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The latest health and science news. Updates on medicine, healthy living, nutrition, drugs, diet, and advances in science and technology. Subscribe to the Health & Science podcast.
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Fact Sheet: Traumatic Brain Injury
09/08/2010 09:58 PM
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Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is a sudden trauma to the brain caused by force. A severe TBI can leave a person almost incapable of functioning. But even a mild TBI, a concussion, can lead to a range of debilitating symptoms.
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Think Music Heals? Trombone Player Begs To Differ
09/08/2010 04:00 PM
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For years, trombone player Scott Bean had a cough that wouldn't quit. A doctor later figured out that mold and bacteria living in his trombone caused him to develop a condition that's being called "trombone players' lung."
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BP Report Blames Multiple Companies For Gulf Spill
09/08/2010 11:20 AM
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The oil giant's 193-page report says a sequence of failures led to the massive Gulf of Mexico spill that fouled waters and shorelines for months. The company's findings are far from the final word on possible causes of the explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon drill rig.
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Embryonic-Stem-Cell Funding Stays Bottled Up
09/08/2010 09:03 AM
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A federal judge ruled the government is wrong about a "parade of horribles" that a stay on funding of researcher involving human embryonic stem cells would have on the field. He refused to lift a preliminary injunction imposed last month.
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Scientists: Bacteria Consuming BP Oil
09/07/2010 03:00 PM
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Government scientists say they are seeing a zone in the Gulf of Mexico that has below-normal levels of oxygen. That indicates bacteria in the area are consuming some of the oil that spewed from BP's well.
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Will FDA Approve Genetically Modified Salmon?
09/07/2010 03:00 PM
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The Food and Drug Administration could approve genetically modified salmon for human consumption. Anne Kapuscinski, professor of Sustainability Science at Dartmouth College, offers her insight.
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Marine Scientists Seek Standards For Spill Research
09/07/2010 02:54 PM
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Much of the scientific effort that has followed the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has focused on how much oil escaped and where it's gone. But many biologists say they're puzzled by the lack of an organized research effort to measure the damage.
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In Young Kids, Lack Of Sleep Linked To Obesity Later
09/07/2010 12:00 AM
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Infants and preschoolers who don't get enough nighttime sleep have higher odds of being obese as they grow up. And napping isn't a substitute. Over the past three decades, obesity rates have doubled among children age 2 to 5, and tripled among 6- to 11-year-olds.
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Money Can Buy Happiness
09/07/2010 01:42 AM
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People's emotional well-being -- happiness -- increases along with their income up to about $75,000, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Un-Natural Selection: Human Evolution's Next Steps
09/06/2010 05:11 PM
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Millions of years ago, the natural environment was shaping us into the species we are now and humans evolved by natural selection. But as humans continue to evolve, we've turned the notion of natural selection on its head. Nature isn't the only force that picks the genes. Humans are doing it too.
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Wind Power Wanes With Fading Federal Incentives
09/06/2010 04:00 PM
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Wind power, one of the largest segments of the renewable energy market, will experience a sharp decline in growth this year. The slowdown comes as a surprise because the stimulus bill included $43 billion for energy projects -- a big boost for renewable forms of electricity.
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Evolving Culture: Where Do We Go From Here?
09/06/2010 12:00 AM
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Humans are still evolving, but cultural evolution is far outpacing genetic evolution. Our environment and technology are changing so rapidly that genetic adaptations can't keep up. So we're adapting by learning new things and passing that knowledge onto the next generation.
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Camp For Alzheimer's Patients Isn't About Memories
09/06/2010 12:00 AM
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An unusual sleepover camp brings together about 20 people who have dementia for a weekend of music, dance, reminiscing and other activities that emphasize strengths instead of losses. While the campers typically won't remember details of the retreat, it lifts their mood, camp staffers say.
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