Health Tech

How Well Are Farm Workers Compensated?

(image courtesy trek earth) I try to be aware of the path food takes from origin to my plate. I just finished reading The American Way of Eating, by Tracie McMillan, where the author went undercover in the food supply chain, working in grocery retail, as a restaurant employee, and as a worker picking fruits and vegetables in the fields. That last job really fascinated me, because not only are fruits and veggies integral to my diet, but sadly the treatment and wages of those workers are ripe for abuse. Coincidentally, one of my favorite blogs, Meals and Miles, was…


The Secrets to Beauty in One Simple Video!

It is not a secret that Photoshop enables magazines to make people look like idealized versions of themselves. In the world of photographic manipulation, no one has wrinkles, or pimples, or unsightly beads of sweat on hot days. Everyone is skinny and muscular, and clothes fit perfectly. In addition to being wildly unrealistic, it’s always ripe for parody, and Forbes shared a video that perfectly nails the absurdity of it: Fotoshop by Adobé is hysterical, and I love how it takes on not only Photoshop but the entire beauty industry. We are bombarded daily by commercials for chemicals that hide…


FDA Declares High Fructose Corn Syrup Is NOT Sugar

If you’ve seen those corn industry commercials that claimed “your body can’t tell the difference between ‘corn sugar’ and ‘cane sugar’” and had to pause the tv from laughing at the idiocy of that statement, good news. The FDA agrees and has denied the corn industry the chance to rebrand high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as “corn sugar”, on the grounds that it is not, in fact, sugar. From the New York Times: “HFCS is an aqueous solution sweetener derived from corn after enzymatic hydrolysis of cornstarch, followed by enzymatic conversion of glucose (dextrose) to fructose,” the letter stated. “Thus,…


Move Over, Nuisance Needles, Here Comes the Hypospray Courtesy of MIT Scientists

(Jet-Injection Device image courtesy of the MIT BioInstrumentation Lab) When I was a kid and a bona fide Star Trek junkie, I always was impressed by the clever futuristic gadgets that were mainstays of the series. One of these, the hypospray, was particularly memorable to me. Got a shipmate howling and baying at the moon due to some bizarre disease or injury? Need to do the Vulcan Neck Pinch sans Vulcan and sedate a distraught character? Well bring along Dr. McCoy with his hypospray and you are but a PFFFFFFFFFFFT! away from relief. See Mr. Sulu below? He’s about to get…


Tracking Fresh Seafood with Track Your Fish on MyGulfWild.com

Red Snapper photo courtesy of myGulfWild.com I love Red Snapper, but if the truth be known, I haven’t always put a lot of thought into where the fish came from when I was about to eat it; I probably should have been a little more careful. But now I have a new appreciation for not only where my Snapper comes from, but for the people who catch it and the process involved. I recently purchased two whole Gulf Red Snappers from HEB, a grocery store in nearby San Angelo. I noticed that the Red Snapper in the seafood case had…


Sugar, Salt, and Why We Love Junk Food

I love salt. A lot. My college friends still tease me about how I would salt my fries, then salt my ketchup for good measure. For the record, I don’t do that anymore, and not just because Sarah made me stop. We really do try to make an effort to eat “real food” (and yes, I recognize that the fried Oreos I had at the town carnival last night do not count), and this graphic shared by author Michael Pollan just further cemented that drive to eat better. I don’t know for certain that all of the claims are true,…


How Dangerous Is Football?

I played rugby for several years, both in college and post-college. Just about every person who heard I played rugby had the following comment: “Rugby? Isn’t that dangerous?” Yes, rugby is a rough sport, and I can’t deny that (especially with two screws in my knee from a rugby practice-related injury). But I always tell people that I feel rugby is safer than American Football, which has always struck me as a dangerous and chaotic sport. There’s been quite a bit of debate about concussions and football lately, and according to Forbes, even former football player Kurt Warner doesn’t want…


FireFly’s Hello Kitty Light-Up Toothbrush Review

Show me a parent who has no problem getting their kids to brush for a full two minutes, and I’ll show you a parent that is in denial. When my daughter Sarah first learned to brush her teeth, it was common for me to stand with her to help make sure that she did the full minute on each row. As she got a bit older, she (understandably) didn’t want me hovering over her, because she could ‘do it [herself], mommmm!’ The thing is that sometimes ‘doing it herself’ meant a cursory brush over each tooth (maybe), a quick swish…


Monsanto, Already ‘Most Evil Company of 2011’, Buys Bee Research Company to Hide Ills

There are few insects as critical to just about every part of the ecological cycle as the bee. Some estimates say that one-third of naturally grown food requires pollination by bees, including most fruits, vegetables and nuts. Coffee, soy beans and cotton are all dependent on pollination by bees to increase yields. It is the start of a food chain that also sustains wild birds and animals. And yet in recent years the bee population has been in freefall, with reports stating that a decline of 90% or more has occurred over the last few decades. The reports are not…


Dear 16-Year-Old Me

“One bad Sunburn before the age of 18 doubles your chances of developing melanoma.” “You are at a higher risk if you have more than 50 moles, a weakened immune system, or a family history of skin cancer.” “The outlook is very good if we can catch it early, but you have a less than 10% chance of surviving more than 5 years if we don’t.” “Melanoma can show up on your tongue, your palms, and on the soles of your feet.” “Your skin is like an elephant; it never forgets.” “If something seems out of place, get your doctor to have a look…


When Did Bed Shopping Get So Complex?

Sarah and I just bought a new mattress. This would not normally be news, but it was quite the shocker to discover just how complex buying a mattress has become. The last time I had to shop for a bed, I called 1-800-Mattress and bought the cheapest one they could quickly deliver. It was quick and it was simple. No longer. Now there are mattresses in every possible firmness, material, and price — except cheap. Honestly, I wanted to avoid the whole thing as long as possible, but Friday night our old bed struck back. I rolled over, and then…


Stay Cool as Temps Rise!

Monday is a big day for many runners. It’s the 116th annual Boston Marathon (the oldest marathon in the world!), which is always an exciting event. I love following Boston, even though I don’t have a shot at qualifying to run it unless they let me race with a rocket strapped to my legs. This year is going to be very unusual though, and it serves as a good reminder to always adjust as temperatures rise quickly in this warm spring. See, Boston starts at 11am, and this Monday it looks like it is going to be a bit warm….



Would You Sell an Extra Organ for the Latest Tech?

I have no idea if the story I just read in the Telegraph is true or not, but supposedly there is a 17 year old in China who is suffering from a renal deficiency after selling his kidney to be used in an illegal transplant operation. He got 22,000 yuan (about £2200 or $3500) in the trade, which only sounds slightly better than a handful of magic beans; he used the money to buy a freaking iPad and iPhone. Supposedly his mom only found out about the crappy trade when she asked him how he got his shiny new gear….


An Argument for Braces, If You Still Aren’t Convinced

I know plenty of people whose parents opted not to get them braces when they were younger; some of these people could care less about whether a few of their teeth are bunched up a bit or not, but there are a few who are genuinely embarrassed by their smiles. The discussion of braces comes up every now and then, and one of the arguments against getting them has been that it would be silly to wear braces as an adult. After seeing this video, my comeback will now and forevermore be that if your smile bothers you and you…


Color Blindness or Do You See What I See? Two Apps That Might Help

(Ishihara color sample from Wikipedia) I work in a company that specializes in computer graphics, animations and programming. As such, there is a large amount of visual data that I have to pore over that often deal with proper colors, because in the world of product marketing, brand colors are generally VERY specific. I have “normal” color vision and 20/20 vision (when I was younger it was around 20/10…oh for the old days!), so excellent sight has been the rule for me, and I’ve never given visual capacity much thought. Not too long ago, however, a coworker called me to…


What’s My Heart Rate Measures by Just Looking at the Screen!

This morning I was feeling great after we got a lot of outdoor time and exercise due to the unseasonably warm weather this weekend, and I really pushed myself on my morning jog (based on my speed I can’t bring myself to call it a ‘run’), and so by the time I got home I was really winded. I checked my heart rate to be sure I was in my normal range before doing my indoor workout. Imagine if I could just check my heart rate anywhere I went using my smartphone and just having it look at my face!…


$30 off Eyeglasses at Costco

Despite my reputation of being very clumsy, I have worn glasses for over 20 years without breaking them. Until last week’s vacation, when I left them on the bed and smashed them. Oops. To be fair, being at sea apparently exacerbates my natural klutziness, since I also went flying off a water tube, fell off a chair, and walked head first into a tree branch. So I guess I should be happy my glasses were the main victims. However, this did mean I needed new ones, and I apparently picked a good month for it! Costco has a coupon for $30 off…


The Cenoire Eluo Sonic Toothbrush Review

Your teeth are precious. And as tough as they are, they actually need to a good bit of attention if you want them hanging around. Brushing and flossing are a must. Water picks are good too. And while it is easy to get into a healthy routine when you are home, it can be much tougher when you travel or are out and about for a 14 hour work day. That’s where Cenoire’s Eluo Sonic Toothbrush comes in. The Eluo is easy to carry, simple to use and, believe it or not, even looks kind of neat. Here’s a look.


iGrill + Omaha Steaks’ Steak Time App = Meat Magic

Now far be it from me to tell a man (or a woman for that matter) how to use their BBQ grill. Like politics and religion, grilling is a topic where advice is rarely appreciated or even more rarely followed. I’m sure you’re great at cooking a steak over charcoal or gas, and I wouldn’t tell you to your face if I thought otherwise. A. because you’re feeding me and B. because you probably have fire and sharp BBQ tools within arm’s reach. Maybe you’re one of those people who can judge a steak’s doneness by comparing the surface of the…


LaserLeap Technologies Wins Best Startup Challenge at Photonics West

Wow … we just jump from show to show to show … from CES to NAMM – and now Photonics West. Sure there isn’t all that much overlap, but each of these shows are rather interesting to me. I haven’t heard much specific technology news of interest from Photonics yet, but today we learned that LaserLeap Technologies has won the 2012 Biophotonics Start-up Challenge based on their new ‘transdermal drug delivery’ system. From Optics.org: [LaserLeap CEO] Serpa’s winning pitch detailed a proprietary laser device that has been developed to aid drug delivery through the skin. The pulsed laser is used…