Internet use cutting into TV viewing and socializing
The average Internet user in the United States spends three hours a day online, with much of that time devoted to work and more than half of it to communications, according to a survey conducted by a group of political scientists.
The survey found that use of the Internet […]

Medicine’s Data Gap: Doctors, Too, Ask: Is This Drug Right? (NY Times, free reg. req’d)
Across the country, doctors are struggling to decide which pain relievers to prescribe now that they know that popular drugs like Vioxx and Celebrex pose potentially serious heart risks. “We are desperately in need of information,” said Dr. Stephen Brenner, an […]

David Levy, a professor in the University of Washington’s School of Information, believes he may have witnessed the first-ever interruption-by-e-mail. It happened back in the ’70s, when he worked at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, a think tank at the forefront of today’s computing world.
He and about 25 other technologists were watching a visiting […]

What to do if you overdo
There are some tricks to avoid holiday overindulgence
“Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation”
- Ben Franklin
I have this friend, who will remain nameless. Let’s just say that I know her very well. Her problem is that, if the food is there, she eats it. At […]

The National Institutes of Health proposed back in September 2004 mandated Open Access for all NIH-funded research. The Science Commons project was created to encourage scientific innovation by making it easier for scientists, universities, and industries to use literature, data, and other scientific intellectual property and to share their knowledge with others. Science […]

It’s the end of the year, so it makes sense that we discuss how to make those New Year’s resolutions come true (for a change!). If you’re serious about keeping those resolutions, then you’ll appreciate this article. In it, I’ve outlined five tips to help make you more successful when making those resolutions.

Mice whose brains lack a specific protein react differently to stress than other mice, possibly offering a clue into the source of human depression, researchers at Washington University said in a study released Monday.
The St. Louis researchers, using genetically engineered mice, found they developed an imbalance in a hormone involved in stress response. During stressful […]

Asia disaster toll near 60,000
Stricken Indian Ocean nations are worked swiftly to bury thousands of bodies as experts warn disease could kill as many people as the 60,000 already dead from the violent crush of Sunday’s tsunami.
While governments and rescuers tried to cope on Wednesday with the aftermath of possibly the deadliest tsunami in more […]

We all formulate questions based upon the answer we want to hear.
Isn’t that that the truth? You see, there, I formulated a question in such a way as to make the response inevitably a “Yes.”
In theory, this is all just a word game. In science, researchers formulating questions to answers they already know (or suspect) […]

Treating Childhood Anxiety Prevents Adult Disorders
Panic disorders, phobias and other childhood anxiety conditions should be treated during childhood so that they won’t be carried over into adulthood, according to advice in the latest Harvard Mental Health Letter.
Various studies show that anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric conditions present during childhood. In many instances, […]

To Treat Autism, Parents Take a Leap of Faith (NY Times, free reg. req’d))
The most recent analysis of treatment research, financed by the National Institutes of Health and scheduled to be published next year, concludes that although behavior treatments benefit many children, there is no evidence that any particular treatment leads to recovery. Doctors do […]

Exploding the Self-Esteem Myth
Boosting people’s sense of self-worth has become a national preoccupation. Yet surprisingly, research shows that such efforts are of little value in fostering academic progress or preventing undesirable behavior.
A great article about the conflicting research findings in the area of self-esteem. What you accept as common knowledge about self-esteem (that research shows […]