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The brain hidden inside the oldest known Old World monkey skull has been visualized for the first time. The creature’s tiny but remarkably wrinkled brain supports the idea that brain complexity can evolve before brain size in the primate family tree. The ancient monkey, known scientifically as Victoriapithecus, first made headlines in 1997 when its fossilized skull was discovered on an island in Kenya’s Lake Victoria, where it lived 15 million years ago. Now, thanks to high-resolution X-ray imaging, researchers have peered inside its cranial cavity and created a three-dimensional computer model of what the animal’s brain likely looked like....

Two heads are better than one, and three monkey brains can control an avatar better than any single monkey. For the first time, a team has networked the brains of multiple animals to form a living computer that can perform tasks and solve problems. If human brains could be similarly connected, it might give us superhuman problem-solving abilities, and allow us to communicate abstract thoughts and experiences. "It is really exciting," says Iyad Rahwan at the Masdar Institute in Dubai, UAE, who was not involved in the work. "It will change the way humans cooperate." The work, published today, is...

our brands of children’s crayons and two kids’ crime scene fingerprint kits were found to contain asbestos, according a report released Wednesday. The tests were commissioned by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) action fund, a government-certified laboratory and confirmed by another government-certified laboratory.

Breast cancer screenings may not lead to fewer deaths but may lead to overdiagnosis, U.S. researchers suggest. In areas of the U.S. with high levels of screening, more tumors were diagnosed—but breast cancer death rates were no lower than in areas with fewer screenings, researchers report. “The mortality results that we observed are far from definitive,” cautioned Charles Harding, the study’s lead author from Seattle, Washington. “The most dramatic finding of our study is the immediately evident—and substantial—evidence of breast cancer overdiagnosis,” he told Reuters Health in an email. …

Jason Pierre-Paul, the star defensive end for the NFL’s New York Giants, had one of his fingers amputated on Wednesday, ESPN reported. Specifically, doctors removed Pierre-Paul’s right index finger, which was injured in a fireworks accident on Saturday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Pierre-Paul’s injury and surgery, which remain shrouded in mystery, have become one of the biggest stories of the NFL offseason — and one of the most high-profile patient data breaches in years. The news of JPP’s injury first broke on Sunday when a hospital worker reportedly told his friend, who then posted the news to Twitter. Rumors...

I believe in the “dead-end rule.” This rule states that if you go down a dead-end road and ignore the signs that say it is a dead-end, you will soon learn by personal experience that it is a dead-end. I have invoked this rule many times in my worldwide teaching and preaching against abortion. For millennia, the church – and many others too – have been holding up the signs saying that abortion is a dead-end. Those individuals, families, and nations that have ignored these signs are now reaping the fruit of the bitter experience that abortion does not solve...

Medicare said Wednesday it plans to pay doctors to counsel patients about end-of-life care, the same idea that sparked accusations of “death panels” and fanned a political furor around President Barack Obama’s health care law six years ago. The policy change, to take effect Jan. 1, was tucked into a massive regulation on payments for doctors. It suggests that what many doctors regard as a common-sense option is no longer seen by the Obama administration as politically toxic. Counseling would be entirely voluntary for patients. Some doctors already have such conversations with their patients without billing extra. Certain private insurers...

It is not easy being a vampire, and even harder to come out of the coffin to a physician or therapist for fear they will misinterpret the habit of ingesting the blood of willing donors or succumb to stereotyping, a study finds. Research led by D.J. Williams, director of social work at Idaho State University, indicated that people who identify themselves as “real” vampires – that is, needing others’ blood to gain energy – would not disclose their practices to those in the helping professions and risk reactions like ridicule, disgust and possible diagnosis of a mental illness.

A federal health official dealing with the surge of illegal immigrants last year at the southern U.S. border ripped President Obama for the months-long crisis, calling him a "Marxist" and “the worst pres we have ever had,” according to newly released internal emails. The emails, obtained and published by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, show a June 9, 2014, exchange between Centers for Disease Control and Prevention logistics specialist George Roark and agency public health adviser William Adams. Roark begins by writing: “Unreal, no country in the world would allow this.” Adams responds: “Well, in ten years or less,...

In a blow to the right-to-die movement, California lawmakers on Tuesday dropped one of the strongest legislative efforts in the U.S. to allow terminally ill patients to legally end their lives. The move came despite pleas involving the case of Brittany Maynard, who moved from the San Francisco Bay Area to Oregon, which has a right-to-die law, when she was 29 so she could die on her own terms after a brain cancer diagnosis. Aid-in-dying advocates had hoped the nationally publicized case would prompt a wave of new right-to-die laws. But no state has passed such legislation this year, with...

CVS Health is leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, saying the trade group’s position on tobacco products is incompatible with CVS’ focus on health. The Chamber of Commerce said its position on tobacco products is being misinterpreted and it’s unfortunate that a company is leaving the organization over the issue. A New York Times article published June 30 said the Chamber of Commerce is fighting anti-smoking laws around the world at the behest of the tobacco industry, which is facing increased regulation aimed at reducing smoking. …

He received his inoculation directly from Louis Pasteur, on July 6, 1885 Handout picture of a two-month-old bear cub named Boo Boo held by a student at Washington University in St. Louis MORE Bear Cub Meant to Relax Students Before Finals Ends Up Biting Them and Sparking a Rabies Scare Rabies is among the most terrifying viruses to get. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “once clinical signs of rabies appear, the disease is nearly always fatal.” (Really: there have been fewer than 10 documented cases of survival once symptoms appear.) Luckily for us—and our pets—Louis Pasteur developed a...

If you've ever thought to yourself, "I'd really like to run 3.2 miles and stop three times for a bacon snack along the way," the Great American Bacon Race is about to make your smoky, porky dreams come true. The race takes place Aug. 1 (ooooh, steamy!), starting at 9 a.m., and registration ($39 through July 16; increases after that) includes a T-shirt, a medal, three bacon stations throughout the Lake Baldwin race course, and plenty of savory, breakfasty smells. Kids, walkers and strollers are welcome, and an after-party keeps the fun going with music, games and – duh –...

he reclusive beekeeper who co-founded Burt's Bees, and whose face and wild beard appeared on labels for the natural cosmetics, died on Sunday. Burt Shavitz was 80. A spokeswoman for Burt's Bees said in an emailed statement Shavtiz died of respiratory complications in Bangor, Maine, surrounded by family and friends. Shavitz was a hippie making a living by selling honey when his life was altered by a chance encounter with a hitchhiking Roxanne Quimby. She was a single mother and a back-to-the-lander who impressed Shavitz with her ingenuity and self-sufficiency.

If you don't yet have a copy of this Special Report, 'The First 15 Things You Must Do Immediately After an EMP', you can download it to you computer by clicking http://thesurvivalmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/One-Second-After-the-Lights-Go-Out-Special-Report-5-11.pdf Feel free to share this important EMP survival information!

Dr. Farid Fata put hundreds of people through hell in order to line his own pockets, and now federal prosecutors are seeking to put the Detroit-area oncologist away for 175 years. Fata has admitted that he misdiagnosed patients — 553 of them, according to prosecutors — and ordered chemotherapy and other unnecessary treatments for patients who didn’t even have cancer, report NBC News, which says some 9,000 needless injections or infusions were allegedly given.

In a startling show of incivility, pro-abortion activists hurled abuse at participants in a pro-life rally in Dublin, shouting insults, giving the finger and holding signs such as “F*** you, I’m pro-choice!” Pro-abortion campaigners also hacked into the website of pro-life group “Youth Defense” prior to the march, replacing its usual homepage with a message reading #RepealThe8thAmendment, a reference to the passage in Irish law that recognizes the “right to life” of unborn children. Meanwhile, tweeters compared demonstrators for the pro-life cause with members of ISIS and the Ku Klux Klan. The Irish Times reports that some 10,000 demonstrators showed...

Thousands of people have gathered at Parnell Square in Dublin city centre for an anti-abortion rally. Organisers say the theme and aim of this year's march, titled 'Rally for Life', is to speak up for babies with a disability. It is being organised by Youth Defence, the Life Institute, and Precious Youth. At 2.30pm demonstrators began making their way down O'Connell Street towards their finishing point outside Leinster House. Gardaí estimated the crowd for today's rally at between 5,000 and 8,000, while organisers said the figure was between 25,000 and 30,000. In a statement following today’s rally, Amnesty Ireland said...

In 1977, abortion was legal throughout the country during all nine months of pregnancy. When an obstetrician/gynecologist told teenager “Mary W” that she was 28 weeks pregnant, he suggested that she give the baby up for adoption, as few doctors in the area were willing to perform abortions that late. But Mary was determined, and she managed to find an abortionist – Dr. William Baxter Waddill. On March 2, 1977, Mary arrived at Westminster Community Hospital for a saline abortion. Saline abortions are seldom performed today because of the possibility of live births, but in the ’70s and ’80s, they...

In the past several weeks, a number of controversial natural health doctors have died under mysterious circumstances. Some of them have even had recent encounters with federal agents and bureaucracies.Two weeks ago, the string of mysterious deaths began when Dr. Jeff Bradstreet MD was found in a river with a gunshot wound to his chest. The police claim that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted and that the death was a suicide, however, Bradstreet’s family suspects foul play.Last week, members of the family set up a donation page “To find the answers to the many questions leading up to the death...