ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Researchers are learning whether a simple part of our diets might be linked to a healthier weight - and it has nothing to do with carbs, fat or protein.

The potential secret weapon? Water.

People who are obese and have a higher body mass index (BMI) are more likely to be inadequately hydrated and vice versa, suggests new research from the University of Michigan published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

"The link between hydration and weight is not clear. Our study further explains this relationship on a population level using an objective measure of hydration," says lead author Tammy Chang, M.D., MPH, MS, an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the U-M Medical School.

Children who suck their thumbs or bite their nails may be less likely to develop allergies, according to a new study from New Zealand's University of Otago.

The finding emerges from the long-running Dunedin Multidisciplinary Study, which has followed the progress of 1,037 participants born in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1972-1973 into adulthood.

The study, which appears in the August issue of the US journal Pediatrics, suggests that childhood exposure to microbial organisms through thumb-sucking and nail-biting reduces the risk of developing allergies.

Study lead author Professor Bob Hancox says that this exposure may alter immune function so that children with these habits become less prone to developing allergy.

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Sustaining a concussion during adolescence may be more common than previous estimates, according to researchers presenting their study at the American Orhopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting in Colorado Springs, CO today.

An enriched hops extract activates a chemical pathway in cells that could help prevent breast cancer, according to new laboratory findings from the UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Natural botanical dietary supplements such as hops have become increasingly popular among women for postmenopausal symptoms, as they are perceived as a safer alternative to hormone therapy, which has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer. However, the efficacy and potential toxicity of botanicals are still being studied.

The truth is being suppressed across the world using a variety of methods,  and not just physical violence. Bribery, extortion and defamation legislation are also used, according to a special report in the 250th issue of Index on Censorship magazine.

San Francisco people won't be happy until Dallas is just like them - but they insist they need to force that change in the name of tolerance and diversity.

Of course, there is nothing about tolerance and diversity that is implemented with hostile intent. Yet if people from San Francisco would get to know people in Dallas, and vice versa, rather than relying on stereotypes and caricatures, it would help their ability to form close relationships, and even make them nicer people, according to William Chopik, Michigan State University assistant professor of psychology. 

When talking about troubling sexual encounters some women mention faking sexual pleasure to speed up their male partner's orgasm and ultimately end sex.

This is one of the findings of a qualitative study by Emily Thomas (Ryerson University, Canada) Monika Stelzl, Michelle Lafrance (St. Thomas University, Canada) that will be presented today, Friday 8 July 2016, at the British Psychological Society's Psychology of Women annual conference in Windsor.

Florence, Italy - 8 July 2016: A diagnosis of high cholesterol is associated with reduced mortality and improved survival in the four most common cancers, according to research presented today at Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2016.1 The 14 year study from nearly one million patients found that a high cholesterol diagnosis was associated with lower risk of death in lung, breast, prostate and bowel cancers.

The cells of plants, animals and humans all use electrical signals to communicate with each other. Nerve cells use them to activated muscles. But leaves, too, send electrical signals to other parts of the plant, for example, when they were injured and are threatened by hungry insects.

"We have been asking ourselves for many years what molecular components plants use to exchange information among each other and how they sense the changes in electric voltage," says Professor Rainer Hedrich, Head of the Chair for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Würzburg.

Results published in Plant Biology

Physicists in the Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences have made science history by confirming the existence of a rare four-quark particle and discovering evidence of three other "exotic" siblings.

Their findings are based on data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's biggest, most powerful particle accelerator, located at the CERN science laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland.