Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted): ScienceBlogs To Take Over The World

Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted): ScienceBlogs To Take Over The World

I have been made privy to a special 1 July 2008 press release from Seed Media Group, the parent organization for ScienceBlogs, which hosts my blog. The news is good.

In short, Seed Media Group announced that ScienceBlogs, the internet's largest science community, has experienced a phenomenal growth in readership: total visits for the first six months of 2008 has topped 14 million, an all-time high.

ScienceBlogs was launched in mid-January 2006 after inviting 14 science blogs [including my blog, Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)] to join their ranks. Since then, ScienceBlogs has received a total of more than 41 million visits, or "hits", and more than 107 million individual page views. According to Amazon's Kindle statistics, ScienceBlogs hosts 70% of their top-selling science blog subscriptions, and ScienceBlogs are one of Amazon's top 25 selling sites overall, along with Daily Kos, BoingBoing, and The Huffington Post (where I occasionally volunteer).

"ScienceBlogs has become a must-read destination site for the intellectually curious from around the world and we are continuously working to make it more useful and interactive for our readers," said Sarah Glasser, Vice President of Marketing for Seed Media Group.

ScienceBlogs is an international community of blog authors whose writings span the entire world of science and technology, covering fields from neuroscience to computer science. ScienceBloggers, informally known among their friends and readers as "SciBlings", comprise a group of scientists, medical doctors, educators, and journalists -- among them are 42 PhDs, 5 MDs and 2 Rhodes Scholars. More than 90 blogs have been recruited to join ScienceBlogs so far, 70 of which are written in English, and another 28 are written in German and are hosted by our sister site, ScienceBlogs.de, in partnership with Hubert Burda Media.

Seed Media Group is a global media and technology company. Their portfolio includes publishing, software, digital media, conferences, museums, and social media. Their main foci are their passion for science and their advocacy of science literacy around the world. Seed Media Group is headquartered in New York City.

Slashdot | Cancer Resistance Technique Moves To Human Trials

Slashdot | Cancer Resistance Technique Moves To Human Trials

TaeKwonDood tips us to news that a new cancer resistance treatment is going into clinical trials after being quite successful at eradicating cancer in mice. Researchers discovered that certain white blood cells called granulocytes from cancer-immune mice were able to cure cancer in other mice. Now, doctors are putting out the call for healthy granulocyte donors in order to test how well it works on humans. The article quotes lead researcher Zheng Cui saying, "In mice, we've been able to eradicate even highly aggressive forms of malignancy with extremely large tumors. Hopefully, we will see the same results in humans. Our laboratory studies indicate that this cancer-fighting ability is even stronger in healthy humans."

Cancer patient cured with his own immune system

KurzweilAI.net

Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have developed a new cancer immune therapy by using large numbers of a patient's own T-cells (a special type called helper CD4 cells) to fight tumors.

The researchers collected some of these cells from the patient, cultured them, and injected five billion of them back into the patient. The treatment removed the tumors within two months.

Accidental fungus leads to promising cancer drug | Reuters

Accidental fungus leads to promising cancer drug | Reuters

Tests in mice showed it worked against a range of tumors, including breast cancer, neuroblastoma, ovarian cancer, prostate cancer, brain tumors known as glioblastomas and uterine tumors.

It helped stop so-called primary tumors and also prevented their spread, Ofra Benny of Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School and colleagues reported.

"Using the oral route of administration, it first reaches the liver, making it especially efficient in preventing the development of liver metastasis in mice," they wrote in their report. "Liver metastasis is very common in many tumor types and is often associated with a poor prognosis and survival rate," they added.

Self-Similarity

Google Health

Google Health

Google Health allows you to store and manage all of your health information in one central place. And it's completely free. All you need to get started is a Google username and password.

Google believes that you own your medical records and should have easy access to them. The way we see it, it's your information; why shouldn't you control it?

• Keep your doctors up-to-date
• Stop filling out the same paperwork every time you see a new doctor
• Avoid getting the same lab tests done over and over again because your doctor cannot get copies of your latest results
• Don't lose your medical records because of a move, change in jobs or health insurance

With Google Health, you manage your health information — not your health insurance plan or your employer. You can access your information anywhere, at any time.

It's safe and secure

We believe that your health information belongs to you, and you should decide how much you share and whom you share it with. We will never sell your data. We store your information securely and privately. Check out our privacy policy to learn more.

You are in control — you choose what you want to share and what you want to keep private.

Features

With Google Health, you can:

	Build online health profiles You can enter your health conditions, medications, allergies, and lab results into your Google Health profile and you can name the profile anything you want. You can even create multiple profiles for family members or others you care for.
	Import medical records from hospitals and pharmacies Choose from a list of Google Health partners to see if your hospital or pharmacy can send copies of your medical records or prescriptions to your Google Health profile. This way, you can save an accurate history of your medical conditions, medications, and test results all in one place.
	Learn about health issues and find helpful resources Review trusted information on diseases and conditions and learn about possible medication interactions and other topics to talk your doctors about.
	Search for doctors and hospitals You can search for a doctor's name or location, find a doctor's website, get directions to a doctor's office, and save a doctor's information to your medical contacts list.
	Connect to online health services Browse the online health services directory to find services that are integrated with Google Health that can help you better manage your health needs.

The Loom : A New Step In Evolution

The Loom : A New Step In Evolution: "One of the most important experiments in evolution is going on right now in a laboratory in Michigan State University. A dozen flasks full of E. coli are sloshing around on a gently rocking table. The bacteria in those flasks has been evolving since 1988--for over 44,000 generations. And because they've been so carefully observed all that time, they've revealed some important lessons about how evolution works."