For geneticists the fascinating fact about the Old Order Amish, one of the sects of the Pennsylvania Dutch country's “Plain People,” is that they all are descended from about 200 immigrants of 200 years ago. A few Amish leave the ancestral acres and simple way of life, but virtually no new blood has been introduced to create genetic confusion.
Tag Archives: medicine
Medicine: Fraud in a Harvard Lab
“Gifted” researcher is punished for faking data “Dr.
The Dizzy Mystery
Remember the childhood thrill of twirling in circles until the world spun wildly and you couldn’t stand on your feet? That’s how many of my former patients described their disorienting bouts with dizziness–especially the elderly ones
Study: TV May Inhibit Babies’ Language Development
As most parents of small children will reluctantly admit, nothing can occupy a child quite like television. Unfortunately, the scientific evidence suggests that using the boob tube as a babysitter has its price: the more time babies spend sitting in front of the screen, the more their social, cognitive and language development may suffer
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.
YouTube Animation Shows Stars and Planets Kepler Has Found
The orbiting Kepler telescope is all about the numbers. How many stars have planets
Medicating Young Minds
Getting by is hard enough in middle school.
Behavior: Do People Get Hooked on Sex?
A woman uses a vibrator so intensely that she ends up in an emergency room. A priest steals money from his church’s collection box so that he can pay for prostitutes
China Tiger Deaths Spark Inquiry, Calls for Animal Rights
It is an irony not lost on the Chinese public that the Year of the Tiger has not been good for the big cats.
50th Anniversary of the Pill: Love, Sex, Freedom and Paradox
There’s no such thing as the Car or the Shoe or the Laundry Soap. But everyone knows the Pill, whose FDA approval 50 years ago rearranged the furniture of human relations in ways that we’ve argued about ever since.