News Articles

Why do some older people appear to be thriving and others not?   Genetics and bad luck are certainly a factor but elderly people who have a positive outlook, lower stress levels, moderate alcohol consumption, abstention from tobacco, moderate to higher income and no chronic health conditions are more likely to thrive in their old age, according to a study in the October issue of The Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.Chronic health conditions is the tough one to avoid.

A study has found that the risks of a premature birth quadruple if flaxseed oil is consumed in the last two trimesters of pregnancy. The research was conducted by Professor Anick Bérard of the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Pharmacy and the Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center and Master's student Krystel Moussally. The correlation existed only with flaxseed oil.  Women consuming the actual seed were unaffected.

Plentyoffish.com, a free online dating site which generates revenue from sending members to other dating sites, has recently released data that promiscuity among women has doubled since 2004.
The site tracked 315,478 users going to casual only dating sites in 2004. Of those users, the number of women who were looking for sex through the intimate encounter option was about 9%. Among users tracked in 2008, the number of women who were looking for an intimate encounter rose to 18%.
The statistics are surprising given that the male:female ratio of Plentyoffish.com members looking for long term relationships or traditional dates has remained consistent at 55:45.
Three years ago, men who were looking for intimate encounters online outnumbered women 10 to 1.

Viruses aren't just disease agents any more.  Scientists now know they can be used in therapies for cancer but concerns over the safety of  'oncolytic viruses' remain because they can also damage healthy tissues. But Mayo Clinic researchers say they have discovered a way of controlling the viruses behind potential cancer therapeutics by engineering the virus's genetic sequence, using microRNAs to restrict them to specific tissues. The microRNAs destabilize the virus's genome, making it impossible for the virus to run amok. The discovery is reported in the current issue of Nature Medicine.

Scientists have expressed genes from snapdragon in tomatoes to grow purple tomatoes high in health-protecting anthocyanins.  Anthocyanins are naturally occurring pigments found at particularly high levels in berries such as blackberry, cranberry and chokeberry. Scientists are investigating ways to increase the levels of health-promoting compounds in more commonly eaten fruits and vegetables.Anthocyanins offer protection against certain cancers, cardiovascular disease and age-related degenerative diseases. There is evidence that anthocyanins also have anti-inflammatory activity, promote visual acuity and hinder obesity and diabetes.

A University of Iowa study suggests that the prolonged fatigue after mild exercise that occurs in people with many forms of muscular dystrophy is distinct from the inherent muscle weakness caused by the disease. The research, which is published in Nature Advance Online Publication Oct. 26, identifies a faulty signaling pathway that appears to cause exercise-induced fatigue in mouse models of muscular dystrophy. Moreover, the study shows that Viagra can overcome the signaling defect and relieve the fatigue. The findings suggest that targeting the signaling pathway may lead to therapies for this type of fatigue.

Twenty-four years, a political party and a gulf of ideology separates the first two women to share the nation’s major party tickets. But has the way the media talks about Sarah Palin and Geraldine Ferraro changed?Not so much, according to ongoing research by members of “the Palin Watch” at The University of Alabama.  Newspapers around North America have used similar media frames to describe these very different women, who made vice-presidential runs at different times and for different parties.Both of these women’s candidacies were framed by the media around, 1) their questionable experience, 2) their selection as a political stunt, and 3) their selection as a gamble.

Clubfoot, one of the most common birth defects, has long been thought to have a genetic component. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have found the first gene linked to clubfoot in humans.By studying a multi-generation family with clubfoot, the scientists traced the condition to a mutation in a gene critical for early development of lower limbs called PITX1. While other genes are also likely to be linked to clubfoot, the new finding is a first step toward improved genetic counseling and the development of novel therapies.

The birth of new neurons (neurogenesis) does not end completely during development but continues throughout all life in two areas of the adult nervous system, i.e. subventricular zone and hippocampus. Recent research has shown that hippocampal neurogenesis is crucial for memory formation. These studies, however, have not yet clarified how the newborn neurons are integrated in the existing circuits and thus contribute to new memories formation and to the maintenance of old ones.

Physicists of the University of Granada and the University of Valencia (Spain) have developed a proceeding to analyse specific data sent by the Huygens probe from Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, proving “in an unequivocal way” that there is natural electric activity in its atmosphere. The scientific community thinks that there is a higher probability that organic molecules precursors to life could form in those planets or satellites which have an atmosphere with electric storms.

Water is the most common and important material in nature but exactly what is water on earth and what properties does it have?It's a more challenging problem than people think.  

A world-first: birth of a white rhino after artificial insemination with frozen sperm.The rhino baby, a male, was born at 4:57am in the Budapest Zoo on the 22nd of October 2008. In June 2007, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin artificially inseminated his mother, the rhino cow Lulu, with frozen bull semen. The rhino baby weighed 45 kilos. It is in good health and was accepted by his mom. The birth is “an important success for species conservation and preservation of biodiversity”, says Dr. Robert Hermes, one of the IZW-scientists performing the insemination.