Diabetes Risk May Come from Neanderthal Gene

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  750 words  |  Patria Henriques

Mexicans and other Latin Americans have a higher risk of diabetes because of a Neanderthal gene mutation, researchers say. These findings could uncover new targets for diabetes drugs, investigators added. An international team of researchers focused on Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, accounting for 90 percent to 95 percent of diabetes cases in humans. In Type 2 diabetes, the body either does not generate enough insulin or its cells ignore the molecule. [Read More]

Do Babies Have a Moral Compass? Debate Heats Up

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  699 words  |  Trudie Dory

An experiment five years ago suggested that babies are equipped with an innate moral compass, which drives them to choose good individuals over the bad in a wooden puppet show. But new research casts doubt on those findings, demonstrating that a baby's apparent preference for what's right might just reflect a fondness for bouncy things. The researchers who conducted the original study stand by their results and interpretations, pointing to some discrepancies in the new study. [Read More]

Edible Bugs to Help Fight World Hunger

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  316 words  |  Patria Henriques

How to solve world hunger? The United Nations thinks bugs might help. Meat-eating is an inefficient way to get calories, because livestock such as  cows and sheep must ingest around 10 times more vegetable matter, in terms of calorie count, than they convert into meat. En route to a steak, a huge number of food calories are wasted. And yet, humans need protein. Fortunately, insects are full of it. There are at least 1,700 edible insect species around the world, from beetles to locusts to grubs. [Read More]

Fitbit One: Fitness Tracker Review

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  7 minutes  |  1301 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

Fitbit One(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)$249(opens in new tab)View(opens in new tab)We check over 250 million products every day for the best pricesEditorial note: The Fitbit One has been discontinued. You can still find the model on some reselling sites, but we'd recommend looking through our list of the best Fitbits or best fitness trackers if you're looking for a new wearable. The One is a fitness tracker from Fitbit, a company known for its wearable devices. [Read More]

Gorgeous Images Reveal Parasitic Plant in 3-Way Symbiotic Relationship

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  545 words  |  Patria Henriques

Scientists have found a bizarre food triangle between three different organisms lurking deep in the Peruvian Amazon. The cast of characters includes a yellow parasitic plant that bursts forth like boils from tree bark, a caterpillar that feeds on that plant, and an ant that drinks the sweet liquid that the caterpillar produces in a special gland near its neck. And at least one of these critters seems to have evolved specific adaptations that allow it to better take advantage of this complex relationship. [Read More]

Identical Twins Not So Identical

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  452 words  |  Trudie Dory

Identical twins are not quite as identical as once thought, according to a new study of DNA. Life, it seems, changes everyone in unique ways. One twin might get cancer while the the other is not susceptible, for example. Many identical twins clearly behave differently as they grow older, and some even grow to look less alike. Such differences have to do not with the twins' identical DNA, which is the software of life, but in how genes express themselves, the research found. [Read More]

Massive Subtropical Wilderness | Wallpaper

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  1 minutes  |  41 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

This wallpaper shows Everglades National Park in Florida. It is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States and boasts rare and endangered species. It has been designated a World Heritage Site, International Biosphere Reserve, and Wetland of International Importance.

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Placebo Effect May Account for Half of Drug's Efficacy

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  757 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Even when a medication works, half of its impact on a patient may be due to one aspect of the placebo effect: the positive message that a doctor provides when prescribing the treatment, according to a new study. Researchers designed an elaborate study, in which 66 people suffering from migraine headaches were given either a placebo, or a common migraine drug called Maxalt. However, for each migraine attack the participants had during the study period, they were told something different. [Read More]

The Birds Are Back! 'Rat Island' Renamed

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  337 words  |  Trudie Dory

When a ship arrived at an island in the North Pacific in the late 1700s, it brought more than cargo and splintered wood. It brought rats. These invasive mammals thrived on the island, eating up local birds and their eggs. As a result, the spot took on the moniker "Rat Island," and it was known for its eerie silence and lack of birdsong. In 2008, a team of scientists and environmentalists killed the rats with rodenticides. [Read More]

Treatments for COVID-19: Drugs being tested against the coronavirus

 Posted on May 23, 2023  |  10 minutes  |  1944 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Updated with new information on April 7 at 4 p.m. ET. The world is now desperate to find ways to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus and to find effective treatments. As of April 6, more than 200 clinical trials of COVID-19 treatments or vaccines that are either ongoing or recruiting patients. New ones are being added every day, as the case count in the U.S. (and globally) skyrockets. The drugs being tested range from repurposed flu treatments to failed ebola drugs, to malaria treatments that were first developed decades ago. [Read More]