Archive for August 3rd, 2012
ScienceCast: Meteor Smoke Makes Strange Clouds
August 3rd, 2012 | 
Author: A key ingredient [water] of Earth's strangest clouds does not come from Earth. New data from NASA's AIM spacecraft explains that ice crystals shed from "meteor smoke" are essential to the formation of noctilucent clouds. [This NASA video further explains the apperance of such noctilucent clouds at lower & lower latitudes, as is occurring today due to climate change, is not a good sign.]
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Study links depression to shorter cancer survival
Depression may shorten the life of cancer patients, according to a study published in the journal PLoS ONE. Results of the study suggest that psychological health and social well-being may play a role in biological processes. "Screening for mental health should be part of standard care because there are well-accepted ways of helping people manage distress, even in the face of a life-threatening illness," a researcher suggests.
10 dangers of vitamins & supplements
More than half of American adults take vitamins, minerals, herbs, or other nutritional supplements. Some of those products aren’t especially helpful, readers told us in a recent survey, but that aside, don’t assume they’re safe because they’re “all natural.” They may be neither. Here are 10 hazards that we’ve distilled from interviews with experts, published research, and our own analysis of reports of serious adverse events submitted to the Food and Drug Administration, which we obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Read and be warned.
Why You Should Not Stop Taking Your Vitamins – Dr. Mark Hyman (October 18, 2011)
RDs seek to reclaim, clarify “detox” as nutrition strategy
Consumers generally link the term "detox" to fad diets or cleanses, but some registered dietitians want to reclaim and clarify the term, and perhaps promote healthful nutritional detoxification strategies, RD Robin Foroutan writes. A nutrition- and science-based detoxification diet includes whole foods, fruits and vegetables, fiber and water, Foroutan writes.
Modest Weight Loss Can Reap Prolonged Health Benefits
Even modest weight loss can give overweight and obese people a decade's worth of important health benefits, according to a new study.
Theoretical Physicists Probe the Majorana Mystery
With headlines proclaiming the discovery of the Higgs boson — the so-called God particle — particle physics has captured the imagination of the world, particularly among those who dwell on the nature of the cosmos. But this is only one puzzle seemingly solved in a universe of mysteries. In a recent paper in Physical Review Letters, Dartmouth physicists delve into another enigmatic particle.
Majorana is a name whose very mention evokes a veil of mystery. On one level, it refers to a mysterious particle that may exist on the boundary of matter and antimatter. Curiously, it is thought to be both a material particle and its own corresponding antiparticle. Matter and antimatter have long been a cause célèbre in both scientific and science fiction circles. When matter and antimatter collide, they typically disappear in a burst of energy — not so with the Majoranas, thought to be stable and robust.
Nanoscientists find long-sought Majorana particle — TUDelft