FINRA Investor Education Foundation: – “A significant part of financial capability is the ability to make ends meet through adequate savings. Having resources for immediate medical needs is also an important component. In the U.S., 18% of individuals reported that over the past year, their household spent more than their income (not including the purchase… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Health Care
America’s doctors warn Google, Twitter, and Facebook: Anti-vaxxers are weaponizing tech platforms
Business Insider: The American Medical Association (AMA) is worried that anti-vaxxers are weaponizing the world’s biggest social media platforms, including Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Parents often use these platforms to spread misinformation about vaccine dangers that aren’t real. Doctors say the content is having a dangerous impact on the number of vaccinated people in America,… Continue Reading
Specialists from seven countries call for moratorium on gene editing
Nature [no fee or paywall]: Adopt a moratorium on heritable genome editing, Eric Lander, Françoise Baylis, Feng Zhang, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Paul Berg and specialists from seven countries call for an international governance framework. “We call for a global moratorium on all clinical uses of human germline editing — that is, changing heritable DNA (in sperm,… Continue Reading
The World Wide Web Turns 30. Where Does It Go From Here?
Sir Tim Berners Lee via Wired: “Today, 30 years on from my original proposal for an information management system, half the world is online. It’s a moment to celebrate how far we’ve come, but also an opportunity to reflect on how far we have yet to go. The web has become a public square, a… Continue Reading
CDC is launching its first investigation into e-scooter injuries
CNBC: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched the first-ever study of electric scooter accidents at the request of Austin Public Health and the Austin Transportation Department. “We want to identify the risk factors for those who get injured, how severe the injuries are and why they’re getting hurt,” said Jeff Taylor, manager… Continue Reading
National Academies website – Vaccines are safe
“Vaccines go through a lot of testing. Why? Because they are meant for healthy people and babies, vaccines often go through even more testing than other medical products. Vaccines are tested in labs and in hundreds to thousands of human volunteers before being approved for the public. This testing process takes many years, often more… Continue Reading
Life insurance industry using AI and social media to rate customer risk
The New Yorker: “Recent news that life insurers are now subject to a mild setback in the process for determining premiums might have been cheering if it didn’t come with a revelation that the actuaries of the world might be studying your Instagram feed. Last month, in a circular letter, the New York State Department… Continue Reading
Google makes it easier to find prescription drug disposal sites
TechCrunch: “In an effort to combat the opioid crisis, Google will begin labeling places where people can safely dispose of their prescription drugs. Now, users can find clearly labeled drug disposal sites directly from searches for things like “drug drop off near me” or “medication disposal.” Those locations include a network of hospitals, pharmacies and… Continue Reading
Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, 2019
“Iceland, Japan, Switzerland round out top five; U.S. is 35th – Health index looks at life expectancy, environmental factors…The index grades nations based on variables including life expectancy while imposing penalties on risks such as tobacco use and obesity. It also takes into consideration environmental factors including access to clean water and sanitation. Spain has… Continue Reading
A true story about smartphone addiction
The New York Times – Do Not Disturb: How I Ditched My Phone and Unbroke My Brain – “And if you’re anything like me — and the statistics suggest you probably are, at least where smartphones are concerned — you have one, too. I don’t love referring to what we have as an “addiction.” That seems… Continue Reading
GINA, Big Data, and the Future of Employee Privacy
GINA, Big Data, and the Future of Employee Privacy Bradley A. Areheart & Jessica L. Roberts. Yale Law Journal, Vol. 128 2018-2019, Number 3, January 2019 544-871. “Threats to privacy abound in modern society, but individuals currently enjoy little meaningful legal protection for their privacy interests. We argue that the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)… Continue Reading
When Kids Realize Their Whole Life Is Already Online
The Atlantic – Taylor Lorenz on what happens When Kids Realize Their Whole Life Is Already Online- Googling yourself has become a rite of passage. “Almost a quarter of children begin their digital lives when parents upload their prenatal sonogram scans to the internet [and] 92 percent of toddlers under the age of 2 already have… Continue Reading
