Author: Diane Shipley
Staff Writer Diane is especially interested in high-tech medical advances, weird and interesting uses of science, new gadgets, and the intersection of tech and lifestyle. When not working, she reads the internet, listens to podcasts, watches American TV, and thinks about leaving the house.
CarVi is a device designed to make driving safer
Usually smartphones and cars are a bad combination. But the team behind CarVi wants to use your phone to make you a better driver, and they’re raising money on Indiegogo to make their vision a reality. CarVi’s a small dashboard camera that captures and analyses video in real time. It communicates with a corresponding app…
Medical marijuana could be used to treat depression
American researchers have suggested that marijuana could help to treat depression. Scientists from the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions say that in many cases, depression is triggered by long-term stress. Marijuana has been proven to reduce stress and is sometimes prescribed for anxiety in U.S states where medical marijuana is legal. (It’s also…
Twitter CEO says trolls are all his fault
Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has admitted that the social network is terrible at dealing with abusive users, and blames himself for how bad it's become. The Verge has obtained internal memos from the company, in which Costolo emphasises that things need to change. In one he writes, 'We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls…
New microstructures could help treat heart disease
Scientists are doing so many impressive things with nanomedicine. It makes sense that they’d find a way to treat the most common cause of death with something tiny, too. Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin have created microstructures to help treat heart disease. Specifically, they wanted to find a way to help mend the…
Saved by the bell hooks Tumblr is feminist nostalgia genius
bell hooks is a legendary feminist author, scholar, and rejecter of capital letters. Saved by the Bell is a legendarily bad 90s TV show that lives on in our hearts regardless. It's honestly surprising it's taken so long for someone to create a Tumblr that connects the two, but thankfully, they finally have. Saved by…
Cold plasma could (finally!) kill off norovirus
Anyone who’s had norovirus (also called the 'winter vomiting bug', lovely) knows how unpleasant it is. Anyone who doesn’t, I won’t describe the gory details. (Although I will say it gives your stomach muscles a good workout.) It’s the most common cause of gastroenteritis in the world, affecting tens of millions of people a year.…
Three-person IVF could be approved in the UK soon
Tomorrow, MPs will decide whether to allow three-person IVF in the UK. If the procedure’s made legal, it would prevent mitochondrial diseases. Mitochondria are the organisms inside cells that produce energy so cells can function. But when a mother has a flaw in her mitochondria, she can pass on severe mitochondrial disease to her baby.…
Could tweeting about sexism help our health?
It might not seem like Twitter has any obvious health benefits, but according to a new study, tweeting about sexism has the potential to improve women’s wellbeing because it feels like we’re making a difference. Dr Mindi Foster from Wilfrid Laurier University and her team recruited 93 female students and gave them information about sexism…
10 miniature medical miracles: tiny tech that could change our lives #HealthandFitnessWeek
Smartphones might be getting bigger, but smart medicine is only getting smaller and more sophisticated. From microchips that can diagnose diseases or control our fertility to scientific breakthroughs too tiny to see without a microscope, there's an increasing number of impressive miniature medical miracles in development that have the potential to revolutionise healthcare in the…
Binge-watching has officially been linked to depression
I know. In other news, the sky is blue, water is wet, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s not a reliable source of medical advice. I don’t think anyone’s likely to faint with surprise that binge-watching shows (on TV or via services like Netflix and Amazon Prime) has been linked to feeling low. But there’s been little research…
