Category Archives: Health

Ideas & Research: Harvard Magazine September 2024

September-October 2024 cover

HARVARD MAGAZINE (August 15, 2024): The latest Academic Freedom and Free Speech – Contendin means, and meanings…

Academic Freedom and Free Speech

Robert Post explains how they differ—and why it matters, especially now by Lincoln Caplan

Climate Change’s Crippling Costs

The impact on global GDP is likely six times greater than previously estimated. 

In Search of the Social Microbiome

The microbiome may be socially exchanged, modulating both health and metabolism.

The Goodness of Being Together

Why social interactions are as vital as food and water by Erin O’Donnell

Health Podcasts: What Can Be Done To Age Well

BBC Radio 4 (July 30, 2024): From the Hay Festival, James and a panel of experts explain what we can all do to help ourselves age well. We discover what’s going on in our bodies when we age, the difference between biological and chronological age, as well as getting the audience moving for a physical test.

James is joined by gerontologist Sarah Harper from the University of Oxford, biomedical scientist Georgina Ellison-Hughes from King’s College London, and doctor Norman Lazarus to understand how exercise, diet, and mental health all have a part to play in how we age.

Research: New Scientist Magazine – July 27, 2024

New Scientist Magazine (July 24, 2024): This issue features ‘The Smart Guide To Exercise’ – What is the quickest way to get fit?; How much exercise is too much?; What is lost and gained by working out online?; When is the best time to workout?….

What is the optimal amount of exercise and how much is too much?

If your gym instructor is an iPad, what is lost – and gained?

How to use psychology to hack your mind and fall in love with exercise

How fast do we get out of shape and is there a way to slow the loss?

How much exercise do children really need – and what type?

Watch bees defend their nest by slapping ants with their wings

Zombie galaxy came back to life after 20 million years

Chinese nuclear reactor is completely meltdown-proof

Shock discovery reveals deep sea nodules are a source of oxygen

Universe’s missing matter may be explained by galaxies leaking gas

Ideas & Research: Harvard Magazine July/Aug 2024

HARVARD MAGAZINE July/August 2024 :

Decoding the Deep

David Gruber on the North Shore of Massachusetts

Project CETI’s pioneering effort to unlock the language of sperm whales

by Jonathan Shaw

Mechanical Intelligence and Counterfeit Humanity

An illustration of generations of computers, from large machines to smartphones and the cloud

Reflections on six decades of relations with comptuers

by Harry R. Lewis

Health & Nutrition Letter June 2024 Preview (Tufts)

Cover Image

Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (June 3, 2024): The new issue features ‘Prostate Cancer’ – There is no surefire way to prevent this disease, but a healthy lifestyle may be beneficial…

There is no surefire way to prevent this disease, but a healthy lifestyle may be beneficial.

June is National Men’s Health Awareness Month, a perfect time to consider screening for prostate cancer.
According to the American Cancer Society, about one in eight men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. Although most men with this disease will not die from it, prostate cancer is still the second leading cause of cancer death in American men (after lung cancer).

Let’s Get Moving!

Physical activity is good for us—whatever we do, and wherever and whenever we do it.

All kinds of movement are important to health. Find what’s right (and fun) for you! Image © forest_strider | Getty Images

The benefits of physical activity are well-established. Not only can being physically active make you feel and perform better, but it can also reduce the risk of developing many chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Health & Nutrition Letter May 2024 Preview (Tufts)

Cover Image

Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (APRIL 30, 2024): The new issue features Vitamin Supplements – Yes, of No?; A large analysis clarifies the concerns about ultra-processed foods, and more….

Consuming Plant Protein in Midlife Can Help Women Age Well

Intake of Dietary Fiber Associated with Lower Risk of Death

Ideas & Research: Harvard Magazine May/June 2024

May-June 2024 | Harvard Magazine

HARVARD MAGAZINE May/June2024 :

Plants on a Changing Planet

Benton Taylor with cottonwood saplings in a greenhouse at the Arnold Arboretum

How long will the world’s forests impound carbon below ground?

by Jonathan Shaw

MARYVILLE, Tennessee, lies near the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, a range home to more tree species than exist in all of Europe. Benton Taylor grew up amidst this abundance, but as a boy, he barely noticed the plants. In the nearby national park, a family friend was raising—together with a menagerie of other mammals—a pair of bears orphaned as cubs. Taylor dreamed of studying these apex denizens of the forest, who forage at the top of the food chain. But as his education and understanding grew, his curiosity shifted to seed-dispersing animals, plants, and the soil and nutrients that sustain them: a trip down the trophic pyramid, driven by an appreciation of forests as ecological systems in which plants are primary producers. “Now I’ve half moved into the basement,” jokes the assistant professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, whose research encompasses the strategies plants use to obtain essential nutrients such as nitrogen, and how that, in turn, affects their ability to store another vital element with a global climate impact: carbon.

Diversifying Diet – A little-known diet improves cardiovascular health through several distinct mechanisms. 

by Nina Pasquini

An illustration of foods included in the portfolio diet.

DIVERSIFYING one’s assets is useful not only in finance but also in diet, according to an October study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH). Though not many people have heard of the “portfolio diet”—consisting of plant-based foods proven to lower unhealthy cholesterol, such as nuts, oats, berries, and avocados—it is one of the easiest ways to improve long-term cardiovascular health. “The idea was that each of these foods lowers cholesterol quite minimally, but if you make a whole diet based on these different foods, you will see large reductions in [unhealthy] cholesterol,” said Andrea Glenn, an HSPH postdoctoral research fellow in nutrition and the lead author of the study. The more of these foods one eats, the higher the protection—but one need not include them all to reap the diet’s benefits, she said. “Like a business portfolio, you can choose the ones you want.”

The Gravity of Groups

Mina Cikara in a classroom with two groups of students

Mina Cikara explores how political tribalism feeds the American bipartisan divide.

by Max J. Krupnick

Technology Quarterly: ‘Health And AI’ (April 2024)

Technology Quarterly: A new prescription

The Economist (April 1, 2024): The latest issue of THE ECONOMIST TECHNOLOGY QUARTERLY is focused on:

A new prescription

AIs will make health care safer and better, reports Natasha Loder. It may even get cheaper too

AIs will make health care safer and better

Artificial intelligence has long been improving diagnoses

Medical AIs with human faces are on their way

Artificial intelligence is taking over drug development

Can artificial intelligence make health care more efficient?

Read full report

Health & Nutrition Letter April 2024 (Tufts) Preview

Tufts & Health Nutrition - Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter

Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter (APRIL 2024): The new issue features 5 Ways to ID Ultraprocessed Foods; Should You Eat Gluten Free?; Q&A: Daily Food Choices and Myth: Carbs and Weight


Consuming Plant Protein in Midlife Can Help Women Age Well

Intake of Dietary Fiber Associated with Lower Risk of Death

Research: New Scientist Magazine – Feb 24, 2024

New Scientist Default Image

New Scientist Magazine (February 22, 2024): This issue features ‘The Human Brain’ – How it works, why it fails and the secrets to using it better…

New evidence finally reveals how male and female brains really differ

The strange truth about why thinking hard makes you feel exhausted

Why the brain’s microbiome could hold the key to curing Alzheimer’s

Supercommunicators review: Learning how to change deeply held beliefs

Are you truly healthy? These new tests provide the ultimate check-up

How we will discover the mysterious origins of life once and for all

With privacy concerns rising, can we teach AI chatbots to forget?