A South American tribe living in near-total isolation with no Western dietary influences showed no increase in average blood pressure from age one to age 60, according to a study led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In comparison, a nearby tribe whose diet includes some processed foods and salt did show higher blood pressure into late middle age. Continue reading “Study of two tribes sheds light on role of Western-influenced diet in blood pressure”
Music training and child development: a review of recent findings from a longitudinal study
Here we present the ‘Abstract‘ of the corresponding paper by Habibi A, Damasio A, Ilari B, Elliott Sachs M, Damasio H. Continue reading “Music training and child development: a review of recent findings from a longitudinal study”
Leading researchers call for a ban on widely used insecticides
Public health experts have found there is sufficient evidence that prenatal exposure to widely used insecticides known as organophosphates puts children at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Continue reading “Leading researchers call for a ban on widely used insecticides”
Nanofiber carpet could lead to new sticky or insulating surfaces
Inspired by the extraordinary characteristics of polar bear fur, lotus leaves and gecko feet, engineering researchers have developed a new way to make arrays of nanofibers that could bring us coatings that are sticky, repellent, insulating or light emitting, among other possibilities. Continue reading “Nanofiber carpet could lead to new sticky or insulating surfaces”
Gut hormone and brown fat interact to tell the brain it’s time to stop eating
Researchers from Germany and Finland have shown that so-called “brown fat” interacts with the gut hormone secretin in mice to relay nutritional signals about fullness to the brain during a meal. The study, appearing November 15 in the journal Cell, bolsters our understanding of a long-suspected role of brown adipose tissue (BAT) — a type of body fat known to generate heat when an animal is cold — in the control of food intake. Continue reading “Gut hormone and brown fat interact to tell the brain it’s time to stop eating”
New material cleans and splits water
Some of the most useful and versatile materials today are the metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs are a class of materials demonstrating structural versatility, high porosity, fascinating optical and electronic properties, all of which makes them promising candidates for a variety of applications, including gas capture and separation, sensors, and photocatalysis. Continue reading “New material cleans and splits water”
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