Immune system’s balancing act keeps bowel disease in check

The study showed that the increased presence of a protein responsible for sensing infection — called NLRP1 — meant there were fewer good bacteria and anti-inflammatory molecules in the gut, leading to higher levels of inflammation and an increased risk of IBD.

How sleep deprivation hinders memory

Researchers have conducted the largest experimentally controlled study on sleep deprivation to date, revealing just how detrimental operating without sleep can be in everything from bakers adding too much salt to cookies to surgeons botching surgeries.

How the Music Modernization Act will help artists get paid more from streaming

Congress recently passed the Music Modernization Act, which is a rare bill in modern American politics: everyone seems to like it! The MMA, as it’s called, was celebrated by musicians, streaming services, record labels, and consumer groups alike. It simplifies how streaming services pay songwriters, changes how the law deals with music recorded before 1972, and helps producers collect more royalties.

I’m naturally distrustful of something everyone agrees is a good thing, so I called on Meredith Rose from Public Knowledge to explain the MMA — and the insanely tricky problem of music licensing and streaming — to me. It’s a complicated conversation, but stick with it: Meredith knows her shit, and you’ll gain an appreciation for just how…

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Rakuten’s site-wide sale takes 15 percent off of your purchase

Rakuten is hosting another one of its site-wide sales today, and you can knock 15 percent off of your total at checkout with the offer code SAVE15. The promotion will end tonight at 3AM ET / 12AM PT, October 3rd, and basically everything offered on Rakuten is eligible. Strangely, the only products excluded are Kobo e-readers.

If you plan on taking advantage of the savings, keep in mind that you can only net up to $60 off of your total purchase. In other words, your savings will drop if you’re after a more expensive item. Then again, any savings at all will be better than nothing.

Applied to a few different types of items as examples, we’ve seen $100 Xbox gift cards reduced to $85, AirPods for as low as $127, the TCL 55-inch 4K HDR Roku…

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