Nova Spivack – Minding the Planet

Blackberry email devices can be so addictive that owners may need to be weaned off them with treatment similar to that given to drug users, experts warned today. They said the palmtop gadgets, which have been nicknamed ‘crackberries’ because users quickly become hooked on them, could be seriously damaging to mental health.   The study, [...]

150 years ago, German physiologist Emil Du Bois-Reymond discovered that electric currents could speed up the healing of flesh wounds. But his research has been ignored ever since. Until now… Now Josef Penninger of the Austrian Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna and Min Zhao of the University of Aberdeen, UK, have demonstrated that natural [...]

New research has shown that fatherhood brings about dramatic enhancements in male brains. Although the researchers don’t suggest it, this effect may be nature’s way of counteracting the dramatic decrease in male brain function that occurs in proportion to the number of times they get laid in a given week (Note: this particular malady was [...]

A major new discovery about the structure of DNA molecules has been announced. Researchers have found there is a pattern to the organization of nucleosomes in DNA, which may explain why certain parts of the moleculare are accessible or inaccessible to transcription. This in turn may help explain how certain genes are conserved in nature, [...]

The next generation of the breathalyzer won’t just measure blood alchohol content, it will detect many types of disease as well. A laser-based technology for measuring the breath is being proposed as a viable alternative to blood tests. Related Posts:New Aspartame Concerns — Study Finds Link to Cancer At Lower LevelsAnti-Aging Molecule DiscoveredBig Thinkers' Most [...]

South Korean researchers have synthesized a molecule that seems to not only stop, but also reverse, the built-in aging functions of cells. A team of South Korean scientists on Sunday claimed to have created a “cellular fountain of youth,’’ or a small molecule, which enables human cells to avoid aging and dying. The team, headed [...]

A new mathematical technique provides a dramatically better way to analyze data, such as audio data, radar, sonar, or any other form of time-frequency data. Humans have 200 million light receptors in their eyes, 10 to 20 million receptors devoted to smell, but only 8,000 dedicated to sound. Yet despite this miniscule number, the auditory [...]

I’ve been interested in bacteriophages for a few years, ever since I first heard about them. This article goes into more detail about why they may present a new and better alternative to antibiotics in the treatment of resistant bacterial infections. In the 1920s and ’30s, with diseases like dysentery and cholera running rampant, the [...]

Are you living in a cloud of electronic smog? New research has shown that fields from electrical wiring and devices in the home and office should be considered to be a form of pollution. Recent studies are finding that many cancers and other diseases may be directly related to exposure to these electrical fields. Related [...]

A new study has found a fatal flaw in past studies that claimed moderated drinking is good for your health. It seems the past studies compared moderate drinkers to abstainers, and found the moderate drinkers were more healthy. Unfortunately what they neglected to consider was the fact that many of their abstainers were abstaining because [...]

More evidence that many synthetic food and beverage packaging materials are unsafe: A CHEMICAL used to make food wrapping and line tin cans could be the cause of surging prostate cancer rates in men, says a study. Bisphenol A is widely used in the food industry to make polycarbonate drinks bottles and the resins used [...]

Where’s George, an internet game in which people track the spread of dollar bills as they move around, has yielded an unexpected breakthrough in the science of predicting the spread of epidemics. Related Posts:Is There Room for The Soul? – Good Article on Cognitive ScienceBreakthrough in Finding Patterns in Complex Data Such as SoundQuantum Evolution [...]

In a big step for medicine, scientists have figured out how the flu virus replicates — including the bird flu –  inside cells. This opens up new pathways for developing drugs to fight all strains of the flu. Related Posts:Networked Genome — New Finding Shatters Current ThinkingScientists Encode Message into Bacterial DNAGM Grapes and Toxic [...]

The theory of quantum evolution is a radical new take on how mutations in DNA occur. Basically the theory postulates that DNA molecules are in fact macroscopic quantum objects that undergo quantum interference. It is spearheaded by Johnjoe McFadden, a professor in the UK and makes for an interesting read. Here is a brief overview [...]

Recent brain scans have shown that accupuncture can actualy deactivate the brain’s pain centers. One more bit of evidence for alternative medicine. Related Posts:New Aspartame Concerns — Study Finds Link to Cancer At Lower LevelsElectric Currents Heal WoundsAnti-Aging Molecule DiscoveredFighting Infection with PhagesBig Thinkers' Most Dangerous Ideas

A new project applies text-mining to help scientists in the UK discover knowledge in large collections of research articles and data (Found in: KurzweilAI): Julie NightingaleTuesday   January   10, 2006The Guardian   Scientific research is being added to at an alarming rate: the Human Genome Project alone is generating enough documentation to "sink battleships". So it’s not [...]

The Edge has published mini-essays by 119 "big thinkers" on their "most dangerous ideas" — fun reading. The history of science is replete with discoveries that were considered socially, morally, or emotionally dangerous in their time; the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions are the most obvious. What is your dangerous idea? An idea you think about [...]

More news about aspartame ("Nutrasweet"), which is being found to be far more toxic than anyone imagined…  (from: this article) Combining food additives may be harmful, say researchers       · Aspartame and artificial colourings investigated   · Mice nerve cells stopped growing in experiments Felicity Lawrence, consumer affairs correspondent   Wednesday December  21, [...]

A recent study has found that human-level dosages of aspartame (the artificial sweetener formerly known as Nutrasweet and now cleverly disguised by new, obscure trade-names) causes stastitically significant increases in the occurrance of multiple forms of cancer. In other words, don’t drink diet colas that include aspartame, don’t chew sugar-free gum, and when you see [...]

Yuck. I hate sauerkraut. But even I will eat the stuff if it turns out to help fight bird-flu, as this article reports. Anyway, the good news is that kimchee may be equally effective; kimchi is delicious. Related Posts:US Army Food… Just Add UrineA Bottle That Purifies Enough Water for a YearNew Aspartame Concerns — [...]

Now this is really interesting! New research has found that certain parts of the body emit measurable numbers of photons. This may open up new diagnostic techniques. But that’s just the beginning. Spiritual healers from many different faiths have long said that they experience light coming from their hands, and can feel (and even see) [...]

From Boing Boing today: Xeni Jardin: A report in this week’s issue of Science says 20 percent of human genes have been patented in the United States: The study (…) is the first time that a detailed map has been created to match patents to specific physical locations on the human genome. Researchers can patent [...]

A new blood test was just announced for quickly diagnosing anxiety. Next, the makers plan to release a blood test for diagnosing depression. This is an interesting new trend: blood tests for psychological illnesses. And it’s just the tip of the iceberg. After the Genome, the mind is the next great frontier for medicine. Related [...]

Breakthrough research has found that human immune cells communicate over long distances via microtubulin pathways. This proves that neurons are not the only cells in the body capable of long-distance messaging. It establishes the immune system runs on another, previously unknown, communications network in the body. This is a Big Discovery. Amazing innovations will follow [...]

This article presents some fascinating evidence that nutrition has a direct relationship on behavior, particularly antisocial behavior. Related Posts:New Aspartame Concerns — Study Finds Link to Cancer At Lower LevelsBig Thinkers' Most Dangerous IdeasAspartame (Nutrasweet) Proved to Cause Cancer at Human Levels of IngestionSuperwater Kills Bugs DeadA Bottle That Purifies Enough Water for a Year

I’ve been following the drama of the stranded Russian mini-sub. One of the main problems is that they have limited oxygen, which doesn’t give the rescue team much time to retrieve the sub. This got me thinking and I came up with a simple idea that could make all submarines safer: Every submarine should have [...]

A cutting-edge research program is injecting human brain cells into monkey brains, to investigate whether this causes their brains to become more "human." This poses a potential ethical challenge: If the monkeys do become more human, would they be considered "human subjects" and be protected by ethical guidelines governing research onto humans? At which point [...]

Several recent articles discuss the discovery of insects that clone themselves: The ant Wasmannia Auropunctata, which is native to Central and South America but has spread into the US and beyond, has opted for a unique stand-off in the battle of the sexes. Both queens and males reproduce by making genetically identical copies of themselves [...]

This article is very interesting not only because it provides an unusually detailed scenario of what would happen if a nuke was detonated in the Washington DC area, but also because it provides counter-intuitive guidance for how to survive such a situation, as well as information about new medical treatments for helping both first-responders and [...]

Fascinating article about research which has successfully extracted video from monitoring cat neurons. They have actually reconstructed what the cat actually saw from its neural signals. This opens the door to recording our day-to-day perceptions (lifelogs) and perhaps even to recording our dreams. And of course there might be options for playback as well. This [...]