Tag: medicine

A machine that knows what you intend to do…

…before you do it. These findings also raise hope for improvement of clinical and technical applications. Already today the first steps are being made in easing the lives of paralyzed patients with computer-assisted prosthetic devices and so-called brain computer interfaces. These devices focus on reading out the movement the patient intends to – but is …

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I haven’t been playing many computer games recently…

…but obviously I should: Video games that contain high levels of action, such as Unreal Tournament, can actually improve your vision. Researchers at the University of Rochester have shown that people who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved by about 20 percent in their …

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Farming mutates into pharming:

“Genetically modified chickens lay drugs in eggs.”

"Bones" McCoy, call your office:

Your hand-held miniaturized rapid-acting virus detector is ready. And it doesn’t look a thing like a salt shaker.

Here’s the kind of headline you like to see:

Cheap, safe drug kills most cancers. Of course, so far it’s only killed them outside of the body, but keep your fingers crossed.

Vitalogy

Due to a mix-up, the Regina Leader Post failed to run my science column last week. Which means they’re running it this week. Which means I didn’t write a new one this week. Instead, I offer a blast from the past (five years ago) that came to mind because I’ve been poking around the amazing …

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How to add two years to your lifespan:

It’s easy. All you have to do is win a Nobel Prize. OK, maybe not that easy…

I’ve never liked milk in my tea…

…so this doesn’t bother me at all. Reading the Swallows and Amazons books as a kid, the one thing that drove home to me the utter alienness of the culture depicted therein (1920s England) was the putting of milk in tea. Yuck!

Filtering out and killing cancer cells…

…and harvesting stem cells at the same time. This sounds like very promising technology!

An age of miracles and wonders

Few people appreciate that medicine has advanced more since World War II than in all of earlier history. Read the whole New York Times article. Now, what was that about the “good old days”?

Sword-swallowing safety tips:

Concentrate. For instance, if there is a misbehaving macaw on your shoulder, ignore it. Avoid unusual swords, such as curved sabers. Don’t try to swallow multiple swords at a time. Safety tips you can use, courtesy of the British Medical Journal.

"Male Circumcision Reduces HIV Risk, Study Stopped Early"

Well, at least they didn’t say “cut short.”

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