Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Jun 30, 2009

Serious Cyclists' Sperm Suffers

For any guy who has endured more than thirty minutes on a road bicycle seat, there is usually some concern over the strange numbness that occurs in places that should not go numb. Well, a new study has some good and bad news. Spanish researchers have found that active male...

Jun 30, 2009

Swearing Makes Pain More Tolerable

That muttered curse word that reflexively comes out when you stub your toe could actually make it easier to bear the throbbing pain, a new study suggests. Swearing is a common response to pain, but no previous research has connected the uttering of an expletive to the actual physical experience...

Jun 30, 2009

40 Years After Moon Landing: Why Can't We Cure Cancer?

Editor's Note: Forty years ago this month, humans landed on the moon for the first time. We asked Christopher Wanjek why, four decades later, we can't cure cancer. Will we ever win the war on cancer? Richard Nixon had every reason to be optimistic when, during his 1971 State of...

Jun 30, 2009

Nap Time! One-third of Americans Do It

A mid-day nap is more common than you might think in America. One-third of U.S. adults nap on a typical day, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. Naps are more common among men than women, and more common among the poor than the rich. Naps can...

Jun 30, 2009

Rorschach Test: Discredited But Still Controversial

Though the Rorschach is the most famous psychological test in the world, it is little understood outside of psychology circles. The test, in the news this week and under much debate, is a series of 10 colored ink blots created nearly a century ago by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach. The...

May 31, 2009

Sleepless Flies Shed Light on Human Insomnia

Like humans, flies deprived of sleep one day will try to make up for it by sleeping more the next day, a phenomenon referred to as increased sleep drive or sleep debt. And they're hard to wake up. So found Paul Shaw and colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine...

May 31, 2009

The Great Shampoo Sham

Shampooing can be complicated. First, there are the convoluted instructions: Lather, rinse, repeat. It doesn't say anything about stopping. And now there's a movement afoot, called the no poo movement, advocating no shampooing whatsoever. Shampoo is indeed a modern invention, as the no-poo'ers attest, developed roughly around the end of...

May 31, 2009

Marijuana Damages DNA and May Cause Cancer

A lot of studies have shown marijuana is not good for you. It can fry the brain and contribute to psychosis. The latest one finds convincing evidence that marijuana smoke damages the genetic material DNA in ways that could increase the risk of cancer. Toxic substances in tobacco smoke can...

May 31, 2009

Vinegar Might Fight Fat

Ordinary vinegar used to make salad dressings and pickles just might live up to its age-old reputation in folk medicine as a promoter of health, a new study suggests. Nobody should start guzzling vinegar, but Japanese scientists found new evidence that vinegar can help prevent accumulation of body fat and...

May 31, 2009

For the Gullible Man: A New Baldness Calculator

A new baldness calculator, touted as being very accurate in an article at a British newspaper's web site that just lost even more of my respect, is little more than an advertisement cloaked in a quiz framed under the guise of science. It preys, of course, on the nearly universal...

May 31, 2009

Study Dispels Myth of Post-Workout Fat Burn

After an intense hour of sweating on the treadmill or pumping iron, most of us look forward to the extra post-exercise afterburn of fat cells that has been promised to us by fitness pundits. This 24-hour period of altered metabolism is supposed to help with our overall weight loss. Unfortunately,...

May 31, 2009

Potential New Drugs Put at 970 Million

Millions of new and useful drugs remain undiscovered. All chemists need to do is mix the right stuff. That's the view of a new study that analyzes the chemical universe to identify existing molecules that could be combined into as-yet unknown chemicals. The researchers estimate there are at least 970...

May 31, 2009

Getting Old Is Better Than Expected

When do we get old? People age 18 to 29 say old age starts at about 60. But those in middle-age figure it starts at 70. And those 65 and older put the threshold at 74. So it goes with other perceptions about aging in a new survey from the...

Apr 30, 2009

Old Age More Miserable for Women

Women live longer than men, on average, but its no secret that age takes its toll. A new study finds that largely owing to obesity and arthritis, which take root during early and middle age, old age can be miserable for many women — even when comparing men and women...

Apr 30, 2009

Clue to Narcolepsy Found

Narcolepsy, a chronic neurological disorder caused by the brain's inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally, is described by the National Institutes of Health thusly: At various times throughout the day, people with narcolepsy experience fleeting urges to sleep. There is no cure. But now there's a hint as to the...