Umbilical blood can be a valuable treatment for rare diseases. But that doesn’t mean you need to pay thousands of dollars to bank your baby’s.

In the fall of 1988, Matthew Farrow, a 5-year-old boy with a rare blood disorder, received the world’s first transplant of umbilical-cord blood from a newborn sibling. It worked: Farrow was cured. This miraculous outcome broke open a whole new field in medicine—and, not long after, a whole new industry aimed at getting expecting parents to bank their baby’s umbilical-cord blood, just in case.

These days, in fact, being pregnant means being bombarded at the doctor’s office and on Instagram with ads touting cord blood as too precious to waste. For several hundred dollars upfront, plus a storage fee of $100 to $200 every year, the banks’ ads proclaim, you could save your child’s life. Cord-blood banking has been likened to a “biological insurance policy.”

In the U.S., the two biggest private cord blood banks are Cord Blood Registry and ViaCord. Together, they have collected more than 1 million units. But only a few hundred units of this privately banked cord blood have ever been used in transplants, the great majority by families who chose to bank because they already had a child with a specific and rare disorder treatable with a transplant. For everyone else, the odds of using privately banked cord blood are minuscule—so minuscule that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends against private banking. It does make an exception for families with that disease history. “But that’s a rare circumstance,” says Steve Joffe, a pediatric oncologist and ethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, “and not one that anybody is going to build a successful business model around.”

ViaCord and Cord Blood Registry do offer free services for families in which someone has already been diagnosed with a condition treatable with cord blood. In general, the companies reiterated to me, cord blood does save lives and they are simply providing an option for families who want it.

But the marketing also gives the impression of much more expansive uses for cord blood. The private banks’ websites list nearly 80 diseases treatable with transplantation—an impressive number, though many are extremely uncommon or closely related to one another. (For example: refractory anemia, refractory anemia with ringed sideroblasts, refractory anemia with excess blasts, refractory anemia with excess blasts in transformation.) They have also recently taken to highlighting the promise of still-unproven treatments: Temporary infusions of cord blood, they say, could eventually treat more common conditions such as cerebral palsy and autism. Video testimonials feature parents talking excitedly about the potential of cord blood for their children. But the evidence isn’t there yet—and may never appear. Nonetheless, says Paul Knoepfler, a stem-cell scientist at UC Davis, “the cord-blood companies seem to be trying to expand their base of potential customers.”

The initial exuberance around cord blood came from a real place. The blood left over in umbilical cords is replete with cells that have the special ability to turn into any kind of blood, including red blood cells, which carry oxygen, and white blood cells, which make up the immune system. Adults have stem cells in their bone marrow and blood—which can also be used for a…

There are plenty of reasons to head out on a hiking trip or mountaineering expedition.Both outdoor sports get you right into the heart of the natural world – enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of nature and providing you with the chance to disconnect from the hustle and bustle of the modern world.They are also both great social activities. Head on a private expedition with some friends or family to reconnect or join a group tour and make some new friends. Regardless of the option, you’re almost certain to create memories that last a lifetime.Keep reading: A Beginner's Guide to MountaineeringHowever, one of the top reasons to take up or continue your hiking and climbing passion is the myriad physical and mental health benefits that both provide.Hiking and, especially, mountaineering is strenuous physical activities. In order to enjoy and excel at them, you will need to get into good physical condition and maintain it.The reward for doing so, however, is immense. Not only will you get out into the wilderness and visit places to which cars, cities, and nature documentaries simply cannot bring you, but you will also reap the numerous health benefits associated with getting there.Below we’ve listed just a few of the top health benefits associated with mountaineering and hiking for your consideration.Establish Healthy RoutinesMost guides recommend that participants spend at least three months getting ready for their trip, undertaking a combination of flexibility, cardiovascular, and strength training regimes.These may include some combination of heading out on biweekly runs, going to the gym three or four times each week, and making time to do some yoga in the morning or evening. Regardless of the exercises, you choose to undertake, you will likely fall into some sort of routine over the course of your training period.After making it up to that mountain summit or completing your hike or trek, you will probably not find it too difficult to stick with the same fitness routine.Not only will this keep you in shape, but it will also keep you perennially prepared for any other mountaineering or hiking opportunities that come your way.Lower your risk of heart diseaseHiking and mountain climbing are among the many ways to reduce your risk of heart disease. The physical act of walking and climbing increases the amount of high-density lipoprotein in your blood. Known as good cholesterol, HDL helps your body collect bad cholesterol – LDL – and transport it to the liver to be removed.By increasing your heart rate as you hike or climb, the two sports simultaneously help to lower your triglyceride levels. Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood. When their levels become too high, they can contribute to the buildup of plaque in your arteries.Increase bone densityHiking and mountain climbing are weight-bearing exercises and involve plyometric movements, both of which contribute to increasing bone density and slowing the rate of calcium loss.Both types of outdoor sports require you to move your body uphill against gravity. Due to the rate and frequency of muscle strain caused by climbing or hiking uphill, the bones become increasingly dense and more resistant to breaking.The magnitude of the muscle strain during the exercise also contributes to increasing bone density. Climbing…

Hundreds of thousands of deaths, from either tobacco or the pandemic, could be prevented with a single behavioral change.

The end state of this pandemic may indeed be one where COVID comes to look something like the flu. Both diseases, after all, are caused by a dangerous respiratory virus that ebbs and flows in seasonal cycles. But I’d propose a different metaphor to help us think about our tenuous moment: The “new normal” will arrive when we acknowledge that COVID’s risks have become more in line with those of smoking cigarettes—and that many COVID deaths, like many smoking-related deaths, could be prevented with a single intervention.

The pandemic’s greatest source of danger has transformed from a pathogen into a behavior. Choosing not to get vaccinated against COVID is, right now, a modifiable health risk on par with smoking, which kills more than 400,000 people each year in the United States. Andrew Noymer, a public-health professor at UC Irvine, told me that if COVID continues to account for a few hundred thousand American deaths every year—“a realistic worst-case scenario,” he calls it—that would wipe out all of the life-expectancy gains we’ve accrued from the past two decades’ worth of smoking-prevention efforts.

The COVID vaccines are, without exaggeration, among the safest and most effective therapies in all of modern medicine. An unvaccinated adult is an astonishing 68 times more likely to die from COVID than a boosted one. Yet widespread vaccine hesitancy in the United States has caused more than 163,000 preventable deaths and counting. Because too few people are vaccinated, COVID surges still overwhelm hospitals—interfering with routine medical services and leading to thousands of lives lost from other conditions. If everyone who is eligible were triply vaccinated, our health-care system would be functioning normally again. (We do have other methods of protection—antiviral pills and monoclonal antibodies—but these remain in short supply and often fail to make their way to the highest-risk patients.)Countries such as Denmark and Sweden have already declared themselves broken up with COVID. They are confidently doing so not because the virus is no longer circulating or because they’ve achieved mythical herd immunity from natural infection; they’ve simply inoculated enough people.

President Joe Biden said in January that “this continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” and vaccine holdouts are indeed prolonging our crisis. The data suggest that most of the unvaccinated hold that status voluntarily at this point. Last month, only 1 percent of adults told the Kaiser Family Foundation that they wanted to get vaccinated soon, and just 4 percent suggested that they were taking a “wait-and-see” approach. Seventeen percent of respondents, however, said they definitely don’t want to get vaccinated or would do so only if required (and 41 percent of vaccinated adults say the same thing about boosters). Among the vaccine-hesitant, a mere 2 percent say it would be hard for them to access the shots if they wanted them. We can acknowledge that some people have faced structural barriers to getting immunized while also listening to the many others who have simply told us how they feel, sometimes from the very beginning.

The same arguments apply to tobacco: Smokers are 15 to 30 times more likely to develop lung cancer. Quitting the habit is akin to receiving a…

Skin is the body’s largest organ made up of 19 million skin cells, 650 sweat glands, 20 blood vessels, and 1,000 nerve endings. It does a big job for us, so it is important to take really good care of it. Learning just a few useful skincare tricks can eventually lead to that glowing and happier-looking skin every woman strives to have.

We at Bright Side love beauty routines, so we’ve created a list of 8 simple yet effective skincare hacks you can start practicing as of today. 

1. Wash your face with rice water.

2. Differentiate your morning and evening routines.

In the evening double-cleanse your face to remove makeup, oil, and other impurities. After double-cleansing, use a toner and an eye cream. Finally, treat your skin with a face serum based on retinol and apply a moisturizer or night cream.

3. Try multi-masking.

4. Measure out SPF using your fingers.

7. Always sleep on your back.

8. Follow the four pillars of wellness

Do you apply any of these skincare tips in your daily routine? What is your skincare routine? Share it with us know in the comments.

Wood said the amount of interest investors are showing in or decentralized finance could threaten the traditional banking world

Cryptocurrency was initially created to sidestep old institutions – and banks may finally be feeling themselves get disrupted, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood said.

Known for her high risk high reward strategy, Wood told CNBC’s “Crypto World” Thursday that the amount of interest investors are showing in DeFi, or decentralized finance, applications could threaten the traditional banking world. There’s been a “share shift” when it comes to loans in DeFi, she said.

“Banks have a big problem,” Wood said from the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami. “They’re losing talent to crypto, so they’re having to raise wages to attract talent, and they’re losing business to DeFi. Lending and saving – a lot of it is taking place in DeFi right now.”

Decentralized finance is an umbrella term for the various financial products and services that are peer-to-peer, built on blockchains, and eliminate the need for the traditional institutions that have historically provided access to those services.

“What we’re seeing is 180 degrees different today than it was a year ago,” she said.

She noted the shift in stance from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who had previously expressed concern on crypto, averse to its potential environmental problems and risk of illicit activity.

“I remember I was asked at the time and I basically said she hasn’t studied the technology and she hasn’t studied the instruments of the new asset class. Well, it seems like she’s been boning up,” Wood said.

Ark was the first public asset manager to gain exposure to bitcoin, in September 2015. Wood said the firm still sees bitcoin’s price scaling to $1 million by 2030.

With so much drama in the LBC, it’s only right that we drop a dope NFT. 

Recording artists Snoop Dogg and Billy Ray Cyrus have teamed up to release a new smash single, “A Hard Working Man.” The hip hop-country mashup, produced by the legendary Avila Brothers, will debut on April 2 during Grammy weekend in Las Vegas.

Cyrus’ 2019 hit remix of “Old Town Road” with rapper Lil Nas X made history by going 16x multi-platinum in the United States. Asked about his genre-bending approach to music, Cyrus replied, “My philosophy to making music is no limitations. No rules, no limits, no preconceived notions. Don’t try to think inside the box or outside the box, just think like there is no box.”

Adding to the excitement of the song’s debut, metaverse entertainment company Animal Concerts is hard at work (pun intended) developing a new 50,000-piece nonfungible token (NFT) drop to accompany the single. Cointelegraph is producing the artwork for this massive collection, which will be featured on Crypto.com NFT. The drop also features an exciting array of redeemables for music fans, from concert tickets and backstage passes to merch and free tickets to Animal Concerts’ “Meta-Concerts.”

Animal Concerts recently burst onto the scene with a host of high-profile live concerts featuring some of the hottest names in music, from Alicia Keys and Future to Meek Mill. 

Bridging the NFT world, the metaverse and utility for the community, Cointelegraph and Animal Concerts will be expanding their collaboration beyond this drop. In the coming months, the two will be releasing other high-profile NFT collections, including with beloved celebrity dog Izzy the Frenchie and some of the biggest names in music.

Animal Concerts is reinventing the future of concerts. From interactive metaverse shows to immersive live events, Animal Concerts enables established and emerging artists to deliver amazing next-generation fan experiences. Stay up to date with all upcoming announcements, launches and Meta-Concerts by following Animal Concerts on its social platforms.

Cointelegraph is the world’s largest independent digital media outlet covering a wide range of news on blockchain technology, crypto assets and emerging technology trends. Since 2013, Cointelegraph has delivered the most accurate, up-to-date news from both the decentralized and centralized worlds.

Award-winning entertainer and icon Snoop Dogg has released 19 studio albums, sold over 40-million albums worldwide, reached No. 1 countless times on Billboard charts internationally, and received 20 Grammy nominations. In addition to his extensive work in music, Snoop Dogg has made his mark in the television and film space, with numerous partnership deals with major studios and networks, including TBS, Netflix, VH1 and more. 

Billy Ray Cyrus is a critically and commercially acclaimed superstar who has established himself as a household name across multiple areas of the entertainment landscape, including music, television, theater and more. When one scopes out Cyrus’ trophy case, the awards are represented across all genres: Grammy Awards, Billboard Music Awards, BET Hip Hop Awards, MTV VMA Moonmen, Country Music Association Awards and American Music Awards, among many other accolades.

Bitcoin leads the way as investors seek adaptable hedging alternatives in the search for the new digital gold. 

Gold has served as a store of value for thousands of years. Due to this, investors have widely used it as a hedging tool against the effects of recessions and inflation often caused by geopolitical tensions. In light of recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and, more recently, the military crisis between Russia and Ukraine, many investors have sought alternatives to gold and other precious metals as hedging options. As we approach a digitized age, it is a prerequisite that alternatives to gold are equipped to deal with the future. In this search for a contender to challenge gold’s dominance, Bitcoin (BTC) has shone the brightest.

A spike in the price of gold is usually an indicator of anxiety within traditional equity markets, with the current consensus among investors being that gold is currently overbought. Prices of gold have reached up to $2,000 as investors weigh up the geopolitical and economic ramifications of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Related: Fighting economic warfare with crypto’s double-edged sword

The ongoing conflict has seen both populations suffer economically. The military activity within Ukraine has led many businesses to close, which, naturally, has hurt the local economy. Russia has been subject to economic sanctions that have seen restrictions to bank accounts, loss of access to most forms of electronic payment and the devaluation of their local currency. Due to the decentralized nature of Bitcoin, there are still no uniform international laws to regulate the cryptocurrency, meaning BTC maintains value regardless of the holder’s location. Bitcoin is legal in most countries, with some even declaring it legal tender.

Bitcoin’s potential utility in times of need increases its attractiveness to traditional investors. This attraction has also grown thanks in part to the recent drop in the value of Bitcoin. A key advantage held by Bitcoin over other cryptocurrencies is mainstream awareness, as it has been around long enough that it has gained support and recognition and, in that time, has even shown some trends.

Related: A detailed guide on how to lose all your Bitcoin investments

Stability in the face of crisis

The global COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated to many that Bitcoin can withstand the fallout from the Ukraine-Russia conflict. The pandemic led to a worldwide economic decline for many traditional sectors. Coinbase reported a $1.4 billion intake of fiat and cryptocurrency into wallets on their exchange over 24 hours during the then-peak of the pandemic in March 2020. 

During the first half of March 2020, investors quickly noticed that Bitcoin managed to maintain its value while traditional stock values crumbled around it. This increased the amount of capital poured into the cryptocurrency, eventually leading to a then all-time high of around $60,000 in March 2021. The stability shown by Bitcoin during that particular crisis has increased its attractiveness as a hedging option for those skeptical of gold’s future viability.

With the advantages Bitcoin holds over gold and the certainty of a digitized future, many investors are looking to diversify their portfolios, and Bitcoin looks to be the best option. This incremental flow of capital into the crypto-space can only go on for so long until the flood gates eventually open, allowing Bitcoin to take its place as the new gold.

How to make money online may seem like an impossible task, but it’s actually easier than you think. The first step, of course, is to figure out what you can do online and make money from it. If you’re interested in learning how to start an online business, or how to make money from social media or from freelance writing, these five methods of earning money online will get you started in the right direction.1) Proofreading:There’s a reason why proofreading is often left until the end of a project. If you’re like most people, it can be difficult to read something you just wrote—the last thing you want when proofreading is to run into your own typos and grammatical errors. Give yourself enough time between writing and proofreading, so that your work doesn’t become stale in your eyes.2) Market Research:One quick way to earn money online is to conduct market research. Today, there are several paid survey sites that you can use, but they aren’t going to make you rich. However, if you just want some pocket money and have time on your hands, then it might be worth a shot. Here’s how it works: sign up for a survey site and then accept invitations from individual companies or businesses.3) Listening:Listening is a huge part of sales. For example, you want to know what your customers need before they ask for it. That way, you can give them exactly what they want when they come asking, which will make them more likely to buy from you. There are plenty of tools that help with listening, like: HotJar and Google Analytics. You should also be on social media as much as possible so that you can see what people are saying about your industry and your competitors.4) Tutoring:Help students better understand subjects they’re struggling with by tutoring them. Whether you’re a history buff or a whiz at algebra, there are plenty of people willing to pay for someone who can help them get back on track. If you want to make money fast, start tutoring part-time in your free time and eventually grow it into a full-time gig.5) eCommerce:For those looking for a way to monetize a website, e-commerce may be an option. Sites like Etsy and eBay allow you to set up shop and sell handmade goods or vintage items for extra cash—just make sure you have pricey inventory that people are willing to buy. If you don’t have any handy, consider trying Fiverr, which lets you offer your services for just $5 a pop.

One Dashboard, One Decision to invest into Bitcoin. Simplify your decision to invest in Bitcoin with the help of our Investment Calculator.

The reason is very simple: market data tells you the result of market price, meanwhile, social data lets you predict the trend of price before it lands. Because the investment game is the crowd's psychological mind game, if you can handle the crowd's mind, you can predict the market.

To win the crowd's investment, you need to understand the psychology of the crowd and how to manipulate it. You need to know when and where to invest, and how much risk you should take.

Explaination

XBTUSD: The current Bitcoin to US Dollar exchange rate.Sources: Social listening data that are tracked from social: Bitcointalk, Twitter, Reddit.

Let's take a closer look at the XBTUSD chart. Before moving forward, please first understand these terms:

Score (Golden Line): From range 0 to 1, this number indicates the attention of the people on social platforms who are talking about the Bitcoin. The highest score is, the biggest trading opportunity.Trending_topics (White Line): The main keywords that people talk about.

The rule is very simple: Regardless of the Bitcoin price, if the sentiment score is high, the price will be increased. But if the price is high and the sentiment is getting down, Bitcoin prices will be down soon.

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency. Bitcoin prices are determined by supply and demand, so if the sentiment is getting down, the price will be down soon.Source: btc.adcrew.us

The easiest way to make money from your computer!

Do you want to make money from home? With Bybit.com, you can register and get up to 90$ in rewards. There's nothing to lose, so sign up today!

If you are looking for a trustworthy site to make some money online, look no further than Bybit.com. They offer $90 in rewards for people who register on the site and complete some simple tasks. If you are willing to put in the time to watch short videos or complete surveys, you will be able to earn more money than most people earn at their day jobs.

Do not wait any longer to get started with this opportunity!

What is a Cryptocurrency Exchange and Why Should I Use One?

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that use encryption to control the creation and transfer of money. The most popular cryptocurrency at the time is Bitcoin, which has a market capitalization of about $150 billion. There is no central bank issuing these currencies and no physical coins or notes, just digital entries in a database.

Cryptocurrency trading platforms allow people to trade cryptocurrencies in decentralized exchanges.

When trading cryptocurrency online or offline, you will need to use a trading platform that supports your desired cryptocurrency. You will also need to choose an online wallet for storing your cryptocurrencies on the internet.

How to Open Up a Trading Account On Bybit.com

This post will explore how to open up a trading account on Bybit.com, including depositing money and trading with Bitcoin.

The process of opening up a trading account on Bybit.com is simple and straightforward.

Step 1: Create an Account follow this link.

Step 2: Deposit Money - The platform accepts deposits in various ways, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Tether USDT... It is extremely important for you to make sure that you deposit the right amount of cryptocurrency or fiat currency before proceeding with your deposit transaction because once the transaction is done it cannot be undone.

How To Use the Trading Platform - A Step-by-Step Guide

The trading platform is very intuitive and easy to use. By following the directions in this tutorial, you should be able to use it without any problems.

How to Deposit and Withdraw on Bybit

To trade on Bybit, you will first need to deposit funds. Select the “Assets” tab on the top navigation bar and you will see all of the available perpetual contracts listed neatly. Bybit is a cryptocurrency-based platform so if you are looking for different kinds of securities, this might not be your best option.

Here, you can track important metrics for gauging the performance of your positions. You can see Unrealized P&L, Available Margin and Position Margin. To deposit or withdraw money, just choose the 'Withdraw Funds' button on the right side

When you click the Deposit button, Bitcoin (BTC) deposit information will automatically fill out in the corresponding fields.

Users have a lot of freedom when depositing but withdrawing can require some verification. In order to withdraw, your account will need verification and 2FA setup.

How to Trade on Bybit

It's not a coin or a platform, but an exchange where its users can make either LONG or SHORT orders. If you think the price will rise, make a LONG order, and if…