Snap Observations: January 10, 2008

Twelve hundred soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division preparing to deploy to Afghanistan will be equipped with new helmet sensors designed to measure the impact of blasts from roadside bombs and IEDs, reports Military.com. The sensors measure the “event” and the “acceleration” caused by the blast with the ultimate goal of being able to correlate a blast to an injury. The sensors weigh 6 ounces and have enough memory to store data on 527 events which can then be loaded onto a computer by USB. The data will inform the design of better armor for the troops.

With the myriad state- and privately-run stem cell initiatives, progress will be uneven, policies inconsistent, and grant reviewers will be in short supply, argues Margaret Goodell from Baylor College of Medicine in a Nature Reports: Stem Cells commentary. She strikes down the idea that the states should collaborate on the creation of a centralized body to review the grant proposals since that’s what the NIH is supposed to be doing anyway.

A recent study indicates that those who experienced acute stress immediately after 9/11 were 53% more likely to experience heart problems. Wired reports on the research, which appears in an article in the Archives of General Psychiatry by nursing science professor Alison Holman from the University of California. Irvine questioned 2,700 people who had been submitting health information to a database compiled by Knowledge Networks from three years before 9/11. This is considered the most comprehensive—albeit preliminary—data comparing health conditions before and after the onset of severe stress.

A Nature editorial argues that developing countries need public and private sector support for public policy think tanks to deal with mounting issues in “transport, agriculture, health, education and energy.”

Tags: funding, Innovation, stem cells

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