Health, features and articles | Educational Science

Oct 31, 2006

Biking Can Make Women's Genitals Less Sensitive

Women who bicycle frequently run the risk of decreased sensitivity in their genitals as well as pain, a new study suggests. Researchers compared 48 women competitive cyclists to 22 women runners. The bicyclists consistently rode at least 10 miles per week, and the runners logged at least five miles a...

Oct 31, 2006

Coffee to Maggots: Top 10 Bad Things That Are Good For You

Top 10 Bad Things That Are Good For You (Image credit: Dreamstime)Beer quells heart disease and chocolate staves off cancer? Though often tagged with a disclaimer, studies that tell us to eat, inhale and generally indulge in bad stuff is music to our ears. So go ahead and enjoy these...

Oct 31, 2006

Freezing Ovaries May Preserve Fertility

For women who undergo cancer treatment, loss of fertility is often a major concern. But a new experimental research program that will remove and freeze women's ovaries for possible future use could provide new hope, according to researchers. Female cancer patients receiving treatment can lose their fertility because you're trying...

Sep 30, 2006

Researchers Find Protein Behind Lou Gehrig's Disease and Dementia

Scientists have found a malformed protein whose unhealthy buildup inside cells can lead to fatal paralysis and dementia in sufferers, a new study finds. High concentrations of a protein called TDP-43 was found in the brains and spinal cords of people who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known...

Sep 30, 2006

Erotic Images Entice Even When Invisible

The use of scantily clad models in ads for everything from underwear to ice cream attests to the persuasive power of sex, but a surprising new study finds that our actions can be swayed by erotic images even when they don't consciously register in our awareness. In an experiment, 40...

Sep 30, 2006

Eyelids Alter Shape of the Eye

The pressure of the eyelid on the eyeball could cause one of the most common vision problems, new research shows. The work builds on previous research showing that heavy reading can change the shape of the eye during the day, temporarily degrading eyesight. Imperfections in the shape of the cornea,...

Sep 30, 2006

Why We Love to be Scared

For all of their stomach-turning gore, horror films and haunted houses attract people in droves. This ability of the human brain to turn fear on its head could be a key to treating phobias and anxiety disorders, according to scientists. When people get scared, their bodies automatically triggers the fight...

Aug 31, 2006

Study: Why Teens Don't Care

If you ever sense teenagers are not taking your feelings into account, it's probably because they're just incapable of doing so. The area of the brain associated with higher-level thinking, empathy, and guilt is underused by teenagers, reports a new study. When considering an action, the teenage medial prefrontal cortex,...

Aug 31, 2006

Hearing Voices: Some People Like It

For some people, hearing voices in their heads is a positive experience, not a sign of mental illness or cause for distress. Researchers at the University of Manchester are aiming to find out why. Traditionally these auditory hallucinations, as psychologists call them, are associated with mental illness. They can be...

Aug 31, 2006

Breast Implants Linked to Higher Suicide Rate

Boosting breast size with plastic surgery has been linked to a significantly higher suicide rate among women in a new 15-year study. While overall risk of health problems did not change, the suicide rate was much higher for women with breast implants compared with the general population, scientists announced today....

Aug 31, 2006

Tall Women More Likely to Have Twins

A researcher who specializes in multiple-birth pregnancies has confirmed that taller women are more likely to have twins. Taller women have more of an insulin-like growth factor that has been linked to height and to the rate of twins in previous work. Dr. Gary Steinman, an obstetrician at Long Island...

Aug 31, 2006

Women Aroused as Quickly as Men

Night vision is not known for helping anyone get better in the bedroom, but infrared cameras reveal that women become aroused as quickly as men. In previous research, sexual arousal was generally detected with instruments that require genital contact and manipulation. One might argue that can spoil the mood. Thermal...

Jul 31, 2006

Study: Cat Parasite Affects Human Culture

A parasitic microbe commonly found in cats might have helped shape entire human cultures by manipulating the personalities of infected individuals, according to a new study. Infection by a Toxoplasma gondii could make some individuals more prone to some forms of neuroticism and could lead to differences among cultures if...

Jul 31, 2006

In 2021, You'll Enjoy Total Recall

Humans naturally have the power to remember almost two bits of information per second, or a few hundred megabytes over a lifetime. Compared with a DVD movie, which holds up to 17 gigabytes, that's nothing. Worse, you might easily recall the 40-year-old dialogue from Hogan's Heroes yet forget your mom's...

Jul 31, 2006

Men with Low Testosterone More Likely to Die

Men with low testosterone levels after age 40 have a higher risk of death over a four-year period than those with normal levels of the hormone, a new study suggests. It's not clear, however, if the two are directly related, and researchers say that it's possible a third unknown factor...