From WebMD to AI chatbots: How innovation has empowered patients to take control of their health
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 15-Nov-2025 18:11 ET (15-Nov-2025 23:11 GMT/UTC)
A new research article published in the Journal of Participatory Medicine unveils how successive waves of digital technology innovation have empowered patients, fostering a more collaborative and responsive health care system. The paper, titled "From Internet to Artificial Intelligence (Al) Bots: Symbiotic Evolutions of Digital Technologies and e-Patients," explores the symbiotic evolution of digital health tools and the increasingly engaged e-patient.
Researchers have successfully demonstrated a spectrometer that is orders of magnitude smaller than current technologies and can accurately measure wavelengths of light from ultraviolet to the near-infrared. The technology makes it possible to create hand-held spectroscopy devices and holds promise for the development of devices that incorporate an array of the new sensors to serve as next-generation imaging spectrometers.
MIT physicists performed an idealized version of the double-slit experiment, stripping it to its quantum essentials. They confirmed that light exists as both a wave and a particle but cannot be observed in both forms at the same time.
A new study compares street-level video footage across decades and finds that people walk 15 percent faster in cities now, compared to 1980, and linger in public spaces less often.
Alumina (Al₂O₃) ceramics represent a crucial category of advanced structural engineering materials due to their excellent physicochemical properties and relatively low cost. However, their broader application has been limited by low fracture toughness, making toughening a key research focus for Al₂O₃ ceramics. Silicon carbide whiskers (SiCw) are among the most effective toughening agents for Al₂O₃ ceramics, but recent studies have primarily focused on optimizing SiCw introduction methods and sintering processes. Departing from conventional approaches, the present research has pioneered a novel strategy—designing a core-shell composite structured SiCw as the toughening phase for Al₂O₃ ceramics, thus offering a new perspective for Al₂O₃ ceramic toughening studies.