The Pulse – Dec. 26 2014

It’s the holiday season, so this week we listen back to some stories that make us feel warm and fuzzy. We’ll also attempt to digest some of the things that happened in the health and science world this past year.

2014 was a big year for the pharma industry, with game-changing approaches to drug development, acquisitions, lay-offs. But perhaps the biggest thing this year was the development of a sing drug for Hepatitis C – Sofosbuvir and we find out what it all means for the pharma industry.

A favorite activity this time of year is ice skating.. but guess what? You don’t even really need ice to enjoy the winter activity. Pulse contributor Avir Mitra explored some other slippery options. Sticking with our icy theme, we take a look at snowflakes and how they get their unique shapes. The final story filed under “frozen” is how researchers celebrate the holidays while they study neutrinos at the South Pole.

Since it’s our holiday, end of year, kind of show, we wanted to talk about some big developments in 2014. Regular Pulse contributor and associate editor for The Scientist, Kerry Grens, joins us this week to talk about some big science busts this year… along with some achievements.

Also on the show, what happened to the once prized toy of chemistry sets, a different look at dealing with adversity and grief and one woman’s story about how her experience with diabetes has brought her closer to her granddaughter.