Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2007

The Strange History of Cheese

For many, the mild, slightly nutty flavor of Gruyère is the perfect addition to a steaming bowl of French onion soup or a ham sandwich, but for the medieval peasants who first created it, the flavor was secondary to matters of survival and location. Gruyère resulted from the historic collision...

Apr 30, 2007

Researchers Find Ã¢â‚¬ËœSkim Milk CowsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢

In a few years, skim milk may come straight from the cow, it was reported this week. Skim milk is usually produced by taking all of the fat out of regular milk, but in 2001, researchers found a cow that skipped that step. While screening a herd of cows, they...

Mar 31, 2007

Bizarre Human Brain Parasite Precisely Alters Fear

Rats usually have an innate fear of cat urine. The fear extends to rodents that have never seen a feline and those generations removed from ever meeting a cat. After they get infected with the brain parasite Toxoplasma gondii, however, rats become attracted to cat pee, increasing the chance they'll...

Mar 31, 2007

TV Show Reveals Eye Contact is Top Cop Tactic

Cops might want to put down the billy club and forget about psychology, new research suggests. An analysis of the TV show COPS reveals that the best way for police to calm down hysterical citizens is to look them straight in the eyes. Gaze is important to everyday face-to-face interactions,...

Mar 31, 2007

How Sight and Sound Can Trick Your Brain

Auditory and visual information in the brain can conspire to trick us into seeing things that are not there, according to new research that suggests our senses are more intimately linked than previously suspected. Researchers found that subjects shown a single flash of light sandwiched between two tones in quick...

Mar 31, 2007

Knowledge Makes Learning Easier

We learn better when the material meshes with what we already know, according to a new study of rats that researchers say could help explain human learning. Scientists trained rats to associate six feeding areas with six different flavors of rat food. After six weeks of training in a constant...

Feb 28, 2007

Study: Genes Make Women Cranky

Thanks for the lousy temper, Mom and Dad. Genetics could explain why some women are more ill-tempered than others. A new University of Pittsburgh study finds genetic variations that deal with the body's mood management chemistry are linked with anger, aggression and hostility in women. Top 10 Other Lousy Things...

Feb 28, 2007

New Technique Stores Data in Bacteria

Artificial DNA with encoded information can be added to the genome of common bacteria, thus preserving the data. The technique was developed at Keio University Institute for Advanced Biosciences and Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus. If you think those USB flash memory thumbdrives are small, check this data storage out....

Feb 28, 2007

Ayurveda: The Good, the Bad and the Expensive

For those who find acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine oh-so 1990s, India might have what you crave: its ancient healing system called ayurveda. The powerhouse of the Asian subcontinent is preparing for a major boom in health tourism. Hotels spas such as Taj Wellington Mews in Mumbai offer aromatherapy messages,...

Feb 28, 2007

Types of Eye Disease

Nature has many ways of making it hard for people to see. Here are eye disease prevalence numbers in adults 40 years and older in the United States, based on data from 2000: Cataract (20.5 million)—a clouding of the eye’s usually clear lens and is the leading cause of blindness...

Feb 28, 2007

Aging Muscles Become Hard of Hearing

As people age, neurons have to yell louder at the body's muscles to whip them into action, according to a new study, but exercise could reverse the aging effect. Researchers examined the relationship between neuron activity and corresponding muscle force for 23 subjects between the ages of 18 and 88....

Feb 28, 2007

Acids in Popular Sodas Erode Tooth Enamel

Root beer could be the safest soft drink for your teeth, new research suggests, but many other popular diet and sugared sodas are nearly as corrosive to dental enamel as battery acid. Prolonged exposure to soft drinks can lead to significant enamel loss, even though many people consider soft drinks...

Feb 28, 2007

Healthier Pizza Passes Taste Test

CHICAGO—Pizza could be made healthier through a few simple preparation tricks if consumers are willing to eat whole wheat crust, a new study suggests. Preparing and cooking whole-wheat pizza dough certain ways boosted antioxidant levels, scientists found. The researchers served some of their test pizza to reporters here today, and...

Feb 28, 2007

High-Beef Diets in Pregnant Women Could Lower Son's Sperm Count

Pregnant women who consume meat daily could be more likely to have sons with lower sperm counts than mothers on low-beef diets, suggests a new study. While the development of sperm occurs in steps throughout a guy's life from the pre-natal months to adulthood, a critical stage of development occurs...

Feb 28, 2007

Smokers Are Dead Weight at the Office

Smokers can be deadweights around the office with lower working performance and more sick days taken than their non-smoking colleagues, two new studies suggest. In one study, researchers monitored the career progression of more than 5,000 women entering the U.S. Navy between 1996 and 1997. Daily smokers, they found, showed...