Category: General

  • Researchers Seek to Turn Winery Waste Into Healthy Jelly

    Researchers Seek to Turn Winery Waste Into Healthy Jelly

    A recent study in the SCI’s Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture shows us how winemaking leftovers could brighten up our gelatine sweets, without breaking the bank, and toss in some health perks to boot. The sludge that’s left once wine’s fermented, called wine lees, piles up to 2.5 million tons worldwide each…

  • Life Expectancy Between Men and Women Widens to 6 Years

    Life Expectancy Between Men and Women Widens to 6 Years

    Researchers from UC San Francisco and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health have discovered that the life expectancy gap between American men and women has been growing for over ten years. This increase is partially due to COVID-19 and the opioid crisis, among other factors. A study released on November 13, 2023, in JAMA…

  • Swear Words Have Similar Characteristics Across Languages

    Swear Words Have Similar Characteristics Across Languages

    Swear words can have similar characteristics across languages. These words across different languages may tend to lack certain sounds such as l, r, and w, suggests research published in Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. This common pattern in profanity indicates that these sounds, called approximants, may appear less offensive to listeners.   Swear words are thought to have sounds that help…

  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome May Be Caused by Gravity

    Irritable Bowel Syndrome May Be Caused by Gravity

    A new theory suggests irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the most common gastrointestinal disorder, may be caused by gravity. Brennan Spiegel, MD, MSHS, director of Health Services Research at Cedars-Sinai and author of the hypothesis, explains that IBS—and many other conditions—could result from the body’s inability to manage gravity. Unrelenting Effects of Gravity “As long as…

  • Pandemic School Shutdown Harmful to Teens

    Pandemic School Shutdown Harmful to Teens

    The COVID-19 pandemic changed the social and school world for teens as virtual learning or hybrid learning became the norm in 2020-21. The unprecedented shutdown of classroom learning caused undue stress, low levels of social inclusion and low satisfaction with school for many — and mental health issues for some, according to a new study…

  • Wastewater Can Be Turned Into Fertilizer to Help Agriculture

    Wastewater Can Be Turned Into Fertilizer to Help Agriculture

    The wastewater draining from massive pools of sewage sludge has the potential to play a role in more sustainable agriculture, according to environmental engineering researchers at Drexel University. A new study, looking at a process of removing ammonia from wastewater and converting it into fertilizer, suggests that it’s not only technically viable, but also could…

  • Beavers Can Really Help Improve Water Quality

    Beavers Can Really Help Improve Water Quality

    The dams that beavers build may help protect water quality and the local ecosystem according to a recent study. That is the conclusion of a new study by Stanford University scientists and colleagues, publishing Nov. 8 in Nature Communications. The research reveals that when it comes to water quality in mountain watersheds, beaver dams can have a far…

  • Can Beer Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease?

    Can Beer Protect Against Alzheimer’s Disease?

    Beer may protect against Alzheimer’s Disease. The chemical compounds extracted from hops inhibit the clumping of amyloid beta proteins, which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). AD is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease, often marked by memory loss and personality changes in older adults. Part of the difficulty in treating the disease is the time lag…

  • Changing Words About Food Freshness Can Help Reduce Food Waste

    Changing Words About Food Freshness Can Help Reduce Food Waste

    Researchers at Cornell University found that changing wording on perishable food items may help reduce food waste. A survey of consumers found that certain wording – “best by,” as opposed to “best if used by,” for example – had the potential to reduce food waste, but that results varied depending on the type of food…

  • Fluoride Not Needed With Low-Carbohydrate Diets to Prevent Tooth Decay, Says Study

    Fluoride Not Needed With Low-Carbohydrate Diets to Prevent Tooth Decay, Says Study

    According to a recent article, low-carbohydrate diets can help prevent tooth decay, making fluoride unnecessary. Prominent organizations including the World Health Organization and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have dismissed low-carbohydrate diets that prevent tooth decay in favor of recommending high-carbohydrate diets which rely on fluoride and food fortification to mitigate dental damage and nutritional…