Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 31, 2005

Hormone Therapy Prevents Wrinkles, Scientists Say

Post-menopausal women who use hormone therapy for long periods have fewer wrinkles, a new study found. These benefits were seen in women who had consistently used hormone therapy and had been in menopause for at least five years, said Hugh Taylor of Yale School of Medicine. We don't believe hormone...

Jun 30, 2005

Women Suffer More than Men

Which is the weaker sex when it comes to pain? It may be hard to say since women and men have different experiences with pain. New research has found that women report more pain throughout their lifetime. Compared to men, women feel pain in more areas of their body and...

Jun 30, 2005

Golfers with Pain are Weaker, Study Finds

Low back pain makes life miserable for anyone who has it. For golfers, it can take the fun out of life. Even Tiger Woods has dealt with it, though he can hardly be compared to the average duffer, since he managed a 4-under-par performance last year during a round in...

Jun 30, 2005

Why We Blink Without Noticing

Scientists have figured out why we rarely notice our own blinking. Our brains simply miss it, they say. The quest for the new discovery began in the 1980s, when researchers found that visual sensitivity starts decreasing just before we blink. But what goes on in the brain remained a mystery....

Jun 30, 2005

Top 10 Missing Links

Top 10 Missing Links (Image credit: Wikimedia commons user Wapondaponda)Every few years scientists unearth the bones of humanity's forefathers. From Lucy to the Hobbits of Flores Island -- we are gradually seeing building the puzzle of mankind's evolution. Neanderthal (Image credit: Mauro Cutrona)Stocky and squat and well suited for the...

May 31, 2005

Scientists Discover Trust Potion

Get someone to sniff a new potion made from the chemical oxytocin and they'll be more willing to loan you money. Trust us on this. Scientists discovered that inhaling the chemical made people more trusting in social situations with random people. Researchers know very little about the biological basis of...

May 31, 2005

West Nile Virus Spreads More Easily, Study Finds

Mosquitoes appear to get infected with West Nile virus more quickly than previously thought, according to a new study that also discovered mammals can transmit the deadly agent. West Nile, which killed 88 people in the United States last year and more in previous years, is typically thought to be...

May 31, 2005

Old Brains Shrink But Work Just as Well

Scientists know that our brains shrink with aging, but does less gray matter really matter? Apparently not, according to a new study of 446 people in Australia. We found that, on average, men aged 64 years have smaller brains than men aged 60, said Helen Christensen of the Australian National...

May 31, 2005

Heavy Weights in Thin Air

Porters in Nepal frequently carry heavy loads - sometimes weighing as much as they do - up in the thin air of the Himalayas.? Scientists have quantified the porters' energy efficiency and found it exceeds that of trained soldiers with backpacks. The Nepalese porters place supplies and goods in a...

May 31, 2005

Fear the Dentist? You're Not Alone

A new study finds women are 2.5 times more likely to fear a visit to the dentist than men. But are the men telling the truth? Women are more likely to be honest about their feelings, says Brian Chanpong, a dental anesthesia practitioner in Vancouver, Canada, who worked on the...

May 31, 2005

Skin Stem Cells Made into Bone and Muscle

Researchers have isolated stem cells from human skin and coaxed them into becoming fat, muscle and bone cells. Stem cells are able to become any type of tissue. Harvesting of stem cells from embryos has been highly controversial, so researchers have looked for alternatives that, while not as useful, might...

May 31, 2005

Why You Can't Tickle Yourself

The human brain anticipates unimportant sensations, such as your own touch, so it can focus on important input like, say, a tarantula crawling up your neck. The results might explain why it's hard to tickle yourself, scientists said today. In the study, 30 people used a finger on their right...

Apr 30, 2005

Study Finds Kids Can't Hit Slow Pitches

You're throwing a ball for a toddler to smack with a plastic bat. You toss it gently, slowly, to make it easier. He just can't hit it. It's because you throw too slowly, a new study finds. Kids' brains aren't wired for slow motion. When you throw something slowly to...

Apr 30, 2005

Study Reveals Baseball's Great Clutch Hitters

A baseball fan and statistics buff has proven that clutch hitters really do exist, putting statistics behind the obvious. The new study, by math and economics student Elan Fuld of the University of Pennsylvania, was announced by the university Thursday. Fuld defined a clutch hitter as one who hits better...

Apr 30, 2005

Rise of Deadly Superbugs should 'Raise Red Flags' Everywhere

A pair of new studies confirms recent fears that bacteria are growing increasingly resistant to drugs and that you can be infected anywhere. The number of cases of superbugs, as researchers call them, has been increasingly steadily in recent years, the reports conclude. The best medicine? Wash your hands a...