New data presented at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meetings in Dallas, Texas, implicates early humans in the extinction of large mammals, birds and lizards in Australia.

The "Anthropocene" has been with us for thousands of years, it seems - and the ancestors of Australian Aborigines have been implicated in the demise of a plethora of large-bodied animals, including a huge monitor lizard, large terrestrial birds, a giant wombat, the marsupial lion, and giant kangaroos.

One of the great hypocrisies in climate negotiations a decade ago was exempting China from any agreement by giving them "developing nation" status. The rationale was that their emissions were not that high, according to Europe, who had remained fans of nuclear energy and therefore used less fossil fuels.

But scientists knew that policy-makers and activists were using self-reported claims about the emissions. Soon, better measurement techniques began to show giant streams of CO2 coming out of the communist nation and the problem could no longer be denied. When they hosted the Olympics in Beijing, they banned cars for all but wealthy elites and visiting tourists, which made a difference, but isn't really a solution for countries with freedom.

It's no secret that cigarettes and heavy drinking are linked, people who engage in risky behaviors tend to do so in multiple ways, but a link to e-cigarettes, which have no tobacco, is new. A paper in Addictive Behaviors also found that more women than men use e-cigarettes socially, like when drinking, opposite to patterns seen in regular cigarette smoking.

As I am spending my time these days selecting candidates for early-stage researcher positions in the EU network I am coordinating, I am reminded of my own experience as a participant to job interviews from the other side of the table. The text below tells the story of my interviews for a post-doctoral position in 1998. Enjoy! 

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A new systematic review and meta-analysis finds the overall rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries among high school athletes is significantly higher among females than males - and soccer is the most injury-causing for women.  

The acromio-clavicular joint is located at the top of the shoulder, between the collarbone and top of the shoulder blade. The AC joint is most commonly injured during sports, but can also be caused by motor vehicle accidents or falls. This dislocation is one of the most common shoulder injuries orthopedic surgeons treat.

For minor AC joint dislocations, surgeons often suggest patients wear a sling for a few weeks and undergo physiotherapy rather than undergo surgery using a plate and screws. Severe dislocations are often treated with surgery but new research finds that patients who opt for non-surgical treatment typically experience fewer complications and return to work sooner. 

Vitamin D is important for the absorption and metabolism of calcium, as well as for maintaining healthy bones and muscles.  It's important but different parts of America have varying levels of it, and that is the main source, so we fortify products like milk with it.

In Denmark, the sun is absent for much of the year so people generally have too low a level, but are consumers actually interested in buying foods with added vitamin D?

A team of paleontologists find in a new fossil study that the extraordinary regenerative capacities of modern salamanders are likely an ancient feature of four-legged vertebrates that was subsequently lost in the course of evolution.

Ivermectin, a workhorse of a drug that a few weeks ago earned its developers a Nobel prize for its success in treating multiple tropical diseases, is showing early promise as a novel and desperately needed tool for interrupting malaria transmission, according to new findings presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting.

Picture this: an anxious patient sits in the doctor's exam room. He has handed his health questionnaire to the receptionist detailing his diabetes, cholesterol problems, and hypertension. The nurse has checked his height and weight and recorded the numbers in his chart. He is ready for advice from the obesity doctor, hoping to learn how to get rid of some of the 100 pounds that has crept onto his body over the last few decades. The doctor enters and says, "Wow, Mr. Jones, that's quite an exercise problem you have! How long have you been suffering from this lack of exercise condition?"

That would be a strange beginning, wouldn't it?