The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say up to one in four teens in the United States will contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD), and experts believe a major contributing factor is the failure of many teens to use condoms consistently and routinely. A new study provides some insight into some of the factors that influence condom use among teenagers.

Researchers from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and three other institutions surveyed more than 1,400 adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 21 who had unprotected sex in the previous 90 days. They found that teens who did not use condoms were significantly more likely to believe that condoms reduce sexual pleasure and were also more concerned that their partner would not approve of condom use. The findings appear in the September/October issue of Public Health Reports.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -Without a way to measure religious beliefs, anthropologists have had difficulty studying religion. Now, two anthropologists from the University of Missouri and Arizona State University have developed a new approach to study religion by focusing on verbal communication, an identifiable behavior, instead of speculating about alleged beliefs in the supernatural that cannot actually be identified. 

Children who are bilingual before the age of 5 are significantly more likely to stutter and to find it harder to lose their impediment compared to children who speak only one language before that age, according to research in Archives of Disease in Childhood.The researchers base their findings on 317 children who were referred for stuttering between the ages of 8 and 10.

A drug used to increase blood production in both medical treatments and athletic doping scandals seems to also improve memory in those using it. New research published in BMC Biology says that the memory enhancing effects of erythropoietin (EPO) are not related to its effects on blood production but are due to direct influences on neurons in the brain. The findings may prove useful in the treatment of diseases affecting brain function, such as schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s.

Patients given EPO to treat chronic kidney failure had been observed to have improved cognition after starting the drug. “These effects of EPO were thought to result from the blood-boosting effects of the drug,” explains Hannelore Ehrenreich at the Max Planck Institute, “but the finding of receptors for EPO on nerve cells in the brain suggests that some other mechanism might be involved.”

Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company, has introduced Glowelle, a dietary supplement that they say protects and hydrates the inner and outer layers of the skin. Their marketing blurb says it is formulated with a proprietary(naturally) blend of high antioxidant vitamins (like vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E), phtyo-nutrients, botanical and fruit extracts and that drinking it will help fight the signs of aging.Glowelle's antioxidants help defend against the damage caused by free radicals, which are caused by pollution ... and the sun.

You know, the sun. Source of all life on Earth. It's apparently bad for you. Except for that vitamin C antioxidant they put in Glowelle, which you can get for free ... from the sun.

Bacteria found in compost heaps able to convert waste plant fibre into ethanol could eventually provide up 10% of the UK's transport fuel needs, scientists heard at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting.

Researchers from Guildford, UK, have successfully developed a new strain of bacteria that can break down straw and agricultural plant waste, domestic hedge clippings, garden trimmings and cardboard, wood chippings and other municipal rubbish to convert them all into useful renewable fuels for the transport industry.