Teenagers with easy access to drugs and alcohol in the home are more likely to drink and do drugs in their early and late 20s, according to an analysis of survey results  from around 15,000 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health over the course of three waves - when the survey participants were, on average, 16, 22 and 29 years old.

According to Cliff Broman, professor of sociology
at Michigan State University, the effects were more significant among Caucasians and males, which may be odd defiance of stereotype or a confounder, since Hispanic and Asian participants generally had drugs and alcohol more easily available to them in the home during adolescence. 

They may be slimy, but they are a perfect environment for microorganisms: biofilms. Protected against external influences, here bacteria can grow undisturbed, and trigger diseases. Scientists at Kiel University, in cooperation with colleagues at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) in Hamburg-Harburg, are researching how it can be possible to prevent the formation of biofilms from the beginning. On this basis, alternatives to antibiotics could be developed, as many pathogens are already resistant to most commercially used antibiotics. The biologists have published their findings in the scientific journal "Frontiers in Microbiology". Their study shows that strategies from nature are particularly effective at inhibiting biofilms.

Music can influence how much you like the taste of beer, according to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology.

Their findings suggest that a range of multisensory information, such as sound, sensation, shape and color, can influence the way we perceive taste.

The Brussels Beer Project collaborated with UK band The Editors to produce a porter-style beer that took inspiration from the musical and visual identity of the band.

WASHINGTON --A paper published online yesterday in Annals of Emergency Medicine warns that a new street drug combining fentanyl and a novel synthetic opioid is being marketed illicitly as Norco but is much stronger and much more dangerous ("Fentanyl and a Novel Synthetic Opioid U-47700 Masquerading as Street 'Norco' in Central California: A Case Report").

Ever taken a selfie? Around the world, people snap tens of millions of these self-portraits every day, usually with a mobile device held at arm's length. For all their raging popularity, though, selfies can often be misrepresentative, even unflattering. Due to the camera's proximity, selfies render subjects' noses larger, ears smaller and foreheads more sloping.

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- With a shortage of donor organs, Mayo Clinic is exploring therapeutic strategies for patients with debilitating liver diseases. Researchers are testing a new approach to correct metabolic disorders without a whole organ transplant. Their findings appear in Science Translational Medicine.

The medical research study tested gene therapy in pigs suffering from hereditary tyrosinemia type 1 (HT1), a metabolic disorder caused by an enzyme deficiency. The common treatment for this disease is a drug regimen, but it is ineffective in many patients, and the long-term safety of using the drug is unknown.