Technology & Society
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ceased print publication this week to focus solely on the Web, a transition that frightened some in the publishing business, coming so shortly after the Rocky Mountain News shut down. However, as many in the tech industry
From Cnet: “A new machine dubbed the “Black Phantom” can turn biomass into manmade coal. Carbonscape, a New Zealand-based start-up, describes its invention as an industrial-sized microwave that can cook plant waste, wood waste, and “even sewage” into coal. Carbonscape
Here’s the new Japanese humanoid robot HRP-4C:
That’s right, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, there were more babies born in 2007 than at any other time in US history. But before anyone starts predicting another massive “baby boom” wave, the experts are saying that
Doctors at Duke University Medical Center and Arkansas Children’s Hospital have seemingly cured some children of a severe peanut allergy by slowly feeding them tiny amounts of peanut flour. “”We’re optimistic that they have lost their peanut allergy,” said lead
And guess what? One of them happens to be the topic of the book I am currently writing.
“Here’s a switch: a new medical technology that can save money in health care, rather than add to costs. Tim Fischell, in fact, believes the medical device he co-invented to warn people of an impending heart attack, enabling them to
“Professor George Church and Dr Michael Jewett, of Harvard Medical School, told a synthetic biology conference in Hong Kong that they had synthetically created part of a cell, called a ribosome. The breakthrough offers hope that they could create an
From Fox News: “Brain scans showed that participants fell back on higher thought patterns when reacting to religious statements, whether trying to figure out God’s thoughts and emotions or thinking about metaphorical meaning behind religious teachings. That suggests that religion
Surgeons had to remove 6 organs just to get a cancerous tumor out of 7 year-old Heather McNamara’s abdomen. 3 of her 6 organs were found to have cancer, so they replaced her stomach with a pouch and she will
Here’s new polling data that shows that 15% of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990. America is still a relatively religious country, but the numbers are dropping. Interestingly,
Here’s the White House blog post on it. When lifting the ban on government funding of new stem cell lines, President Obama said, “As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work
This would be good news for California researchers and the stem cell area in general. Finally, some change in the right direction.
The Obama administration is ushering in a new era of big government, higher taxes and more spending, to an extent that even supporters are worried. The tech-savvy president should consider recent suggestions from the technology and science sector, such as
Video of the story here. Hat tip to Slashdot for the story. “”A man who lost his sight 30 years ago says he can now see flashes of light after being fitted with a bionic eye. Ron, 73, had the
A new Kaiser Permanente study says that “Drinking a glass of wine a day may lower the risk of Barrett’s esophagus, a condition that precedes esophageal cancer.” Apparently drinking beer or liquor didn’t help prevent cancer. Maybe it’s the resveratrol
Researchers at Oregon State University have discovered a gene responsible for the growth of tooth enamel. Lead researcher Dr. Chrissa Kioussi told the BBC: “A lot of work would still be needed to bring this to human applications, but it
From AFP: “Scientists on Sunday unveiled lab-made human antibodies that can disable several types of influenza, including highly-lethal H5N1 bird flu and the “Spanish Flu” strain that killed tens of millions in 1918. Tested in mice, the antibodies work by
In an effort to tackle New York’s nearly US$15 billion budget deficit, Governor David Paterson has proposed taxing downloads of software, music and other content, including pornography. This proposal comes at a time when the economy is in freefall and
An American living in Berlin got a bone marrow transplant that seems to have cleared up his HIV. Read more here.