Lifeboat Foundation

A global plastic waste crisis is building, with major implications for health and the environment. Under its so-called “National Sword” policy, China has sharply reduced imports of foreign scrap materials. As a result, piles of plastic waste are building up in ports and recycling facilities across the United States.

In response, support is growing nationally and worldwide for banning or restricting single-use consumer plastics, such as straws and grocery bags. These efforts are also spurred by chilling findings about how micro-plastics travel through oceans and waterways and up the food chain.

Continue reading “The plastic waste crisis is an opportunity for the U.S. to get serious about recycling at home” »

Anti-social media.

A new paper suggests that an increase in mobile phone ownership could have led to a rise in mental health problems in young people.

Consumer DNA tests have taken off in popularity, promising to give you clues to your heritage and health. But after the test is done, who owns your personal genetic data? Bloomberg QuickTake explains why you should think twice before sending in that vial.

____

Continue reading “The Hidden Dangers of Home DNA Tests” »

A new form of electronics manufacturing which embeds silicon nanowires into flexible surfaces could lead to radical new forms of bendable electronics, scientists say.

In a new paper published today in the journal Microsystems and Nanoengineering, engineers from the University of Glasgow describe how they have for the first time been able to affordably ‘print’ high-mobility semiconductor nanowires onto flexible surfaces to develop high-performance ultra-thin electronic layers.

Those surfaces, which can be bent, flexed and twisted, could lay the foundations for a wide range of applications including video screens, improved health monitoring devices, implantable devices and synthetic skin for prosthetics.

Continue reading “Printed electronics breakthrough could lead to flexible electronics revolution” »

Clothing, skin patches and augmented reality glasses – welcome to the new age of data collection for mental health care.

The new MSN, Your customizable collection of the best in news, sports, entertainment, money, weather, travel, health, and lifestyle, combined with Outlook, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and more.

Autophagy is how our cells recycle their components. Most of the time it runs quietly in the background. But when cells are stressed (such as during fasting or in the presence of dysfunctional proteins) it is increased in order to protect us. Read on to learn about autophagy, its definition and how it works, autophagy regulation, and how to increase autophagy through things like fasting.

Discover the exact, genetic factors in your body that are affecting autophagy with SelfDecode, the most powerful genetic health analysis tool available.

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have developed a drug-delivery system that allows rapid response to heart attacks without surgical intervention. In laboratory and animal testing, the system proved to be effective at dissolving clots, limiting long-term scarring to heart tissue and preserving more of the heart’s normal function.

“Our approach would allow health-care providers to begin treating heart attacks before a patient reaches a surgical suite, hopefully improving patient outcomes,” says Ashley Brown, corresponding author of a paper on the work and an assistant professor in the Joint Biomedical Engineering Program (BME) at NC State and UNC. “And because we are able to target the blockage, we are able to use powerful drugs that may pose threats to other parts of the body; the targeting reduces the risk of unintended harms.”

Heart attacks, or myocardial infarctions, occur when a thrombus – or clot – blocks a blood vessel in the heart. In order to treat heart attacks, doctors often perform surgery to introduce a catheter to the blood vessel, allowing them to physically break up or remove the thrombus. But not all patients have quick access to surgical care.