"The Family that Researches Together" -- a nice article appearing on this year's APS convention web site! CLICK on the picture to read more!
Here is what I am reading today!:
“One of life’s simple pleasures just got a little sweeter. After years of waffling research on coffee and health, even some fear that java might raise the risk of heart disease, a big study finds the opposite: Coffee drinkers are a little more likely to live longer. Regular or decaf doesn’t matter.”
“Common variants of the ApoE gene are strongly associated with the risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but the gene’s role in the disease has been unclear. Now, researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that in mice, having the most risky variant of ApoE damages the blood vessels that feed the brain.”
“What can a fish tell us about human brain development? Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplanted a set of human genes into a zebrafish and then used it to identify genes responsible for head size at birth.”
“In an ongoing clinical trial, a paralyzed woman was able to reach for and sip from a drink on her own – for the first time in nearly 15 years – by using her thoughts to direct a robotic arm. The trial is evaluating the safety and feasibility of an investigational device called the BrainGate neural interface system. This is a type of brain-computer interface (BCI) intended to put robotics and other assistive technology under the brain’s control.”
“Among adults of all ages, 82% say it’s harder for today’s young adults to find a job than it was for their parents’ generation. Only 5% say it’s easier now to find a job, and 12% say finding a job is about the same as it was a generation ago.”
10 Comments
caseypagan · May 18, 2012 at 2:31 pm
@ Java Drinkers Live Longer:
Finally! The waffling is over! Sitting at Julian’s in the Cal Poly library trying to convince them to post this article on the espresso machine! Not only does a cup ‘O Joe perk up your lulling afternoon, but now a 400,000 participant study indicates it may prolong the lifespan. At the rate of consumption I’m going, I may live several centuries – or is that just the caffeine talking?
christucker · May 19, 2012 at 12:44 pm
“robotic arms for people with paralysis”
This is an incredible movement in today’s technology, just wow. First of all, I love when we see people making more advances in engineering towards directly helping the less fortunate instead of making more war machines. This is a true tribute to how far we’ve come in tech advancement.
It is incredible that the “machine” fits in the frontal cortex and is the size of an aspirin pill that has 96 electrodes to control movement. It makes me wonder: does neurogenesis in our brain cause new learning neurons to grow and syanpse at these electrodes to connect us to the robotic world? If so, how long does that take?
“Using his eyes to indicate each letter, he later described his control of the arm: “I just imagined moving my own arm and the [DEKA] arm moved where I wanted it to go.””
Absolutely incredible.
Laura Freberg · May 19, 2012 at 1:16 pm
I like the coffee study, too, in a highly self-serving way! Keep in mind that we are not randomly assigning participants to coffee and no coffee groups. There may be something intrinsically “healthier” about people who enjoy large amounts of coffee.
The same thing could be said about the dark chocolate/red wine and heart disease studies. So I suppose the old “everything in moderation” idea is not a bad way to go.
camillephillips3 · May 21, 2012 at 9:43 am
Finally another reason to continue enjoying that daily cup or two of morning coffee! As a coffee drinker, I have always been precautious about the potential effects drinking a cup a day can produce. I do agree with Dr. Freberg that “everything in moderation” is the way to go, but it is very comforting to know that daily coffee can increase your lifespan. Hopefully I have added a few years to my life by now!
anguye15 · May 21, 2012 at 3:29 pm
I can definitely relate to the “college graduation” article as I have seen more and more throughout my own experience as well as talking to older adults that finding and getting a job after graduation has become so much more competitive and difficult in this generation. Likewise, getting into a good college has come with its challenges as well. I have witnessed many of my young friends or family members get rejected from schools such as Cal Poly despite carrying a crazy transcript under their belt or having GPA’s even above 4.0. I did find it a little disheartening, though, that the poll in this article showed that more people feel as though the price they pay for education does not match the value that they are receiving.
kdevlugt · May 24, 2012 at 7:28 am
I read “robotic arms for people with paralysis” after reading an article on a robot that builds its own tools when to help it perform tasks (http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/diy/this-robot-makes-its-own-custom-tools-out-of-glue). The combination of both made me think of the old Inspector Gadget cartoons where a cyborg was able to use tools built into his body to performs tasks a normal person could not. I know the military already uses robots that increases the lifting strength of its soldiers, but I wonder if this mind-control type of technology might inspire Inspector Gadget type augmented human prosthetics.
The baby aspirin-sized chip implanted in the brain was SUPER COOL, but also disconcerting. I know how often the technology around me gets buggy and needs the help of a well-trained IT professional. If a brain-chip goes wonky, it might not be as easy as “turning it off and on again” to fix it.
corrieesmon · May 26, 2012 at 5:17 pm
I agree that college mainly the expense has become a great concern for students and their parents. I start a college fund for my son as son as I found out that I was pregnant. It start out just tossing all my pennies into a jar to all change. As soon as I has enough money I opened up a 1 yr building share CD and 5 years later I had enough to open a 5 yr CD and still keep the building block CD. I hope when it is time for my 7 yr old to go to college I will have enough money.
corrieesmon · May 26, 2012 at 5:32 pm
So I love the article on coffee, I drink at least 3 cups of coffee in the morning and though I do use a splash of flavored creamer I really don’t think that make much of a difference. So now that I know coffee is good for me then maybe I can keep my only habit I have kept. I stopped smoking, I stopped partying and I even cut down my coffee intake. I am so glad the researchers have found that I can keep my cups of coffee a day.
BlaineLeal · May 28, 2012 at 11:48 pm
Got Spider?
I found this article to be interesting and surprising. It is fascinating that phobias may be through gaining of information related to the feared entity. It seems as though fear is sometimes irrational, like fears of animals that aren’t especially dangerous. From an evolutionary standpoint, it seems odd that we develop these phobias. However, a fear of spiders might be useful if you are in the presence of poisonous arachnids.
Laura's Psychology Blog » readings for 18 May 2012 #aps2012 | Breksat . CoM · May 18, 2012 at 10:31 am
[…] post: Laura's Psychology Blog » readings for 18 May 2012 #aps2012 This entry was posted in Medical Hub and tagged brain-development, esearchers-at-duke, fish-tell, […]
Comments are closed.