Medical Meditation: Say Om Before Surgery

In my work as a cardiovascular surgeon, I use the most sophisticated tools of modern medicine to separate patients from their diseased hearts and replace these organs with healthy ones. While my training was in the science of the Western world, I also rely heavily on an ancient Eastern technique–meditation–to help my patients prepare for surgery and to steer them gently toward recovery.

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For Churches, Beefed-Up Security Is a Mixed Blessing

Jesus may have taught his disciples to turn the other cheek, but these days some churches are hiring armed security teams–just in case that whole forgiveness thing doesn’t work out. A flurry of violent crimes in churches has shaken the image of houses of worship as safe havens

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Report: Coral almost as genetically complex as humans

Advances in the study of coral in the last few years has led a group of scientists to conclude that corals almost rival humans in their genetic complexity and their relationship to algae is key to their survival. “We’ve known for some time the general functioning of corals and the problems they are facing from climate change,” said Virginia Weis, a professor of zoology at Oregon State University and an author of a report published in the journal Science

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Pope blasts capitalism ahead of G-8 meeting

Pope Benedict XVI, on the eve of a global economic summit, lashed out at modern capitalism for being shortsighted and short on ethics. “Today’s international economic scene, marked by grave deviations and failures, requires a profoundly new way of understanding business enterprise,” the pontiff said in his third encyclical letter, “Charity in Truth,” which was released Tuesday.

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Can a Palm Pre multitask better than an iPhone?

Palm’s comeback attempt rests squarely on the notion that it has found a better way to manage your complicated digital life. Ever since its January coming-out party at the Consumer Electronics Show, Palm has generated buzz for the Pre unlike any other phone released since Apple’s iPhone arrived in June 2007 (that includes impressive phones such as Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Bold and HTC’s G1 Android phone.) The two phones will be forever compared — not just because of their consumer-oriented styles and emphasis on gesture-based user interfaces, but because of the very real enmity between the proud team that worked on Apple’s historic iPhone breakthrough and the ex-Apple executives and engineers attempting to rebuild Palm. While the iPhone has set the standard for future smartphones, Palm’s WebOS delivers two important improvements that the iPhone can’t yet match: true multitasking between applications, and a subtle notifications system that doesn’t interrupt your train of thought.

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