Category: Health

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From Ars Technica: New Philips monitor uses sensor to promote better posture


High-tech sensors are everywhere. They alert us to spoiled food. They monitor our stress levels. And they’re blowing up in the health and fitness space, too, helping us track our key sleep and activity metrics.

And now we have the Philips ErgoSensor Monitor, a desktop display that keeps an eye on one’s posture

The 24-inch LCD monitor uses a built-in CMOS sensor to determine your
distance from the screen and your neck angle while sitting. The monitor
works with software made by DigitalOptics Corporation, and, like a
worried mother, will remind you to straighten your back, keep your
distance from the display, and take breaks from sitting at the computer.

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from Ars Technica

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From Discover Magazine: The FDA Has Decided Not to Ban BPA–For Now | 80beats

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Modern food packaging has transformed our diets for the better in many ways—fresh-tasting canned tomatoes in January and low rates of food-borne disease are not to be scoffed at. But increasing scrutiny of the materials in the cans, bottles, and vacuum packs you bring back from the store have raised fears that certain chemicals—notably, those like bisphenol A (BPA) that can mimic hormones such as estrogen—may be prompting early puberty in children, among other health problems. Last year, the National Resource Defense Council sued the FDA demanding that the agency respond to a petition to ban BPA in food packaging. Yesterday, the FDA announced that it would not be banning BPA, saying that the science linking the chemical to health risks is not yet convincing. But some companies, responding to consumer desires, are already  moving to remove it from their packaging.

Studies have found that there are low levels of BPA present in many people’s urine, but what’s still under discussion is whether the amounts we pick up can do anything to us, and even if it does little to adults, whether there are any stages of development—infancy, say—when BPA exposure might be …

 

from Discover Magazine