The human body is a biological marvel. Tasked to protect it is our immune system, which is responsible for detecting and neutralizing a wide variety of agents, known as pathogens, and distinguishing them from our own healthy tissue. 28 years ago, National Geographic Magazine published an article entitled, Our Immune System: The Wars Within.…
Lisa’s father has Alzheimer’s and he has lost almost all of his speech. However, when he’s with the family dog, something magical happens. The compassion of animals is a powerful thing.
Photograph via Barrett Pharmacy In the small town of Watford City, North Dakota (population 1,744), the local pharmacy has a cure for kids that are afraid of the dark. Barret Pharmacy and Variety, 145 North Main St., Watford City, ND The pharmacy prescribes children one bottle of ‘Monster Spray’ with the directions:…
Joanne Milne from Gateshead, England has been deaf since birth. Joanne suffers from Ushers syndrome, a rare medical condition that has also impacted her vision. The 40-year-old was fitted with bilateral cochlear implants in February but had to wait four weeks to determine if the operation was a success. Joanne’s friend Tremayne Crossley was…
Photograph by University of Illinois and Washington University via St. Louis Public Radio You are looking at a thin, elastic membrane imprinted with an array of sensors and electrodes and designed to stretch over a heart. The cardiac device could one day help prevent heart attacks and replace the bulkier pacemakers and implantable defibrillators…
THIS CONTACT LENS COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE Photograph by Google Google is well known their ambitious and audacious side projects and their latest idea is no different. Announced yesterday on their official Google blog, project co-founders Brian Otis and Babak Parviz unveiled an intriguing image of a contact lens with a tiny…
In 1992, Dr. Jim Withers, an internal medicine physician, began providing medical care to Pittsburgh’s unsheltered homeless population. He partnered with street-savvy formerly homeless individuals and dressing as a homeless person, began to make night time street rounds in the alleys and under the bridges of the city. From this initial outreach service other…
Designer Sigga Heimis is currently presenting glass organs prototyped and created with GlassLab in an exhibition at Designgalleriet in Stockholm, Sweden. The exhibition (October 30 – November 15, 2013) presents gigantic glass hearts, lungs and brains to bring awareness to organ donation. Sigga Heimis has been working with GlassLab since 2007 at ArtBasel Miami.…
SAILOR-THEMED CT SCANNER FOR KIDS Photographs by BuzzFeed/Macey J. Foronda Located at the NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, is this pirate/sailor themed CT Scanner to help put children to ease and make them feel like they’re sailing the high seas. The institution is one of the biggest children’s hospitals in the country…
Design by Jake Evill Jake Evill wants to use 3D printing to revolutionize the way we treat fractured bones. Instead of the typical bulky, itchy and smelly plaster or fiberglass casts we use today; Evill is proposing a custom, 3D-printed, lightweight, ventilated, thin, recyclable and washable design. Jake is a recent graduate from the…