Alan Alda, best known to television audiences for his iconic portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce, MD, on the television series M *A *S * H, has …
Month: February 2013
Image of the Week: 3D model of the fetal heart
By combining scans of healthy fetuses in the womb, including that of a woman who agreed to weekly electrocardiography scans starting at 18 weeks gestation …
Grand Roundup: Top posts for the week of Feb. 17
The five most-read stories on Scope this week were: Biotech company founded by teens aims to use mosquitoes to transport vaccines: A recent piece in …
How food may influence our cells and overall health
Here's something to contemplate post lunch: In addition to delivering carbohydrates, fats and proteins to your body, the food you gobbled down midday contains nutrients …
As budget sequester nears, a call for Congress to protect funding for scientific and medical research
Across-the-board cuts to discretionary spending required under the Budget Control Act of 2011 (.pdf) are set to take effect a week from today. Yesterday, National …
Will more women begin opting for an IUD?
Last week, I wrote about efforts to boost IUD use in developing countries. This form of birth control, despite its benefits, isn't widely embraced here in the United …
Stanford expert talks estrogen therapy and Alzheimer's
Estrogen-based hormone therapy has been a hotly debated issue for years. In 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative, the largest-ever federally sponsored study of postmenopausal women’s health, …
National Medal of Science winner Lucy Shapiro: "It’s the most exciting thing in the world to be a scientist"
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama presented Stanford developmental biologist Lucy Shapiro, PhD, and 22 of her fellow innovators and researchers with national medals for …
Computer-generated phone calls shown to help inactive adults get – and keep – moving
“Hello, Mrs. Jones. Your goal last time we talked was to do 30 minutes per day of brisk walking five days per week. Were you …
Shrinking chromosome caps spell aging cells, sniffles, sneezes… and cognitive decline?
Biological aging, as opposed to the chronological kind we celebrate or curse annually, is what makes us describe some people as "ageless" and others as …
Study shows Internet can help raise awareness about cancer prevention
A recent report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that about six-in-ten U.S. adults search for health information on the Internet. But …
The trouble with the current calorie-counting system
When it comes to losing weight, the current process for assessing calories is flawed. That's the conclusion of a panel of researchers who convened at …
Creating interactive cognitive aids for medical crises
The Cognitive Aids in Medicine group at Stanford is leveraging emerging technologies to develop dynamic, interactive tools that streamline and standardize protocols for managing medical …
When the dietician needs to watch her weight
I quite like this entry on the U.S. News & World Report blog eat + run today; in it a New York dietician (and mom) candidly discusses the pressure …
New tool for reading brain activity of mice could advance study of neurodegenerative diseases
Researchers at Stanford have developed a system for peering into the mind of a live mouse and observing its brain activity in real time. The …
The "new frontier" of synthetic biology
In case you didn't see it, the San Jose Mercury News ran a story over the weekend on the field of synthetic biology and the …