Sometimes it feels as though scientists and engineers have never watched the Terminator or Matrix movies at all. The Guardian reports that Japanese company Suidobashi Heavy Industry is showing off a new robot called “Kuratas” that weighs four tons, stands at 13 feet tall and comes armed with a gun capable of firing “6,000 ball-bearing…
Month: July 2012
Live virus used in polio vaccine can evolve and infect, warns TAU researcher
Live virus used in polio vaccine can evolve and infect, warns TAU researcher Health professionals and researchers across the globe believe they are on the verge of eradicating polio, a devastating virus which can lead to paralysis and death. Despite successful eradication in most countries, there are still four countries where the virus is considered…
Pumpkin: A fairytale end to insulin injections? Regenerates Pancreatic Cells
Compounds found in pumpkin could potentially replace or at least drastically reduce the daily insulin injections that so many diabetics currently have to endure. Recent research reveals that pumpkin extract promotes regeneration of damaged pancreatic cells in diabetic rats, boosting levels of insulin-producing beta cells and insulin in the blood, reports Lisa Richards in Chemistry…
£200,000 cystic fibrosis drug ‘could transform lives’
From the Telegraph 10:25AM BST 30 Jul 2012 (No Reporters name) A drug which could transform the lives of people with cystic fibrosis has been developed, as the health watchdog investigates whether it can be provided on the NHS at an annual cost of £200,000 Trials of the drug Ivacaftor have shown improvement in patients’…
Milk thistle extract stops lung cancer in mice
Milk thistle extract stops lung cancer in mice Silibinin stops production of COX2 and iNOS Tissue with wound-like conditions allows tumors to grow and spread. In mouse lung cancer cells, treatment with silibinin, a major component of milk thistle, removed the molecular billboards that signal these wound-like conditions and so stopped the spread of these…
Increase in RDA for vitamin C could help reduce heart disease, stroke, cancer
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The recommended dietary allowance, or RDA, of vitamin C is less than half what it should be, scientists argue in a recent report, because medical experts insist on evaluating this natural, but critical nutrient in the same way they do pharmaceutical drugs and reach faulty conclusions as a result. The researchers,…
Pop Music All Sounds the Same Nowadays ” “a progressive homogenization of the musical discourse,”
By Natalie Wolchover | LiveScience.com – Fri, Jul 27, 2012 Your parents are officially correct. Nowadays, pop music all sounds pretty much the same. Researchers in Spain came to the conclusion after tracking the timbre, pitch and volume of nearly a half-million songs released between 1955 and 2010. They found that in this music…
Oregon Man Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail — for Collecting Rainwater on His Property
By Kendra Alleyne July 26, 2012 (CNSNews.com) – A rural Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail and over $1,500 in fines because he had three reservoirs on his property to collect and use rainwater. Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal his conviction in Jackson County (Ore.)…
Department defends indemnity deal with producers of swine flu vaccine
The Irish Times – Friday, April 20, 2012 THE DEPARTMENT of Health has defended its decision to sign an indemnity deal with the producers of a swine flu vaccine that is associated with an increase in the rate of sleeping disorders among children. A report commissioned by the department and published yesterday concluded that an…
Teething Baby? Avoid Benzocaine, FDA Says
SUNDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) — Parents should not use benzocaine products to relieve teething pain in babies except under the advice and supervision of a health care professional, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says. Benzocaine is a local anesthetic found in over-the-counter products such as Anbesol, Orajel, Baby Orajel, Orabase and Hurricane. The…
Children as young as seven and eight are using ecstasy and cannabis, according to an official report.
From The Telegraph By Martin Beckford, Home Affairs Editor 10:00PM BST 26 Jul 2012 A Home Office survey found that some drug users had admitted taking ecstasy when they were just seven years old, while others said they smoked cannabis at age eight. The youngest reported user of cocaine was just nine. It is the…
Private contractors are to take over the role of looking after the UK’s nuclear weapons in Scotland
From The Telegraph 6:59PM BST 28 Jul 2012 The MoD has signed a 15-year contract with ABL Alliance to provide support for the Trident weapons system at HM Naval Base Clyde. Under the new contract 149 MoD civilian posts will transfer to the alliance. The jobs are in industrial and technical grades, warehousing and logistic …
NTU-led research probes potential link between cancer and a common chemical in consumer products
study led by a group of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) researchers has found that a chemical commonly used in consumer products can potentially cause cancer. The chemical, Zinc Oxide, is used to absorb harmful ultra violet light. But when it is turned into nano-sized particles, they are able to enter human cells and may damage…
Researchers surprised to find fatty liver disease poses no excess risk for death
Condition prevalent among those with heart disease and obesity Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common condition associated with obesity and heart disease long thought to undermine health and longevity. But a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests the condition does not affect survival. A report on the study was published online last…
Consuming canned soup linked to greatly elevated levels of the chemical BPA, 1,221% increase in BPA
BPA, found in soup can lining, associated with adverse health effects in humans A new study from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) has found that a group of volunteers who consumed a serving of canned soup each day for five days had a more than 1,000% increase in urinary bisphenol A…
Why Do Pertussis Vaccines Fail? It Suggest Corrupted Science
Original Abstract: Why Do Pertussis Vaccines Fail? James D. Cherry, MD, MSc Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Mattel Children’s Hospital University of California Los Angeles, and the Department of Pediatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California KEY WORDSpertussis DTP DTaP adolescent- and adult-formulated tetanus and diphtheria toxoids and…
Glaxo chief: Our drugs do not work on most patients
Request Reprint From 2003: By Steve Connor, Science Editor The Independent Monday 08 December 2003 A senior executive with Britain’s biggest drugs company has admitted that most prescription medicines do not work on most people who take them. Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said fewer than half of the patients prescribed…
Prostate cancer surgery ‘has little or no benefit’ in extending life of patients
The study compared surgically removing prostate gland with ‘watchful waiting’ Some experts now questioning whether disease should even be called cancer By Pamela Owen New research into prostate cancer has revealed that surgery has little or no benefit in extending the life of a patient. The study, which has not yet been published, compared…
Study shows no evidence of a mortality benefit to PSA screening
Men enrolled in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer (PLCO) Screening Trial had no evidence of a mortality benefit compared to a control group of men undergoing usual care, according to a study published online Jan. 6 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening (PLCO)…
