Archive for August 2nd, 2012
DNA clue to why women live longer
August 2nd, 2012 | 
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Scientists believe they have discovered a clue as to why women tend to live longer than men – by studying fruit flies.
Writing in Current Biology, they focus on mutations in mitochondrial DNA – the power source of cells.
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Great Lakes Trout Serve as Barometer for Global Pollutants
Whenever chemicals have been found in lake trout, they have also been found in people throughout North America as far as the Arctic.
The Plan to Muzzle Doctors Over Guns
Less than a month before Florida hosts the Republican National Convention, the state's right-wing governor is pushing for an unusual law that privileges the Second Amendment over the First Amendment. Gov. Rick Scott announced Monday that his administration will pursue a court appeal to defend the state's controversial "Docs vs. Glocks" law, which makes it a crime for doctors to ask patients if they own guns.
The 2011 "Firearm Owners' Privacy Act"—one of a series of NRA-backed, aggressive pro-gun laws passed by Florida's conservative Legislature in recent years—aims at keeping physicians from gathering information on patients' weapons while discussing their health risk factors. (Decades of studies have shown that even law-abiding, responsible gun owners and their families have higher risks of death by gunshot when they keep a firearm in the home.)
First skin cancer found in wild fish
The diseased coral trout, known locally as Rambo fish because of their blackened skin, are the first wild fish to be diagnosed with skin cancer…
Other wild animals known to get cancer include the Tasmanian devil and beluga whales.
Can Natural Herbs Protect Your Skin From the Sun?
Golden serpent fern (known to scientists as Phlebodium aureum) is the herb for which the most evidence has been amassed. The plant grows wild in Florida and Georgia but is most commonly found in Central and South America, where it is called calaguala. It is used in the treatment of some inflammatory diseases, and research indicates that it might be useful for sun protection in the general population as well.
“What About Tutoring Instead of Pills?”
Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan is one of the world's leading experts in child development. In a Spiegel interview, he offers a scathing critique of the mental-health establishment and pharmaceutical companies, accusing them of incorrectly classifying millions as mentally ill out of self-interest and greed.
Poll: Many U.S. adults are unaware of weight gain
Although the average weight of U.S. adults rose between 2008 and 2009, many respondents thought that they actually lost weight, survey data showed.