February 16, 2012, 2:00 pm
By Josh Fischman
The microchip drug-delivery system (right) is as small as a computer memory stick.
Everybody hates shots. A group of biomedical engineers is not about to abolish all of them, but they have just taken a major step toward reducing repeated injections for people with chronic diseases. Today the team announced the first successful human test of a tiny, implanted chip that can deliver precise drug doses over several months—and could even be reprogrammed, wirelessly, to change doses. It’s years away from widespread use, but the demonstration shows the idea, if it proves safe and effective in larger and longer trials, could eventually help thousands of patients.
The device is about the size of a pacemaker and is implanted just below the skin near the hip, in a 30-minute procedure in a doctor’s office using…
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February 15, 2012, 6:37 pm
By Tom Bartlett
Here’s what Rick Santorum said about contraception in an interview with a Christian news outlet:
It’s not okay because it’s a license to do things in the sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be. They’re supposed to be within marriage, they are supposed to be for purposes that are, yes, conjugal, but also [inaudible], but also procreative. That’s the perfect way that a sexual union should happen. We take any part of that out, we diminish the act …
Santorum is part of a small slice of the American population who are against contraception. Even most Catholics (85 percent, according to Pew) don’t believe it’s morally wrong. Because it’s a view held by a relatively tiny minority no one usually bothers to make an argument for non-procreative sex. But because Santorum is a serious presidential contender, at least at this exact moment, maybe it’s worthwhile.
…
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February 14, 2012, 5:03 pm
By Tom Bartlett
Your maximum number of real friends is 150, according to Robin Dunbar, a finding often cited to show that having a large number of Facebook friends is silly. The idea behind “Dunbar’s number,” as it’s usually called, is that human beings can’t maintain meaningful relationships with more than (roughly) 150 people. There is a cognitive upper limit on friendship—our brains can’t handle more buddies.
But that doesn’t mean having lots of friends on Facebook is meaningless. In fact, according to a new study, having a higher number of Facebook friends, even well past Dunbar’s number, seems to increase life satisfaction. The researchers surveyed 88 college students about their Facebook habits (number of friends, frequency of wall posts, etc.) and then measured how satisfied they were with their lives. They found that students who had more friends on Facebook were more satisfied. Among those…
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February 13, 2012, 5:33 pm
By David Wheeler
Serial killers and giant hogweed would seem to have little in common. But new research by British scientists suggests an investigative tool that helps the police find criminals can also help locate the sources of invasive species.
The research, published last week in Ecography, may reverberate beyond conservation biology and criminology. In a week when National Science Foundation officials are pushing for more interdisciplinary research, the paper indirectly suggests the benefits of seeking collaborators from other disciplines. Indeed, the tool, known as geographic profiling, has also been used to find patterns in the foraging of animals and the spread of infectious disease.
Invasive species are generally regarded as the second largest cause of biodiversity loss, right after habitat destruction. In Africa, researchers have estimated 200 fish species were lost in Lake Victoria after…
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February 9, 2012, 5:00 pm
By Josh Fischman
Mobilyze texts advice to a depressed patient. / Image courtesy Northwestern University
Siri, the iPhone’s smart guide, can tell you what’s on your calendar today. But not if the event is an episode of depression, nor can it tell you what to do about it.
A new program for smartphones in the pockets of people with major depression can do both. The software, developed by researchers at Northwestern University, combines data gathered by phone sensors with reports of mood to predict events likely to trigger an emotional plunge. Then the phone suggests ways to ward off the blues. In a small preliminary trial, patients who scored high on a test for major depression didn’t even meet the criteria for the disorder after two months.
“I don’t want to make huge claims, but we’re encouraged,” says David C. Mohr,…
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February 9, 2012, 2:37 pm
By Tom Bartlett
The older you get, the more likely you are to die. You probably knew that. What you may not know is that the mathematics of mortality were calculated in 1825 by a self-taught British actuary named Benjamin Gompertz, who found that your odds of dying double every eight years. This grim fact now carries his name (the Gompertz Law) and is used by researchers who study aging and by insurance companies when they’re figuring out if you’re a good bet.
In 1939 a study led by Major Greenwood, a well-known statistician and epidemiologist, noted a small but intriguing exception to the Gompertz Law. When we get very old—say, past 85—our odds of dying stop increasing at the same exponential rate. It’s not that the odds go down; it’s still better, death-wise, to be 21 than 91. But once you reach a later stage of life, the rate plateaus, an effect known as mortality deceleration, which makes it …
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February 8, 2012, 10:17 am
By Josh Fischman
A mouse leukemia virus (yellow) buds from an immune system cell. / Credit: Elizabeth Fischer and Kim Hasenkrug, NIH
We carry among us the seeds of our own destruction. Immune-system genes that were supposed to save us from disease instead invite it in. Why we hang on to such flawed genes has been a biological mystery. The possible answer, published this week, may hold a key to protecting us from drug-resistant bacteria.
The genes trigger our immune system to fight against invading germs like malaria and hepatitis viruses. But some versions of the genes are too weak to ward off the attackers.
You’d think that evolution would weed out the bad seeds. People who carry them get sick and die, while those with good genes thrive and have more children—shouldn’t their genes crowd out the bad ones? But …
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February 3, 2012, 1:29 pm
By Tom Bartlett
In the State of the Union address last week, President Obama called on all states to require students to stay in school until they turn 18 or graduate. Here’s the reason he gave: “When students are not allowed to drop out, they do better.”
While it’s true that dropping out of high school sharply reduces your lifetime earnings and is linked to health problems, crime, and general unhappiness, the evidence in favor of raising the dropout age is extremely weak.
Right now some states allow you to drop out at 16 and others insist you stay until 18, though those states have lots of exceptions that allow you to drop out earlier (for instance, if you get a job or your parents say it’s OK). Philip Oreopoulos, a University of Toronto economist, argues in this paper that dropouts are lousy at thinking ahead:
Immediate costs from schooling are more important for adolescents that tend to focus …
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January 30, 2012, 5:16 pm
By Tom Bartlett
We are easily fooled, more biased than we believe, less rational than we think, unable to accurately recall the past, unrealistically positive about the future, spoiled by money, controlled by hormones, hamstrung by prejudices, overwhelmed by choice. We can’t stop eating. We pay for free stuff. Our minds go blank. There is something—actually, lots of things—wrong with us.
Or so it feels after attending two days of talks at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, in which researcher after researcher explained how they had exposed humanity’s multitudinous foibles.
What, how, and how much we eat was a much-discussed topic. Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, rehearsed his finding that the size of our plates (or bowls or glasses) affects how much we consume, though with his national TV appearances and best-selling book, this …
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January 25, 2012, 5:12 pm
By Tom Bartlett
In the famous Little Albert experiment, a nearly 9-month-old baby is shown a white rat. The rat crawls up to the baby, on him, and around him. The baby seems interested in the rat and unafraid. Later, researchers again produce the rat and place it next to the baby, but this time the rat’s presence is accompanied by a loud, startling clang — a sound the baby clearly doesn’t like. This is repeated multiple times until the baby starts to cry at the mere appearance of the rat, loud clang or no. The fear extends to other furry things like a dog and a monkey, animals that previously provoked only mild interest. The researchers have taught Little Albert to be afraid.
The experiment was conducted by John Watson in 1920 and was part of the psychologist’s attempt to prove that infants are blank slates and therefore infinitely malleable. It has been recounted in countless papers and textbooks. …
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