Author Archives: Chris

While in womb, babies begin learning language from their mothers | UW Today

Learning starts early. Babies only hours old are able to differentiate between sounds from their native language and a foreign language, scientists have discovered. The study indicates that babies begin absorbing language while still in the womb, earlier than previously … Continue reading

Posted in How Life Begins, Neuroscience and Psychology, Science and Medicine | Leave a comment

Brain deterioration, sleep woes linked – SFGate

UC Berkeley study links brain atrophy of aging with both poor sleep and poor memory retention. But the question is, does the atrophy lead to both poor sleep and poor memory directly, or does the poor sleep interfere with long-term … Continue reading

Posted in Neuroscience and Psychology, Science and Medicine, Sleep | Leave a comment

Why I’m taking daily ibuprofen: Could it give me more brain cells and prevent diseases of aging?

More and more, it is looking like the kind of inflammation that occurs on a daily basis, the kind you never really notice, can have serious health consequences. And there is good reason to believe that daily anti-inflammatories can be … Continue reading

Posted in Brain Hacking, Diet and Exercise, Science and Medicine | Leave a comment

Stanford experiment shows that virtual superpowers encourage real-world empathy

  Some might think that giving people the illusion of greater than normal power would make them more egotistical and self-serving, but this Stanford study shows that what people become is more empathetic. This is in line with the idea … Continue reading

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Learning to love cereal was key to the evolution of dogs – The Washington Post

How dogs evolved. Interesting science. A team of Swedish researchers compared the genomes of wolves and dogs and found that a big difference is dogs’ ability to easily digest starch. On their way from pack-hunting carnivore to fireside companion, dogs … Continue reading

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Insight: Evidence grows for narcolepsy link to GSK swine flu shot | Fox News

Narcolepsy perhaps caused by a swine flu vaccine–this is one scary vaccine tale that has some scientific backing. Emelie is one of around 800 children in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe who developed narcolepsy, an incurable sleep disorder, after being … Continue reading

Posted in Current History, Science and Medicine, Sleep | Leave a comment

Add a blog and blogging to your to-do list

A really nicely stated case for the benefits of blogging. As I have often said, the internet, which everyone said would destroy writing, is actually going to save it. You need to blog to differentiate yourself well beyond your credentials … Continue reading

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Notre Dame’s failure of communication

The strange, sad story of Manti Te’o gets sadder and stranger, but what seems clear to me right now is that Notre Dame did a very poor job of handling things. They seemed to think the situation was important enough … Continue reading

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Light-Activated Hydrogel Repairs Cartilage (photonics.com | Jan 2013 | Research & Technology)

This may actually be the best solution I’ve seen so far for cartilage repair because it addresses one of the gaps in current care. The article explains the problem with current therapy: Microfracture — a surgery in which tiny holes … Continue reading

Posted in Diet and Exercise, Science and Medicine | Leave a comment

Zombie consciousness

Wish I had time to go to this talk: Thursday Jan 17th, 5 pm: Workshop on Zombies and Consciousness Steven Schlozman, Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School “Is it OK to shoot that Zombie if it isn’t Consciously Human? Is it OK to shoot … Continue reading

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