The number of individuals who are obese and suffer with its associated health problems has continued to rise, even being called an epidemic.

Is it genetics?  The dream of cheap food finally being realized? Or are we slaves to marketing?

Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Southern California say they have visualized differences in the way that the brains of obese and non-obese individuals respond to visual cues of high-calorie foods.  They see those foods differently.

Massachusetts implemented health care reform to increase employer-based insurance and to provide no-cost or low-cost insurance to those unable to afford it but it hasn't worked - the uninsured in Massachusetts remain predominantly the working poor, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School.

Some people have no fingerprints.  That might be handy in a burglary but it can be an issue when passing through immigration or in security situations where a fingerprint is required, like getting a notary public to take your five bucks for some benign document.

Like DNA, fingerprints are unique to each person or set of identical twins. That makes them a valuable identification tool for everything from crime detection to international travel. But what happens when the tips of our fingers are missing those distinctive patterns of ridges?

A retrovirus enzyme whose configuration had stumped scientists for more than a decade has been solved by researchers who called on the participatory cornerstone of Science 2.0 for help. 

While America debates moving to a health care system more like the UK, the majority of Brits want to try an American approach. According to Simplyhealth's latest survey, 59% of people would consider paying to be seen privately due to concerns about access to diagnosis and treatment. 

 Simplyhealth's report 'Are we an instant health generation?' carried out by YouGov suggests that concerns about cost, waiting times and access to healthcare are driving people to seek private alternatives to the NHS. Just over half believe that they will need to wait longer for treatment than ever before and 45% agree that government changes may mean that they are denied treatment altogether by the NHS. 

Xiao-Gang Wen, a condensed matter theoretical physicist, has joined the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics as the new BMO Financial Group Isaac Newton Chair.   Yes, their Isaac Newton Chair has a corporate sponsor.

 Xiao-Gang Wen is moving from MIT to Perimeter Institute as the inaugural holder of the BMO Financial Group Isaac Newton Chair in Theoretical Physics. At MIT, he held the Cecil and Ida Green Professorship in Physics.  The position was funded by a CDN$4 million gift from the BMO Financial Group, matched by another CDN$4 million from Perimeter's existing endowment.