For years, biologists have suspected that the answer has to do with disease. Many diseases are species-specific, infecting only animals of the same species. Perhaps the risks of catching a species-specific disease by eating your same-species neighbor...
But its worth trying to eat less. In one study, researchers used computer models to see how less salt could affect teens health. One result showed that reducing salt consumption by as little as half a teaspoon a day could lower teens risk for high bl...
The Kite Runner is an adaptation of the Khaled Hosseini novel, which told the story of how childhood friendship and betrayal played out when its characters became adults. The film starts in contemporary San Francisco, where an adult Amir looks on mor...
Running shoes are carefully designed to cushion your feet and provide arch support and padding and all that stuff. Run without shoes and youll tear up your foot on rocks and pebbles. But studies have shown that running shoes can do more harm than goo...
The way paper tears is related directly to how it is made. Most paper is made from wood fibers. Logs are chopped into wood chips, mixed with water and chemicals, and run through a process that separates the wood fibers. The soupy mush that results is...
If the uncooked meat is refrozen these new bacteria are put into suspended animation along with their living ancestors. This means that when the meat is rethawed there are not only the parents and their offspring, but the grandkids, great-grandkids,...
On a previous show we discussed how, every 200,000 years or so, the north and south poles switch places. Not that the places themselves moverather, the entire magnetic field of the earth flips around, resulting in the pole we now call north being on...
By calculating how old the rocks are where we find these ancient compasses, we can figure out how long ago the magnetized parts were locked in. That tells us which direction was magnetic north tens of thousands of years ago. Surprisingly, its not alw...
Four regions were found that may regulate life span, a breed characteristic that usually decreases with increasing body size. Regions associated with some behavioural stereotypes like herding, pointing and boldness were also identified. What can they...
We all know that smoking is unhealthy. But whats the best way to get someone to quit? By harping on the dangers of lighting up, or by touting the benefits of kicking the habit? According to one study, being positive may be the best approach. The rese...
I'd like to look into your past, and predict the future. I bet that the last time you went to the beach, the wind was blowing in off the water. Maybe it was just a pleasant breeze, maybe something a little stronger. But it was definitely coming in of...
According to the famous song, American is beautiful for its spacious skies, purple mountains, and amber waves of grain. If you were to make a music video based on these lyrics you'd probably want mid to late summer images of fruit-laden trees and fie...
He speeds into battle in a fiery flash, laying waste to all challengers. That's not just Iron Man but the film's likely box-office outcome, too, as the summer's top hit. Movie studios and exhibitors are desperate for a hit, with 2008 attendance down...
Last month, our English Department invited a local radio star to deliver a public lecture on the topic of media influence on society. He described the tug of war that has been going on in recent years between newspapers on real live paper (my words f...
When Yosuke the parrot flew out of his cage and got lost, he did exactly what he had been taught－recite his name and address to a stranger willing to help. Police rescued the African gray parrot last month from a neighbor's roof in the city of Naga...
