Most of the cool things I found this week were human related. My lovely mother is a nurse, and I grew up talking about health and wellness at the dinner table. Needless to say, I have a strong stomach when it comes to gross dinner conversation. I have a healthy (har har) appreciation for medical news. I love new innovation in medicine. I was excited to see so many good articles in the news this week. Here are a few of the best ones.

I give you some great links to check out:

• A interesting post from Double X Science explaining all those statistics in regards to the giant increase in Autism diagnosis. Basically  it’s not as bad as it sounds.  
• From the New York Times Science section, the story of an amazing, groundbreaking surgery for a two year old girl born without a windpipe. Doctors used the girl’s stem cells and plastic fibers to create the new windpipe. This is the sixth surgery of its kind, and the first preformed in the United States.
• Cannibalism in the United States! Cosmic Log reports on Jamestown’s lean years, and anthropological evidence that early colonists resorted to cannibalism. Creepy, and fascinating.
• In food related news, Discover gives good reason why companies should label their GMO products. An interesting, objective read. I highly recommend it.

Your photo for the week, Eocypselus rowei, possibly the common ancestor for swifts, and hummingbirds. Found in Wyoming, the fossil is around 52 million years old. As you can see, the specimen is incredibly well preserved, so well that microscopic features were visible. This is very cool.

As always, thanks for reading! Please share.