A new study in mice found that it might be possible to fine-tune mitochondria, tweaking one aspect to increase insulin sensitivity, reduce body and fat mass, and even extend life.

The researchers say exploiting this target could one day lead to novel treatments for type 2 diabetes, an endocrine system disease that affects 8 percent of the U.S. population. The research also points to promising new avenues of investigation in the biology of aging.

The studyfound that diminished activity of a protein complex involved in mitochondrial function was associated with healthy changes in the mice. The median life span of this strain of mice is 20 percent longer. 

No one thinks much about morality these days, besides it being a personal metric. Once postmodernists and moral relativists took over philosophy, it became overrun with amateur ponderings. Now it has social psychologists seeking to bring back some objectivity.

Getting people to think about morality as objective facts rather than subjective preferences may lead to improved moral behavior, Boston College academics write in a new paper.

It's winter in the northern hemisphere and that means flu season. 

As influenza spreads through the northern hemisphere winter, researchers in the laboratory of Professor Jose Villadangos at the University of Melbourne believe they have a new clue to why some people fight infections better than others.

The lab has been investigating the 'defensive devices' contained within the T- cells that are located on exposed body surfaces such as skin and mucosal surfaces to ward off infection. T-cells detect cells infected with viruses and kill them before the virus can reproduce within the infected cell and spread to other cells.

You may not ever carve out time to go to the gym but a new review by social psychologists suggests the health benefits of small amounts of activity in two-minute increments that add up to 30 minutes per day can be just as beneficial as longer bouts of physical exercise achieved by a trip to the gym.

Even cutting your own vegetables rather than buying them pre-cut counts.

The analysis of over 6,000 American adults found that an active lifestyle approach seemed to be as beneficial as structured exercise in improving health outcomes, including preventing metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Sexual selection refers to the evolutionary pressures that relate to a species' ability to repel rivals, gather mates and pass on genes. We can observe those processes happening in living animals and, now, detecting sexual selection in the fossil record is also possible, according to researchers. 

It has been challenging to recognize sexual selection in extinct animals. Many fossil animals have elaborate crests, horns, frills and other structures that look like they were used in sexual display but it can be difficult to distinguish these structures from those that might play a role in feeding behavior, escaping predators, controlling body temperature or not having any important function at all.

While male sparrows can fight to the death, a new study shows that they often wave their wings wildly first in an attempt to avoid a dangerous brawl.  Swamp sparrows use wing waves as an aggressive signal to defend their territories and mates from intruding males. 

"For birds, wing waves are like flipping the bird or saying 'put up your dukes. I'm ready to fight,' " said Duke biologist Rindy Anderson.