Yan Qu and Clement Cid spend a lot more time thinking about poop than your average academics. The pair, both at Caltech, are part of a team working on what could be the future of bathrooms: a self-cleaning, solar-powered toilet that turns human waste into hydrogen and fertilizer.
Continue reading… “This Gates-funded toilet will change how we think about poop”
Placebo effect
Placebos are the miracle pills that shouldn’t really do anything. They come in all shapes and sizes, but they contain no active ingredient. And yet, mysteriously, they often seem to work.
Continue reading… “Placebos – the medicine in our minds”
Mason Wilde and Matthew
When Mason Wilde was 4 years old, he took apart his mother’s dining room table and gliding ottoman. He pretty much built a computer from scratch last year. Wilde has always had a passion for figuring out how things work.
Continue reading… “Kansas teen makes hand for a friend using 3D printer”
The growing percentage reflects, in part, the increasing average age at which women give birth for the first time.
In 2012, more test-tube babies were born in the United States than ever before, and they constituted a higher percentage of total births than at any time since the technology was introduced in the 1980s, according to a report released on Monday.
Continue reading… “Record number of test tube babies born in the U.S.”
The glasses are designed to make it easy for surgeons to differentiate cancerous cells from healthy cells.
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine have developed high-tech eyewear that helps surgeons detect cancer cells, which glow blue when viewed using the special glasses.
Continue reading… “High-tech glasses help surgeons see cancer”
Revolutionary development: The stem cell spray gun treats burns in 1.5 hours.
Doctor Jörg Gerlach, of the University of Pittsburgh’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine has created a prototype medical device that literally sprays skin cells onto burn victims to re-grow skin.
Continue reading… “Instant skin graft spray gun offers new treatment for burn victims”
PillCam
The FDA has approved the PillCam for use as an alternative for patients who are unable to have a complete colonoscopy. The pill-shaped capsule has a camera on both ends. It navigates through your intestines over an eight-hour period, taking high-speed images that are sent to a device worn by a patient that are later examined by a doctor. (Video)
Continue reading… “FDA approves PillCam, an alternative to the traditional colonoscopy”
In vitro fertilization (IVF)—involving DNA from three parents—could become legal in the UK by July.
The prospect of altering DNA to produce a genetically-modified human could move from science fiction to science reality by the middle of 2014. The UK parliament is likely to vote on whether a new form of in vitro fertilization (IVF)—involving DNA from three parents—becomes legally available to couples by July. If it passes, the law would be the first to allow pre-birth human-DNA modification, and another door to the future will open.
Continue reading… “Altering DNA to produce a genetically-modified human could begin in 2014”
Dennis Sørensen smiles confidently with his new robotic hand as he flexes his robotic fingers, and gingerly closes them around a disposable plastic cup. Sørensen is blindfolded but he instantly recognizes what he is touching. Round. Hard. Breakable. Lethargic sensory nerves, rusty and unused since an accident nine years ago, begin to stir.
Continue reading… “Breakthrough prosthetic hand restores amputee’s sense of touch”
Breastfeeding is an important strategy to ensure a healthy balance of good bacteria in an infant’s gut.
Babies have legions of microbes that set up shop in their guts, skin, and more right from birth. These microbes are vital. They help the growing human to digest its food, and to keep harmful microbes away. They are so important that newborns temporarily suppress their own immune system to give their microbial partners a chance to establish themselves.
Continue reading… “How a breast milk antibody plays an important role in infant gut development”
Discoveries in the field of telomere biology will have an impact on how we can stay young naturally and look younger than our chronological age.
Research in telomere biology has the potential to extend human life span, to dramatically lower rates of the great remaining killer diseases: heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s. All three diseases increase exponentially with age, and their toll will be slashed as we we learn how to address the body’s aging clocks.
Continue reading… “The most promising medical technology on the horizon today”
Is there a doctor in the house? The answer may always be, “yes.”
Many people are searching for new ways to get medical care and gone may be the days of waiting in the doctor’s office thanks to the new mobile app age. The new Doctor On Demand app for Android and iOS will allow you to see the doctor from wherever you are.
Continue reading… “Doctor on Demand app lets you see a doctor from wherever you are”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.