May 16, 2024
(MIT Technology Review) – After hundreds went missing in Maui’s deadly fires, rapid DNA analysis helped identify victims within just a few hours and bring families some closure more quickly than ever before. But it also previews a dark future … Read More
May 16, 2024
(Associated Press) – The Justice Department on Thursday formally moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a historic shift in generations of U.S. drug policy. A proposed rule sent to the federal register recognizes the medical uses of … Read More
May 15, 2024
(NPR) – In April, the co-CEOs of Amylyx Pharmaceuticals fulfilled a promise they made years earlier to people with the deadly disease ALS. Justin Klee and Josh Cohen, who started Amylyx while they were students at Brown University, announced that … Read More
May 15, 2024
(KFF Health News) – More than four years after covid first raged through many U.S. nursing homes, hundreds of lawsuits blaming patient deaths on negligent care have been tossed out or languished in the courts amid contentious legal battles. Even … Read More
May 15, 2024
(NPR) – Clinical trials have inspired optimism in the drug for its potential to help the millions of Americans who experience PTSD. Accounts from some of those who’ve participated in the trials describe the treatment as transformational. But new and … Read More
May 15, 2024
(NPR) – When Zain Abu Obeid died on Sunday at the last functioning hospital in Rafah, there was no one to collect the 7-year-old boy’s body from the morgue. He had been injured in an Israeli airstrike that killed his … Read More
May 15, 2024
(UPI) – Some patients with traumatic brain injuries who died after life support was withdrawn may have recovered if given more time, a new study indicates. The findings of the study, conducted at Mass General Brigham in Boston, were published … Read More
May 15, 2024
(New York Times) – Dr. Hilary Cass published a landmark report that led to restrictions on youth gender care in Britain. U.S. health groups said it did not change their support of the care. The National Health Service asked Dr. … Read More
May 15, 2024
(New York Times) – An outdated medical term often masks treatable illnesses, health experts contend. The word “failure” is rampant in medicine. Hearts, livers, lungs, and kidneys all “fail,” which simply means they cease to do their job. But the … Read More
May 15, 2024
(The Cut) – Frustrated with the industry’s high fees, some women have gone online to meet men eager to donate their semen. Deliso and her wife worried about the legalities and emotional entanglements that could come with nontraditional paths to … Read More
May 15, 2024
(Reuters) – Neuralink’s disclosure last week that tiny wires inside the brain of its first patient had pulled out of position is an issue the Elon Musk company has known about for years, according to five people familiar with the … Read More
May 15, 2024
(New York Times) – A lifelike artificial intelligence with a smooth, alluring voice enchants and impresses its human users — flirting, telling jokes, fulfilling their desires and eventually winning them over. I’m summarizing the plot of the 2013 movie “Her,” … Read More
May 14, 2024
(CNN) – New analyses of the longest clinical trial yet of the weight-loss drug Wegovy are shedding light on how quickly it helps people lose weight, how long they sustain that weight loss and how safe the medicine is over … Read More
May 14, 2024
(Vanity Fair) – The UNC coronavirologist who has collaborated on gain-of-function research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology’s Shi Zhengli, told congressional investigators that he has long worried about biosafety protocols inside China. Though he thinks it’s far more likely … Read More
May 14, 2024
(Washington Post via MSN) – A bipartisan group of senators, including Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, will unveil a long-awaited “road map” this week for regulating artificial intelligence, directing Congress to infuse billions of dollars into research and development of … Read More
May 14, 2024
(MIT Technology Review) – OpenAI just debuted GPT-4o, a new kind of AI model that you can communicate with in real time via live voice conversation, video streams from your phone, and text. The model is rolling out over the … Read More
May 14, 2024
(The New Atlantis) – It’s pretty simple. People want children who look like them, who will be healthy and succeed in life,” said Lillian Tara, a master’s student at Harvard University who offers fertility education to young women. More specifically, … Read More
May 14, 2024
(Associated Press) – A trial is underway in Virginia that will determine whether state law allows frozen embryos to be considered property that can be divided up and assigned a monetary value. Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dontae Bugg heard … Read More
May 14, 2024
(The Guardian) – Digital recreations of dead people are on the cusp of reality and urgently need regulation, AI ethicists have argued, warning “deadbots” could cause psychological harm to, and even “haunt”, their creators and users. Such services, which are … Read More
May 13, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – The world is at a startling demographic milestone. Sometime soon, the global fertility rate will drop below the point needed to keep population constant. It may have already happened. Fertility is falling almost everywhere, for women … Read More
May 13, 2024
(NPR) – A new study shows a dramatic spike in the number of counterfeit fentanyl pills being seized by law enforcement, an indication of the growing illicit drug supply driving the country’s historic opioid crisis. (Read More)
May 13, 2024
(The New Yorker) – Colleagues reportedly called Lucy Letby an “angel of death,” and the Prime Minister condemned her. But, in the rush to judgment, serious questions about the evidence were ignored. (Read More)
May 13, 2024
(Wall Street Journal) – Advances in AI technology are opening up new possibilities, researchers say, but chatbots are still no substitute for a human therapist Interest in mental-health chatbots is rising, fueled by advances in AI’s ability to conduct sophisticated … Read More
May 13, 2024
(Axios) – An emerging legal battle over workplace health insurance could empower employees to fight back against high costs and put new pressure on their employers. Why it matters: Workers fed up with rising health care costs, which also eat … Read More
May 13, 2024
(NPR) – At one of the last functioning hospitals in Rafah, scenes of horror are conveyed in clinical descriptions as U.S. medical volunteers grapple with the effects of Israeli military operations and border closures after seven months of war in … Read More
