Overheard at GMM HQ
“To sponsor or not to sponsor virtual events...that is the question.” - Cortney Cino, on the wisdom of sponsoring virtual events.
What the Industry is Buzzing About
Because Kids Are Better Than Us at Technology Anyways
Children's Hospital Los Angeles recently launched KidsX Accelerator. This is a digital health initiative that will link more than 30 hospitals with tech companies focused on increasing digital innovations for pediatric patients, a population that has seen far fewer digital health solutions than adults. If we’re going to give them tech that will keep their eyes glued to screens, we might as well also give them tech that will improve their quality of healthcare.
Why It Matters
The program will use a reverse pitch model. This is cool because it allows participating hospitals to pitch actual challenges to the startup community and then work with the companies that have tech solutions to meet their needs. This creates solutions to actual problems that matter most in the world of pediatric medicine.
A Welcome Right vs. Left Debate
Who you vote for is up to you, but which hand you hold the pen in while you fill out the ballot might be up to your genes. A new genome-wide association study of over 1.7 million people found 41 single DNA base pair changes that are linked to a person's chance of being left-handed, while seven others were linked to being ambidextrous.
Why It Matters
Although this only conferred around 12 percent of the variance in 'handedness,' it means there's something else (or multiple things) that are making up the bulk of our left- or right-hand preferences. The data is an important piece of a puzzle that might eventually have applications from early development research to scissors design.
It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a… Jet Suit Paramedic?
England’s Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), which operates in remote terrain frequented by a variety of outdoor recreationists, is now testing a jet suit as a way to get paramedics quickly to just about anywhere. Postmates, are you taking notes?
Why It Matters
In the test experiment, people posing as stranded hikers were located about a 25-minute hike up a hill and were reached in less than two minutes, with jet suit paramedics easily landing nearby despite the uneven terrain. That response time could be a life-saving improvement to current search and rescue protocol. It couldn’t hurt pizza delivery either!
GOOD TO KNOW
As if you haven’t already been reminded at least a hundred times by now, your vote and your voice matter. Casting your ballot probably looks a little different this election cycle, but with these important tips you’ll be protected at the polls.
