Policymakers looking for ways to help kids eat less junk food and more fruits and vegetables may have one easy solution -- pushcart vendors. Researchers reported that kids passed up ice cream and cotton candy to buy bagged fresh mango and jicama from a fruit vendor in Oakland, Calif. -- and said encouraging such sales might be one of many ways to help children eat better. Dr. June Tester of Children’s Hospital & Research Center in Oakland and colleagues watched whether children at one Oakland school bought fruit and vegetables from the vendor, known as a frutero, for 14 days in 2008. “The frutero sold an average of nearly 18 bags of fruits and vegetables each afternoon during an average of 26 minutes of sales, ... Continue reading →
White House Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel testified before a congressional committee for the first time on Thursday, defending federal efforts to take advantage of the latest technology against accusations that itis bloated and inefficient. VanRoekel appeared before the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, & International Security at a hearing to examine ways to use innovative technology while spending less. "We must ensure that as the government adjusts to this new digital world, we procure and manage devices, applications, and data in smart, secure and affordable ways," VanRoekel said. He argued that Americans expect their government to use the latest technology, even amid tight budgets. "The steps the federal government is taking to eliminate waste and duplication and ... Continue reading →
Enlarge iStockphoto.com Did they talk first? iStockphoto.com Did they talk first? Forgive me, if you're suffering from PSA policy fatigue. But there are a few more things I thought you might want to know about the new guideline from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that says men of all ages should forgo routine blood tests to detect prostate cancer. Research from Johns Hopkins suggests the chances that doctors will listen aren't great. In case you missed it, which I doubt is possible, the influential task force concluded that the harms from PSA testing outweigh the benefits when it comes to routine use. The recommendation left the door open for men and their doctors to talk things over and go ahead with the test if ... Continue reading →
Thursday, May 24, 2012 | Last Updated: 3:46 p.m. Continue reading →
Unlike Steve Jobs who operated like a non-boss boss, running the company as the creative, yet kind of horrible figurehead, Tim Cook is more staid, responsible and reasonable. You know, like a normal boss. We knew Cook would be a different kind of leader than Jobs. For one thing, he's known to be nice. But this lengthy profile by Fortune Adam Lashinksy shows just how adult Cook is compared to Jobs and just how much that grownup behavior has helped Apple's bottom line -- for now. Cook's maturity goes beyond his public rapport, which is a departure from Steve Jobs' in that he has one. Jobs stayed away from investors, photo-ops and interviews. Cook, as we already knew, likes to put on a good face. ... Continue reading →
The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee said Thursday that Verizon Wireless' bid to buy spectrum and enter into marketing agreements with a group of cable companies raises "serious competition concerns." "Without reaching any final judgment as to the legality of these transactions under antitrust laws or the Communications Act, I believe these transactions present serious competition concerns, which should be examined closely by your agencies," subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl said in a letter Thursday to Attorney General Eric Holder and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski. Kohl's subcommittee held a hearing on the transaction in March. The FCC is weighing whether to approve the sale of spectrum to Verizon from a joint venture involving Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House networks and ... Continue reading →
60-Second Science | Mind & Brain Eating Fat Makes Mice Brain Want More Mice fed a high fat diet make new cells in the hypothalamus, which may increase the desire to eat more. Karen Hopkin reports. May 24, 2012 More 60-Second Science Subscribe via RSS iTunes If you could add cells anywhere in your body, you might pick your brain. More brain cells should make you smarter, right? Well, a new study shows that they might just make you fatter. Because animals that make new nerve cells in a brain region that controls hunger tend to pack on the pounds. The results appear in the journal Nature Neuroscience. [Daniel A. Lee et al, Tanycytes of the hypothalamic median eminence form a diet-responsive neurogenic niche] In ... Continue reading →
Rumors were flying around the Capitol this week that the Supreme Court would decide the health care cases on Thursday. They were wrong. Hill staffers, Health and Human Services Department employees, and think-tankers were all abuzz on Wednesday with speculation that the Supreme Court of the United States might issue its opinion on the Affordable Care Act case on Thursday, a month sooner than most court-watchers predict. If the rumors had been correct, they would have been surprising for two reasons: 1) It would have been an unusually accelerated timeframe for the Court to issue such an opinion, and 2) nothing ever leaks from the Supreme Court. “So many people are focused on this who don’t have any experience with the Court and so things ... Continue reading →
