-
@GOOD Readers Answer: When Was the Last Time You Went to See a Doctor or Dentist and Was Your Visit Covered by Health Insurance?
Today on Twitter we asked our followers when they last went to see a doctor or dentist and whether the visit was covered by health insurance. We collected some of our favorite responses below. We ask a question to our Twitter faithful once a day, so if you’re not yet following @GOOD, make sure to sign up and participate in the conversation. -
11
Transparency: The Effects of Bike Commuting on Obesity
The average American is both overweight and spends more than 100 hours per year commuting, that vast majority of those hours being spent in a car. Are those numbers correlated? Could we help reduce our societal weight gain by encouraging more commutes by bike or foot? Our latest Transparency is a look at the number of active commutes in several countries, as compared to those countries obesity rates. A collaboration between GOOD and Lamosca. … -
Robin Hood Taps Long Tail to Feed Hungry Families
There are about 4 million people in New York City who struggle to afford food. In 2003, it was half that number. This time of year, as temperatures drop and holidays come and go, the pangs of hunger can be especially brutal. But thanks to an innovative new effort by the organization Robin Hood, you can help make a difference for one family in need. Have a look. http://www.vimeo.com/4604123 To accomplish the goal of delivering 15,000 meals… -
Finding Healthy Food in an Unhealthy Economy
A morning news story today showing people boycotting Whole Foods for its CEO’s stance on health care reform gave me an equal dose of disappointment and encouragement. Disappointing of course, because any time I see a corporation that seems to share the values of a consumer who just wants to find healthy, reliable products for his/her family, it’s only a matter of time WHEN that company will be exposed for lying, cheating, stealing and generally… -
Bart Stupak’s Abortion Contortion
Why the restriction on abortion in the health care bill is unfair. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) tussled with his party’s leadership in the House of Representatives for months before finally making an actionable threat: give me a floor vote on an abortion-restricting amendment, or I’ll kill your health care bill. Under the terms of that health care bill, uninsured Americans will be required to purchase health insurance, and the government will partially subsidize those who can’t cover… -
What Words Reveal
A new tool for computer language analysis can evaluate your mind based on your Tweets (and might help psychologists, too) Unless you’ve been living under a rock or among the molemen, you’ve probably enjoyed the humor of @s–tmydadsays, the popular Twitter account of Justin, who describes himself like so: “I’m 29. I live with my 73-year-old dad. He is awesome. I just write down s–t that he says.” That s–t consists of cranky honesty like “I… -
Future Growing Pains Will Take Place in Petri Dishes
That’s an ear implant. It’s getting seeded with cartilage cells at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which is “part a consortium of researchers working to apply the science of regenerative medicine to battlefield injuries.” Gizmodo has a fascinating (if brief) interview with Dr. Anthony Atala, who’s grown human organs and tissue in a lab for about 20 years. Ideas like “tissue engineering” and “regenerative medicine” sound like science fiction to me, but apparently they’re… -
Another Health Care Money Saver: Empathy
While everyone’s focused on preventative care and electronic records as ways of reducing health care costs, David Rakel, a professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, found evidence that empathy has concrete benefits (surprise!). From the BPS Research Digest: David Rakel and colleagues have found that patients who rate their doctor as highly empathic recover more quickly from a cold. Their illness is shortened by about a day—the same effect shown… -
13
EyeWriter: Paralyzed Artist Draws with His Eyes
The true beauty of scientific and technological advancements are most evident when they reveal our humanity. Take Tony Quan, also known as street artist Tempt One. Quan is paralyzed, yet with the assistance of the EyeWriter, a custom eye-tracking software, he is still able to continue painting, simply by moving his eyes. http://www.vimeo.com/6376466 Video by Evan Roth. Via Swiss Miss (via Amrit).
… -
Fog Nets for Thirsty Peru Neighborhood
A German NGO called Alimon has figured out a smart way of providing water to a neighborhood in Lima, Peru that’s been struggling without plumbing. Noticing that the city gets a lot of fog, Alimon set up nets in the hills above the neighborhood that trap that moisture and funnel it into aqueducts and reservoirs where it can be used for drinking or farming. The large nets cost the equivalent of $800 and can yield as many…
GOOD is a collaboration of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward. Get involved.
Health
How can we create a system that keeps all people healthy, at a reasonable cost?
