E-cigarettes are attracting massive interest for their potential in helping smokers quit, to reduce harm in those who switch from cigarettes or cut down, and in reducing the uptake of smoking in…

If an unidentified flying object suddenly appeared in the sky, it's likely your heart would beat faster. Now, researchers have found that the same is true for bears. The UFOs in this case are…

Imagine yourself as a graphic designer for New Age musician Enya, tasked with creating her next album cover. Which two or three colors from the grid below do you think would “go best” with her music?…

Is the ISS the most expensive single human artifact ever, after adjusting for inflation? Well, to start with, it's a whole lot more expensive than a medieval cathedral anyway. First we need an…

Well, a whole lot more expensive than a cathedral anyway. There's an estimate here that the cost of rebuilding Chatres between 1194 and 1223 amounted to around fifty million dollars: Cathedrals.…

Imagine if Big Ag industry lobbyists created a special section inside the US Department of Agriculture, where they got to define what artificial additives would go into their products and who could…

 Nutrition experts acknowledge that when it comes to the human body, there is no difference between sugar naturally found in foods and that which is added by manufacturers. That is, the body…

When it comes to reviewing studies regarding combinations of low levels of chemical exposure and cancer risks, collaborators of the Halifax Project have raised questions that can help in the…

The notion of a dementia epidemic has been a big concern in ageing societies across the globe for some time. With the extension of life expectancy it seems to be an inevitable disaster – one of the…

The introduction of a new prescription smoking-cessation aid, varenicline, in 2006 has had no significant impact on the rate at which Americans age 18 and older successfully quit smoking, according…

I first noticed the NuVal scores in my HyVee grocery store about four years ago. My first reaction was the same as how I feel about government: I'm in full support of universal rules for everyone..…

It is often said that the first full image of the “blue planet”, taken by the Apollo 17 space mission in December 1972, revealed Earth to be precious, fragile and protected only by a wafer-thin…

Dr. Chuck Benbrook is an economist who may be an adjunct at Washington State University but calls himself a research professor and tells the public he is an expert in biology. Why so many organic…

Much of the European continent has been affected by a severe drought so far this summer, one of the worst since the drought and heat wave of summer of 2003, according to the latest report by the…

Though it is the common metric, hospice use is not really an indicator of quality of end-of-life care. Instead, when researchers in the U.S. studied variations in patterns of hospice use between…

Recently we were treated to a repeat of a three part series, A Very British Renaissance by James Fox.  I found that the second episode had many overlaps with my area of interest.  North…

You are gazing over the clear stream, thinking of fishing the crystal waters in the Rockies. The next morning, you are stunned to see an orange-yellow sludge covering the stream as far as you can see…

New species evolve whenever a lineage splits off into several branches and so a common metaphor for evolution has been to describe evolution as a 'tree of life', where every branch constitutes a…

Both donors and recipients want more information about each others' health before participating in transplant surgeries, according to a study which challenges current practices and policies on…

For students, the start of the school year means new classes, new friends, homework and sports. It also brings the threat of head lice. The itch-inducing pests lead to missed school days and…