In order to benefit from their natural resources, states need fewer regulations, lower taxes, and stronger private property rights, according to a new study by a Florida State University economist. The study offers an empirical analysis weighing the economic growth rates of resource-dependent states against the Economic Freedom of North America index (which operates on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the freest) to determine the level of economic freedom required for states to benefit from natural resource development.

Research suggests that in regions lacking policies consistent with free markets, private-property rights and a stable and fair legal system, natural resource dependence can weaken economic growth — a phenomenon known as the "resource curse."

A group of paleontologists has discovered a venomous, birdlike raptor that thrived some 128 million years ago in China, and is the first reported venomous ancestor in the lineage that leads to modern birds. The discovery is documented this week  in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The dromaeosaur or raptor, Sinornithosaurus (Chinese-bird-lizard), is a close relative to Velociraptor. It lived in prehistoric forests of northeastern China that were filled with a diverse assemblage of animals including other primitive birds and dinosaurs.

According to an upcoming study in the March Issue of Alcoholism: Clinical&Experimental Research, alcohol and marijuana use may be explained by the same genetic factors, lending support to the notion that there are common mechanisms underlying all addictions, the authors say.

Researchers examined 6,257 individuals (2,761 complete twin pairs and 735 singletons) listed in the Australian Twin Registry, 24 to 36 years of age.  Alcohol and marijuana use histories were gathered in telephone diagnostic interviews and used to derive levels of alcohol consumption, frequency of marijuana use, and DSM-IV alcohol and cannabis dependence symptoms.

Researchers studying climate change during the early Pliocene have concluded that slow changes such as melting ice sheets amplified the initial warming caused by greenhouse gases, and that a relatively small rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels was
associated with substantial global warming about 4.5 million years ago.  The findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

A new study suggests that the increase of MRSA in healthcare settings results from clinicians who prescribe antibiotics more often and more broadly than clinical circumstances and evidence-based guidelines warrant because of medical liability concerns.

So it isn't politicians or insurance companies who are picking your treatment, it is lawyers.  

Nanotechnology is a big buzzword this decade but there are questions about how safe nano-based products are and we are unsure how to even measure,  much less regulate, them.

Anti-odor socks, makeup, makeup remover, sunscreen, anti-graffiti paint, home pregnancy tests, plastic beer bottles, anti-bacterial doorknobs, plastic bags for storing vegetables, and more than 800 other products are already in use so time is critical.