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Carrion Luggage
Carrion Luggage
 
Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem.
This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it.
It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans.
It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier."
I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination.
December 26, 2025 at 8:41am December 26, 2025 at 8:41am
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I've noted many times that the answer to a headline question is almost always "No." I'm willing to believe this El Pais article is an exception.
Yes. It's another article about cheese.
Eating more high-fat cheese and cream may be associated with a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a study published on December 17 in the academic journal Neurology.
Of course, I should issue my usual disclaimers about one study, peer review, replication, and so on. And to be very careful about who funded the study; even if the scientists involved were trying to be objective, bias can creep in. Like when Willy Wonka funded those studies that insisted that chocolate is good for you.
Still. Just as with chocolate, I don't much care whether it's good for you, only whether it's good. And it is.
The analysis — based on data collected from nearly 30,000 people — challenges the previous scientific belief that a low-fat diet could have a protective effect against dementia.
Well, I guess I at least can accept the sample size, for once.
Although its conclusions are quite dramatic, it’s an observational study that doesn’t prove causation.
Science doesn't "prove;" it supports or falsifies. But yes, objectively, we also have to be concerned about correlation vs. causation. Except in this case, when, let's be honest, I'm going to eat cheese anyway.
Researchers analyzed data from 27,670 people in Sweden, with an average age of 58 at the start of the study.
Well, there goes my lack of concern about the sample size. Sweden isn't exactly famous for ethnic diversity.
At that time, participants recorded their food intake for one week and answered questions about how frequently they had consumed certain foods in recent years.
Not a great methodology, in my view. Self-reporting is notoriously hit-or-miss.
After adjusting for age, gender, education and overall diet quality, the researchers found that people who reported consuming more high-fat cheese had a 13% lower risk of developing dementia than those who consumed less.
I mean, I'll take what I can get, but I think 13% doesn't mean much on an individual level, only in aggregate.
Naveed Sattar, a professor of cardiometabolic medicine and an honorary consultant physician at the University of Glasgow, is highly critical of the study.
And that's okay. This is how science works.
While all experts point to the importance of lifestyle and healthy choices for maintaining optimal brain health, most of what determines whether a person develops dementia is beyond their control.
Which is why I don't worry too much about it. I'm of the considered opinion that, for myself at least, the stress of always having to do the Right Thing, and deprive myself of simple pleasures such as consuming delicious cheese, has a more negative effect than just doing what feels good.
Which, I know, is the basic definition of hedonism. I'm okay with that. |
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