Health

​House Passes A Bill That Restricts Scientists From Advising The EPA

By a vote of 229-191, the House has just passed a GOP-sponsored bill to ensure that a more “balanced panel of experts” will advise the Environmental Protection Agency. But critics say it will reduce the participation of independent scientists in favor of those with financial ties to industry. Established by Congress in 1978, the EPA’s…

When Forced Sterilizations Were Performed In The United States

They were carried out, according to the Eugenics Board of North Carolina,”for the best interest of the mental, moral, and physical well-being of the said patient, and/or for the public good.” Longreads is currently hosting a piece by Belle Bogs, originally written for The New New South, that recounts the history of America’s eugenics programs…

Every Walgreens Is About to Offer Cheap, Painless Blood Tests 

As part of Walgreens’ recent initiative to be a “leader in healthcare technology,” the company is teaming up with Silicon Valley health startup Theranos to offer cheap, needle-free blood tests. What’s more, the service will soon be coming to a drugstore near you, as they’re planning to expand it to all 8,200 locations. The revolutionary…

Using Fitbit Data In Court Is Just a Bad Idea

Lawyers for a woman trying to win a personal injury claim are going to use her Fitbit data in court to try to prove that she has not been active. This is incredibly stupid. Forbes reports the case of a personal trainer trying to prove that injuries sustained in car accident kept her from being…

This Medical Device Is a Major Gamechanger for Kidney Patients

This device could improve the lives of tens of thousands of people who visit kidney dialysis centers. Using this 10-pound, miniature portable dialysis machine, they can cleanse and monitor their blood constantly, with minimal effort. The FDA has just put the device in its new “fasttrack program.” David Russell Schilling highlights the new technology over…

IBM’s Watson Will Give You Personalized Health Advice Based on Your DNA

IBM wants its supercomputer Watson to help you get healthy—by analyzing your genes. A startup called Pathway Genomics is teaming up with IBM to create a fitness and diet tracking app that uses DNA sequencing and Watson’s intelligence to give custom health recommendations. The app is called Pathway Panorama and it’ll take the gene sequencing…

19th-Century Documents Show How Little The Anti-Vaxxers Have Changed

More than 150 years ago, the British government made smallpox vaccination compulsory, resulting in a massive political backlash. Opponents used tactics and arguments that are familiar today. If anything, the contemporary anti-vaxxer has regressed even further. Widespread vaccination had begun in the early 1800s, after Edward Jenner presented his findings to the Royal Society of…

This Blood Sensor Isn’t Quite A Tricorder, But It’s Pretty Damn Close

Star Trek’s tricorder is up there with flying cars and hoverboards as one of those futuristic inventions that always just seems a few years away. We’re not quite there yet, but this sensor, which can diagnose diseases from a single drop of blood, is a pretty massive baby step. The rHealth X, manufactured by Massachusetts-based…

What the Ingredients On Your Shampoo Bottle Actually Mean

That shampoo you’re lathering into your hair may claim that it’s packed with “all-natural ingredients,” but the label tells a different story. DMDM hydantoin? Ammonium lauryl sulphate? What is this stuff anyhow? A History of Head Cleaners Shampoos didn’t always contain more unpronounceable ingredients than a Dow Chemicals storage locker. Some of the earliest known…

A landmark 20-year study indicates that 7 pesticides, some widely used, may be causing clinical depression in farmers. The precise reason remains unknown, but researchers suspect it’s related to the fact that the chemicals—designed to disrupt the nervous systems of insects—are also affecting human neurologic functions.

An Animated Guide To CPR For Humans, Cats, And Dogs

Here for sharing far and wide is a clear, concise, animated guide to CPR (conventional and compression only) for adults and kids ages nine and up. Helpfully, it also includes animated instructions for resuscitating cats, and dogs of different sizes and breeds. Additional, written details can be found at this article by Robin Blunck, where…

What One Man’s Life With A Micropenis Reveals About The Human Condition

New York Magazine’s Alexa Tsoulis-Reay spoke with a 51-year-old English teacher from the U.K. to learn about his life with a micropenis. His response says a lot about what it means to be human – whether one possesses a penis or not. Photo Credit: Anthony Easton via flickr | CC BY 2.0 The interviewee is,…

Microsoft Band Review: Tracks Your Every Move, Then Breaks Your Heart

When I first strapped on the Microsoft Band a week ago, I felt like I’d been given new power over myself. The company’s first wrist-borne activity tracker packs 10 sensors into a discreet package, and to my hopeful eyes the wristable’s powerful specs added up to potential. I thought, this gadget might really get to…

Science Needs More Women (And Not For The Reason You Think)

You’re probably thinking it has to do with the lack of women conducting research. And yes, you’re right, that is a problem. But the issue we’re talking about, while connected to the absence of women in scientific research, is actually the relative shortage of women having research performed on them. Above: In 1927, the Fifth…

10 Fad Diets, Debunked

What should you cut out of your diet to be more healthy? Everything. According to the most popular diet books on the market, there’s barely a food on Earth that’s safe to eat. But what is the actual benefit of these diets? Here’s what science has to say. 10. Cut Out Wheat to Slim Down…

New Software Will Give Doctors a Panoramic View Inside Your Bladder

Images of long sandy beaches, breathtaking mountains, and even bustling cities come to mind when you think about an extra wide panoramic photo—not the inside of somebody’s bladder. But new software promises to give doctors a better view inside a patient’s plumbing by stitching countless images from an endoscope together, making it easier to spot…

Climate change deniers may find it hard to make their case when they’re constantly sneezing. Allergy-causing grasses produce more pollen when atmospheric CO2 is higher, says a new study. An increase in atmospheric C02 levels from 400 ppm (current level) to 450 ppm could result in a 25% increase in pollen production

Healthcare.gov Is Being Hacked—By the Government

Healthcare.gov wasn’t the Obama administration’s finest moment. But ahead of a second enrolment period which kicks off November 15th, the team behind the website are making sure the same problems don’t happen again—by hacking their own site. The AP reportsthat weekly white-hat hacking sessions are being used to simulate real attacks and ensure that the…

Why It’s Harmful to Describe Cancer as a “War”

When people talk about cancer, they often resort to the language of war – e.g. Mary lost her brave fight with cancer. Manycompelling objections have been made against the use of such “battle metaphors,” and a growing body of evidence suggests that, for some people, they can actually be harmful. Above: American Civil War, Union…

This Wearable Counts Calories For You From the Comfort of Your Ear

There are more options than ever if you’re in the market for a wearable fitness tracker that will encourage you to get off the couch and get active. But what if you really enjoy the couch? For those who want to get healthy minus all the physical fitness, researchers at the University of Alabama are…