ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
A Newcastle University study involving thousands of families is helping prospective parents work out whether they are likely to have sons or daughters. Continue reading “Boy Or Girl? It’s In The Father’s Genes”
In order to learn about the world, an animal needs to do more than just pay attention to its surroundings. It also needs to learn which sights, sounds and sensations in its environment are the most important and monitor how the importance of those details change over time. Yet how humans and other animals track those details has remained a mystery. Continue reading “How the brain decides what to learn”
Elevated levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) — a compound linked with the consumption of fish, seafood and a primarily vegetarian diet — may reduce hypertension-related heart disease symptoms. New research in rats finds that low-dose treatment with TMAO reduced heart thickening (cardiac fibrosis) and markers of heart failure in an animal model of hypertension. The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology — Heart and Circulatory Physiology and was chosen as an APSselect article for November. Continue reading “Eat your vegetables (and fish): Another reason why they may promote heart health”
Although long life tends to run in families, genetics has far less influence on life span than previously thought, according to a new analysis of an aggregated set of family trees of more than 400 million people. The results suggest that the heritability of life span is well below past estimates, which failed to account for our tendency to select partners with similar traits to our own. The research, from Calico Life Sciences and Ancestry, was published in GENETICS, a journal of the Genetics Society of America. Continue reading “Family tree of 400 million people shows genetics has limited influence on longevity”
A decade of data documenting live births in the United States links babies of older fathers with a variety of increased risks at birth, including low birth weight and seizures, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Continue reading “Older fathers associated with increased birth risks, study reports”
University of Guelph researchers have revealed that the sudden drop in glucose we experience when we are hungry can impact our mood. Continue reading “Link between hunger and mood explained”
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