Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2010

Burger & Fries Worsen Asthma, Study Suggests

A burger and fries are not only bad for the waistline, they might also exacerbate asthma, a new study suggests. Patients with asthma who ate a high-fat meal had increased inflammation in their airways soon afterward, and did not respond as well to treatment as those who ate a low-fat...

Apr 30, 2010

What's a Gluten-Free Diet?

Gluten is a protein found in grains, such as wheat and barley, and is known to cause inflammation in the intestines of people with celiac disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. People with celiac disease need to be on a gluten-free diet, since ingesting . In people with this disease,...

Apr 30, 2010

Why Is Gray Matter Gray?

The stuff between our ears comes in two shades: white and grey. The difference between the two is all in the fat content. The white matter of the brain is made up primarily of axon tracts, the long, spindly appendages of some brain cells. These tracts transmit the electrical signals...

Mar 31, 2010

Why Are Some People Ambidextrous?

Surprisingly, very little is known about what makes people ambidextrous, or able to use either hand effectively. Research has made some links between handedness and hemispheres of the brain. Studies have shown that people who have a preference for using their right hand tend to have brains in which the...

Mar 31, 2010

Masters Mystery: What's the Story Behind Golf's Green Jacket?

Some golf tournaments give trophies, some give cars. But only one gives its winner a green sports jacket the Masters. In an annual tradition that dates back more than 60 years, the previous year's champion helps the new winner put on the fairway-green coat with the logo emblem of the...

Mar 31, 2010

Mirror Neurons Allow Us to Understand Each Other

We can understand the actions of others because of mirror neurons — cells that are located in the movement and memory sections of our brains and which help us interpret the actions of others, scientists have long suspected. Now they have evidence. Mirroring is believed to be the way in...

Mar 31, 2010

New Implants Mold to Brain Like Shrink-Wrap

New silken brain implants that mold to the organ's grooves and crevices like shrink-wrap could lead to better devices for monitoring and controlling seizures. They can also serve as advanced brain-machine interfaces for control of prosthetics and other devices, said John Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at...

Mar 31, 2010

What Causes the Munchies?

Scientists have finally begun to understand why smoking pot leads to so many late night trips to Taco Bell. The main culprit for the munchies is a brain pathway known as the endogenous cannabinoid system, said Harriet de Wit, a psychiatry professor at the University of Chicago. This system, which...

Mar 31, 2010

Premature Births Remain a Medical Mystery

After rising for 16 years, the rate of premature births in the United States dropped for the second year in a row, according to a report released this month. Despite the good news, still more than half a million babies are born early in the country, putting them at risk...

Mar 31, 2010

How do we see color?

Roses are red and violets are blue, but we only know that thanks to specialized cells in our eyes called cones. When light hits an object — say, a banana — the object absorbs some of the light and reflects the rest of it. Which wavelengths are reflected or absorbed...

Feb 28, 2010

Solid Find: Natalee Holloway's Body … Or a Rock

A vacationing Pennsylvania couple believe they may have accomplished something that thousands of police, volunteer searchers, and psychics have failed to do: Find the body of missing woman Natalee Holloway. Holloway disappeared May 30, 2005, while on vacation in Aruba. Searches were fruitless, and police finally closed the case on...

Feb 28, 2010

What's Sexsomnia?

Simply put, sexsomnia is the act of having sex while asleep. But for sleep researchers and legal scholars, it's an emerging sleep disorder with far-reaching implications. Sexsomnia, or sleep sex, started popping up in scientific case studies in the late 1990s. Behaviors range from groaning to masturbation to full-on sexual...

Jan 31, 2010

Is 'Water Birth' Safe?

Supermodel Gisele Bundchen made news recently by giving birth to her son Benjamin in an unusual way: at home in her own bathtub. It wasn't an accident or surprise delivery; instead she did it as part of a growing trend called water birthing, considered by some women and midwives to...

Jan 31, 2010

Different Colors Describe Happiness vs. Depression

Are you in a gray mood today? How about a blue funk? Maybe you're seeing red, because you're green with jealousy. The colors we use to describe emotions may be more useful than you think, according to new research. The study found that people with depression or anxiety were more...

Jan 31, 2010

Links to Spirituality Found in the Brain

Scientists have identified areas of the brain that, when damaged, lead to greater spirituality. The findings hint at the roots of spiritual and religious attitudes, the researchers say. The study, published in the Feb. 11 issue of the journal Neuron, involves a personality trait called self-transcendence, which is a somewhat...