356638 items (356638 unread) in 46 feeds
World Health Organization
(804 unread)
Media
(277672 unread)
Reuters Health eLine
(11480 unread)
Australia ABC News: Health
(16314 unread)
China Xinghua Health News
(8874 unread)
New York Times: Health
(14782 unread)
HeraldToday.com: Health
(2842 unread)
WebMD Health Headlines
(7711 unread)
Medical News Today
(86181 unread)
iVillage Health
(956 unread)
Newsvine - health
(40231 unread)
Bird Flu
(5952 unread)
Medical News Today - Bird Flu/Avian Flu
(753 unread)
Diabetes
(13143 unread)
Medical News Today - Diabetes
(4570 unread)
Cholesterol
(5074 unread)
Topix.net - Cholesterol
(2208 unread)
Medical News Today - Cholesterol
(707 unread)
Cancer
(26783 unread)
Medical News Today - Breast Cancer News
(3483 unread)
Medical News Today - Cancer/Oncology News
(12083 unread)
HIV
(14516 unread)
Medical News Today - HIV/AIDS News
(7781 unread)
Women
(9799 unread)
Medical News Today - OBGYN News
(6558 unread)
Men
(2895 unread)
Medical News Today - Men's health News
(1246 unread)
As health care costs have soared, many physicians have struggled to manage the business end of health care and provide quality care for their patients. Two doctors, each with more than 30 years of experience, talk with NPR about the changes they've seen in health care, and where the system might be headed.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The Food and Drug Administration's panel voted 21-16 to lower the current maximum dose of nonprescription acetaminophen, which is 4 grams, or eight pills per day. Taking more than that can cause potentially fatal liver damage.
The National Transportation Safety Board isn't able to enforce its own recommendations, but the agency's acting chairman says it's better that way. He says it helps the NTSB focus solely on safety when investigating hundreds of airplane crashes, train wrecks and other accidents each year.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Voters in cash-strapped Oakland, Calif., will soon decide whether to approve a 15-fold increase in the taxes imposed on medical marijuana dispensaries. Dispensary owners support the measure because they see it as a way of legitimizing their businesses.
Analysis of flight destinations of passengers departing from Mexico in March and April show that air travel was key in virus transmission across the globe, according to new research.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
As Senate and House committees negotiate a potential new health care system, the idea of insurance co-ops is gaining ground as an alternative to a government-run plan. The HealthPartners co-op in Minneapolis provides some insight into the ability of these plans to provide low-cost, high-quality care.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Health officials have confirmed a case of swine flu that is resistant to Tamiflu, the leading pharmaceutical weapon against the new virus.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
With such a high-stakes, high-stress lifestyle, many journalists return from war zones with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Anthony Feinstein is one of those working to help them overcome the emotional aftereffects of covering conflict.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
When Alzheimer's disease leads to dementia, it can also trigger a desire to wander. And that's when the trouble begins. Estimates suggest about 50 percent of dementia patients who wander will suffer serious injury or death if they are not found within 24 hours.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Smoking is such a well-known cause of lung cancer that many don't realize thousands who never smoked get the diagnosis. The great majority are women. Recent research shows it's really a different disease than smoking-related lung cancer. But those with the diagnosis say they suffer the same stigma.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
While opponents of the overhaul proposals currently under consideration warn of long waits for care or draconian cuts in payments to doctors and hospitals, some experts say slowing the growth of health spending doesn't have to hurt. "You can deliver high-quality care for far fewer resources if you organize your processes right," says one expert.
Breathing is something we take for granted. But with busy and stressful lifestyles, we can develop habits that interfere with the natural rhythm of the breath. Breathing techniques can help us slow down our breath to emulate the full, deep breaths of sleeping babies.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The U.S. House of Representatives passed landmark climate legislation Friday night, but the details in the bill are vast and complex. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman tells NPR's Guy Raz about his understanding of the bill.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The U.S. House voted 219-212 for a sweeping bill to combat global warming. It would put gradually stricter caps on the total national output of heat-trapping gases, based on a system of permits that can be bought and sold.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
From sci-fi to documentaries, good science films tell the human story behind scientific ideas. Which films get the science right, and which don't? Physicist and movie critic Sidney Perkowitz runs down through some of this summer's top science flicks.
Each year, the agricultural industry must dispose of billions of pounds of chicken feathers. Richard Wool, a chemical engineer at the University of Delaware, says when feathers are heated, they develop nano-sized caverns in which hydrogen can be stored.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Wind alone could provide more than 16 times the electricity needs of the U.S., according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Harvard professor Michael McElroy and Revis James, of Electric Power Research Institute, discuss the challenges of harnessing wind power.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Algae-based biofuel is made by grinding up algae cells and extracting the oil. Reporting in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, Richard Gordon, of the University of Manitoba, and colleagues suggest that engineering algae to secrete oil might be a more efficient approach.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Meet the V-Bat: it's about 70 pounds, eight feet tall, equipped with computers and flies without a pilot. Engineer Stephen Morris, the president and CEO of MLB Co., describes how the plane works and what it might be good for.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Apple has been all but mum about CEO Steve Jobs' health status. Then a hospital disclosed this week that he got a liver transplant because he had "end-stage liver disease" and was the sickest patient on the list, raising questions about whether the company should have disclosed more about his condition to investors.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
A California think tank says global warming will gain more buy-in if it is viewed as an economic opportunity rather than a problem to be solved.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
According to the National Cancer Institute, the number of people who have developed melanoma has more than doubled over the past 30 years. Dermatologist Darrell Rigel explains the sun's effects on the skin, what "SPF" means and why skin cancer rates are going up.
Archaeologists have unearthed the world's oldest musical instruments: flutes. These vulture-bone flutes no doubt helped warm our ancestors' spirits as they pushed north into Europe's hostile Ice Age conditions.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Salty ice grains inside in Saturn's outer ring point to a possible underground ocean on the moon Enceladus.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
In 2001, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology began conducting autopsies on all slain service men and women. Captain Craig T. Mallak describes how the physical (and sometimes virtual) autopsies of soldiers have assisted in the design of body armor, helmets and vehicle sheilds.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
A new ad by a major activist group blames the health care system's ills on greedy insurance companies and promotes a government-backed insurer as the cure. But the diagnosis is flawed.
President Obama signed Monday legislation enabling the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco with broad new powers over marketing. But his closet smoking has raised some eyebrows among health advocates and led to some uncomfortable moments for the president.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Forty years ago, Ohio's Cuyahoga River, which had been compared to "an open septic tank," caught fire. Cuyahoga became a rallying cry for environmentalists and sparked the creation of the EPA and the Clean Water Act. Now the river teems with fish and wildlife.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
As health care becomes more and more complicated, some people are turning to patient advocates to help them get through the system. Advocates help coordinate care, accompany patients to doctors' appointments and help negotiate the increasingly complex world of medicine.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Rescission, the act of retroactively canceling health insurance, is fairly common, a new congressional report finds. Companies can cancel policies right before a patient is scheduled to have major surgery if the patient failed to tell the company — either deliberately or inadvertently — of a pre-existing condition.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
NPR reporter Richard Knox tells the story of his father's last weeks of life. Throughout the roller-coaster course of kidney and liver failure and multiple cardiac arrests, Knox struggled to make the best decisions for his father's care. Hardest of all was deciding when to fight and when to let him go.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Guest Host Alison Stewart talks with NPR Senior Washington Editor Ron Elving about the upcoming week in Congress, and how it looks like it will be dominated by big numbers — many in red ink. The cost of overhauling the health care system is giving members of Congress sticker shock, and polls show the public is worried about the cost of multiple bailouts.
We all know that drugs are the business of narco cops, and that murders are treated by the homicide division. But who goes after the criminals who illegally remove asbestos or secretly store hazardous waste? The Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigations Division does. Deputy Director Doug Parker discusses the EPA's most wanted fugitives with Guy Raz.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Out in the wilds of New Mexico, they're marketing a new kind of commercial space — as in, outer space. On Friday, New Mexico broke ground on what's billed as the world's first commercial spaceport.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Scientists can use weather satellites to track things like sea surface temperature and cloud cover, but how can that stop disease from spreading?
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The preliminary price tag of $1 trillion for a health care overhaul bill has Republicans up in arms and one Senate committee back to the drawing board. But one expert says the figure is a drop in the bucket compared to how much the nation currently spends on health care.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The Desert Rain Cafe in Sells, Ariz., has been open for two months. During that time, the café, which is run by the Tohono O'Odham Nation, has already reached one of its owner's goals: to bring back local culture and help slow a health epidemic by serving tasty food.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
A review of research concludes that same-sex sexual behaviors are common in many animals, including worms, frogs, flies and birds. Postdoctoral researcher Nathan Bailey describes some of the documented behaviors and explains how they may influence animal evolution.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
For years, long-line fishermen in Alaska have complained that whales have been stealing their sablefish catch. A team of researchers mounted a video camera to a fishing line and caught a sperm whale in the act, providing new insight into whale behavior.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Health care reform officially began in Washington this week, and lawmakers have been hashing out the painful trade-offs of a bipartisan plan. Guest host Paul Raeburn talks with experts about the economic and medical realities of improving care and coverage at lower costs.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
This season's astronomical highlights are about what won't be visible in the night sky. Astronomer Paul Rao discusses what he describes as "the eclipse of the century," Jupiter's mysterious missing moons, the vanishing rings of Saturn and the forthcoming Perseid meteor shower.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
New research suggests that the packaging of human sperm using proteins called histones plays a bigger role in fertility than once thought. Professor of oncological sciences Bradley Cairns explains how sperm get their shape, and how that shape can affect embryonic development.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
In Howard County, Md., health care providers are seeking ways to save costs. Howard County General Hospital's CEO says getting people to go to primary doctors instead of the emergency room is one way. Other doctors say costs can be saved through electronic record keeping and a single-payer system.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Despite diligently applying for work every day for eight months, Sylvia Martinez still hasn't landed a job. The mother of three struggles to cope with her financial difficulties and the emotional stress — sometimes despair — of being jobless.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Filmmaker Robert Kenner explores the underbelly of America's food industry — and the health consequences of its food-supply stranglehold — in his documentary Food, Inc.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The 5-4 Supreme Court ruling has limited impact because most states and the federal government have laws allowing convicts some access to genetic evidence — and the ruling will not affect those laws.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
A rocket is scheduled to blast off for the moon Thursday afternoon carrying two probes that will gather data to prepare for possible future manned missions. One probe will map the moon, and the other will search for water ice.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Even past the age of 100, Clarice Morant, called "Classy," remained the caregiver for her elderly siblings until their deaths. Last week, about six months after her sister's death left her alone in their home, Morant passed away. Those she leaves behind will remember her expressive eyes and her unflagging devotion.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The Food and Drug Administration's new chief says one of her priorities is to move the agency into the 21st century. Dr. Margaret Hamburg acknowledges that morale is low at the FDA, but she says there is excitement at the critical challenges the agency faces.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Only a few universities in the world have facilities devoted to studying human bodies as they decompose. Texas State University's Forensic Anthropology Research Facility is the newest. Students there learn to recover and study human bones.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Wicked Plants is a new book documenting the sometimes deadly plant kingdom. Author Amy Stewart writes about illegal, dangerous and toxic species, including oleander and poison sumac. This summer, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden features some of these "evil" plants skulking among its lily ponds and greenhouses.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
As Congress prepares to tackle the daunting task of reforming the U.S. health care system, the absence of Sen. Edward Kennedy from the debate could alter the Democrats' influence of the so-called Kennedy bill.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
President Obama is pushing to overhaul the nation's health care system, but doctors, hospitals and others are raising sharp concerns over his call for a government-run insurance plan to compete with private plans. White House budget director Peter Orszag and Rich Umbdenstock of the American Hospital Association offer opposing views.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The National Academy of Sciences is discussing the risks and potential benefits of manipulating the planet's atmosphere — such as spraying fine particles into the stratosphere to shade the Earth — as a way to counteract global warming. But all potential strategies are fraught with uncertainty.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
In "The Cost Conundrum," his latest article for The New Yorker, staff writer Dr. Atul Gawande reports from McAllen, Texas, a border-town with the dubious distinction of spending more per person on health care than almost any other market in America.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
President Obama spoke to the American Medical Association Monday. He acknowledged that doctors are critical to health care reform. Doctors have come under fire for driving up the cost of health care by ordering unnecessary tests and treatments to make an extra buck.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
A new program in Howard County, Md., aims to provide the uninsured access to health care. Despite impressive incentives, only 200 of the county's 10,000 uninsured have fully enrolled. Program Director Peter Beilenson says he is learning valuable lessons that could well serve the larger health care debate.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
A computing project on the Internet called the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search has discovered a new Mersenne prime number. At nearly 13 million digits long, it is only the 47th Mersenne prime since ancient Greek mathematicians first uncovered them.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
In the absence of details, what has dominated congressional debate over health care so far is rhetoric. The biggest dispute focuses on two words: "public option." Or is that a "Washington takeover" of health care?
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Republicans opposed to President Obama's plan to create a public health-insurance option warn that it would open the door to a single-payer, government-run system. But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says that's just not on the table.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Doctors say the current health care system doesn't support good doctor-patient relationships. Too few people have health insurance, and too much time is spent on paperwork rather than listening to patients.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
With health care reform on President Obama's agenda, NPR visited Howard County, Md., a rich, progressive suburb of Baltimore. Patients, doctors and employers talk about how expensive health care is — and how hard it is to pay for in a recession.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Jacob Rosenblum has celiac disease, an autoimmune condition that keeps his body from processing foods with wheat gluten. Even though he can't eat his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on wheat bread anymore, or most cereals, his family is finding new ways to cook gluten-free and keep him healthy.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
After several months of spending three hours a day, three times a week at the dialysis center, Christopher Moore started using a home dialysis machine. Now the 28-year-old has not only found more time to enjoy life, but has also seen his health improve.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Host Liane Hansen speaks with NPR's Julie Rovner about the healthcare reform bill making its way through a Senate committee this week. They also look ahead to alternate bills that could have more bipartisan support.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Out on the farm and in town, rural Americans disproportionately depend on individual insurance plans, which cost more and provide less coverage. Some farmers and ranchers have off-farm jobs that provide insurance, but those jobs are harder to come by in the sluggish economy.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Budget-strapped counties around the country are looking for ways to save money. Some in Northern California are eliminating health benefits for thousands of undocumented immigrants. But critics warn this is a short-sighted policy that carries a public health threat and burdens already-struggling community clinics and emergency rooms.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Opposition to President Obama's plan for a public health insurance system includes some in Congress, the American Medical Association and private health insurers who argue that a government plan would draw customers away from private insurers. What's their side of the story?
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
A computing project on the Internet called the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search has discovered a new Mersenne prime number, only the 47th since ancient Greek mathematicians first uncovered them.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
After a long fight, Congress has voted to regulate tobacco — with the help of some in the tobacco industry. But with years of rule-making ahead, it's difficult to predict how stringent the FDA's regulation will be. That uncertainty is unsettling for many on both sides of the nation's tobacco debate.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
NASA scientists Paul Goldsmith and Charles Lawrence discuss the space telescopes Herschel and Planck, which the European Space Agency launched last month. Herschel will investigate star and galaxy formation, and Planck will observe the residual glow of the newborn universe.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Botanists at the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, Calif., are predicting that their rare and ultrasmelly "corpse flower" will bloom any day now. Botanical education manager Kitty Connolly describes the plant, and its somewhat unusual smell.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
In the early '60s psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted his "obedience" experiments, showing that most people will do what an authority figure tells them to do. Psychology professor Thomas Blass details Milgram's life and work in his book The Man Who Shocked the World.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
New research in The Journal of Experimental Biology shows that — contrary to conventional wisdom — fingerprints don't increase the friction between the fingertips and the grasped object. Biomechanics researcher A. Roland Ennos explains what fingerprints might actually be for.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
How do snakes slither on smooth surfaces? Mechanical engineer David Hu, of Georgia Tech, filmed snakes slithering up inclines, outfitted them in jackets and photographed them through jello to better understand snake locomotion.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
NASA scientist James Garvin discusses the upcoming launch of two lunar satellites. One will map the moon's surface for future human exploration. The other will crash into a crater near the south pole, kicking up a plume of debris in which scientists hope to find water ice.
Writing in the journal Nature this week, scientists present scenarios in which Mercury, Venus or Mars could collide with the Earth during the next 5 billion years. Astrophysicist Greg Laughlin discusses these possibilities and why there's no need to panic yet.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Legislation that grants the federal government broad regulatory powers over tobacco products is on the way to President Obama's desk, after the House passed a bill giving the FDA oversight of everything from the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to packaging and marketing.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The H1N1 virus has spread to a number of countries and is not stoppable, says World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan. But the agency cautions against overreaction; so far the strain remains mild.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
In 2008, Dr. Maria Siemionow and a team of doctors made history when they performed the first near-total face transplant in the United States. Siemionow writes about the procedure in the memoir Face to Face.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The Senate is expected to pass legislation soon that would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products and advertising, as well as limit flavorings. But the bill doesn't allow the FDA to ban tobacco or the most popular flavoring, menthol.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Opponents of Congress' health care overhaul plan often cite a statistic that a public plan would result in over 100 million people losing their private insurance. But the writers of the oft-cited report say the number of people who would join a public insurance plan varies dramatically depending on how that plan is designed.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The spread of swine flu in Australia has convinced the World Health Organization that the world has a flu pandemic — the first in four decades. But the WHO is still nervous about officially declaring a pandemic.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Congress is taking the first step toward major changes in monitoring the safety of the nation's food supply. The broad plan is to give more money and power to an agency that has come under a lot of criticism in recent years — the Food and Drug Administration.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Mass migrations of large, hoofed animals are endangered across the globe, says a new study. Many of these big, grass-eating animals like bison, elk and wildebeests that used to migrate hundreds of miles don't travel these distances anymore; roads, towns and fences have interrupted their routes. Some formerly migrating species survive only in parks.
For most doctors, the decision whether or not to perform abortions is deeply personal, and often conflicted. Two doctors, one who chose to perform abortions and one who decided against it, share how they made their decisions and how those decisions have shaped their lives.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
President Barack Obama came into office promising changes in policies related to abortion, and federal funds for birth control methods other than abstinence. NPR health policy correspondent Julie Rovner offers an update on Obama's plans.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
More and more children are getting prescriptions for three powerful antipsychotic medications that have been approved for use by adults. Many doctors and parents say the drugs help children, but questions remain about their side effects. The FDA is scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to approve the drugs for children.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Johnson Aziga is a Canadian man who was diagnosed with HIV. He had unprotected sex without telling his partners he was HIV positive. In April, a court found Aziga guilty of murder for transmitting the disease to two female partners who later died.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Taxing health benefits could help fund a health care overhaul, which is estimated to cost $1 trillion over 10 years. But both the public and businesses are worried about the idea.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
The Senate is nearing final action on legislation described by backers as the strongest measure ever to curb tobacco use. The bill would put the Food and Drug Administration in charge of regulating all tobacco products. But opponents say the FDA is the wrong agency for the job.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Hooking up is becoming a trend, not only among college students, but increasingly among 20-somethings who have entered the work world. As many delay marriage, they are trading dating for hookups — casual sexual encounters with no strings attached.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Taxing health benefits could help fund a health care overhaul, economists say — and might also make the system more efficient, by encouraging people to use only the services they need. But such a tax could sink an overhaul's political chances.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Full-throated rumbling and roaring is one of the ways male bison establish their dominance in the herd. When a female runs through a group of males, it often provokes a "fighting storm" — the males bellow, head-butt and fight. In the end, the most dominant male in the group will pair with the female.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
U.S. Senator Charles Grassley speaks with Host Liane Hansen about a federal bill that would require disclosure of the financial relationship between drug companies and physicians. The Iowa Republican also discusses a federal bill that would regulate the tobacco industry, and other health care issues.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars on marketing every year, and a big chunk of it goes directly to the doctors who prescribe their products to patients. One bill in Vermont aims for transparency in the relationship, but can a similar federal bill have the same bite?
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Maj. Phil Packer of the Royal Military Police participated in the London Marathon this spring. He finished last — almost two weeks later — but earned a world of admiration. Now the Iraq vet is ready to climb a mountain — which, in a way, he's already done.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Some environmentalists believe building more nuclear power plants today is the best way to combat climate change while solar and other renewable energy sources mature. Ira Flatow and experts discuss the economic and engineering hurdles to nuclear development in the U.S.
Twice a year, the sunset lines up with New York City's street grid — making for spectacular views. Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, identified the cosmic event over a decade ago and coined the name Manhattanhenge.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Do nonhuman primates have a sense of humor? Marina Davilla Ross and colleagues tickled baby gorillas, chimps, orangutans, bonobos and humans. Publishing in Current Biology, the researchers analyzed the sounds the primates made, looking for clues to the evolution of laughter.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Isaac Newton is best known for his studies of physics and for developing the three basic laws that describe motion. In Newton and the Counterfeiter, author Thomas Levenson describes another side of Newton: his career as the crime-fighting head of the Royal Mint.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Can targeted vaccines help the human immune system respond better to cancer therapies? Douglas Schwartzentruber, medical director of the Center for Cancer Care at the Goshen Health System in Goshen, Ind., describes a study of a vaccine that can help slow the progress of metastatic melanoma.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
A new multibillion-dollar facility in California houses the world's most powerful laser. But is it powerful enough to trigger the thermonuclear fusion reaction that occurs in stars? Some scientists are doubtful. Lab Director Edward Moses discusses the controversial project.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
During the Stone Age, a series of "creative explosions" led to the rise of sophisticated tools, better weapons and art. A new study shows how large population sizes may have been key in allowing inventions to proliferate.
Human beings don't always behave rationally. Now, policymakers are using research about human decision-making to design policies to protect humans from their own poor judgment — including everything from unwanted pregnancies to failing to save for retirement.
Apes often make weird sounds when they're tickled, and a new study says these noises are related to human laughter. The researchers think laughter may have evolved from a primordial, laughlike sound made by a common ancestor of apes and humans.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Books, magazines and experts of all stripes claim to have the solution for your weight problems. Cleanses, pills, good old diet and exercise — what really works to drop weight and keep it off? If you've successfully shed 30 to 50 pounds, and kept it off, tell us how.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
A pair of federal judges will decide which states in the Northern Rockies have enough gray wolves to allow public hunting, as the bitter debate over the region's wolves heads to courts in Wyoming and Montana.
NARAL Pro-Choice America hopes the murder of a doctor who performed abortions will make more people join the debate, while the anti-abortion side worries that the entire movement will be blamed for George Tiller's death.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Scientists looking for lost penguins stumbled upon an effective method: Follow their poop from space. Scientists at the British Antarctic Survey found this out by accident when they were looking at satellite images of their bases.
Injecting silicone to plump the lips or get rid of wrinkles can cause health problems and deformities. Sometimes the silicone hardens, creating ridges across the skin; and bits of silicone can get into the bloodstream, which can be fatal.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Some plastic surgeons have adopted the controversial technique of transferring unwanted fat from the belly, hips and thighs of patients to the breasts and other areas. But others question not only the effectiveness of this procedure, but also its safety.
» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us