“Where does one begin to tell a story?” Dava Sobel asked attendees in Hodson Hall this past Friday as the best-selling author gave a short talk and reading from her latest work. “They have something to say and don’t know where to start,” Sobel said.
Antibiotics are the most commonly prescribed medicine in the United States, but are they always really necessary?
The Prisoner’s Dilemma game tests not only the rationality of the players but also their social decision-making skills. These skills are based on the player’s ability to predict what the other person will do. In the game two criminals, both aware of the greater award if they both cooperate, are most likely to betray each other because of each one’s prediction that the other will behave in their own self-interest.
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine has found that feeding young children peanut products could help prevent peanut allergies. This challenges the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation which calls for children under the age of three who are at risk of developing allergies to avoid consuming peanut products.
Is there anything more frustrating than online dating? Reading through someone’s profile, trying to decide if you’ll like them, the negotiations involved in meeting up for the first time... It can be extremely disheartening, which is why it isn’t surprising that two researchers decided to look into the science behind why some people get more dates than others on online sites.
The exploration of the mind has always been the center of intense research interest. The brain is the least understood organ in the body, and nobody knows exactly how it works. One approach to solving the brain puzzle is looking at neuronal activities of different brain regions. This strategy has led to important insights within the field of cognitive neuroscience, allowing for investigations into the biological mechanisms of brain function. Even more excitingly, such an analysis of brain activities may allow us to some day be able to delve into a person’s mind and gain access to their deepest thoughts — science fiction transforming into tangible reality. But how can we build a mind reading machine?
Every hour, thousands of couples around the world engage in amorous acts. The rush of endorphins and the bonding that results from sex create a sense of pleasure, but humans also use sex to procreate and ensure the survival of the species.
One of the most important debates you may have never heard of is the debate over net neutrality. The concept that the Internet should be treated like a public good, with cable companies giving no privilege to certain sites over others, has been a hot topic issue for years. On Feb. 26, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), will vote on whether to reclassify Internet use to telecommunications, ensuring net neutrality.
Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, a war is raging on in our bodies and we are totally unaware of it. What are these combatants that are scheming against each other to win ultimate control?
Consider the word “pollution.” What comes to mind? Perhaps constellations obscured by thick smog, perhaps the bright-red skyline of some industrial city by night, perhaps factories expelling billows of smoke. Perhaps even specific cities as Beijing and Shanghai, places notorious for having extreme amounts of pollution, to the discomfort of residents and travelers.
Any patient who enters an emergency room with an infectious disease poses a potential threat not only to him or herself, but also to the other patients, doctors and personnel in the hospital. These days, medical institutions across America are finding it necessary to prepare for one infectious disease in particular: Ebola.
You are enjoying your vacation on the East Coast in the thick of the heady, swollen heat of summer. You spend your days roaming swamps, swimming in lakes and sunbathing by the water. One particularly hot day you notice a rash on your leg — it looks a little like a target, or a bulls-eye, but you don’t think much of it. After all, bugs are a consequence of East-Coast weather, and you look forward to when the rash subsides. After a few days, it does.
Henry Molaison (more commonly known as “HM”) is one of the most intriguing gentlemen in the history of neuroscience.
The plethora of F-bombs used in everyday life seems to indicate universal human dissatisfaction. Yet, according to researchers at the University of Vermont, all languages — despite the swearing — reflect a bias for the use of happy words.
Are China’s strict Internet controls acting against its best interests? A survey released on Feb. 12 by the European Chamber of Commerce in China found that most businesses believe they are. Foreign companies that operate in China are frustrated by the fact that China blocks certain websites and restricts Internet access. Eighty-six percent of the companies, which are based in the European Union (EU) and operate in China, said that their business has been negatively affected by the blocking of websites in China.
In 1964 the United States Surgeon General published the first federal government report outlining an indisputable link between smoking and cancer, heart disease and other health problems. Since then, individuals and public health groups have proposed countless methods to help people who are addicted to smoking “kick the habit.” The American Cancer Society (ACS) encourages smokers to participate in the “Great American Smokeout” each year, which proposes that smokers refrain from smoking for 24 hours. The ACS emphasizes that when smokers are engaged in such a behavior, five percent of them go on to quit smoking permanently. Such behavioral therapies began in the 1970s, but they were met with limited success. In the 1990s, pharmacotherapy made its appearance and included nicotine patches and gum. Some individuals chewing nicotine gum stopped smoking, but they became addicted to the healthier but more expensive option of the gum. Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes or e-cigs) were introduced to the world about ten years ago, and since then, their use has been fraught with everything from confusion to praise to condemnation. Many smokers want to stop smoking tobacco, and with the onslaught of advertising from e-cigarette manufacturers they may believe that they have found the perfect solution. Many teenagers, some of whom have never smoked, have also taken to using e-cigarettes. Some e-cigarettes are designed to look like conventional tobacco cigarettes and can be purchased in flavors that are appealing to teenagers.
Those who live in tropical areas around the world are at risk for malaria. In fact, malaria is a top cause of infant mortality in some countries. Numerous advances have been made to curb the instances of malaria, and medical devices have also been developed to detect malaria in underdeveloped countries. However, a new study at the Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests a far simpler solution. The researchers propose that a timely increase in vitamin A intake may decrease the chances of being infected.
Southern Nevada residents may have caught wind of a toxic rock.
Our bodies can can often heal themselves from injuries such as cuts, but is it possible to regrow parts of our brain after damage?
Going blind is terrifying. Finding out there’s nothing that can be done to help you is even worse. This is what millions of people face each year when they are diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. However, there soon may be a new treatment option: drugs that are already being used to treat HIV.
