NEW YORK, March 23 (UPI) -- A judge has ordered the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to move forward with a ban on the use of popular antibiotics in animals out of public health concerns.Judge Theodore H. Katz of the Southern District of New York ordered the Obama administration to alert drug makers the government may soon ban the common ( Read more... )

U.S. To Review Diet Treatment Once Rejected
Diet Treatment, Already in Use, to Get FDA Review

LOS OSOS, Calif. - Next week, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will recommend whether the agency should approve the first new prescription diet pill in 13 years.

The F.D.A. rejected the drug under review, Qnexa, in 2010, amid safety concerns, ( Read more... )

Online gamers have achieved a feat beyond the realm of Second Life or Dungeons and Dragons: they have deciphered the structure of an enzyme of an AIDS-like virus that had thwarted scientists for a decade.

The exploit is published on Sunday in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, where -- exceptionally in scientific publishing -- both ( Read more... )

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There is no evidence that ecstasy causes brain damage, according to one of the largest studies into the effects of the drug. Too many previous studies made over-arching conclusions from insufficient data, say the scientists responsible for the research, and the drug's dangers have been greatly exaggerated.

From the UK Guardian newspaper: http:// ( Read more... )

Defending Isagenix: A Case Study in Flawed Thinking
Published by Harriet Hall

The Internet is a wonderful new medium for communicating ideas and information in a rapid and interactive way. Many articles are followed by a “comments” section. Like so many things in this imperfect world, comments are a mixed blessing. They can enhance the article by ( Read more... )

Antidepressants may help a lot of people get up in the morning but new research shows they are making shrimp swim into that big bowl of cocktail sauce in the sky. Alex Ford, a marine biologist at the University of Portsmouth, found that shrimp exposed to the antidepressant fluoxetine are 5 times more likely to swim towards light instead of away ( Read more... )

Modern dentistry has eliminated much of the "ouch!" from getting a shot of local anesthetic. Now a new discovery may replace the needle used to give local anesthetic in the dentist's chair for many procedures. Scientists are reporting evidence that a common local anesthetic, when administered to the nose as nose drops or a nasal spray, travels ( Read more... )

Here's a great vidblog entry that debunks homeopathy. It's mildly NSFW for mention of, well, drinking urine.

Some of the comments are lulzalicious too...my fave is the one that claims that homeopathy is simply the writing of prescriptions because THAT'S what cures people.

So in 1971 a chemistry teacher with the help of students at Stanford University decided to make a video explaining RNA translation and protein synthesis using their students. Skip to the 3 minute mark for 60's music, interpretive dance and possibly what if Lewis Carroll decided to write poetry about ribosomes.

Click to view

Twas brillig, and the slithy 30S ( Read more... )