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New Medical Devices Vanish Inside You

For decades metal has been the norm in stents. But in October dissolvable versions reached an important milestone, with the release of clinical trial data in The New England Journal of Medicine showing a degradable device made by Abbott Vascular performed as well as its traditional counterpart. In theory, dissolvable implants reduce the risk of inflammation, blood clots and other side effects. The report not only represents the likely future of stents but also a highly visible advance from the emerging field of biodegradable technologies. Researchers in the field envision the day when most medical hardware implanted into the body—such as that used for joint repair or surgical wound support—will last only as long as it is needed.

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The day is also coming when the versatility and function of common electronics at your fingertips might be available in degradable, implantable technologies, says John Rogers, a chemist at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. In 2012 Rogers and his team reported in Science the first biodegradable silicon circuit, which also contains magnesium, magnesium oxide and silk. Among other projects, his team is now experimenting with instruments that would allow doctors to wirelessly stimulate damaged nerves to promote healing. “The eureka moment for me was the realization that silicon, in the same, high-performance form that is used in electronic devices, is bio-resorbable,” Rogers says. In the body, if the silicon is thin enough, it degrades in the presence of water into silicic acid, which is not harmful to health, and even sold as a dietary supplement. One means of controlling the speed of disintegration is to adjust the thickness, or coat it with another biodegradable material. “There’s an accelerating trend over just the last three years in which researchers are beginning to exploit electronic devices in biodegradable forms, with all of the sophistication that is available in modern semiconductor technology...” Read the rest here.

TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) Secret Deal Leaked

This is a mammoth 6,000 page document that is convoluted and complicated. If you would like to read some of the bullet point highlights, go here.

Mexico's Supreme Court Rules That Smoking Pot is a Fundamental Human Right

Mexico's Supreme Court ruled 4-to-1 Wednesday that outlawing the possession and use of the marijuana plant represents a violation of fundamental human rights. While the ruling does not mean that marijuana is now legal in the country — it only applies to the four plaintiffs in this specific case — it gives a tremendous amount of political space for lawmakers to introduce marijuana reform bills at the state and federal level in Mexico.

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Because of the way Supreme Court cases work in Mexico, the ruling means that the plaintiffs can now smoke up if they want to — but it does not immediately become the law of the land as it would in the United States. For that to happen, the court would have to hand down similar rulings for at least four other individuals or groups.
Big social issues have been decided this way before in Mexico — most notably, the country legalized same-sex marriage via this process earlier this year. Beyond that, lawmakers could decide to change the law through legislation.
The ruling does not extend to commercial marijuana enterprises, like the ones that exist in Washington and Colorado in the United States. But it does represent, perhaps, the first declaration of the right to use marijuana as a fundamental human right. And that could have rippling effects in other Latin American countries, like Uruguay and Chile, currently grappling with various marijuana legalization measures. [Source]

Snowden and His Girlfriend Dressed Up for Halloween