The WIC and Food Stamps programs do not cause obesity, yet those who have uneven access to food are often overweight/obese. With modifications, these federally-funded nutrition programs can not only continue to reduce nutrition-related health disparities but can also help to address obesity.
A tiny, six-legged critter that suspends all biological activity when the going gets tough may hold answers to a better way to cryopreserve human eggs, researchers say.
A University of Virginia neuroscientist has found that women under stress who hold their husbands’ hands show signs of immediate relief, which can clearly be seen on their brain scans.
Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a large biological clock in the smelling center of mice brains and have revealed that the sense of smell for mice is stronger at night, peaking in evening hours and waning during day light hours.
According to the “Strange Matter Hypothesis,” which gainedpopularity in the paranormal 1980’s, nuclear matter, too, can be strange. Thehypothesis suggests that small conglomerations of quarks, the infinitesimallytiny particles that attract by a strong nuclear force to form neutronsand protons in atoms, are the true ground state of matter.
Do animals use their two nostrils to locate scents in the same way they use two ears to locate sounds? UC Berkeley neuroscientists Noam Sobel and Jess Porter set out to test that question, using human volunteers on all fours to track a chocolate scent through the grass. With other senses blocked by gloves, earplugs and a blindfold, they were able to track scents and did better with two open nostrils than one.
Although online virtual experiences may improve a consumer’s knowledge of a product, the marketing tactic can backfire by creating a false sense of what the product’s real capabilites are, says a University of Washington professor of marketing.
Disease-causing organisms can be present in some areas where their hosts are not. If their hosts arrive, novel disease outbreaks may result. In the first comprehensive genetic analysis of an invasive marine host and its parasites, researchers trace invasion pathways of snails and trematodes from Japan to North America.
The herbal supplement black cohosh does not relieve hot flashes among women going through menopause. In this double-blinded randomized controlled trial of 351 women, researchers found no significant difference between the numbers of hot flashes in women taking various forms of black cohosh compared to women taking a placebo. Hormone therapy, on the other hand, significantly reduced the frequency of hot flashes.
Clinical characteristics of tinnitus such as duration, consistency and other factors influence the way individuals perceive loudness and annoyance associated with the condition, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.