Find a supportive and fulfilling community that is trying to make things better locally. I’ve found this at my Unitarian Universalist (UU) church. UU’s don’t believe in a shared religious text, instead they have a core set of shared values. During World War 2, UUs helped Jewish people and other oppressed peoples escape the Nazis to other countries with a system of safe houses and creating travel documents. They identified safe houses with a flaming oil chalice in the window, which is now the main symbol of UUism.

My church has people who identify as atheist, Christian, several types of pagan, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, etc. We celebrate religious holidays from all of them as well as secular holidays like Trans Day of Visibility and Earth day. The focus is on being together and trying to make the world a better place. There’s active volunteer groups for hunger relief, housing support, the environment, and LGBTQ support. I also really like the music program. There’s a handy website to find a congregation near you, many stream services on Zoom so you can test them out before going in person. They can vary a lot based on the members of each congregation.

I’m not really a history expert, definitely not authoritatively with sources. I’m more focused on human biology and medicine for my area of expertise.

Experts on what kinds of science topics are you looking for?

I miss the golden days of r/askscience and r/askhistorians on Reddit. I was flared contributor on r/askscience for pharmacology and medicine related topics

I wonder why they can make EVs at a fraction of the cost of western companies…

If you smoke, quitting is the number one thing you can do to improve your physical and mental health. In the US you can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit Lung.org for free evidence-based resources to help with quitting.

On to the OP question, inhaling smoke of any kind exposes you to carcinogens. In tobacco smoke, the most abundant by mass is Benzo[a]pyrene, which is created by the process of burning. It is absorbed into your bloodstream in the lungs and damages DNA in every cell it touches. If the DNA damage occurs in the wrong gene, that can kick off a decades long process of more mutations that ultimately lead to uncontrolled cell grow. Inflammation, also caused by inhaling smoke, encourages cells to grow more and amplifies cancerous mutations.

Quitting stops the exposure to new DNA damage and inflammation, but there has already been some damage done.

Edit, adding an alcohol answer: Heavy alcohol use also takes a toll on your body. A big cause of this is that alcohol is fairly quickly metabolised into acetaldehyde by the liver. However, the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme can be limiting to detoxify the acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is an aldehyde, much like formaldehyde, and thus highly reactive with proteins and DNA. So it can damage those as well. Acetaldehyde is also the chemical mostly responsible for feelings of being hung over (in addition to general dehydration).

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A local bank once did a mailed ad campaign that went along the lines of:

“Tired of living with your parents? Check out our mortgage rates” and stuff along the lines of your parents won’t be doing your laundry anymore.

Like have they never heard of renting?

The US government uses a pyramid. Harvard’s Nutrition Source prefers a circle that resembles a plate to help give a graphic representation that’s more relevant to a meal

For those unaware, “Registered Dietician” (RD) is the term in the US for a professionally trained and certified medical professional who focuses on helping people with nutrition.

I’m also a fan of Harvard’s Nutrition Source website for easy to read science-based info on eating healthy.

But it won’t hit your vital torso organs, which is more important for pedestrian safety

People with connections deserve priority deboarding, especially when the first flight was delayed. Some times I’ve heard attendants saying to do this, but it never successfully happens

I don’t even get the appeal of shower headphones. Bathrooms usually have great acoustics, blast that shit and sing along.

I want more on this too. Amazon’s monopoly has made it so hard to find alternative online stores to buy a lot of stuff, particularly if I don’t already know the name of a trusted manufacturer off the top of my head. Even competitor companies like Target and Walmart often offer less selection with higher prices and slower shipping. Also why is it that online retailers seem so scammy these days? Most brands seem to be new/disposable Chinese company names I’ve never heard of and reviews seem inflated/bot generated.

It seems like my local thrift store has the best quality to price for a lot of stuff, but they don’t always have something I’m looking for

They are not independent of each other though. We wouldn’t need nearly as much crop farming if it weren’t going to feed livestock

Yeah, I’m not fully vegan either because it is hard to go 100% in our society and I grew up in a very meat heavy household, takes time to change. I tend to stick more with Impossible for the plant based meat alternatives, especially the ground beef substitute. I find finishing it in the air fryer/convection oven improves the texture a lot. But chickpeas have become a larger part of my diet, they’re pretty versatile.

about 80% of agricultural land globally is used for raising live stock or growing food to feed livestock, but animal-based products provide less than 20% of calories consumed by humans. Meat is the main cause of industrial farming

If only there was some sort of Impossible plant-based solution that went Beyond expectations in terms of taste and lower resource use than meat…

The new Slate mini pick up trucks are expected to be in production this year and come in around $20k new. Used EVs already come in under $20k and are good enough for daily commuting in that price range, perhaps not long distance road trips at that price

And/or public transit!

Propaganda from the fossil fuel industry.

Solar panels are the cheapest source of electricity now. Batteries have dropped in price by more than 90% in the past decade, and are now viable for grid-scale storage, addressing the main issue with renewable energy. EVs are competitive with combustion cars, and in some ways superior. Heat pumps are now superior to furnaces in many locations. The solar punk future is now! But you wouldn’t know any of this by listening to the public discourse, mainstream media, and many politicians.

Relevant video from Technology Connections