September 7, 2011
Deus Ex: A world of augmented humans
By enhancing ourselves with technology, do we throw away a part of our humanity? That’s the question at the heart of a new video game, Deus Ex: Human revolution. (Wired)
Monthly Archives: September 2011
September 6, 2011
In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores
Amy Furman, a seventh-grade English teacher here, roams among 31 students sitting at their desks or in clumps on the floor. They’re studying Shakespeare’s “As You Like It†— but not in any traditional way. (New York Times)
September 6, 2011
Sperm Donor ‘Super Dads’ — Why It’s Dangerous for One Donor to Sire Dozens
A women  who conceives a child through a sperm donor  has to make her peace with a number of unknowns — what the donor looks like, what personality quirks he might have or whether big noses run in his family. But … Read More
September 6, 2011
Hospitalized Kids Overmedicated, Study Finds
Many children receive multiple medications while they are hospitalized even though there may be safety concerns about some of the drugs, according to a new study. (ABC News)
September 6, 2011
Indian gov’t, groups face off with drugmaker Novartis in court over patenting cancer drug
In a case that could affect India’s role as drug provider to the developing world, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments Tuesday over whether the government had the right to deny a patent to Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG for its … Read More
September 6, 2011
Taiwan physicians could face criminal prosecution over HIV organ transplants, official says
Physicians at a hospital in Taiwan that mistakenly transplanted four patients with HIV-infected organs may face criminal prosecution, an official said Friday. (Washington Post)
September 6, 2011
Disabled Patients Mind-Meld With Robots
They’re not quite psychic yet, but machines are getting better at reading your mind. Researchers have invented a new, noninvasive method for recording patterns of brain activity and using them to steer a robot. (Science)
September 6, 2011
India scans 2.4 billion eyes to see end to poverty
Ankaji Bhai Gangar, a 49-year-old subsistence farmer, stood in line in this remote village until, for the first time in his life, he squinted into the soft glow of a computer screen. (MSNBC)
September 6, 2011
New Issue of Science as Culture is Now Available
Science as Culture (Volume 30, Issue 3, September 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Regulating Cell Lives in Japan: Avoiding Scandal and Sticking to Nature” by Margaret Sleeboom-Faulkner, 227-240. “Reconsidering Ethical Issues about “Voluntary Egg Donors†in … Read More
September 5, 2011
New Issue of Science as Culture is Now Available
Science as Culture (Volume 20, Issue 3, September 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Slim Futures and the Fat Pill: Civic Imaginations of Innovation and Governance in an Engagement Setting” by Ulrike Felt & Maximilian Fochler, 307-328. … Read More
September 5, 2011
New Issue of Ethical Theory and Moral Practice is Now Available
Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (Volume 14, Issue 4, August 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Moral Theory and Theorizing in Healthcare Ethics” by Mike McNamee & Thomas Schramme, 539-553. “Applied Ethics. A Defence” by Torbjörn Tännsjö, … Read More
September 2, 2011
New Issue of Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology is Now Available
Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology (Volume 3, Issue 5, September/October 2011) is now available by subscription only. Articles include: “Cancer Nanotechnology Research in the United States and China: Cooperation to Promote Innovation” by Julie A. Schneider, Piotr Grodzinski and Xing-Jie Liang, 441–448.
September 2, 2011
New York Mom of Twins Born Through Surrogate Sues Employer for Denying Maternity Leave
In a case that mixes reproductive technology, family law and employment law, a woman who used a surrogate to give birth to her twins is suing her employer and a senior human resources analyst in a U.S. District Court in … Read More
September 2, 2011
Neuroscience vs philosophy: Taking aim at free will
The experiment helped to change John-Dylan Haynes’s outlook on life. In 2007, Haynes, a neuroscientist at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience in Berlin, put people into a brain scanner in which a display screen flashed a succession of random … Read More
September 2, 2011
Genome at Home: Biohackers Build Their Own Labs
A tiny spare bedroom is not an ideal space for a high tech biofabrication facility. To get to the one Josh Perfetto is putting together, visitors must walk all the way to the back of his mostly unfurnished house in … Read More
September 2, 2011
New pain-management rules leave patients hurting
Denis Murphy’s last doctor got suspicious when he saw him sitting in a restaurant. Murphy, 72, who contracted a painful nerve disorder after a case of shingles, had told the doctor his condition is so painful he often has to … Read More
September 2, 2011
Debated Stroke Victim Brain Fetus Stem Cell Trials Moving Forward
There is innovative science being conducted that intends to inject stem cells into the brains of patients disabled by stroke, and after the first round of ReNeuron Group’s ReN001 stem cell therapy trials, it has been cleared to progress to … Read More
September 2, 2011
ADHD rises 32% among children and teens
The number of U.S. children ages 5 to 17 diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder climbed about 32% during the past decade, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report shows. (American Medical News)
September 2, 2011
CDC study finds a drop in antibiotic prescriptions for kids, but officials still see overuse
The push to get pediatricians to stop prescribing antibiotics for the wrong illnesses is paying off a bit, a new government report found. (Washington Post)
September 2, 2011
New Issue of New England Journal of Medicine is Now Available
New England Journal of Medicine (Volume 365, Issue 8, August 25, 2011) is now available on-line and by subscription only. Articles include: “The Effects of Medicaid Coverage — Learning from the Oregon Experiment” by Katherine Baicker and Amy Finkelstein, available … Read More
September 1, 2011
Event: Governance and Ethics of Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies – Nanoethics 2011
Warsaw, Poland October 20-21, 2011 It will be held as one of the major scientific events of the Polish Presidency in the Council of the EU, under the patronage of the Polish Minister of Science and Higher Education and the … Read More
September 1, 2011
Florida Shutting ‘Pill Mill’ Clinics
Florida has long been the nation’s center of the illegal sale of prescription drugs: Doctors here bought 89 percent of all the Oxycodone sold in the country last year. (New York Times)
September 1, 2011
A youthful environment can rejuvenate old stem cells
Adult stem cells can be rejuvenated, simply by growing them in a youthful environment – at least in mice. The discovery boosts hopes that adult human stem cells could be used to grow replacement tissue without the need for embryonic … Read More
September 1, 2011
F.T.C. Criticizes Agreements That Delay Generic Drugs
Some drug makers are using an indirect method to delay competition from low-cost generic products by promising not to introduce their own generic versions if a potential competitor delays its entry into the market, the Federal Trade Commission said in … Read More
September 1, 2011
FDA panels put silicone breast implants back under microscope
Makers of silicone breast implants have not followed up on thousands of women who received them as required by the Food and Drug Administration as a condition of approval, agency advisers said Wednesday. (CNN)
