Daily consumption of caffeine in coffee, tea or soft drinks increases blood sugar levels for people with type 2 diabetes and may undermine efforts to control their disease, say scientists at Duke University Medical Center.

Researchers used new technology that measured participants’ glucose (sugar) levels on a constant basis throughout the day. Dr. James Lane, a psychologist at Duke and the lead author of the study, says it represents the first time researchers have been able to track the impact of caffeine consumption as patients go about their normal, everyday lives.

About nine percent of teenagers may have metabolic syndrome, a clustering of risk factors that put them on the path toward heart disease and diabetes in adulthood. This shocking statistic represents some of the first concentrated efforts to define and measure metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents – a necessary starting point for combating the problem, but one that has proven even trickier in youth than it has been in adults.

With the number of obese children in the United States rising at an alarming rate, pediatricians, family practitioners and researchers are concerned about what it means to for children’s future health.

NEW YORK, January 28 /PRNewswire/ --

- Clothes/Shoes - Fastest Growing Internet Buys

- 'Visa' the Most Popular Credit Card Payment Method

More than 85 percent of the world's online population has used the Internet to make a purchase -- increasing the market for online shopping by 40 percent in the past two years -- according to the latest Nielsen Global Online Survey on Internet shopping habits. Globally, more than half of Internet users have made at least one purchase online in the past month, according to Nielsen.

Marine bacteria come almost a billion to a cup. Until recently, however, little has been known about how these minute creatures live or what they need to flourish.

New research led by a marine microbial ecologist at the University of Georgia is showing for the first time that the roles played by bacteria in coastal waters aren’t nearly as specific as some scientists suspected.

Once considered rare, mitochondrial diseases are now thought to affect as many as one person in 5,000. New research in this area hopes to open up more opportunities for predicting a child's risk of developing a mitochondrial disease which can cause muscle weakness, diabetes, strokes, heart failure and epilepsy.

All human and animal cells contain many mitochondria, which are involved in energy production within the body. Mitochondria have their own genetic information, known as mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA, which is inherited.

The newly discovered asteroid 2007 TU24 is passing within 1.4 lunar distances, or 334,000 miles, of Earth today.

The asteroid, estimated at between 150 and 600 meters in diameter, was discovered by the University of Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey in October 2007. It poses no threat to Earth, but its near approach gives astronomers a golden opportunity to learn more about potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. And conspiracy theorists a chance to speculate on NASA.

Some people are genuinely concerned about this asteroid causing an End of Life event on Earth. Not to worry.

Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports (STAR) is an online publication listing citations and abstracts of NASA and worldwide aerospace-related research. Updated biweekly, STAR highlights the most recent additions to the NASA scientific and technical information knowledge base.

for more information visit : http://www.sti.nasa.gov/Pubs/star

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, January 27 /PRNewswire/ --

- New research shows Microsoft-related businesses make more than US$15 for every US$1 Microsoft earns.

A University of Rochester scientist discovered that the toxins in cigarette smoke wipe out a gene that plays a vital role in protecting the body from the effects of premature aging. Without this gene we not only lose a bit of youthfulness – but the lungs are left open to destructive inflammation and diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.

By identifying the Sirtuin (SIRT1) gene’s role in pulmonary disease, scientists also hope to find ways to restore it and jump-start lung healing. They’ve begun testing the powerful antioxidant resveratrol, which is extracted from red grape skins, to develop a treatment to target SIRT1 and reverse lung damage, or at least enhance the way standard COPD therapies work.

NEW YORK, January 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Aveda(TM), the maker of plant-derived hair care, skin care, makeup and lifestyle products and a global leader in corporate environmental sustainability, is building on the breakout success of its Spring/Summer 2008 Green Fashion program with an enhanced eco-friendly platform for the Fall/Winter 2008 New York shows. Once again, Aveda has engaged New York's most talented and highly influential designers to raise the industry's collective environmental conscience.