for sale.But in the days that followed, online sleuths raised doubts about the video’s authenticity. The obituary disappeared. Whatever deceptive game was being played came to an indisputable end when The Standard found Yu on Wednesday, holed up at his parents’ Crocker-Amazon home.
WorkWorkSoviet-era spacecraft plunges to Earth after 53 years stuck in orbit The European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking agency confirmed its uncontrolled re-entry, based on analysis and the disappearance of the spacecraft from tracking on subsequent orbits. The European Space Agency’s space debris office also indicated it had re-entered the atmosphere after it failed to appear over a German radar station. WorkTrump?s Orwellian Erasure of Women Since President Donald Trump?s January 20 Executive Order against, what he calls, ?illegal and immoral? DEI programs, the Trump Administration has been busy commanding an Orwellian erasure of women?s achievements from the public record. In January NASA was ordered to remove mentions of "anything specifically targeting women (women in leadership, etc)" from its website. The Pentagon has deleted online many mentions of female military members who made history. Even a dead woman is still a threat: the Arlington Cemetery website has erased pages on female veterans. WorkLatest In Justin Baldoni-Blake Lively Feud: Taylor Swift Subpoenaed - Forbes (No paywall) Billionaire pop star Taylor Swift was subpoenaed in the sprawling legal battle between Blake Lively and her ?It Ends With Us? co-star and director Justin Baldoni, according to multiple outlets, though her representatives insist she will not have any relevant information to provide. (Here are in-depth explanations for Lively?s claims and Baldoni?s claims.) 
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WorkWorkWorkScientists are growing T. rex leather in a lab. It could be used to make purses. Yes, the remnants of the prehistoric predator are being used to create synthetic T. rex leather, which can be turned into accessories including purses. That's the plan for a trio of companies – The Organoid Company, Lab-Grown Leather Ltd., and VML – working on "a high-quality alternative to traditional leather that’s cruelty-free and eco-friendly," said the collaborators in an April 25 news release. Work
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WorkIs the Southern accent fixin' to disappear in parts of the US South? Southern accents are disappearing in some parts of the U.S. South due to the migration of people into the region from other parts of the United States and around the world. A series of research papers released late last year chronicles the diminishment of the Southern accent among Black residents of the Atlanta area, white working-class people in the New Orleans area and people who grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. (AP video by Sharon Johnson) WorkIs Asylum Still Possible? - The New Yorker (No paywall) Edgarlys Casta
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WorkWorkCan Donald Trump sell a recession? Hugh Cameron is Newsweek U.S. news reporter based in London, U.K. with a focus on covering American economic and business news. Hugh joined Newsweek in 2024, having worked at Alliance News Ltd where he specialised in global and regional business developments, economic news, and market trends. He graduated from the University of Warwick with a bachelor's degree in politics in 2022, and from the University of Cambridge with a master's degree in international relations in 2023. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Hugh by emailing [email protected] WorkWork
WorkWorkWorkWork WorkWorkWorkTrump to embark on Middle East trip to meet Gulf allies “I think the sense that there’s these pieces that the President is negotiating don’t respond together, and that his priority really is essentially domestic focus, securing, you know, agreements to invest in the estates,” said Cook. “Regionally, the president would like these issues to go away, and that’s why he has these compressed timelines he doesn’t want to focus on.” Work 
WorkUK care homes face ban on overseas recruitment under migration plans Ministers also plan to introduce a Labour Market Evidence Group, made up of officials from industry and skills bodies, as well as from the government and the Migration Advisory Council (MAC). It would, the Home Office said, “inform understanding of where sectors are overly reliant on overseas labour and reverse underinvestment in domestic skills”. WorkWorkWorkThere is suffering everywhere you look, says mother of emaciated baby girl trapped in Gaza “We are helpless in the face of their needs – we cannot provide food, supplements, medication, or vitamins appropriate for their conditions,” the doctor said. “I studied malnutrition in medical school textbooks. I used to think that study would remain theoretical, something we’d never see in real life. But now, those textbook descriptions have come to life before our eyes in Gaza,” Farah said. Work TradeBriefs Publications are read by over 100,000 Industry Executives About Us | Advertise | Privacy PolicyUnsubscribe (one-click) You are receiving this mail because of your subscription with TradeBriefs.
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