Defective calcium metabolism in nerve cells may play a major role in a fatal genetic neurological disorder that resembles Huntington’s disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in a mouse study.

Each year, coal-burning power plants, steel factories and similar facilities in the United States produce more than 125 million tons of waste, much of it fly ash and bottom ash left over from combustion. Mulalo Doyoyo has plans for that material.

An assistant professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Doyoyo has developed a new structural material based on these leftovers from coal burning. Known as Cenocell™, the material offers attributes that include high strength and light weight – without the use of cement, an essential ingredient of conventional concrete. 

Older people who spent at least 14 hours a week taking care of a disabled spouse lived longer than others. That is the unexpected finding of a University of Michigan study forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

The study supports earlier research showing that in terms of health and longevity, it really is better to give than to receive.

When a pregnant woman goes into early labor, her obstetrician may give her drugs to quiet the woman's uterus and prevent premature birth.

New research shows, however, that one popular drug works no better than a placebo at maintaining pregnancy after the initial bout of preterm labor is halted, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. The new trial is the first-ever placebo-controlled test of nifedipine, a muscle relaxant originally developed to lower blood pressure, and its effect on premature delivery with prolonged treatment.

Thanksgiving is just one of those pesky holidays that we justify our overindulgence. After all, turkey is healthy right? While you may think that canned cranberry jam and buttery mashed potatoes are good for you because they contain, well, cranberries and potatoes, they can actually be the reason you make that New Years Resolution next month to join the gym.

There are some good eats on that Thanksgiving table, but the most delicious always tends to be the worst for you. Instead of skimping out on all your favorite foods this year, here's a helpful list of tips you can incorporate into your thanksgiving meal that may have your guests a little more thankful this year (and can help you cut those extra calories you've been trying to avoid too!)

Thanksgiving is the celebration of family, friends and loved ones. It is a time to reflect on our fortunes and give thanks for what we have. Nonetheless, it is also one of the most stressful times of the year for many people. This stress seems to be centered on the famed Thanksgiving feast. We are haunted by golden brown turkeys which are dry on the inside and mushy pumpkin pie. For many of us, having the perfect Thanksgiving meal is essential to a successful Thanksgiving, so I am here to help. Here are some helpful holiday hints that will make your Thanksgiving go without a hitch.

Science fiction writers have long envisioned sailing a spacecraft by the optical force of the sun’s light. But, the forces of sunlight are too weak to fill even the oversized sails that have been tried. Now a team led by researchers at the Yale School of Engineering&Applied Science has shown that the force of light indeed can be harnessed to drive machines — when the process is scaled to nano-proportions. 
 
Their work opens the door to a new class of semiconductor devices that are operated by the force of light. They envision a future where this process powers quantum information processing and sensing devices, as well as telecommunications that run at ultra-high speed and consume little power.
 

What color is the number 7? How does a symphony taste? What temperature is a muted television? A synesthete could tell you, with great certainty and consistency, the answers to the above questions, and describe many more sensory associations that seem irrelevant to most people.

Approximately 1 in 1000 people experience synesthesia - the elicitation of a sensory response independent of the stimulus itself. For instance, viewing a number or hearing a phonetic sound may elicit a colored response in the visual field, or a certain visual stimulus may elicit an auditory response.

We all know that feeling of the Midnight Munchies, when you're watching your favorite movie on late night HBO and you suddenly feel starving, even just a few hours past dinner. Instead of sleeping with the growing you sneak into the kitchen for a little snack, I'm guilty of this too so don't be ashamed. It's normal, and the culprit is actually your own tiny hormones, sparking late night signals tricking your mind into eating.

As you gorge on food this Thanksgiving and throughout the holiday season, you might not want to think about the fat content of all the goodies you've indulged in. Nevertheless, your brain will be keeping tabs directly, suggests a report in the issue of Cell. 

Researchers have discovered in studies of rats that one type of lipid produced in the gut rises after eating fatty foods. Those so called N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines or NAPEs enter the bloodstream and go straight to the brain, where they concentrate in a brain region that controls food intake and energy expenditure.