Bad news, people who carry their phones on your belts: according to Turkish researchers, you may be at risk for reduced hip bone density. Yes, the study, published in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery , suggests that “electromagnetic fields emitted by cell phones may have a harmful effect on bone density.” And you’ve already suffered with the shame that comes from wearing a belt holster for your phone. When will the bad news end? [ HealthDay News via Textually ]

Those mad neuroscientists , they’ll never learn , but maybe in the end we’ll all be better off for it. Wired has put together an extremely intriguing write-up of the short history of optogenetics — featuring a German pond scum researcher, a Nobel Prize winner, and rat brains controlled by beams of light. Optogenetics is a relatively new technique for communicating with the brain, which involves the implantation of particular light-sensitive genes into animals with the purpose of repairing neurological ailments through light therapy (no, not that kind ). By hooking up fiber-optic cables to the affected area of the brain, researchers have been able to completely restore movement in mice with Parkinson’s disease and their current efforts revolve around developing a less invasive method that doesn’t go deeper than the outer surface of the brain.

Stanford scientists discover that by changing a mouse’s neurons to respond to light, they could use fiber optic cables to influence the mouse to do certain things. The trick is to insert plant genes into the brain first. The full story is over at Wired , and is quite interesting, but one of the effects achieved was to basically reverse Parkinson’s disease in mice. You should head over to find more, including what they’ll do to get around the need to thread fiber through your skull. [ Wired ]

Say goodbye to old-school casts for broken bones. Exos Medical’s braces, splints and casts are adjustable, breathable, lightweight, clean and waterproof. The only drawback is that you can’t have girls sign them. These things use a lattice of thin steel laces that can be tightened with one hand and loosened using a clicky dial knob. You can set it once and leave it be, or you can continually adjust it for the best fit. The best part?

Endoscopy, or the examination of a person’s bowels via a tube-mounted camera, is not exactly the most pleasant medical procedure one could undergo. In 2004, we noted the early stages of a project to alleviate the (literal) pain of the procedure with a spider pill, which — once swallowed by the hopefully willing patient — can be remotely controlled and positioned inside the human body. Yes, it’s a tiny, wirelessly communicating robot with a camera for a head crawling inside you. Hit the read link for the full BBC report, it really is worth seeing, and start your Innerspace jokes …

When surgeons dig around inside of you trying to cut out a tumor, they’re actually going off of pre-op info to find the tumor. An electroscalpel, combined with a mass spectrometer, will let them map cancerous cells in realtime. The thing about electroscalpels is that they put off gaeous ions, which, besides being something you shouldn’t breath in, it so happens are perfect for being analyzed via mass spectrometry —a method of identifying molecules based on their mass and change. A spectrometer pulls in the fumes from the electroscalpel, and analysis of the chemical sample happens almost instantly, allowing surgeons to, in near real time, “draw a map and say this part is healthy liver, that is connective tissue, this is adipose tissue, that is cancer” according Zoltán Takáts, a Justus-Liebig University professor who came up with the idea.

You know Frog Design even if you don’t know Frog Design . Their ideas influenced companies including Sony and Apple. And in a recent piece for Fast Company , they presented a thesis on a tech-savvy future for healthcare that’s worth reading. The entire article is 9 pages of well-reasoned scenarios involve wireless devices galore, dynamic health monitoring and remote doctor consultation. Some of the technology looks to be lifted from Star Trek, but most of the ideas could be implemented tomorrow, should someone bankroll the cash, time and necessary legislation

We’ve seen so many mods around here that sometimes it’s truly hard to get excited over the minor stuff. Well, this doesn’t fall into that category in any way. A computer scientist at the University in Warwick has developed a method to use Microsoft’s Xbox 360 to detect heart defects and help prevent heart attacks. Based on a demo created by Simon Scarle a few years back when he worked at Rare studio, it’s based on a modded chip that — instead of producing graphics for the game — now produces data tracking how the electrical signals in the heart moves about damaged cells, creating a model of it. The model can then be used to help doctors to identify defects and disturbances in the heart’s beating

When you simply have $120.69-too-much in your bank account, you can thank Uxsight for being there. You may already be entertaining guests with your variety of USB endoscopes , but to really make the picture complete (pun only slightly intended), you’re going to want this succulent USB iriscope. That’s right, now you can peer deeply, digtally into the eyes of your… er, “clients” (their words, not ours) as you check their health and generally freak everyone out. When you’re done, you can “compare the irises pictures when your client comes back to see their progress.” Now, we don’t know exactly what kind of procedure you’re going to be performing on said clients, but you’ll finally have a way to show them just what kind of mess you’ve made. We think Uxsight says it best about their product: “Natural image, attractive or charming.” Who can argue with that kind of logic

Back in 1999, Pek Van Andel and three of his colleagues did a research study to take MRI images of a couple having sex. Now, the video is on the internet. Oh my. It’s sure not the sexiest piece of footage I’ve ever seen, but it’s interesting. I guess