Category Archives: news briefs

Not only are we as a nation getting fatter, but it also appears that, in contrast to other countries, we’ve stopped growing taller. John Komlos of the University of Munich analyzed more than 200 years’ worth of data on height … Continue reading →

The sensation of fat in the mouth activates the reward centers of the brain, report British researchers in the March 24 Journal of Neuroscience in a finding that sheds light on why high-calorie foods are so appealing and might lead … Continue reading →

Researchers believe they have found the remains of the earliest known pet cat. Jean-Denis Vigne of the CNRS-Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris and colleagues report in the April 9 Science that they have discovered a human and a cat … Continue reading →

To mice and men, add the common lab rat to the creatures whose genomes — or genetic blueprints — have been sequenced and decoded. A large international team of researchers known as the Rat Genome Sequencing Project Consortium reported their … Continue reading →

Perhaps people should start blaming their brains instead of their diets for their weight. A hormone, leptin, known to control appetite, appears also to rewire the brain’s weight-regulation centers in early life, researchers from Oregon Health and Science University report … Continue reading →

Once upon a time, the only known forms of carbon were graphite and diamond. Buckyballs and nanotubes have been invented relatively recently, and now an international team of researchers has created yet another structure, which they have dubbed nanofoam. The … Continue reading →

Studies suggest that green tea has protective effects against many different kinds of cancers, including lung, breast, and prostate. The tea’s benefits have been widely attributed to a powerful antioxidant called EGCG, but researchers were unsure exactly how it worked. … Continue reading →

It’s been known for decades that an animal’s lifespan could be extended by severely reducing its calorie intake, while avoiding malnourishment. Calorie restriction slows the rate of aging, as well as the development of age-related diseases. (A few hardy, if … Continue reading →

British researchers have reported dramatic declines in plant and animal species in the United Kingdom and suggest it’s evidence that the earth may be experiencing “the sixth major extinction event in its history.” (Major extinction event number five is whatever … Continue reading →

In contrast to most other animals, who reproduce until they die, human females live long after their childbearing years are over. Researchers offer proof in the March 11 Nature why this anomaly makes evolutionary sense: grandmothers, by helping their own … Continue reading →