In a study to examine the impact of desired body weight on the number of unhealthy days subjects report over one month, researchers found that the desire to weigh less was a more accurate predictor of physically and mentally unhealthy days, than body mass index. Approximately 66% of the more than 150,000 U.S. adults studied wanted to lose weight, and about 26% were satisfied with their current weight.
A unique collaboration between scientists, public health workers and police has led to the arrest by the Chinese authorities of alleged traders of fake antimalarial drugs in southern China and the seizure of a large quantity of drugs. The work, involving teams from across the globe, has highlighted both the growing threat posed by fake pharmaceuticals and the complexities of tracking down those responsible for the trade.
A US nationwide initiative starting this month will enable volunteers to track climate change by observing the timing of flowers and foliage. Project BudBurst allows students, gardeners, and other citizen scientists in every state to enter their observations into an online database that will give researchers a detailed picture of our warming climate.
Researchers have devised a micro-scale tool -- a lab on a chip -- designed to mimic the chemical complexities of the brain. The system should help scientists better understand how nerve cells in the brain work together to form the nervous system. Nerve cells decide which direction to grow by sensing both the chemical cues flowing through their environment as well as those attached to the surfaces that surround them. The chip, which is made of a plastic-like substance and covered with a glass lid, features a system of channels and wells that allow researchers to control the flow of specific chemical cocktails around single nerve cells.
Comparing the survival of wild salmonid populations in areas near salmon farms with unexposed populations reveals a large reduction in survival in the populations reared near salmon farms. This study shows evidence on a global scale illustrating systematic declines in wild salmon populations that come into contact with farmed salmon.
A new study shows a 45% reduction in operative mortality in high risk patients requiring aortic valve replacement when Least Invasive Valve techniques are used compared to the conventional approach. The Least Invasive Valve "LiV" minimally invasive procedure allows surgeons to safely and easily perform heart valve repair or replacement without the need for conventional open chest surgery.
The traditional view that shrews are primitive mammals is challenged by a new study of the hunting methods of an aquatic member of the species, the water shrew, that finds it uses remarkably sophisticated hunting that allow it to catch its prey as readily in the dark as in daylight. One interesting technique is to use their sense of smell underwater by blowing air bubbles out of their nose and then re-inhaling them.
Noroviruses, which are highly contagious, cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. While most people recover within a few days, the very young and old may experience severe disease. Although maintaining hydration is essential, there is no specific treatment for infection. Norovirus, a common cause of gastroenteritis ("stomach flu"), could potentially be controlled by a vaccine.
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, with a boost from a natural "zoom lens," has found the strongest evidence so far for a galaxy with a redshift significantly above 7. It is likely to be one of the youngest and brightest galaxies ever seen right after the cosmic "dark ages," just 700 million years after the beginning of our universe (redshift ~7.6).
A new study demonstrates for the first time that embryonic stem cells can be used to create functional immune system blood cells, a finding which is an important step in the utilization of embryonic stem cells as an alternative source of cells for bone marrow transplantation.
An engineer has promised that within a year he'll start selling a car that runs on compressed air. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 13 Feb 2008 | 11:33 am
LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists and police have exposed a major Asian trade in life-threatening fake malaria drugs, resulting in the seizure of hundreds of thousands of tablets and the arrest of a dealer in southern China.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong health workers disinfected two wholesale food markets on Wednesday following the discovery of a dead wild bird suspected to have died from bird flu.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who migrated from Asia to the New World camped out for 20,000 years on land now submerged under the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia, according to a genetic analysis published on Tuesday.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Astronauts on the International Space Station slowly brought Europe's new space laboratory to life on Tuesday as crewmate Hans Schlegel, forced by illness to miss the spacewalk to install it, said he was feeling fine.
People living in noisiest spots around airports 40% more likely to develop high blood pressure, says study Source: guardian.co.uk Science | 13 Feb 2008 | 12:04 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seventy-two million years ago, a dinosaur with a sail-shaped crest on the top of its head lived at a Mexican seashore, munching plants and trying to avoid a cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex.
UK astronomers are granted a temporary reprieve over their access to two of the world's finest telescopes. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 Feb 2008 | 6:14 pm
A deadly UK heatwave may be imminent, but climate change may mean fewer temperature-related deaths, a report says. Source: BBC News | Science/Nature | UK Edition | 12 Feb 2008 | 4:32 pm
ROME (Reuters) - Italian scientists say they have proved Napoleon was not poisoned, scotching the legend the French emperor was murdered by his British jailors.
GENEVA (Reuters) - Russia proposed a treaty on Tuesday to ban the deployment of weapons in outer space, warning that their development could lead to a new arms race and a repeat of the Cold War.
