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As if scripted for a "Star Trek" episode, news of a real-life, real-time hologram instantly projected images of holodecks in many a sci-fi fan's head, only to be dashed and challenged and revived again. The action opened with an announcement that a technological breakthrough by researchers at The Un...
Once upon a time, the word "hypertexting" referred to the process of linking one page of text to another through a specific Internet protocol. Now, public health researchers are using it to describe the practice of sending mobile phone text messages in the extreme: "hyper," as in lots, and "texting"...
Being tethered to a computer all day is bad for employees' health and for employers' profits, considering healthcare insurance premiums climb and productivity declines with every worker malady. The latest scientific evidence finds that productivity is reduced even when it appears to be unimpeded. Wo...
The very nature of humanity has been changed by the nature of modern work. Where once workers were lean, muscled and tan, now they are pudgy, stooped and wrist-warped. The problem comes from restricted movement over long stretches in the day. Computers have chained employees to one spot, effectively...
21st Century Western civilization bears the brunt of the greatest health threat since the black plague. Although not quite as dramatic -- there are no bodies in the street or mass graves of the afflicted, for example -- the death count is high and climbing, and the toll on company costs (from health...
Robots can be made made strong, robots can be made tireless, but a big problem with robots so far is that they can't be made to have a sense of touch as humans do. The same issue challenges designers of prosthetic limbs. Imitating the motor movements of joints and muscles is one thing, but imitating...
The genomics industry, which provides reports about disease risk, ancestry, and drug reactions based on one's DNA, came under fire last week as a Congressional Committee held hearings and the Government Accountability Office released an unscientific "study" of the sector. According to undercover d...
Just a few weeks ago, Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center learned a hard lesson. If you didn't see the news reports, the N.Y.-based healthcare provider notified over 130,000 individuals that their records -- including diagnostic information, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and other i...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released its final version of rules that define the parameters under which physicians and hospitals can qualify for funding to upgrade their electronic medical records systems. Included are new definitions for what will constitute "meaningful use"...
As healthcare professionals rely more on electronic medical records, tests, images, videos and other multimedia files, high-speed broadband networks have increasingly become a necessary way to transfer and move this data. Unfortunately, however, rural hospitals and clinics have had a difficult time...
Personal computing altered the world forever, and now the digitization of biology is poised to bring about sweeping change. Craig Venter's recent announcement of the first synthetic genome was a huge milestone, but many outside of Silicon Valley remain unaware of the "do-it-yourself biology" movemen...
Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute in Rockville, Md., say they have created the first self-replicating synthetic bacterial cell using man-made DNA. The 15-year, $40 million project consisted of synthesizing more than 1 million base pair chromosomes of a genome. The knowledge gained from th...
A mind-controlled robotic arm is bringing new independence to an Austrian man who lost his arms, even allowing him to drive a car, the arm's maker announced earlier this week. Created by the German firm Otto Bock HealthCare, the arm has allowed 23-year-old Christian Kandlbauer to pass a driving test...
During his homily this Easter, Pope Benedict argued that medical science, in trying to defeat death, is leading humanity toward likely condemnation. It's a position at odds with the value of life, one that the Church will likely revise years from now, replaying the institution's embarrassment over c...
Up to now, devices designed to measure and enhance signals routed through brain circuitry have been hampered by the complexities of the folded surface of brain tissue. However, scientists have announced the development of a brain implant that conforms so closely to the brain's surface, it "essential...
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