Archive for July 26th, 2012
Should We Patent Our DNA? A Lesson From the History of Radio
July 26th, 2012 | 
Author: 
With a contentious case over patenting human DNA sequences back in court, we look to the history of radio for a creative approach to domain over the building blocks of people.
Posted in 
Is medical marijuana good medicine?
The Los Angeles City Council voted Tuesday to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in the city, the culmination of years of controversy over the sale of pot here. Meanwhile, in Oakland, a federal crackdown closed the nation's largest dispensary amid protests and demonstrations. But authorities rarely seem to address the real issue about marijuana in California: Is it good medicine?
Some proponents of medical marijuana argue that pot is "natural" and therefore better, or at least no worse, than legally prescribed drugs, which may be addictive and may carry dangerous side effects. But natural is not the standard for whether a drug is safe and effective.
Marijuana advocates also say that physicians who warn against marijuana merely want to push prescriptions. But just because some doctors practice bad medicine with legal drugs doesn't make marijuana good medicine. In most cases, it isn't.
Study: Storms Threaten Ozone Layer Over U.S.
The risk of damage may increase as the climate warms and storms grow more intense and more frequent, the study said.
Deals to Keep Generic Drugs Off Market Get a Court Rebuff
It would seem a business executive’s dream: legally pay a competitor to keep its product off the market for years.
Congress has failed to stop it, but for more than a decade generic drug makers and big-name pharmaceutical companies have been winning court rulings that allowed it.
Until this month. Now, a federal appeals court in Philadelphia has rejected the arrangements by ruling that a payment aimed at keeping a low-priced generic copy of the drug off the market for a certain period of time is anticompetitive on its face.
“Land not sea” origin for snakes likely
One of the most primitive snake fossils ever found hints that the slithery reptiles might have originated on land, not in the sea as has been proposed.
The animal, which lived at the same time as the dinosaurs, probably emerged from a line of burrowing reptiles that lost their legs.
Where and how snakes diverged from their legged cousins the lizards has been a mystery.
It’s National Water Melon Month
We’re a bit late, but…
Watermelon has excellent levels of vitamins A and C and a good level of vitamin B6. Vitamin A found in watermelon is important for optimal eye health and boosts immunity by enhancing the infection-fighting actions of white blood cells called lymphocytes.
Watch U.S. drought spread state to state in 2012
By July 2012, more than 60% of the contiguous United States was experiencing drought conditions. That’s nearly double the area from January, as this animation from NOAA shows.