Some of the things making a splash lately…

The Health Affairs Blog had a great post about a recent IOM report on how to communicate with patients about health care evidence. One survey conducted found that “patients view evidence about what works for their condition as more important than their provider’s opinion or their personal goals and values.” The study also showed, however, that for patients, “each decision ‘is patient-specific; it depends upon the medical evidence, the providers’ clinical expertise, and the unique and individual preferences of the patient and family.’”  The next issue of HealthAffairs, to be published on October 9, will focus on this topic.

When Bad News Stories Help Bad Science Go Viral is a detailed post about the questionable assertions behind recent flashy headlines on GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms). As this post from The Knight Science Journalism Tracker at MIT discusses, NPR’s On The Media interviewed science journalist and blogger Carl Zimmer about the media coverage of the same study last week.

At the Scientific American blog network, Eric Buckler wrote a fascinating piece about using data visualization techniques to further scientific discovery.

A fast new genetic scan is being used to enable early diagnosis of genetic diseases in newborns, says the NY Times.

The Atlantic reports that California will create a site for students to download free, open-source, digital textbooks!