A team of UCLA graduate student researchers is working to eliminate a variety of security and privacy problems by creating a portable device that would identify users by their thumbprints. Instead of relying on passwords or signatures to verify identity, users of the device meant to hang on one’s keychain ““ appropriately called ThumbPod ““ […]
Category Archives: Science & Health
Briefs
Drug improves treatment for juvenile diabetes A new drug, based on the findings of a UCLA study, may help halt the progression of type I diabetes. Individuals with juvenile diabetes must take daily insulin injections. In clinical trials, the drug was found to greatly increase insulin production in patients in the advanced stages of the […]
Your health: Smart drinking habits can prevent headaches
Booze, firewater, grandpa’s cough syrup, the reason my girlfriend left me ““ alcohol has been around for thousands of years and earned notoriety for nearly as many reasons. If one is so inclined, alcohol can provide a release from everyday stress. But awareness of its effects and the potential for abuse can make drinking a […]
Genetic modification: harmful or helpful?
The greatly polarized debate over genetically modified foods has labeled the crops as either public health saviors or ecological time bombs. Genetically modifying a food by transplanting foreign DNA has the potential to increase food production and the nutritional value of the food supply. On the other hand, some argue that inserting foreign elements into […]
Avoid being hit with cancer; blow off pot
It’s been a long week here at UCLA. You got crushed by your statistics midterm, the dorm cafeteria served up mystery meat again, and to top it off, the UCLA basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss to that dreaded school across town. Clearly, you deserve to blow off some steam. Some students head to the […]
Students lament misuse of bodies
From the first day of gross anatomy lab, UCLA medical students are taught to respect the cadavers they are about to dissect. The March 7 arrest of Henry Reid, the director of UCLA’s Willed Body Program, for the alleged selling of donated body parts, has upset many medical students in its contradiction to the principles […]
When the mere idea of a cure is enough
A patient is given a pill to take daily as a painkiller. After a month, the pain is gone. Surprise ““ the pill contained no active ingredients, but was merely a sugar pill. The elimination of pain was a result of what is known as the placebo effect. The placebo effect is the physiological changes […]