Recent Episodes
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Another Cause of Alzheimers
In 1906, a psychiatrist, Alois Alzheimer described to a group of German physicians a peculiar patient he had been treating. The woman developed paranoia that progressed quickly, and that was the first description of what we now call Alzheimer's disease or AD, aptly named after him. After she died, Alzheimer did an autopsy and found abnormal patterns we now know as plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that may contribute to AD.
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Interorgan Communication Keeps Us Young
We give our brains much of the credit for controlling the organs in our body and rightfully so. But new studies reveal the communication is far from one-way. Nerve networks or molecules in our organs are constantly sending back signals to “alert” the brain of what's happening which optimizes their performance. The brain rules but other organs talk back.
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The Place for Ultimate Connections
The brain is by far our most complex organ. It's fair to say there's so much to learn that we don't know what we don't know. One new study involves a tiny piece of brain tissue sample taken from the cortex of an epilepsy patient. The cortex is where learning, sensory processing, and problem-solving happens.
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Molecular Jackhammers the Coolest New Cancer Killers
Scientists may have come up with a new cancer-fighting tool and well, it functions sort of like a jackhammer that can break open and kill cancer cells. In the lab, it's 99 percent effective.
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Where Your Morning Joe Comes From
If you're a coffee fan, this will wake you up: Without diversifying the arabica coffee plant, its market dominance might be at risk. Annual coffee production is about 10 million metric tons and is one of the world's top traded commodities.
