The Aromatherapy Products Blog: 04/01/19

Monday, 1 April 2019

Defining blameworthiness to help make AI moral

Say 100 people live near a lake. If at least 10 of them overfish this year, the entire fish population will die out. Each assumes at least 10 others will overfish, and there won't be anything left to fish in the coming years.

* This article was originally published here

More than one in ten Canadians want to be in an open relationship

A sizeable number of Canadian adults are either in or would like to be in an open relationship, suggests new research from the University of British Columbia.

* This article was originally published here

Despite risk of birth defects, HIV drug should be considered for women in South Africa

Although a woman's use of the HIV drug dolutegravir at conception may increase the risk of often-fatal neural tube defects in her child, a new study suggests that the risk may be offset by the drug's ability to decrease deaths among women and prevent HIV transmission to their children and sexual partners. The report, led by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), is being published online in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

* This article was originally published here

'Smart' pajamas could monitor and help improve sleep

If you've ever dreamed about getting a good night's sleep, your answer may someday lie in data generated by your sleepwear. Researchers have developed pajamas embedded with self-powered sensors that provide unobtrusive and continuous monitoring of heartbeat, breathing and sleep posture—all factors that play a role in how well a person slumbers. The "smart" garments could give ordinary people, as well as clinicians, useful information to help improve sleep patterns.

* This article was originally published here

Apple pulls plug on AirPower wireless charging mat

Apple confirmed on Friday that it will not deliver on its promise of helping usher in a wireless future with an AirPower mat for charging its devices.

* This article was originally published here

How to ice-proof the next generation of aircraft

35,000 feet is standard cruising altitude for a commercial jet airplane, but at those lofty heights the air temperature plummets below -51 degrees Celsius and ice can easily form on wings. To prevent ice formation and subsequent drag on the aircraft, current systems utilize the heat generated by burning fuel. But these high-temperature, fuel-dependent systems cannot be used on the proposed all-electric, temperature-sensitive materials of next-generation aircraft.

* This article was originally published here

Brain growth inhibited by heavy alcohol use

Heavy use of alcohol among adolescents and young adults is not only dangerous in its own right, but new research in nonhuman primates shows that it can actually slow the rate of growth in developing brains.

* This article was originally published here

New therapeutic strategy to prevent gastrointestinal disease

Food allergies, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diarrhea and other gastrointestinal diseases have something in common: all have been linked to epithelial barrier loss. The gut epithelial barrier—that critical lining of cells in the gut that must allow nutrients into the body while keeping food-borne microbes out—can be compromised during intestinal inflammation and cause disease. While many of the molecular mechanisms that trigger gastrointestinal diseases remain a mystery, previous research has found that one enzyme, known as myosin light chain kinase (MLCK), plays a critical role. However, MLCK is also essential for critical functions in gut epithelia and other cell types. This makes direct inhibition of MLCK impossible, as it would result in many toxic and systemic side effects.

* This article was originally published here

Anti-evolvability drugs could slow antibiotic resistance in bacteria

The failure of existing antibiotics to combat infections is a major health threat worldwide. While the traditional strategy for tackling drug resistance has been to develop new antibiotics, a more sustainable long-term approach may be preventing bacteria from evolving it in the first place. Until now, one major hurdle to this approach is that it has not been clear how antibiotics induce new mutations.

* This article was originally published here

News

Monday, 1 April 2019