It seems like common sense but a new study adds empirical weight to commonly held beliefs about health:

1) Don't smoke
2) Exercise
3) Moderate alcohol intake
4) Eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day

People who do those four things live on average an additional fourteen years of life compared with people who adopt none of these behaviors, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine.

The results of this study need to be confirmed in other populations and an analysis of how the combined health behaviors affect quality of life is also needed but the results of the study suggest that these four achievable lifestyle changes could have a marked improvement on the health of middle-aged and older people.

SAN JOSE, California, January 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- 80%+ High-Efficiency 465W/865W Power, Energy-Saving DDR2/DDR3 Memory

Super Micro Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq: SMCI), a leader in application optimized, high-performance server and workstation solutions, today unveiled its whisper-quiet family of SuperWorkstations with the debut of its dual-processor (DP) 7045A-C3, 7045A-CT, and uni-processor (UP) 5035B-T+ systems. These quiet (28dB(i)) systems sharply boost overall system performance (up to 30%(i)), increase energy savings with new high-efficiency power supplies and energy-saving DDR2/DDR3 memory, and provide optimum cooling across all CPU speeds.

Mauve Majesty is one cool lily look-alike. This new pinkish-purple ornamental flower, just patented by Cornell, can last for two weeks in a vase, but when left in the garden, it blooms all summer long in the cooler, northern states until the first hard freeze in the fall.

The new hybrid of the Inca lily (Alstroemeria), which was developed by a Cornell professor, is a non-fragrant perennial that is set apart by its lavender-lilac flower color (which is adorned with dark speckling and a creamy yellow throat), its strong, upright flower stems and its winter hardiness. In greenhouses, the new hybrid never goes dormant and grows year-round.

A team of U.S., Israeli and German scientists used computational biology techniques to discover 480 genes that play a role in human cell division and to identify more than 100 of those genes that have an abnormal pattern of activation in cancer cells.

Malignant cells have lost control of the replication process, so detecting differences in cell cycle gene activation in normal and malignant cells provides important clues about how cancers develop, said Ziv Bar-Joseph, a Carnegie Mellon University computational biologist who led the study. These genes also are potential targets for drug therapy.

Unlike many cancer studies, which seek to identify “missing” genes that might cause cancer, this new research shows that genes can contribute to cancer in less obvious ways.

GAITHERSBURG, Maryland and BERN, Switzerland, January 8 /PRNewswire/ --

- SmartNode(TM) Digital Telephone Adapter (S-DTA) Recognized for Outstanding Innovation

- SmartNode(TM) VoIP ... more than just talk

Patton -- the leader in business-class network access, connectivity, and VoIP equipment -- together with Patton-Inalp Networks AG -- creator of SmartNode(TM) industry-leading VoIP technology -- announced today that Technology Marketing Corporation's (TMC(R)) INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine (www.itmag.com) has named the SmartNode(TM) Digital Telephone Adapter (S-DTA) as a recipient of its 2007 Product of the Year Award.

A new 11-year cycle of heightened solar activity, bringing with it increased risks for power grids, critical military, civilian and airline communications, GPS signals and even cell phones and ATM transactions, showed signs it was on its way late Thursday when the cycle’s first sunspot appeared in the sun’s Northern Hemisphere, NOAA scientists said.

“This sunspot is like the first robin of spring,” said solar physicist Douglas Biesecker of NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. “In this case, it’s an early omen of solar storms that will gradually increase over the next few years.”

A sunspot is an area of highly organized magnetic activity on the surface of the sun.

Birthmarks have always been something of a mystery. Scientists know that a hemangioma is a benign tumor of cells that line blood vessels, appearing during the first few weeks of life as a large birthmark or lesion, but not much more. Now a study published in Pediatric Dermatology answers some remaining questions and reveals that a disturbance of oxygen depletion was found in placentas of babies who developed infantile hemangioma (IH).

Researchers reviewed placental samples from 26 pregnancies with babies who weighed less than 3.5 pounds, 13 consisting of newborns who developed IH after birth and 13 healthy preterm infants who did not have IH.

Only one of the infants without IH showed an abnormal placenta.

Most children are able to imagine their future selves as astronauts, politicians or even superheroes; however, many older adults find it difficult to recollect past events, let alone generate new ones. A new Harvard University study reveals that the ability of older adults to form imaginary scenarios is linked to their ability to recall detailed memories.

According to the study, episodic memory, which represents our personal memories of past experiences, “allows individuals to project themselves both backward and forward in subjective time.”