January 17, 2025
(New York Times) – Prisons across the country are struggling to find nursing home placements for sick prisoners after granting them parole. In New York, some inmates are suing for release. Complex and costly medical conditions require more nursing care, … Read More
January 17, 2025
(MIT Technology Review) – When you think of AI’s contributions to science, you probably think of AlphaFold, the Google DeepMind protein-folding program that earned its creator a Nobel Prize last year. Now OpenAI says it’s getting into the science game … Read More
January 17, 2025
(The Hedgehog Review) – The way we observe a death is expressive of our sense of a life’s meaning, of its shape and the terms of its success or failure. The “last ride” for a biker; the gun salute for … Read More
January 17, 2025
(Wired) – What may be the first commercially available book saved in DNA is the latest example of how consumers might use molecular data storage. As the rate of humanity’s data creation increases exponentially with the rise of AI, scientists … Read More
January 17, 2025
(Politico) – Risch said in a statement that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has disclosed that funds from the $5 billion program that helps developing countries combat HIV and AIDS were used to pay health workers who performed … Read More
January 17, 2025
(The Walrus) – Better screening is only a small piece of the puzzle A 2022 study found that, in addition to people having more Westernized diets over the past three decades, today’s adults were exposed to other risk factors—such as … Read More
January 17, 2025
(Wired) – “Without doubt, the remedy Congress and the President chose here is dramatic,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion. “Whether this law will succeed in achieving its ends, I do not know.” The US Supreme Court upheld … Read More
January 17, 2025
(Axios) – A growing number of states are banning cellphones in schools — almost always with bipartisan support. Why it matters: Parents are divided over these policies, which are meant to reduce distractions and boost students’ socialization. Where it stands: … Read More
January 17, 2025
(New York Times) – A law that coaxed companies to lower the price of drugs came with a little-known consequence: smaller discounts for low-income health clinics. The decision to make these medications more affordable for large swaths of patients has … Read More
January 17, 2025
(Scientific American) – A new study shows that large language models make trade-offs to avoid pain, with possible implications for future AI welfare In the quest for a reliable way to detect any stirrings of a sentient “I” in artificial … Read More
January 17, 2025
(Washington Post via MSN) – In statehouses across the country, lawmakers this year will consider bills that, if widely adopted, could chart a new course for how Americans approach end-of-life decisions by giving terminally ill patients a legal means of … Read More
January 17, 2025
(New York Times) – Medical historians say that the phrase “Make America Healthy Again” obscures a past during which this country’s people ate, smoked and drank things that mostly left them unwell. John Harley Warner, a historian at Yale, said, … Read More
January 16, 2025
(New York Times) – More Americans are surviving cancer, but the disease is striking young and middle-aged adults and women more frequently, the American Cancer Society reported on Thursday. And despite overall improvements in survival, Black and Native Americans are … Read More
January 16, 2025
(Science) – Result could be first success at stitching a curative gene into a chromosome’s “safe harbor,” reducing cancer and other risks A little-known gene editor, tested with help from a disgraced gene therapist seeking redemption, may have cured a … Read More
January 16, 2025
(MIT Technology Review) – Neuralink did not reply to emails seeking comment, but here is what our analysis of its public statements leads us to expect from the company in 2025. How many people will get these implants?Elon Musk keeps … Read More
January 16, 2025
(Associated Press) – The genetic mutation linked to Huntington’s has long been known, but scientists haven’t understood how people could have the mutation from birth, but not develop any problems until later in life. New research shows that the mutation … Read More
January 16, 2025
(Nature) – Epidemiological studies have linked dirty air to dementia and other brain disorders. Now researchers are trying to determine how pollutants do their damage, and how much harm they cause. Now, this area of research is getting more notice … Read More
January 16, 2025
(UPI) – Emotional support dogs can serve people with various mental health needs, but many of them can’t care for an animal at home. That’s where Tombot Inc. feels it can help. The company, based in Santa Clarita, Calif., has … Read More
January 16, 2025
(New York Times) – A private business has helped supercharge a controversial federal drug program. Patients and insurers have been left with big bills. The intention behind the program was for a small number of safety-net providers to have access … Read More
January 16, 2025
(NPR) – An international committee of scientists has proposed a change to the way obesity is defined and diagnosed. The goal is to offer a more nuanced and objective way to assess body composition, by adding more metrics, such as … Read More
January 16, 2025
(BBC) – Families of those harmed by Covid vaccines told the UK Covid Inquiry they were forced to support each other during the pandemic because there was no other help. Kate Scott, who represents the group Vaccine Injured and Bereaved … Read More
January 16, 2025
(Washington Post via MSN) – A 34-year-old Australian woman was charged with torture as police accused her of administering unauthorized medication to a 1-year-old girl and posting videos of the child in “immense distress and pain” so that she could … Read More
January 16, 2025
(IEEE Spectrum) – Humanity is now rapidly integrating a wholly different kind of mistake-maker into society: AI. Technologies like large language models (LLMs) can perform many cognitive tasks traditionally fulfilled by humans, but they make plenty of mistakes. It seems … Read More
January 16, 2025
(Undark) – The Netherlands allows medically assisted euthanasia for extreme mental suffering. Some doctors question the guardrails. In recent years, Dutch psychiatrists have seen a steep upswing in requests for medical assistance in dying, or MAID, on psychiatric grounds, rising … Read More
January 16, 2025
(Christianity Today) – Even as wildfires burn neighborhoods nearby, destroying the homes of some faculty and students, Pepperdine University is starting its spring semester by helping local firefighters in Los Angeles. With firefighters in the area facing water shortages, the … Read More
