Scientists have shown how a parasitic worm infection common in the developing world increases susceptibility to tuberculosis. The study demonstrated that treating the parasite reduces lung damage seen in mice that also are infected with tuberculosis, thereby eliminating the vulnerability to tuberculosis (TB) that the parasite is known to cause.

The study raises the possibility of using inexpensive and widely available anti-parasitic drugs as a preventive measure in places where the parasite and TB are common -- stopping infection with the parasite and reducing susceptibility to TB and the risk of a latent TB infection progressing to disease.

Scholars have additional evidence that among U.S. adults some recent cigarette quitters may have done so with the assistance of electronic cigarettes.

The research informs the ongoing debate as to whether e-cigarettes are effective aids for smoking cessation or instead promote uptake by non-tobacco users.

Noisy gymnasiums, restaurants where conversations are nearly impossible, and concert halls less than perfect for the music are all engineering problems.

What does that have to do with emotions? Perhaps a lot. Penn State acoustical engineers are using functional MRI, measuring brain activity by sensing changes in blood flow in the brain, to better understand room acoustics and the emotions they can cause.

Ancient climates on Earth may have been more sensitive to carbon dioxide than was previously thought, according to an analysis of nahcolite crystals found in Colorado's Green River Formation, formed 50 million years old during a hothouse climate.

Scientists found that CO2 levels during this time may have been as low as 680 parts per million (ppm), nearly half the 1,125 ppm predicted by previous experiments. The new data suggests that past predictions significantly underestimate the impact of greenhouse warming and that Earth's climate may be more sensitive to increased carbon dioxide than was once thought

Scientists have found that people infected by the dengue virus but showing no clinical symptoms can actually infect mosquitoes that bite them. It appears that these asymptomatic people - who, together with mildly symptomatic patients, represent three-quarters of all dengue infections - could be involved in the transmission chain of the virus. 

The ice-covered Arctic Ocean is a more important factor concerning the concentration of the greenhouse gas methane in the atmosphere than previously assumed. Experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) report on the newly discovered interactions between the atmosphere, sea ice and the ocean in a recent online study in the journal Nature's Scientific Reports.