Health
Adding years to life and life to years
Despite dramatic advancements in prolonging and improving life over the past century (with average life expectancy climbing from 54 years in 1960 to 73 years at latest estimates)—ranging from reduced infant mortality rates to the unprecedented speed and scale of COVID-19-vaccine development—consider that the share of lives spent in poor health has not substantially diminished…
Read MoreThe biggest causes of death in 2020
In the United States, the top three causes of death in 2020 were heart disease, cancer, and COVID-19. Accidents and stroke round out the country’s top five causes of death that year. And the leading worldwide cause of death for 2020 was ischemic heart disease, with stroke coming in a close second. Click here to…
Read MoreWhen Will We Have A Pill To Treat Covid? Here Are Three Antiviral Drugs Being Tested
Merck said molnupiravir, the antiviral drug it’s developing with Miami-based Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, could halve the risks of hospitalization or death when given to recently diagnosed patients at risk of severe illness, according to interim results from a late-stage clinical trial. If approved, molnupiravir would be the first antiviral pill for Covid-19 on the market and…
Read MoreEarth Is Warmer Than It’s Been in 125,000 Years
Earth’s global surface temperature has increased by around 1.1 °C compared with the average from 1850–1900—a level that hasn’t been witnessed since before the last ice age, some 125,000 years ago. “Is it still possible to limit global warming to 1.5 °C? The answer is yes,” says Maisa Rojas, a coordinating lead author on the…
Read MoreMediterranean Diet 101: A Meal Plan and Beginner’s Guide
The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional foods that people used to eat in countries like Italy and Greece back in 1960. Researchers noted that these people were exceptionally healthy compared to Americans and had a low risk of many lifestyle diseases. Numerous studies have now shown that the Mediterranean diet can cause weight loss…
Read MoreFulfilling the promise of advanced analytics in oncology
In oncology we have read the exciting headlines predicting that big data and advanced analytics will transform cancer care and research and that all patients, thanks to machine learning, will soon receive personalized treatment plans. But progress has been arguably slower than initially envisioned. However, without a doubt, important advances are being made. Researchers have…
Read MorePupil Size Is a Marker of Intelligence
Our pupils respond to more than just the light. They indicate arousal, interest or mental exhaustion. Pupil dilation is even used by the FBI to detect deception. Now work conducted in our laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology suggests that baseline pupil size is closely related to individual differences in intelligence. The larger the pupils, the…
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