Don't sweat it

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon repeats warning about leverage levels in market ; Why it’s so hard to learn a new language; and there’s a new documentary about Rush’s Neil Peart on the way…

But first, our weekly quiz!

Everyone has mismatch-repair genes, which are tasked with fixing what are basically spelling mistakes in the DNA code in your cells after they multiply.

Those with Lynch syndrome are missing a type of mismatch-repair gene, which puts them at considerable risk of genetic abnormalities getting out of control, resulting in the growth of cancerous tumours.

Most people have about a 5% chance of developing colorectal cancer in their lifetime. For those with Lynch syndrome, the risk can be as high as 80%. In addition, the risk for many other cancers far surpass the average.

In an effort to combat this rare condition, scientists are developing a vaccine that aims to train the body to recognize and fight off the growths that form from the genetic mutations.

Lynch-fueled growths “tend to accumulate hundreds of mutations that are going to generate proteins that are novel, not made by our normal cells,” said lead researcher, Dr. Eduardo Vilar-Sanchez of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “You can train the immune system to recognize those proteins.”

Some people like to go to the gym and work on various muscle groups on separate days. Others like to practice full-body workouts, activating as many groups as possible at the same time, while also pushing the limits of cardiovascular endurance.

In the case of exercising the brain, comparative exercises for the first type of gym rat would be things like crossword puzzles, memory-testing puzzles, and various routines available on a typical brain-training app.

The comparative exercise for the latter type of gym rat would definitely be learning a new language, an endeavor that uses immense brain power and activates nearly every region and cognitive system at once. Memory, attention, pattern recognition, problem-solving, and mental flexibility are all called upon during the process of becoming bilingual.

Research has suggested learning a second language—or even just being bilingual in the first place—can slow the development of dementia. Bilingual people tend to have more cognitive reserve, which Dr. Karen Stollznow—an Australian-American linguist and author—compares to a clear and open alternative route through a traffic-jammed city.

By no means does bilingualism create an immunity to neurological conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s, but some studies have found those who speak more than one language, on average, don’t experience the symptoms of such diseases until later in life, if at all.

The Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii has one of the highest resolution cameras of any telescope on Earth, and it just captured the clearest images ever taken of the Sun’s visible surface.

Scientists have long held theories about the composition of the surface (known as the photosphere), but proving those theories wasn’t possible with limited resolution.

The Inouye image—featured above and published in a recent article in Nature—was captured at a 416 nanometer resolution, filtering out the entire wavelength of visible light except for a microscopic portion.

“It is very important to understand what is going on at the Sun at the microscopic level,” first author David Kuridze, an astronomer at the National Solar Observatory, told Gizmodo. “This is very important if we want to understand the Sun, its magnetism, its global dynamics. We need to understand those small-scale microscopic fields.”

The almost floral-like patterns in the image are displaying something called Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability (KHI), which happens when fluids slide past each other at different speeds, creating the “shearing” visible in the photo.

Physicists believed the phenomenon was present on the Sun’s surface; now they know it is.

Canada’s CBC TV announced a documentary will air next month telling the life story of legendary Rush drummer, Neil Peart.

Called Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple, it will cover the one-of-a-kind musician, lyricist, and person that Neil Peart was, including the ups and downs of his brilliant but tragic life.

“To sum up Neil Peart is a daunting task,” CBC wrote in a statement. “[He] was famous for blurring the lines between progressive rock, jazz, pop and heavy metal…he was the ultimate live performer who crafted electric lyrics for the Canadian band’s huge hits. For other drummers, he was an icon, role model and mentor.”

He was quiet face-to-face, but there was an endless river of philosophical reflection and creativity behind his stoic eyes, often coming through in his authentic lyrics and the inimitable pounding of his gargantuan drums.

The documentary will feature clips of Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson jamming with others inspired by Peart, including Stewart Copeland, Chad Smith, and Danny Carey of Tool, who is himself revered as one of the few drummers alive today worthy of even being in the same conversation as Peart.

According to CBC’s statement, the doc will also feature “intimate heart-to-hearts between…Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, alongside the reflections of other acclaimed drummers,” to “open a window into one of rock’s most enigmatic percussionists” and reflect upon his “impact on contemporary drummers and how he strived to perfect his craft.”

Quizmaster’s choice

We’ve got another week behind us, and that means it’s time for another round of à la carte with, today’s trivia! 😎