Thankful Thursday

Today I am grateful for...

• Not using Windows (see "Code execution 0-day in Windows has been under active exploit for 7 weeks" in Ars Technica and apply the fix described in the fifth paragraph).
• Being a coffee-drinker (see Drinking Coffee Daily May Stave Off Early Death, Study Suggests in The Insider).
• Owning an electric vehicle. Have you seen the price of gas lately?
• Not having any investments in cryptocurrency (see Terra’s Crypto Meltdown Was Inevitable in WIRED).
• Sable's keyboard recovering from a minor mishap involving a glass of gin. The replacement I ordered will become a spare.
• Cat cuddles.

Signal Boost: Two health-related articles

I was pointed at a couple of fascinating health-related articles (which I should have posted about Tuesday, but procrastinated):

First, Drinking Coffee Daily May Stave Off Early Death, Study Suggests. Which I was already assuming from prior reading, but this is good confirmation. What was new to me was that a teaspoon of sugar actually enhances the effect -- I don't use it, but generally eat something fruit-like with it, which presumably counts. Good to know, given my liter/day habit.

(Supported by this research article: Association of Sugar-Sweetened, Artificially Sweetened, and Unsweetened Coffee Consumption With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: A Large Prospective Cohort Study: Annals of Internal Medicine.)

Second, On Your Back? Side? Face-Down? Mice Show How We Sleep May Trigger Or Protect Our Brain From Diseases Like ALS | IFLScience tl;dr: side. Lately I've found that I can't get to sleep lying on my back (I used to; darned if I know what changed), so it's good to know that side-sleeping is healthier as well.

(Supported by The Effect of Body Posture on Brain Glymphatic Transport - PubMed The Glymphatic System – A Beginner's Guide - PMC.) The glymphatic system was apparently discovered in 2013; this set of articles was the first I'd heard of it.

Sleeping on one's left side, in particular, is better for other reasons, including reducing heartburn. (See "Side Sleeping: Benefits and Which Side to Sleep On | Sleep Foundation" and "6 Hidden Health Benefits of Sleeping On Your Left Side That You've NEVER Heard About" -- although I'd already heard about several of those.) The benefits for sleep apnea and back pain appear to be less side-dependent, and there seem to be arguments in favor of both directions, e.g. Right vs. Left Side Sleeping: What's the Best for Your Health? - Sleep Junkie.

Edited to correct paste error in the coffee study link text.