Thursday, 9 February, 2012

How do victims of domestic violence benefit from prayer? A series of interviews shows a range of mechanisms: from zoning out to offering psychic protection to allowing forgiveness. A new study shows how real benefits could emerge from an appeal to an “imaginary other.”

Marketers may try, but can they really coerce you to buy stuff you don’t need? To find out, join us for a meander through modern marketing. How do sound, scent and touch affect buying behavior? How are brands used and misused? And what can brand do for you as a consumer?

Cholera can kill with record speed. The bacterium is easy to control — if wastewater and drinking water are treated. Haiti — chronically corrupt, painfully poor, and wasted by the January quake, is paradise for the cholera bug. How is cholera prevented, and what are the enduring gifts of this deadly bug?

To stay young, science says you drastically cut calories. It works for fruitflies, rodents, monkeys, and every mammal that has been tested. A new study proves that the benefit requires the Sirt-3 gene. Could Sirt-3 be the key to an anti-aging drug treatment?

Most of our planet is ocean, and now we have a better idea of what lives there. Marine creatures are much weirder than those on land. The Census of Marine Life looked at salmon migration, Arctic animals, and the uncountable variety of bacteria in the sea. Want to take a look?

Aware that a small amount of function often returns after a stroke, neurologists have helped neurons recover after an experimental stroke. Mice that got a candidate drug that blocks GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter, recovered up to half of their motor control. In the future, can we treat strokes that cannot be prevented?

Can we fix rivers? Dams, levees, and locks can harm rivers and wetlands. So can draining rivers dry, or encasing them in concrete. In a few places, conservationists are finding smarter ways to manage rivers and wetlands. Is a win-win solution possible for our wicked water woes?

Rivers bring water. They house amazing biodiversity. And they are being polluted, tapped, dammed and diverted at a frightening rate. What does a new study of global rivers tell us about something we can’t afford to lose?

Heard the rumor that people are happy — or not — depending on their genes and upbringing? “My bad,” says a 24-year study from Germany, which finds the opposite. Attitudes toward money, employment and neurotic mates all play a big role resetting your “happo-stat.”

Impacts and concussions can cause long-lasting, even permanent brain damage. Millions of Americans have traumatic brain injuries. Could experimental techniques help mice and people?