Karen Ventii
sciencetolife
Posts by this author
March 22, 2007
We should all be so luck to do what we love, help make a difference in the world and make a million dollars while doing it.
Dennis Liotta Ph.D. has done just that.
I had the pleasure of interviewing him and was inspired by his journey to discover some of the most important drugs of our time.
I…
March 20, 2007
Science is at its best when it can be translated into useful technologies to improve human wellbeing.
On the dawn of World Water Day (March 22) comes news from Auburn University where chemistry professor Dave Worley has used his research to develop an easily renewable water filtration system…
March 14, 2007
Autism is a complex and mysterious condition. It is a brain disorder that can affect a person's communication or social development skills but can also be related to extraordinary mental abilities such as those found in autistic savants.
With the creation of the Autism Genome Project in 2002,…
March 8, 2007
I was recently invited to the screening of a new HBO documentary series called "Addiction". I had the pleasure of meeting the filmmakers as well as some of the medical experts, like Nora D. Volkow M.D. and Mark Willenbring M.D., who helped shed light on this phenomenon. I was quite amazed at what…
March 6, 2007
Engineer Joseph Longo has found a way to turn almost any type of trash into a synthetic gas called syngas. For almost 20 years the Bristol, Connecticut-based founder and CEO of Startech Environmental Corporation has been developing a plasma converter-a machine about the size of a two-car garage…
February 26, 2007
Scientists have known for a long time that the HIV virus, upon entering a cell, can lie dormant for some time before becoming active.
Researchers from Princeton University are trying to understand the biology behind this On/Off switch for HIV and how to exploit it for use in developing anti-HIV…
February 19, 2007
1.Vreni Gurd of Trusted.MD writes about the involvement of dietary sugar in the development of diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.
2.Researchers contradict previous U.S. government advice by declaring the importance of eating seafood during pregnancy.
3.NASA Mars Orbiter…
February 12, 2007
Ever listen to a piece of music and get that "shiver-down-the-spine" feeling? Scientists in Canada are trying to understand this and other phenomena that connect music and the brain.
The researchers, based at the International Laboratory for Brain, Music, and Sound Research (BRAMS) in Montreal,…
February 8, 2007
The FDA recently approved diet pill Orlistat for sale as a non-prescription over-the-counter medication.
Amidst the buzz surrounding the FDA's decision and what it may do for our over-weight society, I would like to know what the science of this drug's action is.
According to MedicineNet.com…
February 7, 2007
Scientists have discovered that the bacterium that causes most cases of stomach ulcers has been hanging around in human guts for over 60,000 years. Read more.
February 6, 2007
A cup of coffee or a nap? Which would you prefer to get you through the hump of a tiring workday?
While the cup of coffee may seem more practical, taking a midday nap is becoming more convenient in New York City.
The New York Times recently wrote about a spa in New York City (called Yelo) that…
February 2, 2007
A professional acquaintance of mine recently died of a heart attack. While the death was difficult for me and my colleagues, it was far more difficult to understand WHY it happened. She was a Chinese woman in her early 40's with no known history of heart disease. She was fine all weekend and by…
January 30, 2007
The development of hydrogen fuel cells for cars has been described as the "ultimate green dream" in transportation.
But the high expense of producing an efficient cell has waned efforts to transform this technology into a common source of energy for vehicles.
Now, researchers from the U.S.…
January 28, 2007
HPV (Human Papillomavirus) is widely known as the virus that causes cervical cancer in women.
However, researchers have found links between HPV infection and the development of certain head and neck cancers.
I wasn't aware of the connection between HPV and head and neck cancer until a co-worker…
January 26, 2007
The BBC One television series Secrets of the Sexes scientifically explores the idea that men and women's brains are wired differently. Do you have a woman's brain or a man's brain? To find out what your brain sex is, take their Sex ID test.
The test is interesting and gives brief scientific…
January 23, 2007
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its predictions for global mortality in the future. In an article published in the November 2006 issue of PLoS Medicine WHO researchers predict the things people will be dying of by 2030. The researchers used 3 different models-optimistic,…
January 21, 2007
What drives people to do good things?
Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have discovered an area of the brain that determines whether people tend to be selfish or altruistic.
The researchers used a brain scanning technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in…
January 18, 2007
Nanotechnology is all the rage, it seems. The word 'nanotechnology' has been popping up in news articles and research papers more frequently. So I want to know...
What exactly is nanotechnology and how can it impact your health?
The basic definition of nanotechnology is anything related to the…
January 15, 2007
The health benefits of tea have been well documented. Tea has a protective effect against cardiovascular disease and contains antioxidants which carry a cancer-protective ability.
A recent study in the January 9 online edition of the European Heart Journal explains that many people from tea-…
January 11, 2007
Got heartburn? New research shows that long-term intake of medications like Nexium, Prilosec and Zantac increase the risk of suffering a hip fracture in men and women who are 50 years or older. Christine Gorman of The Daily Rx Blog explains.
January 5, 2007
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (UWM) researcher Fred Helmstetter Ph.D. is trying to understand why human memory is so selective. Why, he asks, is it that amnesia patients can't remember their names or addresses, but can remember how to hold a fork?
Dr. Helmstetter, a professor of psychology…
January 3, 2007
New guidelines by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists published in the January issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology now recommend that every pregnant woman, regardless of age, should be offered a choice of tests for Down syndrome.
Down syndrome is a condition that…