Friday, 25 May, 2012

Native agriculture could be a sophisticated response to a challenging environment. What were the secrets of permaculture, companion cropping and corn farming? Could these techniques contribute to modern farming?

Advances in genetics raise the stakes in genetic counseling, but the genetic role in disease can be complicated, elusive. What role do faith, personality and knowledge play in the complex discussions over genetic disease?

Sick of stats on unemployment, the GDP or stock market? Then meet the alternative economic indicators. Some are sensible, some are zany, and some are even backed by real data. Other “indicators” are misleading, even downright dangerous.

Sick of the scare stories about holiday stress? Over-eating, over-this, over-that? What’s the upside of holidays, in terms of ritual and getting together with family and friends? What’s more conducive to happiness: giving or receiving?

Do you know? Hospitals run out of anesthetics, antibiotics and cancer drugs. Why?

Synopsis: Flu Vaccine Shortage Each year, as influenza season approaches, medical authorities must scramble to predict which strains of flu will be most important, and then grow enough vaccine to inoculate the population. Why does this take so much time, and what are some alternative strategies that might speed the process? Photo: National Archives During [...]

Swimmer Diana Nyad failed to reach Florida, but ultra sports are soaring. Why would anybody bike 500 miles across the desert – or run 135? What are the rigors of training, the satisfaction of finishing, the dangers of competing? Could people be the ultimate endurance animals?

A combined nerve-graft and enzyme treatment restored breathing to 9 of 11 rats. The bacterial enzyme dissolves a molecule that separates tissues and prevents growth of nerves and blood vessels. Could this lead to the treatment that finally breaks the logjam in spinal-cord repair?

One-third of soils are degraded. Fighting desertification, soil erosion and nutrient loss may be expensive, but some soil-restoring techniques solve multiple problems.

Fish contamination was rare after the giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, with levels of dangerous hydrocarbons well below “levels of concern.” But nobody looked systematically at heavy metals, the Gulf still has a lot of oil, and the many different hydrocarbons may have unpredictable impacts.