Perfect pitch may be more strongly under genetic control than previously thought, according to a new study.

Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven were able to precisely identify musical notes and there is certainly a genetic component to music like there is math or sprinting - while anyone can be functional with practice being truly great may take biology. Perfect (absolute) pitch is rare, even among expert musicians, and the relative contribution of genetics and experience to this ability remains debated.

A short few months after China became the third country with a moon mission (following the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), Israel will be the fourth.

On February 22nd, 2019, give or take weather events, the Beresheet Moon lander, once one of the candidates for the Google Lunar X-Prize, will make Israel the fourth country with a moon mission. And its $100 million for planning and execution has been made possible through cooperation of private individuals, corporate and government groups, and academia. 

Mention to doctors who run their own practice or a hospital administrator that malpractice and American tort culture are probably the biggest reason for high health care costs, they will likely correct you and say that it is instead defensive medicine - running tests and engaging in efforts a doctor knows are unnecessary or useless to check off boxes that will prevent a lawsuit if something ever does go wrong.

A new analysis finds that mammography and improvements in breast cancer treatment have led to a terrific number of women's lives saved since 1989.

Patients taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, the most common form of antidepressant, who are given the most widely prescribed opioid, hydrocodone (Vicodin) experience less pain relief, a finding whch could help combat the opioid epidemic, as poorly managed pain may lead to eventual illegal and dangerous opioid use. 

Up to 15 percent of Americans take an antidepressant while hydrocodone and codeine are often prescribed to patients who have recently undergone surgery. If they are taking an antidepressant and it leads to greater pain, they may want to increase their dosage.  Because pain medication is prevalent they focused on surgical patients.

Long before human ancestors began hunting large mammals for meat, a fatty diet provided them with the nutrition to develop bigger brains, according to a paper in Current Anthropology.

The paper argues that our early ancestors acquired a taste for fat by eating marrow scavenged from the skeletal remains of large animals that had been killed and eaten by other predators. The argument challenges the widely held view among anthropologists that eating meat was the critical factor in setting the stage for the evolution of humans. This is anthropology, so they may be making a distinction without a difference; in a calorie-poor landscape all was eaten.