Health & Medicine
- Math
Varying efficacy of HIV drug cocktails explained
Steepness of slope in dose-response curve tips off researchers to importance of timing in virus’s life cycle.
- Humans
Young minds at risk from secondhand smoke
Children exposed to secondhand smoke at home are at least twice as likely to develop a neurobehavioral disorder as are kids in smokefree homes, a new study finds. And roughly 6 percent of U.S. children — some 4.8 million — encounter smoke at home.
- Humans
Metal water bottles may leach BPA
Consumers who switched from polycarbonate-plastic water bottles to metal ones in hopes of avoiding the risk that bisphenol A will leach into their beverages aren’t necessarily any better off, a new study finds. Some metal water bottles leach even more BPA — an estrogen-mimicking pollutant — than do ones made from the now-pariah plastic.
- Chemistry
Fats stimulate binge eating
Much like marijuana, fatty foods can spur overeating, a study in rats shows. The new finding also suggests possible therapies to combat the munchies.
- Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
A good massage can help, plus bed nets for babies, sugar counteracts fish and more in this week's news.
- Life
Environment blamed for autism
A new study of twins downplays the role of genes in determining who will get autism.
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- Health & Medicine
The Power of D
Sunshine vitamin’s potential health benefits stir up, split scientists.
- Health & Medicine
Body & Brain
The right speed for a caress, plus the punny brain, rocking babies and more in this week’s news.
- Psychology
Sleeping babies learn in an eyeblink
To learn about spoken words and other sounds, 1-month-old babies sleep on it.
- Life
Alzheimer’s plaques due to purging flaw
A gene controls the clearance of a protein that accumulates in the brains of people with the condition.
- Earth
BPA makes male mice less macho
Studies show that exposures in the womb or during adolescence can erase masculine habits or reverse sexes' behavior.
