Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 30, 2004

Gene Maps Could Save Trees

A team of scientists has mapped the key genes in a group of trees that includes poplars and aspens, a result that could enable scientific rescues of all kinds of trees from drought and pests. The group, called Populus, includes about 35 tree species worldwide and ten in North America....

Sep 30, 2004

How to Live Long and Prosper: Get Dirty?

Germs go both ways, helping our health at times and killing us at others. A new study suggests they might give the gift of a long life, at least to fruit flies. Early exposure to bacteria makes these banana-peel denizens live to the ripe age of about three months, according...

Sep 30, 2004

Virtual Athletes to Challenge the Pros

Like Garry Kasparov, Roger Federer may one day have to compete against a massive supercomputer. Technology is being developed to use computer models of tennis and other sports to formulate the best playing strategy. The idea is to create virtual athletes with software that tracks actual player movements in conventional...

Sep 30, 2004

Four-Decade Study: Americans Taller, Fatter

Americans are growing up and out, according to a new report on changes in height and weight since 1960. Both men and women in the United States are roughly an inch taller and 25 pounds heavier than they were in 1960, the study concludes. A measure of obesity has also...

Sep 30, 2004

Cola Wars Fought in the Brain

One soft drink advertisement commands, Obey your thirst, but your taste buds may get trumped by the sway of brand names. All those commercials and jingles and celebrity endorsements get stored in the brain, apparently biasing preferences, new research shows. The study probed the effect of these cultural influences by...

Sep 30, 2004

Brain Scans May Unlock Candidates' Appeal

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Applying some of the same brain-scan technology used to understand Alzheimer's and autism, scientists are trying to learn what makes a Republican's mind different from a Democrat's. Brain scanning is moving rapidly beyond diseases to measuring how we react to religious experiences, racial prejudice, even Coke...

Nov 30, 2005

Marital Spats Slow Healing of Wounds

If you've got a physical wound, you'd be wise to avoid arguments. The stress of a half-hour marital spat can add a day or more to the healing process of a wound, according to a study announced today. And if hostility in your house is routine, count on a wound...

Nov 30, 2005

Happiness in Old Age Depends on Attitude

Happiness in old age may have more to do with attitude than actual health, a new study suggests. Researchers examined 500 Americans age 60 to 98 who live independently and had dealt with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, mental health conditions or a range of other problems. The participants rated their...

Nov 30, 2005

A Myth that Rocks: The Premature Death of Paul McCartney

From the January-February issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine. Did you know that Paul McCartney, the ex-Beatle, never actually left the band because . . . he died in 1966 and was then replaced by a lookalike? It sounds bizarre, and it is. The Paul is dead myth is one of...

Nov 30, 2005

Symmetrical People Make Better Dancers

Many people are attracted to hot dancers, and a new study suggests part of the reason is because their bodies are more symmetrical than those of the less coordinated. The researchers found that men judged to be better dancers tended to have a higher degree of body symmetry, a factor...

Nov 30, 2005

Scientists Predict What You'll Think of Next

To recall memories, your brain travels back in time via the ultimate Google search, according to a new study in which scientists found they can monitor the activity and actually predict what you'll think of next. The work bolsters the validity of a longstanding hypothesis that the human brain takes...

Nov 30, 2005

Good-Hearted Women Fail to Deal with Bad Hearts

The legend of the hard-hearted woman has gone to our heads, and that’s probably bad for everyone’s health. Women with heart disease discount the severity of their problem compared to men with the exact same cardiac symptoms and conditions, new research shows. Among surveys given to 490 patients treated for...

Nov 30, 2005

Adult Brain Cells Do Keep Growing

The apocryphal tale that you can't grow new brain cells just isn't true. Neurons continue to grow and change beyond the first years of development and well into adulthood, according to a new study. The finding challenges the traditional belief that adult brain cells, or neurons, are largely static and...

Oct 31, 2005

The Chemistry of Great Coffee

High-end coffee is suddenly seeping into fast-food restaurants faster than you can ask for fries with that. McDonald's started offering organic coffee roasted by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters at 650 locations in New England and Albany, New York, this month. Burger King now lets you order coffee brewed one cup...

Oct 31, 2005

Hospitals Getting Noisier, Threatening Patient Safety

Hospitals have grown noisier over the past 50 years, with sounds in patients room that rival that of a jackhammer. The noise is preventing patients from sleeping and slowing their recovery. And it is stressing out the staff and potentially raising the risk of medical mistakes, researchers said Monday. A...