There are three key factors associated with what gerontologists call "successful aging" - avoiding disease, maintaining physical and cognitive function, and continuing social engagement in late life.  But why do some groups clearly have those factors more than others?

The number of times the common cold has been cured, or prevented, is far too long a list for this site - though recently those claims have been overtaken by the kookier segments of homeopathy.

But researchers at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge say they are onto something.   

Astronomers say they have found evidence of an intense warming period in the Universe’s early history, which they describe as a form of 'cosmic climate change'.

The findings were made by researchers measuring the temperature of gas that lies in between galaxies and they say they found a clear indication that the temperature of this 'intergalactic medium' had increased steadily between the period when the Universe was one tenth of its current age and the point at which it reached one quarter of its current age.

They speculate that the effect was caused by quasars; giant accreting black holes at the heart of galaxies which emit ultraviolet light and triggered a series of reactions in the gas clouds that caused the temperature to rise.

Surgery of any kind is a drastic step, especially for preventable conditions such as obesity, but a new study on gastric bypass surgery in obese rats also showed a decreased preference for sweet-tasting substances, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. 

Some males give back too - even when it comes to sex.

Male worms plug females after copulation as a form of 'gift', a nice gesture, rather than to prevent them from mating again, as most had previously been thought, according to researchers writing in Frontiers in Zoology who found that plugged females mated just as often and were just as attractive as those who were unplugged, and that plugging ultimately improved female fitness.

Mating plugs have been documented for a broad range of animal groups, including insects, arachnids, reptiles, and rodents. In the worms studied, plugs consist of gelatinous mass deposited by the male onto the female's vulva at the end of copulation, which then hardens like glue.

Children who participate in oral sex in the 9th grade will be having intercourse by the 11th, according to results of a new survey conducted by researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Merced.   Solution: Sex education should include oral sex, they conclude.

With results likely to shore up opposition to having sex education in schools at all, the study debunks the notion that oral sex acts as a protective measure delaying the onset of further sexual activity.   Study results are published online by the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and will appear in the March 2011 print issue of the journal.