Living against our biological clock, working late-night shifts or eating at inappropriate times, can has been linked to health risks like metabolic syndrome, obesity, and diabetes in Current Biology - at least for mice. 

Insulin action rises and falls according to a 24-hour, circadian rhythm, the researchers write. Mice unable to keep the biological time for one reason or another get stuck in an insulin-resistant and obesity-prone mode. 

Researchers have successfully modeled using both familial and sporadic patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and revealed stress phenotypes and differential drug responsiveness associated with intracellular amyloid beta oligomers in
Alzheimer's disease
neurons and astrocytes. 

The health benefits of low-dose aspirin and omega-3 fatty acids in foods like flax seeds and salmon are touted frequently but the detailed mechanisms involved in their effects are not fully known.

A report in Chemistry&Biology says that aspirin helps trigger the production of resolvins, molecules that are naturally made by the body from omega-3 fatty acids. These resolvins shut off, "resolve," the inflammation that underlies destructive conditions such as inflammatory lung disease, heart disease, and arthritis.

For older adults looking to sharpen their mental abilities, Facebook may be the way to go, according to preliminary psychology research which suggests that men and women older than 65 who learn to use Facebook could see a boost in cognitive function.

Janelle Wohltmann, a graduate student in the Univesity of Arizona department of psychology, set out to see whether teaching older adults to use the popular social networking site could help improve their cognitive performance and make them feel more socially connected.

A routine step in preparing for cleft palate surgery in a child led to an unusual case of lung inflammation (pneumonitis), according to a report in the The Journal of Craniofacial Surgery. 

The strong, flapping flight of bats looks fun but mimicking the function of ligaments, the elasticity of skin, the structural support of musculature, skeletal flexibility, upstrokes and downstrokes robotically also offers great possibilities for the design of small aircraft.

In a flapping animal, positive lift is generated by the downstroke, but some of that lift is undone by the subsequent upstroke, which generates negative lift. By running trials with and without wing folding, the robot showed that folding the wing on the upstroke dramatically decreases that negative lift, increasing net lift by 50 percent.

If a genome is the blueprint for life, then the chief architects are  the molecular regulators of epigenetics, say Yale School of Medicine researchers.

In the past 20 years, scientists have discovered that some proteins, epigenetic factors, traverse the static genome and turn the genes on or off. The staggering number of potential combinations of active and inactive genes explains why a relatively small number of genes can carry out such a wide range of functions. But what guides these epigenetic factors to their target? The answer specialized RNAsb - piRNAs.

 By analyzing data gathered by MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging), a NASA probe that has orbited the planet since March 2011, researchers looking at X-ray fluorescence identified two distinct compositions of rocks on the planet's surface.

A planetary puzzle: What geological processes could have given rise to such distinct surface compositions?

Now, drawing upon the chemical composition of rock features on the planet's surface, scientists at MIT may have an answer. They have proposed that Mercury may have harbored a large, roiling ocean of magma very early in its history, shortly after its formation about 4.5 billion years ago.

Psychologists say they have compelling evidence that older adults can eliminate forgetfulness and perform as well as younger adults on memory tests. 

They used a distraction learning strategy to help older adults overcome age-related forgetting and say it boosted their performance to that of younger adults. Distraction learning sounds like an oxymoron but some claims are that older brains are adept at processing irrelevant and relevant information in the environment, without conscious effort, to aid memory performance.  It's intriguing enough it will likely be on Dr. Oz next month.

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is more accurately known as herpesvirus 4 (HHV-4), one of 8 viruses in the herpes family and one of the most common viruses in humans, affecting more than 90 percent of the population worldwide and over 95% of adults in America - so common it is almost hard to attribute it to anything. 

The Epstein-Barr viruswas first discovered in the early 1960s. Infections in early childhood usually have no symptoms, but it remains for life and also people infected during adolescence or young adulthood may develop mononucleosis. It has been associated with Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.