The drug addicts’ brain scans that Dr. Stephen Dewey takes appear in psychedelic shades of red, yellow, green and blue, each indicating a level of brain activity — or inactivity. Red means excited. Blue is dormant. Dewey is the laboratory director for behavioral and molecular neuro-imaging at the North Shore-LIJ Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. In that capacity, he’s put hundreds of addicts’ brains to the test — the positron emission tomography test, that is — seeking to understand precisely what happens to the mind when a pot smoker lights up or a heroin junkie shoots up. And, he has found, it isn’t pretty. more

Breast cancer is big business in America today, and high season for the industry is October. Personally (and it is personal), I feel exploited by the “pinking” of the world around me . . . more

A majority of Americans, according to the Pew Research Center, support stepped-up military action against ISIS even though only one-third of those urging boots on the ground believe that we have a clear goal in sight. more

To learn more about bladder cancer, the public is invited to attend a free educational program, Bladder Cancer Awareness Day, at Winthrop-University Hospital on May 9, from 9 a.m. to noon. It will be held in the Winthrop Research and Academic Center, 101 Mineola Blvd., Mineola. more

Adventure abounds when a mysterious nanny magically appears in Plaza Theatrical Productions staging of the family musical. more

Last week, President Obama and Governor Cuomo gave their annual addresses on the nation and state, and both focused a good portion of their speeches on education. While both placed a heavy emphasis on charter schools, they were far apart on other issues. more

Governor Cuomo certainly puts the “bully” in bully pulpit. In his State of the State address . . . more

Seal watching is an wintertime ritual. more

Mitch McConnell isn’t going to change the world. Apparently, neither is Barack Obama. But the folks who will change the world stayed home on Election Day. more

Do we really want to see the bruisers of the NFL play for pink? As Breast Cancer Awareness month begins . . . more