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TwitterActive senior couple running in the woods. (Credit: iStockphoto/Marcel Mooij)From Science Daily:ScienceDaily (Mar. 3, 2009) — When it comes to the hippocampus, a brain structure vital to certain types of memory, size matters. Numerous studies have shown that bigger is usually better. Now researchers have found that elderly adults who are more physically fit tend to have bigger hippocampi and better spatial memory than those who are less fit.The study, in the journal Hippocampus, shows that hippocampus size in physically fit adults accounts for about 40 percent of their advantage in spatial memory.Read more ….
Archive for the ‘Science News’ Category
Physical Fitness Improves Spatial Memory, Increases Size Of Brain Structure
March 3rd, 2009 
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Posted in Science News 
Tags: Advantage, Brain Structure, Elderly Adults, Hippocampus, Istockphoto, Marcel, Memory Brain, Memory Increases, Memory Size, Physical Fitness, Physical Memory, Science Daily, Sciencedaily, Size Matters, Spatial Memory, Types Of Memory 
Comments OffThe Challenge of Pizza Box Recycling
March 3rd, 2009 admin Pizza boxes are recyclable, but grease and cheese make them less so and can cause a whole batch of recyclable material to be diverted to the trash. Image credit: DreamstimeFrom Live Science:Many people assume that pizza boxes are recyclable. In fact, most boxes have recycling symbols on them and are traditionally made from corrugated cardboard.
Posted in Science News Tags: Cheese Pizza, Corrugated Cardboard, Dreamstime, Grease, Hot, Image Credit, Live Science, Loving Public, Many People, Mmm, Pizza Box, Pizza Boxes, Recyclable Material, Recycling Symbols, Soil, Trash Comments OffSpotting Future Gamblers In Kindergarten
March 3rd, 2009 admin From Time Magazine:It’s disturbing to picture your kindergartner in a casino, but maybe you ought to try. American kids are born into a culture that loves its gambling, and the passion is only growing, as financial hardships sweeten the ever alluring prospect of a lucky break.
Posted in Science News Tags: Adolescent Medicine, American Kids, Amp, Archives Of Pediatrics, Compulsive Gambling, Financial Hardships, Gamblers, Kindergarten, Kindergartner, Lucky Break, Medicine, Passion, Risk, Time Magazine Comments OffResistance To Flu Drug Widespread In U.S.: Study
March 3rd, 2009 admin A flu shot is prepared in Chicago, Illinois. US President Barack Obama has vowed to fight for his budget proposals that include investments in clean energy and healthcare as he faces a tough battle moving the measures through Congress. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Tim Boyle)From Yahoo News/Reuters:WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Virtually all cases of the most common strain of flu circulating in the United States now resist the main drug used to treat it, the U.S.
Posted in Science News Tags: Afp, Barack Obama, Budget Proposals, Cdc, Centers For Disease Control, Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, Chicago Illinois, Clean Energy, Disease Control And Prevention, Flu, Flu Drug, Flu Shot, Getty Images, Resistant Strain, Reuters Washington, Roche, Tamiflu, Tim Boyle, Tough Battle, Yahoo News Comments OffCurtains And Pyjamas To Become Weapons Against Superbugs
March 3rd, 2009 admin Intensive cleaning takes place on a hospital ward Photo: Rii SchroerFrom The Telegraph:Hospital curtains, bedding, and even patients’ pyjamas could become weapons in the war against hospital superbugs.A study has found that an antimicrobial treatment, which could be incorporated into dozens of surfaces on the ward, can kill MRSA on contact, reducing the risk of infection between patients.Scientists hailed the discovery by researchers from Imperial College London as a “very significant” step in the war on hospital superbugs which kill 10,000 people a year.Read more ….
Posted in Science News Tags: Antimicrobial Treatment, Bedding, Discovery, Dozens, Hospital Curtains, Hospital Superbugs, Imperial College London, Photo, Pyjamas, Risk, Schroer, Scientists, Surfaces, Telegraph, Weapons Comments OffScientists See Merit In Sharks’ Many Teeth
March 2nd, 2009 admin Scientists have looked into the fearsome jaws of sharks and seen a possible benefit to humans: many rows of teeth. Kat Wade/the ChronicleFrom San Francisco Chronicle:Ever wonder why sharks get several rows of teeth and people only get one? Some geneticists did, and their discovery could spur work to help adults one day grow new teeth when their own wear out.A single gene appears to be in charge, preventing additional tooth formation in species destined for a limited set.When the scientists bred mice that lacked that gene, the rodents developed extra teeth next to their first molars – backups like sharks and other non-mammals grow, University of Rochester scientists reported Thursday.Read more ….
Posted in Science News Tags: Adults, Benefit, Discovery, First Molars, Geneticists, Jaws, Kat, Mammals, Mice, People, Rodents, San Francisco Chronicle, Scientists, Sharks Teeth, Tooth Formation, University Of Rochester Comments OffLunacy And The Full Moon
March 2nd, 2009 admin Courtesy of Ninomy at WikimediaFrom Scientific American:Does a full moon really trigger strange behavior?Across the centuries, many a person has uttered the phrase “There must be a full moon out there” in an attempt to explain weird happenings at night. Indeed, the Roman goddess of the moon bore a name that remains familiar to us today: Luna, prefix of the word “lunatic.” Greek philosopher Aristotle and Roman historian Pliny the Elder suggested that the brain was the “moistest” organ in the body and thereby most susceptible to the pernicious influences of the moon, which triggers the tides. Belief in the “lunar lunacy effect,” or “Transylvania effect,” as it is sometimes called, persisted in Europe through the Middle Ages, when humans were widely reputed to transmogrify into werewolves or vampires during a full moon.Read more ….
Posted in Science News Tags: Belief, Centuries, Full Moon, Goddess Of The Moon, Greek Philosopher Aristotle, Lunar Lunacy, Middle Ages, Moon Tides, Phrase, Pliny The Elder, Prefix, Roman Goddess Of The Moon, Roman Historian, Scientific American, Strange Behavior, Transylvania, Vampires, Weird Happenings, Werewolves, Wikimedia Comments OffFrom Stem Cells To New Organs: Scientists Cross Threshold In Regenerative Medicine
March 2nd, 2009 admin Computer-rendered image of human organs. New research suggests that bioengineered replacement organs may be closer thanks to a newly developed matrix on which stem cells can form a three-dimensional organ. (Credit: iStockphoto/Sebastian Kaulitzki)From Science Daily:ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2009) — By now, most people have read stories about how to “grow your own organs” using stem cells is just a breakthrough away.
Posted in Science News Tags: Bone Marrow, Breakthrough, Groin Area, Human Organs, Hurdles, Hype, Langone, Medicine Computer, Mice, New Scientists, New York University, Replacement Organs, Scaffolding, Science Daily, Sciencedaily, Sebastian, Stanford University, Stem Cells, Threshold, Transplant Rejection Comments Off