A study that collected sea lion fecal samples and mussels from the ocean near the mouths of rivers as well as from the shore near sea lion haul-out sites along the central coast of California found that the pathogen Giardia duodenalis is present and the authors blame freshwater run-off sites.

One of the G. duodenalis strains found is known to infect humans; the two others occur mostly in dogs and other canids. The scholars used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by DNA sequence analysis to investigate whether the pathogens were present. PCR is a method for "amplifying DNA," by making large numbers of copies of it.  

An active region on the sun labeled AR 12192 rotated into view on Oct. 18th. It was already an area of intense and complex magnetic fields and soon grew into the largest such region in 24 years.

It fired off 10 sizable solar flares as it traversed across the face of the sun and became so large it could be seen without a telescope (don't ever look without with eclipse glasses) as many did during a partial eclipse on Oct. 23rd.

Though he is glorified by modern science advocates, Galileo was wrong about a lot of things - for example, when his calculation that the tides only happened once a day and was at the same time was criticized, he launched into vitriolic attacks on both Kepler and math, though they both were clearly right and Galileo was clearly wrong, as every illiterate sailor knew.

For $27 Galileo could have been shown the errors of his ways. That is what Rachel MacTavish, a graduate student in the Department of Biology at Georgia Southern University, spent on buckets from a hardware store, aquarium tubing, and pumps in order to be able to replicate the tide.

The "Cambrian explosion," the rapid diversification of animal life in the fossil record 530 million years ago, has by necessity remained the subjective of speculation. We know it happened, but no idea why, we simply know we wouldn't be here without it.

Last week, the Obama administration stated that it will fine over 2,600 hospitals because too many Medicare patients treated at those hospitals end up back in the hospital within 30 days of going home. 

Over 200,000 doctors have said they will no longer participate in the Affordable Care Act - Obamacare - because of high costs, low payouts, and Byzantine mazes of paperwork, so it seems bad to be driving hospitals away from the programs also - the ones affected primarily treat poor and minority patients.

The administration added two new conditions in this round of penalties: elective hip and knee replacement and chronic lung disease. 

Resveratrol has long been touted in news outlets and health blogs as a 2000s miracle product, with little evidence it helps people. It instead benefited from a kind of 'Glaxo would not paid $720 million if it didn't work' veneer.

One of the claims is that it should be used  as a complement to exercise and to enhance performance but it not only may not enhance the effects of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), it may hurt it.