The dogs who listen to children reading (Guardian)
“Listening dog” encourages children to read aloud. “It helps with their self-esteem in reading out loud because he is non-judgmental. He doesn’t judge them and he doesn’t laugh at them.” Greyhounds are the dog of choice. Adopt a greyhound website.
18 Stethoscopes, 1 Heart Murmur and Many Missed Connections (NYT)
A woman (journalist/author) with a clearly audible mitral valve click volunteers to let second year med students listen. Interesting observations on doctor/patient relationship, learning to be a doctor. Read more
, Laurie Essig suggests we might try creating and joining reality-check groups before going under the knife. We could weigh our decision, benefit from the input of friends, then relentlessly pursue “perfect beauty at any cost” if we wished. 
(just got my copy). Today people have pre-diseases: pre-diabetes, pre-hypertension, pre-hyperlipidemia, pre-osteoporosis. Healthy people with no symptoms are urged to seek treatment. 
. Precisely because there is so much opportunity for digital communication, we are losing the ability to make simple, genuine connections with actual human beings. “A behavior that has become typical may still express the problems that once caused us to see it as pathological.”
. Dogs are very difficult to clone due to opaque eggs. Requires large canine population, which Korea had, since canines are on the menu there.
. At its most basic level, an exploratory kiss offers a reproductive advantage, providing genetic and hormonal information to those who pucker up.
