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No field of science is littered with more mis-information and bad science than food and nutrition. Every year we hear about the latest fad diet – and every few years it turns out these diets are debunked. Even worse is foods that supposedly cure/fight condition <insert favorite disease here>.

Like many things, there is an element of truth – but the efficacy is in the details. Details that are often completely ignored. What’s a good example?

There are many top-selling anti-cancer books that preach the top food with cancer fighting properties to be broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts, arugula, cabbage, kale, and cauliflower. But the devil is in the details; and the details are fascinating in this case.

In 2019, scientists were indeed studying the natural cancer-fighting properties of the PTEN gene that controls cell growth. People with good PTEN gene function tended to have better cancer fighting properties. During the research, they found that cancer produces the enzyme WWP1 that negates the natural function of PTEN and helps the cancer grow. While analyzing the WWP1 structure, they scanned databases of existing compounds that could bind and block WWP1. One popped up in the search, I3C. I3C neutralizes the WWP1 enzyme and lets PTEN operate normally in it’s cancer fighting role. It turns out that I3C is naturally found in, you guessed it, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, arugula, cabbage, kale, and cauliflower.

To test this theory, they injected mice who were engineered to develop prostate cancer with I3C. They found it greatly helped the lab mice. But there is a catch.

In order to reach the effective anti-cancer dose of I3C needed in a human, a person would need to eat 6 pounds of broccoli A DAY. This is why previous studies of cruciferous vegetables had good lab results but produced mixed results in humans. It implies the right way to go about this would be to develop a pill or supplement form for more easy consumption. Additionally, I3C affects more than just the WWP1, so additional work is needed to determine doses and unintended effects of I3C supplements.

So, always be sure to check on published, peer reviewed research before embarking on your miracle cure diet.

Links:

• https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/05/beth-israel-researchers-uncover-anti-cancer-drug-mechanism-in-broccoli/#:~:text=They%20discovered%20that%20a%20naturally,engineered%20to%20develop%20prostate%20cancer.

According to Tim Cook, Apple looks for these 4 skills/traits:

1. Ability to collaborate
2. Creativity
3. Curiosity
4. Expertise

He seems to think of them in that order too. Collaboration is key because it encompasses the other 3. It is the fundamental notion that if I share my idea with you that the idea will grow and get bigger and better. That’s how Apple creates products. This creates a sense of teamwork which lends itself to creativity and curiosity – all things needed to improve or launch new products. We want people that are not caught up in the dogma of how something has always been solved. It’s amazing when somebody starts asking questions as a kid would.

I have found that questioning fundamental assumptions does sometimes lead to really unique re-thinking of problems.

Links:

• https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/02/tim-cook-says-there-are-4-traits-he-looks-for-in-apple-employees.html
• https://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/03/5-traits-tim-cook-looks-for-in-an-apple-employee.html

The Action Lab does some great experiments and is a constant source of fun. They made a video about 5 years ago for fun that might well turn out to be more morbidly relevant today than they thought. In the video, they try a number of different experiments to see if they can confuse the tracking software in drones. Keep in mind, this tracking software is very rudimentary consumer-level tracking that assumes you are wanting to be found and followed by your device.

If you’re been paying attention to the Ukrainian war, there has been an unprecedented use of drones and drone technology. Russia has started using drones built from small airplane engines to deliver bombs to strategic sites. Both sides appear to be using drones in size all the way down to off-the-shelf mini drones that are being used to drop grenades and other explosives on individual troops.

While most of the footage coming from these drones indicates they are being controlled completely manually, the idea of using drones to track and target individuals is well within the capability of off the shelf commercial drones today. It was a threat that was outlined years ago by Elon Musk and other technologists. I think it’s absolutely something that we’re going to start seeing in war, or even assassination attempts, sometime soon.