War on MERS: Deadly virus prompts global battle plans

The deadly MERS virus from the Middle East hasn't reached the U.S., but health officials take it seriously and are making plans.



ATLANTA — In a war room of sorts in a neatly appointed government building, U.S. officers dressed in crisp uniforms arranged themselves around a U-shaped table and kept their eyes trained on a giant screen. PowerPoint slides ticked through the latest movements of an enemy that recently emerged in Saudi Arabia — a mysterious virus that has killed more than half of the people known to have been infected.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/nTWQcnEE71k/la-sci-mers-virus-20130630,0,1657961.story

Maywood gets straight talk about its water quality

State scientists say Maywood's sometimes-brown tap water doesn't pose a public health risk, but they express concern about the presence of an industrial solvent in a few wells.



In most towns, state officials showing up to announce that the drinking water was neither the best nor the worst in California would not be a big deal.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/23jUCoSgl7U/la-me-maywood-water0629-20130630,0,1554450.story

'Reverse vaccine' for Type 1 diabetes seems to pass human test

In the first trial with human subjects, it reduced the number of immune system 'killer' cells that attack crucial insulin-producing cells, study shows.



A "reverse vaccine" that allows people with Type 1 diabetes to produce their own insulin has passed its first test with human subjects, according to a new study. The success points to a potential new strategy for treating those in the early stages of the disease, experts said.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/VscchmdGX0U/la-sci-diabetes-reverse-vaccine-20130627,0,5414268.story

Agency says Pacific great white shark not in danger of extinction

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announces that the northeastern Pacific Ocean population of great white sharks does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.



The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday that the northeastern Pacific Ocean population of great white sharks is not in danger of extinction and does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/sZ63GU5HbQU/la-me-0629-great-whites-20130629,0,1790152.story

With shark fin ban, a slice of Asian culture ends in California

Chinese Americans are divided over the state's ban on sale or possession of the delicacy. The cruel practice of shark finning has decimated populations worldwide.



An ancient Asian dining tradition comes to an end in California on Monday, and grocer Emily Gian is none too happy.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/TVxOYzQm2Sw/la-me-shark-fins-20130629,0,6639792.story

Report rebuts a concern about Keystone XL tar-sands oil

Tar-sands oil for the Keystone XL pipeline is no more likely to cause leaks than other types, a new study finds.



WASHINGTON — The type of crude oil that would be pumped through the Keystone XL pipeline is no more likely to corrode pipelines or heighten the chance of leaks than other kinds of petroleum, according to a study by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/inP7nPxqiZ8/la-na-keystone-pipeline-20130629,0,5833928.story

'Reverse vaccine' for Type 1 diabetes seems to pass human test

In the first trial with human subjects, it reduced the number of immune system 'killer' cells that attack crucial insulin-producing cells, study shows.



By Brad Balukjian



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/p-G9N-Fi_2Y/la-sci-diabetes-reverse-vaccine-20130627,0,7543654.story

Is the autistic brain too wired or not wired enough?

Trying to find out how the autistic brain is “different” can be like studying a spinning coin: one side says its circuits are over-connected; the other, under-connected.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/zv8GV1ZsO6A/la-sci-sn-autism-brain-wired-20130626,0,4149554.story

PTSD-stricken veterans may be at higher risk for heart disease

Experts expect that 400,000 or more U.S. veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will suffer from PTSD at some point. A new study suggests that they'll have more to worry about than a debilitating psychiatric condition — they could also be at much greater risk for heart disease, the nation's leading cause of death.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/fVK5YITJQyg/la-sci-sn-does-ptsd-lead-to-heart-disease-20130625,0,2922720.story

Obesity, cancer and bacteria in the gut: Scientists explore link

It's well known that obesity is linked to diabetes, heart troubles and other health woes, but studies have also linked carrying too much weight to an increased risk of some kinds of cancer, including esophageal, colorectal, pancreatic and other cancers.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/609tAYJ6rUw/la-sci-sn-obesity-cancer-microbiome-20130626,0,2896347.story

Planets survived birth in harsh, stormy star cluster, study says

Astronomers peering at stellar data from the Kepler space telescope have discovered a surprising find: two planets smaller than Neptune that appear to have formed even in the harsh, unwelcoming environment of a star cluster. The discovery, published in the journal Nature, may show that planetary systems are more robust – and far more common – than previously thought.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/ASqo3HKb8Ww/la-sci-sn-two-planets-star-cluster-common-20130626,0,3414763.story

Three super-Earth planets found in habitable zone of nearby star

Gliese 667C might be the dimmest of a stellar threesome, but it's got something its two brighter companions don't: a trio of super-Earths circling around the star's skinny habitable zone, where the planets could potentially be capable of supporting life.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/50Hyr3fU0qU/la-sci-sn-three-super-earths-planets-habitable-zone-gliese-20130625,0,3902746.story

Voyager 1's journey to solar system's edge upends theories

The mysterious region 11 billion miles away proves to be even stranger than previously thought, according to Voyager's latest readings.



As the Voyager 1 spacecraft speeds toward interstellar space at a rate of almost a million miles a day, the NASA probe is causing scientists to jettison some long-standing theories on the nature of our solar system and life along its cold, dark edge.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/53xr5EWoJ0I/la-sci-voyager-heliosphere-20130628,0,6860711.story

L.A., Owens Valley settle dispute over dust control

The DWP's actions will include fast-tracking mitigation measures that do not use water. Also, a Native American massacre site will be left undisturbed.



Los Angeles and the Owens Valley have reached a settlement in their dispute over new measures to control dust storms that have blown across the eastern Sierra Nevada since L.A. opened an aqueduct a century ago that drained Owens Lake.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/xKr75RPbQmE/la-me-dwp-pollution-20130627,0,3471191.story

Ancient horse is oldest creature to reveal DNA sequence

Using a fossilized leg bone preserved in permafrost, scientists decipher the genetic code of a wild horse that lived in the Yukon about 700,000 years ago.



Researchers have unraveled the genetic code of a wild horse that loped across the frozen Yukon about 700,000 years ago, making it the oldest creature by far to reveal its DNA to modern science.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/ZumkkKE1GbE/la-sci-ancient-horse-genome-20130627,0,2514595.story

Obama outlines broad plan to curb climate change

His proposal would cut emissions from coal-fired power plants and may signal opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.



President Obama laid out an ambitious campaign to address climate change Tuesday, mapping a course that would bypass Congress to cut emissions from hundreds of coal-fired electric power plants and setting the stage for a possible rejection of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/4us5eiiVTGY/la-na-obama-climate-change-20130626,0,4878435.story

With FDA approval, fight ends over morning-after pill

Plan B One-Step will be available over the counter to all ages in the next few weeks. The agency's action complies with a federal judge's order.



The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step for use without a prescription or age restrictions, effectively ending more than a decade of legal and regulatory wrangling over the controversial morning-after pill.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/JF9zIY7X9WQ/la-sci-fda-plan-b-20130621,0,71015.story

Hoag's underhanded abortion ban

In Newport Beach, a new ban on abortions means that Hoag Hospital's OB/GYN services are constrained not by medical resources, medical judgment or the law, but by Roman Catholic doctrine.



In a most underhanded and insidious way, women's reproductive health rights in California were dealt a significant blow last month. That was when the availability of elective abortions at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, one of Orange County's elite medical centers, was abruptly ended.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/aOxJ5zSMYI4/la-fi-hiltzik-20130623,0,2099226.column

AMA declares obesity a disease

The move by the American Medical Assn. board means that one-third of adults and 17% of children in the U.S. have a medical condition that requires treatment.



The American Medical Assn. voted Tuesday to declare obesity a disease, a move that effectively defines 78 million American adults and 12 million children as having a medical condition requiring treatment.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/h1tZS-2ZZp8/la-sci-obesity-disease-20130619,0,7468803.story

High court rules 'pay-for-delay' drug deals can face antitrust suits

In such deals, a drug maker agrees to pay a potential rival to delay selling a generic version. The decision may result in lower drug costs, advocates say.



WASHINGTON — A brand-name drug maker can be sued for violating antitrust laws if it agrees to pay a potential competitor to delay selling a generic version, the Supreme Court ruled.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/OHc94b__plM/la-fi-court-generic-drugs-20130618,0,7238910.story

Deployment to war doesn't figure in majority of military suicides

Latest stats show 52% who killed themselves in 2008-11 weren't in Iraq or Afghanistan. Some experts say many recruits bring mental health issues with them.



Nate Evans had three children depending on him and held down a good job running a hyperbaric chamber at a hospital.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/W3bfp9zlFvI/la-me-military-suicide-20130616,0,6350094.story

Walk-in clinics gaining popularity

Urgent care centers and retail, work site and community clinics attract patients aiming to avoid longer waits and higher prices at doctor's office or hospitals.



Tabitha Smith had been sick for about a week last November with what she thought was just a cold. When she didn't get better, her mom pushed her to see a doctor. "I told her I can't afford the doctor," says Smith, a 31-year-old social media manager who has been uninsured for five years.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/dQRgbdqXENE/la-fi-healthcare-watch-20130616,0,4481713.story

Girl's lung transplant leaves thorny ethical questions

Sarah Murnaghan, 10, receives adult lungs in a transplant after a judge's ruling. Experts say the case leaves open complicated ethical issues.



The emails arrived by the dozens. Then the hundreds. Then the thousands.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/qEjIHqf7-hM/la-sci-organ-transplant-kids-20130613,0,3176899.story

Plan B emergency contraceptive pill battle: Confusion endures

It was hailed as a significant step forward in women's reproductive rights, but this week's decision by the Obama administration to allow non-prescription, over-the-counter sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step may do little to dispel widespread bafflement over the issue, say medical and legal experts.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/sCIJmW8Nsm8/la-sci-sn-plan-b-contraceptive-fight-leaves-legacy-of-confusion-20130611,0,2247152.story

Los Angeles leads nation in Medicare spending on end-of-life care

Spending in the last two years of life was about $112,000 per patient in L.A., about 60% higher than the national average, a Dartmouth Atlas Project report shows.



More money was spent in the Los Angeles area on chronically ill patients in their final years than anywhere else in the United States, according to new data on Medicare patients released Wednesday.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/ZRv3q0HUNqs/la-me-end-of-life-20130613,0,2832737.story

Obama administration reverses course on Plan B pill

The emergency contraceptive will be available over the counter with no age restrictions, the government announces, pending a judge's approval.



The Obama administration dropped its long-standing opposition to over-the-counter sales of a controversial morning-after pill Monday and decided to permit consumers of any age to buy Plan B One-Step without a prescription.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/s5IOPjG4dSI/la-na-obama-plan-b-20130611,0,644779.story

Leprosy, an ancient scourge, largely unchanged in modern era

A DNA study finds that the disease did not evolve, but that Europeans developed mutations that made them resistant to it.



Leprosy has plagued humans for thousands of years, but a new genetic analysis of the pathogen that causes the disfiguring disease has come to the surprising conclusion that its DNA is essentially unchanged since medieval times.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/Midxri6mRVg/la-sci-leprosy-20130622,0,2140796.story

Scientists create detailed 3-D model of human brain

The virtual BigBrain atlas is hailed by neuroscientists as a technological tour de force that could help them better understand the organ's structure and function.



With painstaking detail, scientists have created a three-dimensional virtual brain that not only maps the organ's anatomy in unprecedented detail but also allows researchers to see how the invisible connections between cells produce the complex behaviors that make us human.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/9aT_cIFJqSo/la-sci-big-brain-20130621,0,2524789.story

Silver found to increase effectiveness of antibiotics

Silver, used for centuries to fight infection and other germs, when added to antibiotics in trace amounts makes the drugs as much as 1,000 times more effective in treating mice, researchers find.



Thousands of years before the discovery of microbes or the invention of antibiotics, silver was used to protect wounds from infection and to preserve food and water.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/yHRl6tNxT70/la-sci-antibiotics-silver-20130620,0,6215677.story

'Creation' explains how science reinvents life

Adam Rutherford discusses evolution and delves into the political and cultural fallout of synthetic biology.



Spider webs combine a strength and elasticity unmatched by anything we humans can make. They don't trigger much of an immune response in us and are "insoluble in water, two facts that the classical Greeks exploited when they used cobwebs to patch bleeding wounds," notes science writer Adam Rutherford.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/dTmBdn7qUHw/la-ca-jc-adam-rutherford-20130623,0,7647046.story

Kenneth Wilson dies at 77; physicist won Nobel Prize

Kenneth Wilson's breakthrough research, which the Nobel Prize committee called 'ingenious,' had broad applications in physics.



Physicist Kenneth G. Wilson, who earned a Nobel Prize for breakthrough research that explained how factors like temperature and pressure lead to sudden transformations of matter, such as boiling water's shift from liquid to vapor, died Saturday in Saco, Maine. He was 77.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/pOfH1AxucVw/la-me-kenneth-wilson-20130621,0,2308794.story

With FDA approval, fight ends over morning-after pill

Plan B One-Step will be available over the counter to all ages in the next few weeks. The agency's action complies with a federal judge's order.



The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step for use without a prescription or age restrictions, effectively ending more than a decade of legal and regulatory wrangling over the controversial morning-after pill.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/eHgtdmfIZuo/la-sci-fda-plan-b-20130621,0,3037557.story

Cicadas liven up Staten Island with song and sex

The orange-eyed bugs put the New York borough in the spotlight, with an estimated 600 insects for every human.



NEW YORK — There are bugs in the trees. There are bugs on the shrubs, on screen doors, on barbecue grills, on front steps. There are shells of bugs on the ground, crunchy as tempura, and bug bodies clinging onto leaves, their dead orange eyes still beady.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/WUQ07FTVu6s/la-na-cicadas-20130620,0,4702352.story

Federal spending on weather event preparedness lagging

The government spends much more to clean up damage from storms, tornadoes and drought than it does for helping prepare for such disasters, an analysis finds.



WASHINGTON — Federal spending on community preparedness for extreme weather events is a fraction of the amount paid to clean up damage from storms, tornadoes and drought, according to an analysis of federal data.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/GWaY10JhbYI/la-na-weather-preparedness-20130620,0,4913018.story

BioWatch's chief aim is off-target, U.S. security officials say

BioWatch, which has cost more than $1 billion so far, is designed to detect large-scale biological attacks. But Homeland Security officials say small-scale attacks are more likely to occur.



WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Department planners have privately rejected a central premise of BioWatch, the nation's decade-old system for detecting biological weapons released into the air, according to government documents and testimony Tuesday at a congressional hearing.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/zcHsQNn91NY/la-na-biowatch-20130619,0,1573938.story

Autistic brain circuits make mother's voice just another sound

A human voice has no special ring to the autistic brain because areas related to reward and emotional context are not well wired to its center of voice recognition, a Stanford University study has found.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/AKqojQDC5Xo/la-sci-sn-autism-voice-20130615,0,2352492.story

Hoag's underhanded abortion ban

In Newport Beach, a new ban on abortions means that Hoag Hospital's OB/GYN services are constrained not by medical resources, medical judgment or the law, but by Roman Catholic doctrine.



In a most underhanded and insidious way, women's reproductive health rights in California were dealt a significant blow last month. That was when the availability of elective abortions at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, one of Orange County's elite medical centers, was abruptly ended.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/vlh3dNh6s1M/la-fi-hiltzik-20130623,0,2099226.column

$84-million removal of a dam on Carmel River set to begin

Dismantling of the silt-filled San Clemente, to start next month, is being called California's largest-ever dam removal.



More than 90 years ago the San Clemente Dam rose on what John Steinbeck called in a novel "a lovely little river" that "has everything a river should have."



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/7Q7p6id9JGk/la-me-dam-removal-20130624,0,1760255.story

DWP to build groundwater treatment plants on Superfund site

The facilities will restore pumping of drinking water from scores of contaminated San Fernando Valley wells, lessening L.A.'s reliance on imported water, agency says.



The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power plans to build the world's largest groundwater treatment center over one of the largest Superfund pollution sites in the United States: the San Fernando Basin.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/zM0vP7YJbow/la-me-water-20130624,0,6429248.story

San Onofre closure generates mixed feelings

There's relief, sadness, hope and lingering concerns among the San Clemente neighbors of the nuclear power plant.



The picturesque beach city of San Clemente has hummed along for decades just up the highway from the ominous concrete domes of the San Onofre nuclear plant.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/sVIWPjyWmKM/la-me-adv-nuclear-neighbors-20130624-1,0,189723.story

Supermoon puts on quite a show; social media takes note

The Supermoon put on quite a show Saturday night in Southern California -- and it had many reaching for their cameras.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/hOAwHS44He4/la-me-ln-supermoon-puts-on-quite-a-show-social-media-takes-note-20130622,0,2680198.story

'Creation' explains how science reinvents life

Adam Rutherford discusses evolution and delves into the political and cultural fallout of synthetic biology.



Spider webs combine a strength and elasticity unmatched by anything we humans can make. They don't trigger much of an immune response in us and are "insoluble in water, two facts that the classical Greeks exploited when they used cobwebs to patch bleeding wounds," notes science writer Adam Rutherford.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/JDo1-762yGY/la-ca-jc-adam-rutherford-20130623,0,7647046.story

In Colorado, wildfires may drive up costs of living in paradise

As Colorado wildfires set damage records, officials consider making building codes tougher and shifting fire costs to people who live in forests.



JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — As five major wildfires rage at the onset of a fire season far from over, many in this state are saying the time has come to consider toughening building regulations and shifting some fire protection costs to those who live in danger zones.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/_mnLcQ0MabI/la-na-colorado-fires-20130622,0,6193791.story

Biofuel project in Kenya ignites land, environmental disputes

Foreign firms seeking land in Africa for biofuel crops run into opposition from communities and environmental activists despite promising jobs and development.



DIDA ADE, Kenya — With its leaf-thatched mud huts, bad roads, chronic unemployment, crushing poverty and vast tracts of "underutilized" land, the Tana River Delta in eastern Kenya seemed the perfect place for a foreign businessman looking to grow crops that could be turned into biofuel.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/WG6CsIRErsg/la-fg-kenya-biofuel-20130622,0,6976745.story

Leprosy, an ancient scourge, largely unchanged in modern era

A DNA study finds that the disease did not evolve, but that Europeans developed mutations that made them resistant to it.



Leprosy has plagued humans for thousands of years, but a new genetic analysis of the pathogen that causes the disfiguring disease has come to the surprising conclusion that its DNA is essentially unchanged since medieval times.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/L0Mq00CPmCI/la-sci-leprosy-20130622,0,2140796.story

With FDA approval, fight ends over morning-after pill

Plan B One-Step will be available over the counter to all ages in the next few weeks. The agency's action complies with a federal judge's order.



The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step for use without a prescription or age restrictions, effectively ending more than a decade of legal and regulatory wrangling over the controversial morning-after pill.



via L.A. Times - Health http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/features/health/~3/1oZQgtJQ114/la-sci-fda-plan-b-20130621,0,71015.story

Kenneth Wilson dies at 77; physicist won Nobel Prize

Kenneth Wilson's breakthrough research, which the Nobel Prize committee called 'ingenious,' had broad applications in physics.



Physicist Kenneth G. Wilson, who earned a Nobel Prize for breakthrough research that explained how factors like temperature and pressure lead to sudden transformations of matter, such as boiling water's shift from liquid to vapor, died Saturday in Saco, Maine. He was 77.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/9af6cc5LMKE/la-me-kenneth-wilson-20130621,0,2308794.story

With FDA approval, fight ends over morning-after pill

Plan B One-Step will be available over the counter to all ages in the next few weeks. The agency's action complies with a federal judge's order.



The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step for use without a prescription or age restrictions, effectively ending more than a decade of legal and regulatory wrangling over the controversial morning-after pill.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/WF5SEM4JjJA/la-sci-fda-plan-b-20130621,0,3037557.story

Scientists create detailed 3-D model of human brain

The virtual BigBrain atlas is hailed by neuroscientists as a technological tour de force that could help them better understand the organ's structure and function.



With painstaking detail, scientists have created a three-dimensional virtual brain that not only maps the organ's anatomy in unprecedented detail but also allows researchers to see how the invisible connections between cells produce the complex behaviors that make us human.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/HAleh1QKJ_o/la-sci-big-brain-20130621,0,2524789.story

Silver found to increase effectiveness of antibiotics

Silver, used for centuries to fight infection and other germs, when added to antibiotics in trace amounts makes the drugs as much as 1,000 times more effective in treating mice, researchers find.



Thousands of years before the discovery of microbes or the invention of antibiotics, silver was used to protect wounds from infection and to preserve food and water.



via L.A. Times - Science http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/news/science/~3/F4UNqhoNIjo/la-sci-antibiotics-silver-20130620,0,6215677.story