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A common concern among the general public, parents especially, is that once a draft calling for legalizing marijuana goes through, this will have as an effect increased consumption among adolescents. A new study at Rhode Island Hospital which compared 20 years worth of data from states with and without medical marijuana laws found, however, that there […]
No matter how much some would like to avoid this prospect, death is inevitable for all living beings (or is it?). Yet, some people at least live longer than others. A great deal of attention has been drawn to longevity for obvious reasons, but any effort to prolong life needs to start with the very […]
A study has concluded that if obesity is thought of as a disease instead as a problem related to diet/lack of exercise, people will continue to eat high calorie foods. On June 18, 2013, the American Medical Association officially recognized obesity as a disease. This was met with mixed opinions, but the largest US medical […]
According to a new study, spending time online can make drastically reduce depression rates in retirees, especially the ones who live alone. In the article, authors describe that Internet use reduced the probability of a depressed state by 33 percent for retirees. Late life depression is a major problem, affecting some 10 million people in the US […]
There’s no secret prescriptions drugs have taken off in the past few decades, amounting to a multi-billion dollar industry. Millions are hooked on them, despite this why are so many policymakers or key people of interest shutting an eye on the potential perils these drugs pose? In the quest to treat symptoms, not diseases, physicians […]
For people who become paralyzed after a spinal cord injury, the result is usually a life sentence of paralysis. However, science is here – once again – to save the day, as researchers report that they helped paralyzed patients regain movement after zapping their spine with electricity during physical training. Previously, they reported that one individual who […]
A common brain myth is that creative people, like artists, use their right part of the brain more, while the left part of the brain is more active in rational people. This has been debunked many times, and a few searchers on Google will satisfy your curiosity, if you think otherwise. It’s true, however, that […]
A new study on which a swarm of scientists worked on showed that two children (an 11 year old boy and a 6 year old girl) have a mutation which greatly reduces viral replication in HIV, dengue fever, herpes simplex virus type 2 infection, and hepatitis C – effectively protecting them from the viruses. The two […]
Sea otters have entered a select, but unfortunate club: they joined the ranks of ducks, chickens, pigs, whales, horses elephant seals and humans – all of which can contact the influenza. According to a new study conducted by the US Geological Survey and the CDC, sea otters living in a remote area in Washington state were found to […]
You could be sitting alone and still be completely outnumbered for your body is home to trillions upon trillions of tiny passengers – bacteria. In fact, there as ten times more bacteria living inside you then cells in the body. Don’t get scared, though. The vast majority of these co-redident organisms are our friends. They […]
Scientists have shown that trauma can leave epigenetic marks – chemical changes that affect how DNA is expressed without altering its sequence. Basically, your traumatic experiences genetically affect your offspring. Scientists have recently focused on the long term after effects of trauma, finding them to be numerous and diverse. The offspring of traumatized people are at […]
It’s a truly terrifying story, and a truly terrifying disease. The flesh-eating culprit in question is called GAS, or Group A β-hemolytic streptococcus, a highly infective bacteria. Apart from causing the flesh-eating disease necrotizing fasciitis, GAS is also responsible for a range of less harmful infections. But like most bacteria, it was harmless at one point in its […]
A few months ago we were telling you about the researchers from Transylvania, Romania, who developed artificial blood. Now, the production of blood on an industrial scale could become a reality as other researchers found a way to develop artificial blood from patients’ stem cells. Marc Turner, the principal researcher in the £5 million programme funded […]
Like a sticking nail, Alzheimer’s has been irritating neuroscientists for decades. After so many years and billions worth of research, the underlying causes and mechanics that cause the gruesome neurodegenerative disease have yet to be identified, though hints suggest genetics have a major role to play – never mind a cure! Clearly, Alzhaimer’s is formidable […]
Researchers at the National Research Foundation of Korea report on Sunday that they have identified a new microRNA molecule that suppresses a gene, which previous research had identified as playing a crucial role in lung cancer development. If the present findings are refined, it may be possible to diagnose lung cancer in the future based […]
For the nearly six million Americans living with paralysis, 1.3 million of which with spinal cord injuries, life is often a struggle. Few are independent, and this causes severe psychological strain. Physiotherapy has proved it can do wonder in some cases, but what if you could push it a bit further? Building up on previous […]
At the turn of the new year, we marveled how Swedish doctors transplanted no less than nine wombs in patients who suffered from Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome or MRKH. Now a team of researchers from Mexico and the US have gone a whole step further – they engineered vaginal tissue in the lab and transplanted it in […]
Homeopathy is bust, it doesn’t really do anything, it’s just a make-believe treatment. Why do I have to write another article debunking it? Well, because people still buy it. People are still tricked by non-medics non-scientists into using “treatments” which are just a placebo. Homeopathy lacks biological plausibility and the axioms of homeopathy have been refuted for […]
The future is here. Nano-sized entities made of DNA that are able to perform the same kind of logic operations as a silicon-based computer have been introduced into a living animal. It’s every Science Fiction fan’s dream come true. The tiny DNA computers are called origami robots, because they work by folding and unfolding strands of DNA; […]
Without oxygen, your brain would shutdown within five minutes or so and you, as a person, along with it. Deprived of this fundamental element, brain cells can’t produce energy anymore and wither and die. Breathing is important, that’s pretty settled but what happens if you can’t rely on your lungs anymore. A team of researchers led […]
Video games have been getting more and more attention, partly due the fact that more and more children (and adults) are playing them, and partly due to the fact that some advantages of playing them are starting to surface. Now, a new study has shown that gamers’ hostile behavior is linked to the experience of […]
The popular myth of the fountain of youth tells the story of a magical spring that restores youth to anyone who drinks from it. Scientists working with longevity research have made important strides forward in recent years, however all of these efforts concentrate on prolonging life and slowing the effects old age has on the […]
Although things are starting to change, video games still get a ton of bad rep – and for good reason, one might argue. I mean, when kids are spending 4-6-8-12 hours every day playing, odds are something’s wrong. It’s not necessarily a problem in itself – some kids do grow up to be professional gamers, […]
As part of a German-French research project, a team led by Dr. Christa E. Müller from the University of Bonn and Dr. David Blum from the University of Lille was able to demonstrate that coffee consumption works against Alzheimer’s disease. With coffee, it’s a “one step further two steps back” dance. Its benefits, when consumed […]
The average grown man has about 5 liters of blood – and you need most of it to survive. That’s why injured people fall victim not to the wound per se, but to the bleeding caused by it. If we could somehow find a way to stop the bleeding in a timely fashion, then many […]
A team of researchers from the Colorado University has found that the tendency to procrastinate is also influenced by genetic factors – the same genetic factors which are linked to impulsiveness. Before you start blaming your family for your lack of productivity, you should know that procrastination is still mostly your fault – genes are […]
Researchers in South Korea may have come across a novel and effective idea to tackle foods tainted with Salmonella bacteria. What looks like a disk actually contains six separate microfluidic slices that work together to provide DNA extraction, amplification, and detection in less than 30 minutes instead of days and a full-blown lab typically required for Salmonella detection. Salmonella causes […]
It’s one of the more… delicate issues of science and anatomy, and amidst lots of contradicting personal testimonies and surprisingly little scientific evidence, the G-Spot remains a topic of hot debate. In other words, some claimed it exists, some claimed it’s all a fairytale, but there was no “hard evidence” – one way or another. […]
La Trobe University research has revealed a tobacco plant’s natural defense mechanisms could be harnessed to kill cancer cells in the human body. The research is still in its initial stages, and has a long way to go before it can even be regarded as a viable anti-cancer possibility, but there are some promising results. […]
In the future, your saliva might power key microelectronics. Researchers at Penn State have devised a micro-sized microbial fuel cells that is power by the organic materials and bacteria present in saliva. The power generated by the tiny fuel cell is very small, though, so don’t expect charging your phone by spitting in it any […]
Prepare to enter the era of Big Neuroscience. For the past decade or so, billions worth of research has provided some of the most tantalizing clues about how the human brain works, and consequently we, as human beings, reason. There are millions of people in the world suffering from dreaded neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s or […]
The origin and evolutionary history of modern lions has been revealed through genetic analysis. This recent study suggests that the lions’ most recent common ancestor lived around 124,000 years ago. A fallen king Modern lions evolved in two different groups – one of them currently lives in Eastern and Southern Africa, the other includes lions […]
Heralded as one of the biggest advances in the field, scientists at Duke University have engineered muscle tissue that is up to ten times stronger than anything previously achieved. The muscle can contract similarly to native neonatal skeleton muscle and, most importantly, it demonstrates self-healing ability – again, just like the real thing. To demonstrate […]
Everybody knows (or at least should know) that eating fruits and vegetables is good for you; however, most people underestimate their beneficial effects. A new research has shown that eating seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day reduces your risk of death at any point in time by 42 percent compared to […]
Most people nowadays buy antibacterial soaps instead of normal ones, because they believe it keeps them safe and protects them for the oh-so dreaded bacterial infections. Apparently, there’s little evidence that antibacterial soaps provide any additional protection than the regular kind. The problem: most people don’t use them properly. For that matter, it may be […]
Approximately one in 20,000 Americans suffer from Huntington’s disease, a devastating neurodegenerative affliction that gradually deprives patients of their ability to walk, speak, swallow, breathe and think clearly. Like other similar diseases, like Alzheimer’s, there isn’t any cure, but scientists at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) may have discovered a way to tackle it by […]
The most basic fabric of civilization was woven on the principles of moral judgement, that is to say serving the interests of the community and others, instead of merely following self-interest at large. This is why some believe, arguably or not, that religion was a key civilizing factor since it laid out a moral workbook. […]
As incredible as it may sound, scientists have successfully reversed the aging process in mice, according to a new study published in Cell. Reversing aging, a real possibility? Many of the chronic diseases that exist in older adults constitute a highly significant social and economic burden to the community; if you think about it, eliminating […]
Many herald 3-D printing as a new wave set to revolutionize manufacturing in the 21 century. I fully agree in most respects, however the benefits medicine can achieve through this technology haven’t been stressed enough, maybe. There’s a pen that 3-d prints bone directly on lesion sites, 3d printed skin or prosthetic. It’s the field of […]
When it comes to fighting cancer, it’s crucial to know what kind of cancer you’re dealing with – different diseases often require different approaches. However, when mice with human tumors received doses of anti-CD47, cancer cells shrank and ultimately disappeared, regardless of their nature; and we’re talking about human breast, ovary, colon, bladder, brain, liver, […]
For the half-dead arriving at hospitals, like the unfortunate who suffer gunshot wounds or lose a lot of blood some other way, there’s very little doctors can do. There are so little life saving procedures and surgeries that can be performed, and doctors need their patients at least a few more hours to be alive […]
Cardiff University researchers report on Monday that children with two copies of a common gene (Thr92Ala), together with low levels of thyroid hormone are four times more likely to have a low IQ. It was found that this combination occurs in 4% of the UK populace. In the future genome sequencing will become so cheap that […]
Testing drugs on 3-D printed human tissue might significantly improve drug research.
Throughout the world, tens of millions of people get stitches every year, and researchers have been looking for better options for quite a while. Now, a team of Maryland researchers proposed applying sticky, biodegradable mats of polymer nanofibers onto surgical incisions to seal them and promote healing. This is not a new idea, but the […]
In a huge breakthrough in synthetic biology, scientists at Johns Hopkins University have engineered from scratch a yeast chromosome. This is the first time scientists have been able to assemble a chromosome from a creature as complicated as a yeast, namely a prokaryrite. The implications of this research are far and wide. For one, the […]
An innovative project which addresses both environmental and health concerns has been revealed in Delhi, India. It’s estimated that 2.5 billion people in the world (almost 1 in 3 people) lack proper sanitation – something unimaginable in the developed world. With that thought in mind, a team at the University of Colorado Boulder has designed […]
What do you think the opposite sex wants in a partner? Stone-hard abs, broad shoulders? Skinny girls, nice makeup? If you’re thinking something along these lines, then you’re almost certainly mistaking. Research has already shown that we’re pretty bad at understanding what the opposite sex finds attractive in us. These misunderstandings are more than a […]
For most college students, caffeine fueled sessions are part of a routine. But what if there was a way to accelerate learning when needed? What if a real, scientific “thinking cap” were developed? According to a new study conducted by Vanderbilt psychologists, that may not be that far away. Robert Reinhart, a Ph.D. candidate, and […]
A potentially game changing drug developed by scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University infiltrates the cells from glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of brain tumor, and causes them to literally explode. Trials so far have been made only on mice whose tumor growth was reversed and survival was prolonged considerably. Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is […]
The backbone of today’s modern telecommunication industry is held by fiber optic cables. These information highways have accelerated data transfer and help people all over the globe stay connected, but that’s not all they’re good for. A group of international researchers are exploring the idea of using fiber optics as a lab-on-chip device. The tubes […]
