science / Top Stories
Baaad news? Global warming now shrinking sheepWASHINGTON (AP) -- Like the wool sweater that emerges from the dryer a size too small,
global warming seems to be shrinking sheep....
The Arizona Republic Friday, July 03, 2009How Fructose Impairs the MemoryAmericans consume more fructose than ever before, yet concerns remain that the sugar, used to sweeten beverages and processed foods, poses health risks. In animals, fructose-rich diets increase the production of fat and promote resistance to the energy-regulating hormone insulin. New research suggests that memory suffers as well, at least in rats.Neuroscientist Marise B. Parent of Georgia State
university and her colleagues fed 11 adolescent rats a diet in which fructose supplied 60 percent of the calories. For 10 other rats, cornstarch took the place of the sweetener. The
scientists trained the rats to find a submerged platform in a pool, with the help of surrounding cues. [More]
Scientific American Friday, July 03, 2009MIND Reviews: A Healthy MindHealthy Mindswww.wliw.org/healthyminds [More]
Scientific American Friday, July 03, 2009For your health, steer clear of the hospital on July 4th weekendA word to the wise: stay out of the emergency room this long weekend. [More]
Scientific American Friday, July 03, 2009Genetic Sequencing Gets PersonalPrice competition is coming to the rarified world of genome sequencing. For $48,000, San Diego-based Illumina will sequence your genome -- in other words, your entire genetic code. Until now, the only other company offering personal genome sequencing services is biotech startup Knome. It charges $99,500. Genome sequencing can alert individuals if they have inherited genes that cause illnesses like diabetes, Alzheimer's or cancer. Using the information as a guide, people could alter their lifestyles in an attempt to dodge potentially latent diseases. They also could find out the probability of passing along a genetic disease like cystic fibrosis to their children, or uncover interesting details about their ancestry.
Bioethics.net Friday, July 03, 2009Better Ethics, Cheaper DrugsAs the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and its 6 million residents struggle to pay their medical bills, they have a new tool on their side, starting today. A law cracking down on the marketing that pharmaceutical firms do with doctors goes into effect. No one expects miracles from the new rules, but they should ensure that doctors? prescribing decisions will focus more on patient needs and less on the gifts and fancy meals many doctors have long received from drug companies. All the favors that drug companies do for doctors raise overall health costs in two ways. First, they are a substantial part of the $57.5 billion that the industry spends annually on marketing, a cost that gets added on to each prescription a patient buys. Second, the industry?s goal in influencing doctors is often to get them to prescribe a new, higher-priced medication when a generic or cheaper name-brand competitor is just as effective. Partly as a result of high costs of drugs, one-quarter of original prescr
Bioethics.net Friday, July 03, 2009CNET: A Speedier New FirefoxNew Upgrades Help Browser Compete Against IE, But Mozilla Still Faces Competition from Other Upstarts
CBS News Friday, July 03, 2009Women to continue outnumbering men at uniNew research has revealed that the gender gap at Australian universities is likely to favour women into the future.
ABC.net.au Friday, July 03, 2009Blood coagulant found in Cool Saab sampleA blood coagulant has been detected in a urine sample from Cool Saab, a horse that took part in the St Patrick's races in Broken Hill this year.
ABC.net.au Friday, July 03, 2009Key Committee Supports Public OptionTwelve Democrats and one independent on a key Senate committee rallied Thursday behind a $611 billion health care reform bill that includes a government-run insurance plan, seeking to put up a united front as Republicans and some moderate Democrats continue to doubt the need for the public option. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) unveiled a bill that costs significantly less than an earlier, incomplete plan from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that would have topped $1 trillion and left many Americans uninsured.
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