There is now a pacemaker smaller than a grain of rice that is designed to help the tiniest of hearts. Researchers from Northwestern University have successfully developed a pacemaker that fits in the tip of a syringe and can be inserted non-invasively into the hearts of newborn babies with congenital heart issues, according to a new study published in Nature. The pacemaker works with an external flexible chest piece that monitors the heart and sends a beam of light into the chest when it detec ...read more
When it comes to food poisoning, the body — well, more specifically, the brain — keeps score. Almost everyone can relate to eating something that caused them, to put it delicately, to suffer severe gastrointestinal distress that then renders them incapable of ever consuming that particular food again. Now, neuroscientists have pinpointed the exact spot (albeit in a mouse’s brain) where such traumatic memories appear to be recorded and stored, according to a study published in the journal N ...read more
Thanks to modern technology (and based on skull remains), we can now reconstruct a likely approximation of the faces of our ancient Neanderthal ancestors. When we look at those faces, we see beings that resemble us in many ways, but with more robust features, larger noses, and forward-projected midfaces, especially compared to our narrower, more delicate features.The exact mechanisms behind the differences in facial features between Neanderthals and modern humans are still not fully understood. ...read more
Prozac’s approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1988 heralded the dawn of a new age in treating depression since it focused on serotonin, a brain chemical that, when in short supply, contributes to depression. It was more targeted and had fewer and generally less harsh side effects than the classic treatments— tricyclics and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Since then, a total of seven selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that essentially help the neurotra ...read more
Life looked different after an asteroid crashed into the planet around 66 million years ago. The dinosaurs died out, the arboreal mammals declined, and the terrestrial mammals thrived. The traditional story that’s told is that the asteroid decimated the dinosaurs and that the decimation of the dinosaurs allowed mammals to trade the treetops for the ground. But what if that traditional story is wrong? What if the mammalian transformation from arboreal to terrestrial was already underway at the ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine