The results of a 20-year old project started by the Boston Retinal Implant Project may soon allow degenerative blind patients to once again see their surroundings. A new bio-electronic optical implant is currently in the works and should be ready to roll out within a couple of years. You can check out the details of this technological breakthrough in our full article.

Botox injections may get rid of wrinkles, but let's not forget that Botox is essentially a toxin. US drug-regulators are currently re-evaluating the safety of Botox due to some adverse effects related to the drug. Some of the cases involve anywhere from strained breathing to difficulty in swallowing. In extreme cases, deaths have been reported. Details in the full article.

A small study is trying to prove that normal products such as cosmetics and lotions are carrying dangerous chemicals that may prove to be the cause of reproductive problems to humans. But U.S. FDA has yet to be convinced that these chemicals are indeed problematic.

The study was spearheaded by pediatrician from the University of Washington and is being backed up by several concerned non-government organizations. More on this after the jump!

Need a quick shot of energy to finish that seemingly neverending World of Warcraft raid? Take a Mana Potion. No, we're not kidding. Somebody (a couple of WoW players and entrepreneurs, apparently) is actually selling a 40ml drink that gives you "5 to 8 hours of smooth, jitter-free energy". We think it works by pumping you full of way-past-the-RDA amounts of Vitamin B6 and B12. More in the full article.

 Worried that you'll drop dead when you're listening to music from an iPod because it interferes with your pacemaker? Worry no more. The Food and Drug Administration has dispelled this little myth with experiments that prove the iPod's innocence. Full details after the jump.

Perhaps it was inevitable ever since Dolly, the first cloned sheep, came to existence: the entry of milk and meat from cloned animals into the market. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to give a ruling  next week on whether cloned livestock are safe for consumption. Details in the full article.

PSP Homebrew Developer Ghoti has released two new PSP tutorials to his site, instructing on how to create animated loading screens and skyboxes. Like the previous tutorials, these guides teach you how to code in the C++ language. Follow the link for Ghoti's website.

An entry in the Journal of the American Medical Association has revealed a tested hypothesis that topiramate - a drug used to treat patients experiencing epilepsy - can reduce the effects of alcoholism and lower the urge to drink. Topiramate was found successful to some degree in achieving the desired effect, though more testing would be needed to fully affirm the claim.

Topiramate, under the brand of Topamax, is an FDA-approved, anti-convulsant drug that has also been approved for preventing migraines. Such a drug has also been known to cure other symptoms such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia nervosa, neuropathic pain, and the inhibition of the desire to smoke, though most are still in the investigational stages and are often off-hand therapeutic claims.

Of course, that doesn't include claims of side-effects associated with even "therapeutic doses" of topiramate, which ranges from short-term memory loss and difficulty in finding words to write or say. And sadly, certain epilepsy drugs have often been off-handedly claimed to sort out alcoholism from time to time.

But if scientists can upgrade the claims to an approved therapeutic level, then quitting the habit would no longer have "drying out" as the only way out.

There are many existing doubts about RFID tagging, such as possible breach of privacy. Now there's another grave possibility looming over the high-tech technology that is RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), and that is the likelihood of RFID implants causing cancer.

A few years ago, the US. Food and Drug Administration approved the practice of implanting RFID tags in humans after finding the RFID tags "reasonably safe", and brought about much-needed innovation to medical science (one of which is letting doctors access medical records instantaneously).

However, a number of veterinary and toxicology studies revealed that the implants actually caused malignant tumors in laboratory mice and rats. The cause? Keith Johnson, a retired toxicologic pathologist, said that the culprit is the RFID's transponder device used to send data.

The news disturbed even the leading cancer specialists, with some encouraging others to practice further caution before the glass transponder implants become an easily accessible commodity. Other specialists even claimed that they would not let allow family members to have RFID tags implanted in their bodies.

"We stand by our implantable products which have been approved by the FDA and/or other U.S. regulatory authorities," said Scott Silverman, CEO of VeriChip, one of the leading RFID manufacturers. He continued that they were not aware of studies that resulted in malignant tumors in laboratory animals that were brought about by the implants.


Check out the Read link to read the full report!

A year ago, the FDA allowed for over-the-counter purchase of Plan B, a "morning after" birth control pill for women. Since then, sales have doubled, but scientists still aren't even sure what the long term consequences of taking the pill are. Since then, Plan B has sparked a controversy through medical groups in the US.

Plan B works by preventing the release of an egg from the ovary or preventing a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus. The process sparked a controversy, likening it to abortion. Some views are so strong that some pharmacies refused to sell it. A group of pharmacists in Seattle even sued Washington state for the ruling.

One other issue is that the drug will promote promiscuity, an alarming suggestion since the full effects of the drug aren't known yet. Charmaine Yoest of the Family Research Council says that "the FDA doesn't know what the long-term consequences are of having women take the drug outside the parameters of the way it's prescribed, and so this is really gambling on women's health."

Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, is one of the leading advocates for the pill saying

We have an alarmingly high rate of teenage pregnancies in this country — 750,000 each year, and that population also needs access to emergency contraception [...] Emergency contraception is contraception. It prevents pregnancy. And there's no reason for pharmacists not to be providing contraceptives.