The Cloud was build by MIT. It is now part of the “Redesigning Fashion Trade Shows” in Florence, Italy (map here). So if your in the neighborhood go and see. Never thought lights could be this sensual (see clip).An organic sculptural landmark that responds to human interaction and expresses context awareness using hundreds of sensors and over 15,000 individually addressable optical fibers. Constructed of carbon glass, spanning over four meters, and containing more than 65 kilometers of fiber optics, the Cloud encourages visitors to touch and interact with information in new ways, manifesting emotions and behavior .....read more »

As a two-person team of photographer and biologist, our aim is to combine scientific exactness with aesthetic appearances, and thereby help to bridge the gapbetween the world of science and the world of artBiologist Nicole Ottawa and photographer Oliver Meckes utilize Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). They expose a fascinating world beyond human vision.Beautiful pictures of bacteria, viruses, from medical science, zoology crystals and many others. Have a look at Eye of ScienceBlood, erythrocytes.Bacteria: E. ColiThanks Divine CarolineRelated posts: Twitter Lists of Health and Science Symphony of Science Ode to the Brain Moodstream or get in the mood with pictures ..read more »

In this song Nellie McKay sings about the creation of the ultimate companion, clonie. Listen closely, she sings awfully fast for non native english speakers.Related posts: Blond, Smart and Funny Symphony of Science Ode to the Brain Slow Science Enjoy It ..read more »

fMRI or functional magnetic resonance imaging is the measurement of activity in the brain or more precise it measures the haemodynamic response related to neural activity in the brain or spinal cord of humans or other animals. It is one of the most recently developed forms of neuroimaging.Often results of research with fMRI have promised that we can now look inside the brain and really see what is happening in the brain during certain tasks such as memory tasks and many others.Although brain scanner technology is often described as a "window into the brain," Logothetis, in this most recent article, .....read more »

A number of studies have shown cardiovascular benefits of eating flavanol rich cocoa. In this post I will discuss the possible underlying mechanisms of these cardioprotective properties of chocolate as published in a recent review article: Flavanol-rich cocoa, a cardioprotective nutriceutical.Cocoa flavanols as antioxidants. Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals.Oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) has been implicated in atherogenesis. Or LDL, a form fat in your blood that plays an important role in harming especially your larger blood vessels can lead to hypertension, lack of oxygen supply to .....read more »

Light and depression is of interest in recent scientific publications. On Science Daily the use of bright light elderly group care facilities in the Netherlands leads to improvements. The use of daytime bright lighting to improve the circadian rhythm of elderly persons was associated with modest improvement in symptoms of dementia, and the addition of the use of melatonin resulted in improved sleep, according to a new study.According to one of the authors dr Eus van Someren: "elderly are somewhat less depressed and more active due to the use of bright light in the facilities for the elderly". "Even melatonin .....read more »

The three shrinks of Shrink rap did an amazing job with this Grand Rounds, Volume 4, #40. Since the anticipated release of the Apple iPhone 3G is just around the corner (July 11), they asked for submissions to have some connection to the iPhone, no matter how twisted the logic is to make the connection.They made nice graphics and icons to go along with their update of the medical blogosphere.They even supplied graphics for links to their grand round, see the picture above this post. The red circle is the contribution of Dr Shock, on their site you can click .....read more »

In the years 2006 and 2007 the rates of usage of ECT in Edinburgh were only 0.82 and 0.88 patients per 10 000 total population. This is approximately a third less than the rate in 2005, and three-quarters less than the rate in 1993For comparison in Belgium in 2000, the ECT rate was 4.8/10,000 inhabitants. By 2006 it had increased to 6.6/10,000 inhabitants. In Spain in 2007 the ECT rate, measured in patients per 10,000 inhabitants, was 0.61. In Portugal in 2007 the ECT-rate was 0.5-1.2/10.000 inhabitants. In The Netherlands in 2000 it was 0.22 per 10.000 inhabitantsThe authors suggest .....read more »

After almost two years and 500 stories, the Health News Review project has found that journalists usually fail to discuss costs, the quality of the evidence, the existence of alternative options, and the absolute magnitude of potential benefits and harms.In the US as well as Canada and Australia health news is reviewed by non profit organizations because an imbalanced picture of health care interventions may have a profound impact on the decision making of American consumers who rely on these news stories.In a recent article in PLoS Medicine the results of the evaluation of 500 news stories in newspapers, television .....read more »

Darzi, the minister in charge of a review of the NHS has accused some doctors of being “laggards” for obstructing the introduction of new treatments. But that is not all he even proposed some "innovative measures".Doctors and nurses should treat there patients as costumers.He says that if patients don’t like the quality of care they are receiving they should go elsewhere.His report will include proposals to routinely invite patients to grade the quality of nursing care they receive during their hospital stay, including how comfortable they were made to feel on the ward and if they were treated in a .....read more »