Placebos Work Even When Patients Know They're Dummy Pills
Posted on March 29, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 518 words
| Fernande Dalal
For years, placebos have been valued for their supposed ability to do nothing — unlike medications with active ingredients, placebos derive their healing ability psychologically, by fooling patients into thinking they're receiving a "real" drug.
However, a new study shows that placebos can offer effective treatment even when patients know they're taking a so-called "dummy pill."
Among patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), 59 percent of those who knowingly took a placebo pill said their symptoms were adequately relieved after three weeks, while just 35 percent of patients who took no pills reported such relief.
[Read More]Watch the Water: Great Lakes' Currents Visualized
Posted on March 29, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 282 words
| Fernande Dalal
You can't normally see water currents or the wind. Now you can: A computer code used to visualize wind has been adapted by researchers to show surface currents of the Great Lakes.
The code was originally developed to make a map of the wind by Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg, artists/technologists who lead Google's "Big Picture" visualization research group in Cambridge, Mass., according to their website.
But researchers at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Michigan saw the stunning wind map and figured it could be applied to surface currents of the Great Lakes, which are largely driven by wind.
[Read More]What if winter lasted for years like it does on 'Game of Thrones'?
Posted on March 29, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 703 words
| Fernande Dalal
Winter is not coming to the northern hemisphere — and we have our planet's tilt to thank.
Earth's axis is slightly tilted as it rotates around the sun. This means that the sun's rays don't hit our planet equally: If the rays directly hit the northern hemisphere, it spells winter for the southern hemisphere, and vice versa. Because the Earth is titled, as it orbits the sun, certain latitudes of the planet receive more or less sunlight during each season.
[Read More]Why the Urge to Pee Ruins Sleep for Some
Posted on March 29, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 654 words
| Arica Deslauriers
For most people, sleep is undisturbed by the need to pee, because our bladders seem to hold more urine over night. But just how this happens, and why some people are unable to do this, has remained a mystery until now.
New research shows that the body's internal clock controls the production of a key protein that helps regulate the bladder's capacity to hold urine before needing to empty.
The findings may someday yield new therapies to help children who involuntarily wet the bed or adults who frequently wake up at night to urinate, researchers said.
[Read More]Woman's Swollen Pinkie Finger Was Rare Sign of Tuberculosis
Posted on March 29, 2023
| 2 minutes
| 292 words
| Mittie Cheatwood
A swollen finger is often the symptom of a simple sprain, but for one woman in California, a puffy pinkie was a rare sign of tuberculosis, according to a new report of the case.
The 42-year-old woman went to the doctor after a week of swelling and pain in her pinkie finger. However, she hadn't injured her finger at all, according to the report from doctors at the University of California, San Francisco.
[Read More]Women's Brains Are 3 Years 'Younger' Than Men's, Study Suggests
Posted on March 29, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 652 words
| Patria Henriques
You've heard of being "young at heart," but what about young in the brain? A new study suggests that, by at least one measure, women's brains are biologically younger than men's of the same age.
The researchers analyzed brain scans of more than 200 adults, specifically looking at a measure of the brain's metabolism that's known to change with age. They found that, based on these metabolic levels, women's brains appeared about three years younger, on average, than men's brains of the same chronological age.
[Read More]12-Million-Ton Iceberg Threatens Greenland Village
Posted on March 28, 2023
| 3 minutes
| 470 words
| Trudie Dory
Residents of a small town on Greenland's western coast were evacuated after a giant iceberg parked itself nearby, bringing a threat of a tsunami and flooding that could wash much of the village away.
The iceberg, which was first sighted on July 12, is now settled to the north of the town of Innaarsuit, The New York Times reported. It measures a staggering 656 feet (200 meters) wide and rises about 328 feet (100 m) above sea level, according to satellite data, and is thought to weigh more than 12 million tons (11 million metric tons), according to the Times.
[Read More]Basis for Male Promiscuity Questioned
Posted on March 28, 2023
| 4 minutes
| 722 words
| Patria Henriques
Males are promiscuous and females are selective when choosing a mate, biologists have said for decades. But a new study finds it might not be that simple.
The study, published in this month's issue of the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution, evaluated data on 18 populations – from Pitcairn Islanders to the Dogon of Mali – and found that on average, the variance in the number of children is greater for men than for women.
[Read More]Belfast Zoo Welcomes Baby Capybaras
Posted on March 28, 2023
| 1 minutes
| 122 words
| Fernande Dalal
Two little bundles of joy born recently at the Belfast Zoo actually belong to the world's largest rodent species.
Twin capybara babies, named Gus and Jacques, were born to parents Charlie and Lola on April 3.
"It's definitely an exciting time and I am sure that zoo visitors will enjoy visiting our new arrivals, Gus and Jacques," said zoo manager Mark Challis.
Capybaras are native to South America. Their scientific name (Hydrochoerus) means "
[Read More]Cystic Fibrosis: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
Posted on March 28, 2023
| 5 minutes
| 1050 words
| Patria Henriques
Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disorder that causes mucus-producing organs to malfunction and produce abnormally thick, sticky mucus. This causes problems in those organs, such as the lungs, the pancreas and the organs of the digestive system.
About 30,000 people in the United States have cystic fibrosis, and more than 75% of those affected are diagnosed by age 2, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
In healthy people, mucus is thin and slippery.
[Read More]