November 28, 2013

The Inequality We Don’t Talk About

Upper-middle-class two-parent families can invest far more time and resources in their children than lower-middle-class single mothers can, no matter how good their intentions. But the impact of family structure on children goes far beyond money. Kids from lone-parent families do worse on many measures. And the marriage gap is reducing upward mobility and sharpening the class divide. “Because the breakdown of the traditional family is overwhelmingly occurring among working-class Americans of all races, these trends threaten to make the U.S. a much more class-based society over time,” writes Isabel Sawhill of the Brookings Institution.

This is a serious issue that is steadily increasing with time. Is it a problem? Yes. Is there a solution to fix it? I don’t know. However, a comment made on the article by Greggore says:

“Solution – wait until you are married to have children and then try to stick it out with the marriage. Also, choose your partner wisely.”

That makes sense. But another comment by Atlas is Struggling says:

“Declining marriage rates exist because it is a garbage deal for men. Men would have to be insane to marry in a climate where a woman could destroy him financially and rob him of his children simply because she isn’t haaaaappy!”

This is also kind of true.

Plastic “ninjas” take on deadly bacteria

The mechanism through which [these polymers] fight bacteria is very different from the way an antibiotic works,” explains Jim Hedrick, a polymer chemist in IBM Research. “They try to mimic what the immune system does: the polymer attaches to the bacteria’s membrane and then facilitates destabilization of the membrane. It falls apart, everything falls out and there’s little opportunity for it to develop resistance to these polymers.”

This is some pretty remarkable progress in the fight against bad bacteria.

Searching for Harddrive with $7.5 Million worth of Bitcoins

James Howells’s hard drive contains 7,500 bitcoins – which is a virtual form of currency for use online.

It had sat in a drawer for years and he had forgotten it contained the bitcoins, which he obtained in 2009 for almost nothing, when he threw it out.

But this week, a single bitcoin’s value hit $1,000 (£613) for the first time.

It means Mr Howells’s collection is now worth $7.5m (£4.6m).

A few years ago Mr Howells, who works in IT, had dismantled his computer after spilling a drink on it.

Oh dear, he must be really kicking himself in the butt. I hope he finds it soon!

Nikon Stock Down Almost 24% Year to Date

This doesn’t come altogether as a surprise, given that Nikon has had to adjust its financial forecast down more than once in recent months. But, surprise or not, it certainly isn’t a headline we relished writing.

As a Nikon photographer, this makes me very sad. They need to really released the successor to the D700 and a make a new D400.