Saturday, 28 March 2009

Health abstract;28 March 2009

Eating large amounts of red meat can shorten your life, a study at theUS national cancer institue suggests.

The study involved 545,000 volunteers aged 51 to 71,who were asked about their diet over the past year,researchers estimated their meat intake.

More than 71,000 of the study group died over the one year study.

After controlling for factors like age,weight and smoking, researchers found women who consumed 66 grams per 1000 calories were 36% more likely than women who eat 9.1 grams per 1000 calories.

Men who eat large amounts of red meat were 31% more likely to die.

Circumcision may reduce the chances of catching HIV by 50-60-%, herpes by 25%, HPV by 35%

Wednesday, 25 March 2009

New carnivorous Plant found in the Phllippines

Explorers found the plant after getting to the summit of Mount victoria on Palawan island.

Trumpet-shaped, it is filled with milky digestive fluids and water.

It has been called N.attenboroughii.

Friday, 20 March 2009

Airborne fungi poses risk to crops in developing world

Ug99, first discovered in Uganda in 1999,hence the name.
Its spores can be carried by the wind for hundred of miles, and can infect crops in only a few hours.

It has reached Iran.

It is estimated 80-90% of all wheat types grown in developing world are suspectible to this fungi.

resistant wheat varieties will hopefully be made avaible.

Medical device may help parkinson's suffers

The medical device works by electrical stimulation of the brain.

It has been tested on mice, and could be tested on humans next year.

Thursday, 12 March 2009

300 milllion year old brain found

A well preserved brain has been found in a fossil fish in kansas.

Found inside an iniopterygian(Related to sharks) skull, it has been mineralized by phosphate-fixing microbes before decay could set in.

Researchers hope there may be other preserved organs in siniliar condition.

Sunday, 8 March 2009

Children of older men

Children of older fathers appear to score lower results in cognitive tests.

Research reveals that fathers aged over 35 are more likely to have children with disorders like autism, childhood cancers, congenital heart defects, schizophrenia and dyslexia.

One possile explanion is that men's sperm has an increasing numbers of mutations as men age.

In contrast, children of older mothers have higher IQ results.