Science & Technology
Science & Technology
Scientists Advance Toward Genetically Perfect Replacements for Diseased Cells
Michael A. LaFerrara June 16, 2013
Stem cell research holds enormous promise for human health care, and scientists at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) recently advanced that potential dramatically. Melissa Healy reports for the Los Angeles Times: For the first time, scientists have created human embryos that are genetic copies of living people and used…
Science & Technology
Shale Gas Is Plentiful; Freedom to Produce It Is Not
David Biederman June 14, 2013
On Monday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that the technically recoverable shale gas resources throughout the world increased 10 percent from the 2011 estimate. This rise is a consequence of increased geological knowledge combined with the wondrous technologies of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Of the forty-one countries within…
Science & Technology
Celebrate Sarah Murnaghan’s Life; Demand an End to Government Death Panels
Ari Armstrong June 13, 2013
The little girl who swore she was “never going to quit, never, never,” now has a fighting chance to live. Ten-year-old Sarah Murnaghan previously had been put on the bottom of the list to receive an adult lung (the only type likely to become available) because the Department of Health…
Science & Technology
Obama Gets Rights Wrong; Americans Need to Get Them Right
Stephen Bourque June 12, 2013
At a recent press conference, President Obama declared, Quality care is not something that should be a privilege. It should be a right. In the greatest country on earth, we’ve got to make sure that every single person that needs health care can get it. The proper purpose of government,…
Science & Technology
Cambridge Scientists Dramatically Advance Battle Against Infectious Disease
Ari Armstrong June 11, 2013
As science writer Matt Ridley reports, Leo James, William McEwan, and other researchers at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge have profoundly advanced the understanding of how antibodies work, opening the door to potential advances in how doctors treat infectious diseases. James summarizes his lab’s work on his web…
Science & Technology
Government Involvement in Organ Donation Constitutes Death Panels
Ari Armstrong June 5, 2013
Sarah Murnaghan is a ten-year-old girl suffering from cystic fibrosis. If she does not get a lung transplant, she will die, likely within weeks. But so far she has been unable to receive a lung transplant because a federal agency—the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—has decided that children…
Science & Technology
Dr. Jane Wright Has Died, But Her Work Will Forever Save Lives
Roberto Sarrionandia June 3, 2013
Dr. Jane Wright, a pioneer of chemotherapy—the medical treatment that uses drugs to destroy cancer cells—has died. Wright made her key discovery after observing the symptoms of patients, including her father, who were being treated for exposure to mustard gas during World War I.* These patients, she noticed, had low…
Science & Technology
Federal Ownership of California's Resources Hinders Oil Production
David Biederman June 2, 2013
For decades in California, oil producers have successfully used hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to extract vast quantities of oil from the earth, and recent technological advances could unlock orders of magnitude more oil from California’s Monterey Shale. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the shale may hold 15.4 billion barrels…
Science & Technology
Investment in Fracking Results in Dramatic Production Growth Across Seven States
David Biederman May 31, 2013
From February 2010 to February 2013, onshore oil production (including the production of crude oil and liquid hydrocarbons called “lease condensate”) within the Lower 48 States increased by 64 percent, driven largely by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Seven states achieved particularly high increases: North Dakota, 198 percent; Texas,…
Science & Technology
De-Extinction Holds Great Promise
Mikayla Callen May 30, 2013
The themes of various horror films notwithstanding, “de-extinction”—the revival of extinct species—holds enormous promise for humans. The founders of Ark Corporation, Robert Lanza and George Church, plan to pursue de-extinction primarily as a means of improving the commercial breeding of farm animals and pets. Ark’s key technology involves “induced pluripotent…