Wednesday, September 30, 2015

British sites yield mummies, but no King Tuts as found in Egypt

Archaeologists have found evidence of mummies in seven Bronze Age burial sites located throughout the British Isles.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Antiquity, suggests the art of mummification may have been more widespread in ancient Britain than was previously thought.

Just to be...



via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1JE57sG

Can drastically reduced nicotine take the 'hook' out of cigarettes?

Finding a way to wean America's 42.1 million adult smokers from their deadly habit is one of the great challenges in public health. But a new study offers hope that a trick proposed two decades ago - dialing back the nicotine that smokers get from their cigarettes - might help many quit, and steer...

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1hbyiww

Federal protection sought for Joshua trees

Drought, more frequent wildfires and rising temperatures due to climate change are upsetting the delicate balance between life and death conditions for Joshua Tree National Park's peculiar namesake plant.

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1JD5K5V

Well: Does Mindfulness Make for a Better Athlete?

Closely attending to our bodies through mindfulness meditation might help us to become better, calmer, athletic performers, a small study suggests.











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Well: Study Does Not Link Breast-Feeding With Child’s IQ

A new study suggests that breast-feeding has no effect on a child’s IQ from toddlerhood through adolescence.











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Tuesday, September 29, 2015

L.A. County forms health 'super agency,' but some fear it will be unwieldy

At a time when private healthcare is increasingly connected and holistic, critics complain that Los Angeles County's sprawling public health system is neither.

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1JBtMOy

Memory of JPL's Claudia Alexander lives on -- atop a peak on Rosetta's comet

NASA scientist Claudia Alexander has received an honor that's literally out of this world -- her colleagues have named part of a comet after her.

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1FGORfr

How the Syrian crisis is particularly deadly for women and children

Since 2012, the No. 1 cause of death in Syria has been the country's gruesome civil war. A report last year from the United Nations' high commissioner for human rights put the minimum number of conflict-related violent deaths -- including combatants and civilians -- at 191,136.

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1JAWEGO

Well: Take an Eye Exam on Your Laptop

An online eye exam taken at home is an easy alternative to the office visit, but only if your eyes are 18 to 40-years old.











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Mitch Katz poised to lead L.A. County's consolidated healthcare agency

Amid a major reorganization of Los Angeles County's healthcare bureaucracy, physician and administrator Mitch Katz is poised to become arguably the most powerful nonelected official in the nation's largest local government.

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1Vktisr

Monday, September 28, 2015

MacArthur 'genius' grant winner creates artificial leaves that photosynthesize

It took nature millions of years to figure out how to turn energy from the sun into chemical energy that can be stored for a cloudy day - a process known as photosynthesis.

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1PKGiAF

A cozy, chatty class for the armchair Spinner in East Hollywood

With plenty of classes priced at $25 to $30 each, Spinning has become something of an elusive - and elitist - trend. Studio owner Ruben Martinez is trying to change that at his affordable new Sunset Bike House in East Hollywood. "I wanted to open a studio from a different perspective," he says....

via L.A. Times - Health http://ift.tt/1VnhaBo

Well: Coke Spends Lavishly on Pediatricians and Dietitians

A soft-drink company’s philanthrophy wins it praise despite its sugary contribution to obesity in America.











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Old-school vaccinations & current vaccination schedules show no link to autism (again)

Multiple vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal, administered to macaque monkeys on the schedule that pediatricians followed in the 1990s, resulted in none of the key brain or behavioral changes linked to autism, a new study shows. 

via L.A. Times - Science http://ift.tt/1FxpLA2

Well: Is It Alzheimer’s, or A.D.H.D.?

Once seen as a disorder affecting mainly children and young adults, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is increasingly understood to last throughout one’s lifetime.











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