People in developed nations are living as much as a decade longer than their parents did as a result of staying healthy to a more advanced age, according to a new review published in Nature.

The better health in older age stems from public health efforts to improve living conditions and prevent disease, and from improved medical interventions, said author James Vaupel, who heads Duke University's Center on the Demography of Aging.

Over the past 170 years, in the countries with the highest life expectancies, the average life span has grown at a rate of 2.5 years per decade, or about 6 hours per day.

A new approach to water desalination called ion concentration polarization may lead to small, portable desalination units that could be powered by solar cells or batteries and deliver enough fresh water to supply the needs of a family or small village.

As an added bonus, the system would also remove many contaminants, viruses and bacteria at the same time.

Fresh water is often in high demand and short supply following a natural disaster like the Haiti earthquake or Hurricane Katrina. In both of those instances, the disaster zones were near the
sea, but converting salty seawater to potable fresh water usually requires a large amount of dependable electrical power and large-scale desalination plants — neither of which were available in the disaster areas.

Binge drinking the night before a test does not impact college students' test performance, according to a controlled experiment conducted by researchers from Boston University and Brown University.

Getting slammed does, however, slow participants' attention/reaction times and worsen mood states – impacts that could make driving dangerous and the morning after the partying generally miserable.

A paper detailing the research appears in this month in Addiction.

Clinical trials ended early due to positive treatment effects likely exaggerate those effects, according to a new review published in JAMA. The authors caution that researchers should resist pressures to end clinical trials early because of the potential risk to patients in the trials.

The clinical trials reviewed were ended early because of a convincing -- and usually large -- apparent difference between an experimental treatment and an existing standard therapy. The studies were ended so participants taking a placebo or less effective medications could also take the studied drug.

Ice loss in Greenland, which has been increasing during the past decade over its southern region, is now moving up its northwest coast, according to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters.

A comparison of data from NASA's GRACE Satellite and continuous GPS measurements made from long-term sites on bedrock on the edges of the ice sheet revealed the ice loss. The study indicates the ice-loss acceleration began moving up the northwest coast of Greenland starting in late 2005.

Foods spiked with "fructans" from the agave plant, the source of tequlia, may help protect against osteoporosis by boosting the body's absorption of calcium and could have other health benefits, according to research presented today at the ACS National Meeting.

Fructans are non-digestible carbohydrates. They consist of molecules of fructose -- the sugar found in honey, grapes, and ripe fruits -- linked together into chains. Rich natural sources include artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic and onions, and chicory. Fructans do not occur in tequila, however, because they change into alcohol when agave is used to make tequila.