The five most-read posts on Scope this week were:
Careful, your comfy chair might be making you soft: An article published in the journal Science suggests that textures, shapes, weights and temperatures-physical cues associated with touch-influence thoughts, behavior and judgments.
Bioengineers make cancer detector from digital camera: In the spirit of do-it-yourselfer Mark Frauenfelder, Rice University bioengineers have jury-rigged a cancer-detection device from a $400 digital camera and a bundle of fiber-optic cables.
Using unconventional therapies to troubleshoot the brain: Brain scientists, including a team at Stanford, are employing a wide range of approaches to diagnose and treat neurological conditions such as depression, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's.
Stanford scientists identify a melanoma-initiating cell: Researchers at Stanford have identified something that looks suspiciously like a cancer stem cell in melanoma. Post-doctoral fellow Alexander Boiko, PhD, says that the finding may explain why current immunotherapies against the disease are largely unsuccessful.
A new target-heart-rate formula for women, by women: A Northwestern University cardiologist has generated a new formula for estimating the peak heart rate a woman should attain during exercise: 206 minus 88 percent of age. Under the old formula, based on studies of men and used for almost four decades, that number was figured to be 220 minus age.
The Grand Roundup is posted every Saturday.
