Something new every day: Washed ~30 aquarium sock filters. Inside out. Hot. Bleach, no soap/detergent. Airdry.

• Ivan, from my aero/astro grad program, crypto fraud: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nz-scientist-ivan-ravlich-of-hypernet-labs-hit-with-us-crypto-fraud-lawsuit/TUHGTEKTWITBHB43DFJHLDVX3A/
• Huberman 2hr podcast on alcohol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkS1pkKpILY
  • Heavy drinking is bad for your brain; we know this. Low-moderate is also bad. This is ~1-2 drinks a day, or 1-2 binge nights a week. The most common consumption class.
  • Over time, neurodegeneration.
  • Alcohol -> Acetaldehyde. Both are literal poisons.
  • Prefrontal cortex (responsible for inhibition) is suppressed after a few drinks. Your voice increases, you move more. Chronic use can cause this increase to happen when sober as well. Your avg impulsivity increases in all phases.
  • This also messes with temperature regulation. You feel fine in extreme temperatures, but you’ll get hyper/hypo thermic way more quickly. You’ll die from cold sleeping outside drunk way before sober under the same conditions.
  • Eating food before or during drinking will slow the intake. It will not sober you up if you’re already drunk.
  • Alcohol increases the conversion of testosterone to estrogen.
  • Serotonin receptors increase activity after a few drinks, then drop rapidly with abuse.
  • Hippocampus does memory formation; it is suppressed during a blackout.
  • Alcohol consumption increases baseline (sober) cortisol release from adrenal glands. This increases anxiety. This reduces the ability to handle stress. Drinking to deal with stress…has the exact opposite effect.
  • One of the best indicators for alcoholism predisposition = not being sedated by alcohol after a normal threshold. The people most awake at the afterparty.
  • Alcohol affects gene expression. Increases risk for cancer. Particularly breast cancer.
  • Liver breaks alcohol down, obviously.
  • Alcohol destroys bacteria. The wrecks the microbiome. Your gut (from throat to stomach) is affected by alcohol in a negative way, reducing its ability to communicate effectively with the brain. Worst case is when the lining is disrupted so much that you get leaky gut.
    • Best things for gut health (prebiotics/probiotics): low sugar, fermented, active foods. Kimchi, yogurt, pickles, sauerkraut, kombucha, etc.
  • I’ve been sober for all of october now and feeling great. Better gym, better sleep, more time for both work and fun. Still doing all social stuff.
  • Reinforced by this podcast. Not just gut health, but memory, inflammation, and repairing neural circuits damaged by alcohol (which can take 6mo+ of sobriety).
• Watched the 3hr Hikaru Lex Fridman (on 3x).
• NBA Season Opener, Warriors v Lakers.