News
-
Psychiatric drugs surge among kids
The proportion of children and teenagers in the United States taking drugs prescribed for psychiatric disorders more than doubled from 1987 to 1996.
- Health & Medicine
Lifestyle can prevent diabetes…maybe
Losing weight and exercising more can help ward off diabetes—but other research suggests that it's hard to get people to make such lifestyle changes.
- Health & Medicine
Singing the blues
After finding that people with diabetes are slightly more likely to have had an episode of depression in the past 11 years than similar people who have not developed diabetes, some researchers have made the controversial suggestion that depression may cause diabetes.
- Health & Medicine
Darn that diet, anyway
Seemingly healthful foods—such as broiled chicken and baked fish—can contain high concentrations of compounds that may damage the cardiovascular system, and eating these foods can raise the concentration of these so-called advanced glycation end products in a person's blood.
- Health & Medicine
The medicine isn’t going down
Only about a third of people diagnosed with type II diabetes are taking their medications often enough to keep their blood sugar concentrations under tight control.
- Agriculture
Carnivorous fish nibble at farming gain
Fish farming may ease pressure on wild stocks overall, but for certain species, farms mean a net loss of fish.
-
From Bone to Brain: Transplanted male bone marrow makes nerve cells in women and girls
Transplanted bone marrow can form new nerve cells in the brains of people.
- Chemistry
Unnatural Biochemistry: Bacteria make and use an alien amino acid
Researchers have constructed an organism that synthesizes and incorporates an extra amino acid into its proteins.
-
Smells Like Emotion: Brain splits duties to sniff out feelings
A study suggests that a brain structure called the amygdala assesses the emotional intensity of both pleasant and unpleasant sensations, thus challenging prior evidence that it primarily coordinates fear responses.
- Animals
One-Two Poison: Scorpion starts with a cheap shot
A South African scorpion economizes as it stings, injecting a simple mix first, followed by a venom that's more complicated to produce.
- Health & Medicine
Too Much of a Good Thing: Excess vitamin A may hike bone-fracture rate
Dietary studies suggest that people who consume large amounts of vitamin A in foods or multivitamins are more likely to suffer hip fractures than are people who ingest modest amounts.
- Tech
Fiber Helper: Minuscule controllers may open data floodgates
A device that fits on the end of optical fibers may make possible the next big boost in Internet speed without new underground cables.
