December 11, 2013
Most Americans do not deal with end-of-life issues and wishes, a new study indicates. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 8,000 people who took part in nationwide surveys conducted in 2009 and 2010, and found that only about 26 percent had … Read More
November 26, 2013
On the eve of Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary, a bioethics researcher at the University of Leicester claims that one of the Doctor’s most fearsome villains – the Cybermen – represent public concerns about the greater use of technology in medicine. … Read More
November 26, 2013
Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, wrote a dark blog post about how he hoped his terminally ill father would die soon and how he wanted to inflict pain on the people who have voted against doctor-assisted … Read More
November 22, 2013
In his new book, Social Networks and Popular Understanding of Science and Health: Sharing Disparities, Dr. Brian Southwell explores the various reasons why there might be such huge differences in the extent to which health and science information gets “spread … Read More
November 18, 2013
“GROW YOUR OWN… is a new exhibition created by Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin that invites you to consider some of the potentially ground-breaking applications and uncertain implications of synthetic life. Tackling the provocative questions that designing life raises, … Read More
November 12, 2013
John Hopkins Medical Campus 2014 Baltimore Conference Comics & Medicine: From Private Lives to Public Health June 26-28, 2014 Baltimore, Maryland See here for more information.
October 30, 2013
Tell a friend or colleague that your aunt just found out she has lung cancer. Almost always the response will be, “Did she smoke?” Then tell someone else that your aunt just found out she has breast cancer, or colon … Read More
October 29, 2013
Most people wish to live a long and healthy life. But apparently…not too long. That’s among the major findings in a recent survey by the Pew Research Center that looks at attitudes about aging, medical advances and “radical life extension”—the … Read More
October 22, 2013
A friend recently brought to my attention a disturbing question from a psychiatrist working with a transplant team: Should she be checking the sobriety claims of liver transplant candidates by looking on their Twitter and other social media sites? That … Read More
October 2, 2013
This September marked a peculiar anniversary: It’s now been 30 years since Ronald Reagan got fitted for a hearing aid in the Oval Office. Not unlike Katie Couric’s live colonoscopy 17 years later, Reagan’s fitting was a watershed moment for hearing … Read More
October 1, 2013
After their son’s suicide, one Wisconsin couple was desperate for answers. They tried to log into his e-mail and Facebook accounts but failed. The grieving parents finally got a court order to access these online records, arguing that just as … Read More
September 25, 2013
Jessica Menkhausen and Derek Manion, both 33, are engaged to be married. However, the St. Louis couple’s wedding is on hold so they can pay for in vitro fertilization, in the hopes of getting pregnant. Menkhausen has battled fertility issues, … Read More
September 23, 2013
“After Tiller,†a new documentary by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson, is a partisan document in the culture wars. It could hardly be otherwise, since the film’s subject, abortion, is one where common ground is elusive, if not philosophically untenable. … Read More
September 19, 2013
It’s time for the priesthood to be taken to task – and journalists aren’t up to the job. (The Guardian, op-ed by the editor of Nature)
September 18, 2013
Not even 24 hours into its long-awaited release, “Grand Theft Auto V” is already attracting criticism for an extended scene that puts the player in control of one of the game’s protagonists as he tortures a man suspected of harboring … Read More
September 17, 2013
Long before he brought people into his laboratory at Columbia University to smoke crack cocaine, Carl Hart saw its effects firsthand. Growing up in poverty, he watched relatives become crack addicts, living in squalor and stealing from their mothers. Childhood … Read More
September 3, 2013
Trying to remember the multiple passwords we need for every device, website and service is an almost impossible task. But you could soon use something rather more personal to prove your identity: your own heartbeat. (New Scientist)
August 12, 2013
Two weeks after announcing that he and his wife had welcomed a baby girl, new dad Jimmy Fallon reveals their daughter Winnie Rose was born via surrogate. (People)
July 30, 2013
Overpopulation didn’t turn out to be the Bomb some predicted in the 1970s. But the steady extension of lifespans has created dilemmas that lurk in the growing national conversation about assisted suicide. (Salon)
June 17, 2013
The exhibition, which was created in collaboration with National Human Genome Research Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, covers 4,400 square feet with interactive games, 3D models, DNA sequencing equipment and videos of real-life stories. It aims to … Read More
May 30, 2013
The agency’s new campaign, which features provocative images of “pregnant” teenage boys in an effort to “spark citywide conversations,” has gained national attention with features on Jezebel, the Daily Mail, AdWeek and more — but will it be effective in … Read More
May 27, 2013
The death of Angelina Jolie’s aunt, Debbie Martin, has once again highlighted the genetic risk of breast cancer. Martin, 61, was the younger sister of Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, who died from ovarian cancer at the age of 56. Martin’s … Read More
May 16, 2013
The study, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a think tank, found that retirement results in a “drastic decline in health” in the medium and long term. (BBC)
May 15, 2013
The villain in “Inferno,†Brown’s sixth novel, follows a movement called transhumanism. Brown, 48, who spent more than two years in Florence researching the book, has been interested in the controversial concept of transhumanism for years. (Today)
May 3, 2013
The Academy Award-nominated movie “Amour” is sparking much-needed conversations about aging, the illness of a longtime companion and dying with dignity. (The Sun Sentinel)
