All-Weather Self-Driving Cars: Can They Be Safe? A Guest Post by Lucy Wyndham

Will we ever have all-weather self-driving cars? Consider this: Waymo, Tesla and others have been diligently testing self-driving cars. Waymo alone has logged over 5 million miles. But most of the testing has occurred in California, Arizona and Florida. What … Continue reading

Are Driverless Cars Our Friends or Foes? A Guest Post by Lucy Wyndham

Driverless Cars! Americans’ fear of road accidents doesn’t quite measure up to their fear of terrorism and guns. Nevertheless, it is still considerable and rightfully so. During 2017, motor vehicle deaths in the country topped 40,000, equating to approximately 3,333 … Continue reading

Weight Loss Help – from Berkeley!

Weight loss: it’s on a lot of our minds today. We’re emerging from the cocoon of our quilted down parkas and earmuffs to greet the warm weather. Of course, we’ve been eating healthy food all winter. And, surprise, during the … Continue reading

Declaration of Independence from Political Rants

Note Added May 2018: Political rants inspired this post in June 2015. This seems a good time to re-publish it. The midterm election season is warming up, and emotional, insulting speech is already circulating. Once again, it’s time for each … Continue reading

Heart Surgery 5 – Surgery Cost: Medicare Coverage and Hospital Staff

Surgery cost is amazingly high. One part of the reason is the large numbers of staff required to deliver a high quality hospital experience. The tally of my own heart surgery cost illustrates more than anything else how important it … Continue reading

Heart Surgery 4 – Life Beyond: Post Surgery Recovery

Post surgery recovery is a necessary process before one can feel that they have had surgery success. The surgery itself has one goal: to help you live beyond the surgery. However, before “beyond” comes, you have to get through weeks … Continue reading

Heart Surgery 3 – Valve Surgery Operation & the Intensive Care Unit

Valve surgery in the heart is a modern miracle. It’s risky. Many precise steps have to occur to attain surgery success. It’s amazing that anyone survives the operation! Here’s a step-by-step guide through a typical heart valve surgery as well … Continue reading

Heart Surgery 2 – What Brings Us to the Operating Room Before Surgery

Before surgery, seventy percent of us will develop heart disease. If we’re lucky, we’ll survive long enough to reach the operating room and get help. This blog hopes to make you one of those lucky folks! This is part 2 … Continue reading

Heart Surgery 1 – Highly Likely for You or a Family Member

Heart surgery is everywhere. Most Americans – 70% – contract heart disease. It’s the leading cause of death, even ahead of cancer. Three months ago I had sudden heart surgery to replace my mitral valve, and that’s the only reason … Continue reading

Lahaina Walk, with Tongans, Kings & Prisons

Lahaina, Maui is a royal capital, a whaling town and now a tourist must-see. A walk through Lahaina uncovers surprising history and culture. My wife Nola and I took a stroll through southern Lahaina on a Sunday afternoon early this … Continue reading

Memory – Four Crazy Things We Get Wrong

Memory – Four Crazy Things We Get Wrong: A guest post by John Hawthorne. There are a lot of deep misunderstandings about how memory works. Here we clear up four of the most common. Have you ever been absolutely convinced … Continue reading

Human Nature 2: Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is the topic of today’s blog. This is Part 2 of a blog about Human Nature, meaning behavior shown by today’s humans, whether or not we approve of it. Part 1 discussed some less controversial human behavior, namely … Continue reading

Human Nature 1: Lazy Teens, Wakeful Seniors

Lazy teens who sleep as late as you let them. Wakeful oldsters who have trouble getting a solid night’s sleep. We might be tempted to think that sleepy teenagers are being passively aggressive to protest the rules and schedules of … Continue reading

Personalized Cancer Therapy Gains Traction

Personalized cancer therapy steadily advances, as highlighted by key articles in Science and Nature this month. This blog tallies how individualized therapy is progressing against cancer, the world’s most challenging group of deadly diseases. Following a look at the context … Continue reading

Hospital Surgery 5: Prostatectomy Cures BPH

Prostatectomy is the ultimate and definitive cure for prostate enlargement (BPH). This blog installment describes my experience with this operation, which I count as a surgery success. I have divided this blog post on hospital surgery into five installments. They … Continue reading

Hospital Surgery 4: Prostate Enlargement Versus Cancer

Prostate enlargement (BPH) and prostate cancer are common conditions requiring vigilance by all men. BPH is more common and requires either medications or a surgical cure. I have divided this blog post on hospital surgery into five installments. They treat … Continue reading

Hospital Surgery 3: Recovery & Discharge

Recovery is the first thing on the patient’s mind following surgery success. This blog installment describes my recovery time in the hospital after waking from anesthesia until my discharge. I have divided this blog post on hospital surgery into five … Continue reading

Hospital Surgery 2: That Scary Anesthesia

Anesthesia drugs used in hospital surgery are rightfully a source of great concern. This blog post describes my experience with the anesthesia process and what you can expect. I have divided this blog post on hospital surgery into five installments. … Continue reading