Humans
- Health & Medicine
I feel your pain, even though I can’t feel mine
A new imaging study looks at how people are able to empathize with others, even when they haven’t experienced something firsthand.
- Earth
Toxic Lead: Watch Out for Schools
Schools may present the "worst case" for encountering lead-tainted water, an engineer reports finding.
By Janet Raloff - Earth
Water-cleanup experiment caused lead poisoning
Featured blog: Lead concentrations spiked in many children living in the nation's capital after the local water authority altered the treatment used to disinfect drinking water.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Newborns pick up the beat
Electrical measurements of sleeping newborn babies’ brains indicate that the 2- to 3-day-olds automatically detect a regular beat in rhythmic sequences, possibly reflecting an early capacity for learning music.
By Bruce Bower - Health & Medicine
Possible anticancer power in fasting every other day
When mice ate as important as what they ate in reducing cell division linked to cancer, new study reports.
- Health & Medicine
Overly Hungry for Frogs
Frogs are shipped half-way round the world to sate human appetites for this lean white meat.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Darkness, melatonin may stall breast and prostate cancers
New studies suggest strong links between melatonin and breast and prostate cancers.
By Janet Raloff - Earth
EPA: Music to My Ears
Obama's pick for EPA administrator pledges to put science first.
By Janet Raloff - Life
As cells age, the nucleus lets the bad guys in
A study tracks a growing 'leakiness' in the membrane of the cell nucleus that could contribute to aging and even to diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
- Humans
Life expectancy up when cities clean the air
Study shows people live longer after fine-particulate air pollution is reduced.
- Health & Medicine
Child-sized medicine
A new UNICEF campaign pursues youth-appropriate dosing of medicines.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Easygoing, social people may get dementia less often
Don’t worry, be happy: People who are largely unstressed by mundane events seem less likely to develop dementia in old age than people who sweat the small stuff.
By Nathan Seppa