health

File this under the bizarre but potentially life-saving category of new tech: an intelligent floor that knows who is doing what on a given surface, and can alert police or first responders in the event of an intrusion or medical emergency.

IBM, which filed for a patent describing such a system in February 2009, is now, just more than three years later, the proud holder of said patent. What it does with it remains to be seen, but the initial vision is clear.

From the patent abstract, IBM reports on an approach that "uses an electronic multitouch floor covering that has numerous sensors to identify shapes."… Read more

You're in Vegas. Your head is throbbing like your heart during the Super Bowl. Your lips are drier than a tire in Paris-Dakar Rally. You feel like your body is on the verge of bursting in several awkward places. There's only one thing that can save you. Yes, an IV drip.

Yet the folks from ER seem reluctant to provide the service, even if you have health insurance.

Enter, then, the site Hangover Heaven. I am not sure that the words "hangover" and "heaven" have ever been successfully mixed -- except in the context of "He had such a huge hangover that he went to heaven."

However, this fine, socially conscious startup has buses that will come to your Vegas hotel and drip you back to life. At least that's what the site claims.… Read more

What's more fun? Playing with your Xbox, smart device, or Rubik's Cube, or playing with yourself? OK, we know that's a tough one for this crowd. How about the following: which is healthier?

Well, when it comes to testicular cancer, the answer is probably playing with yourself -- provided, of course, you're playing by the rules.… Read more

Patients at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center may receive cancer diagnoses and treatment with the help of IBM's Watson supercomputer by the end of 2013.

Watson would make diagnoses and suggest treatment approaches that take into account individual patient concerns, the Associated Press reported today.

Using its natural-language processing powers, the artificial intelligence system will study textbooks, oncology studies, and medical records if patients give permission. An advisory panel will test its assessments of increasingly complicated cancer cases. … Read more

Former Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz says the idea for a health care site like CareZone had been germinating for about a decade.

But it wasn't until two years ago that he had some time to really devote to it. It was then that he and his good friend Walter Smith, one of the creators of the Apple Newton, sat down to talk about how they could make a difference in the lives of people who are caring for elderly parents or for children who have issues--people who want a safe place to store medical records and share access to … Read more

Health care can be difficult to access for rural residents in the developing world. San Francisco startup Medic Mobile is working to change that, by providing communications tools to doctors, patients, and community health workers.

SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das speaks with Josh Nesbit, the company's CEO, to find out more about how simple text messaging is being used to provide better health care.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "Doctors use simple texts to deliver better health care in developing world."

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One can imagine that flying up to space can do peculiar things to one's body. And, in the case of a couple of astronauts who have returned, to one's mind.

Yet new research from NASA suggests that prolonged periods in the bluey-black beyond might cause serious damage to your eyes.

Space.com offers a chilling view of brain scan tests performed on 27 astronauts who had spent an average of 108 days away floating up there.

As they used to say in soothing TV commercials, I am not a doctor. However, the conclusion that a third of the … Read more

Game designer Jane McGonigal's new Super Better online social game made its public debut today, promising to help people build their personal resilience against health ailments like social anxiety, weight issues, and chronic pain. It was created with guidance from doctors, psychologists, scientists, and medical researchers.

SmartPlanet's Sumi Das sat down with McGonigal to talk about the game.

This video originally appeared on SmartPlanet with the headline "A first look at Jane McGonigal's new online game, Super Better."

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It seemed like the perfect setup--give kids video games that would motivate them to get off the couch and start moving. Not only would they have fun, they would also get healthier.

However, these high hopes may have been wishful thinking. According to a new study by Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, kids given "active" video games showed no more overall physical exertion than kids who used only their thumbs to play.

"There was no evidence that children receiving the active video games were more active in general, or at anytime, than children receiving the … Read more