News Sampler

Here are a few articles which caught my eye:

Scientists now have enough DNA to study the Woolly Mammoth, as well as possibly clone one. Hopefully the techniques will allow us to still study species which have become extinct in the modern era, which has a huge potential upside.

It appears that insurance will soon start to cover maggot therapy. I really have no idea why this took so long, but it's always nice to see that insurance will cover something that isn't patented.

A teenage girl has lived 118 days without a heart. Our ability to extend human life is truly staggering.

A version of the science fiction deflector shields has been developed. Though so far it only works against a specific type of particle, it will be interesting to see where this technology eventually leads.

To the surprise of few, a study has found that banning fast food advertising would significantly reduce childhood obesity. While my belief in free speech and a free market preclude me from supporting such a ban, I can't say I'd lose a lot of sleep over one. More importantly, it is another reason to limit the amount of television watched by children to an absolute minimum.