Deep in the water of a Yucatán Peninsula cave, one of the oldest human skeletons found in North America has been discovered. 

"Naia" is the the researchers' name for the teenage girl who went underground, presumably to seek water, and fell to her death in a large pit named Hoyo Negro - "black hole" in Spanish.

Since the commercialization of medical marijuana in the middle of 2009, the proportion of marijuana-positive drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes in Colorado has increased dramatically, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System covering 1994 to 2011.

The University of Colorado School of Medicine  researchers analyzed fatal motor vehicle crashes in Colorado and in the 34 states that did not have medical marijuana laws, comparing changes over time in the proportion of drivers who were marijuana-positive and alcohol-impaired.

DALLAS, May 15, 2014 — Older migraine sufferers may be more likely to have silent brain injury, according to research published in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke.

In a new study, people with a history of migraine headaches had double the odds of ischemic silent brain infarction compared to people who said they didn’t have migraines. Silent brain infarction is a brain injury likely caused by a blood clot interrupting blood flow to brain tissue. Sometimes called “silent strokes,” these injuries are symptomless and are a risk factor for future strokes.

Previous studies indicated migraine could be an important stroke risk factor for younger people.

Two decades ago, the inclusion of women in biomedical research was mandated by law but sex-specific research is still not the norm.

As a result, many women receive recommendations from their doctors for prevention strategies, diagnostic tests and medical treatments that may not have included women adequately. There is no evidence treatment has been worse due to that - and no one can force women to participate in studies - but diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and depression disproportionately affect women, which raises questions about the impact of research on women’s health.   

Mindfulness. Zen. Meditation drumming. Chakra. Buddhist and transcendental meditation. It evokes eastern mystics and hip elites in California pretending to to leave their corporeal forms behind and achieve some higher state of being.

But what about poor stressed-out wretches that can't afford to fly in big-name Yogis? What does the research say? Not much. 

We're all going to die, that is nature's way of telling us to get the hint. But it is the purpose of science and medicine to defy nature. Death is going to be standing at the door and doctors have taken an oath to block the way.

But what about when it's unavoidable and quality of death becomes more important than quality of life? That's a psychology issue.

A paper in Journal of Pain and Symptom Management analyzes the overall 'quality of death' of cancer patients who die in an urban Canadian setting with ready access to palliative care was found to be good to excellent in the large majority of cases. Is suffering at the end of life inevitable?