Girls have superior sense of taste to boys

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New knowledge: Girls have a better sense of taste than boys. Every third child of school age prefers soft drinks which are not sweet. Children and young people love fish and do not think of themselves as being fussy eaters. Boys have a sweeter tooth than girls. And teenagers taste differently.

Voriconazole: A highly potent treatment for fungal infections

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London, UK, 16 December 2008 - The effectiveness of voriconazole in combating fungal infections has been confirmed by a new study to be featured in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (www.elsevier.com/locate/ijaa), published by Elsevier. Fungal infections can kill people with weakened immune systems, which can be caused by AIDS, cancer treatment or organ replacement, and the research reinforces earlier findings that this drug is a potent treatment for a wide range of these infections.

A European first as ALICE achieves energy recovery at 11 million volts

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UK scientists have successfully demonstrated energy recovery on the ALICE advanced particle accelerator design, potentially paving the way for new accelerators using a fraction of the energy required under conventional methods.

At 2am on 13 December, ALICE's superconducting linear accelerator accelerated electrons to 99.9% of the speed of light, creating a beam with a total energy of 11 million electron volts. This was the first time the ALICE beam had been successfully transported around the entire circuit.

Pigs and dogs can bridge gap between mice and humans in developing new therapies

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U of T scientists solve mystery of Giant's Causeway with kitchen materials

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TORONTO, ON – Physicists at the University of Toronto have cracked the mystery behind the strange and uncannily well-ordered hexagonal columns found at such popular tourist sites as Northern Ireland's Giant's Causeway and California's Devil's Postpile, using water, corn starch, and a heat lamp.

New method of scoring IQ tests benefits children with intellectual disabilities

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(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Parents of children with intellectual disabilities have long been frustrated by intelligence quotient (IQ) testing that tells them little to nothing about the long-term learning potential of their children.

That's because these tests are scored according to the mean performance of children without disabilities. The result is that the raw scores of many children with intellectual disabilities are converted into the lowest normalized score, typically a zero.

Study reveals antidepressants most common medication for Australian women

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A new study has revealed the most commonly prescribed medication for Australian women is antidepressants.

The study, by researchers from Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH).

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Medicare data were linked to survey data to examine claims and costs of medications and other health care resources.

UAF researchers to present at AGU press briefing

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University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers Igor Semiletov and Donald "Skip" Walker will be among four panelists at a press briefing, The Arctic in Flux: New Insights from the International Polar Year, Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The briefing will present early results from a range of studies conducted during the International Polar Year, an international event focusing research efforts and public attention on the Earth's polar regions.

Back pain still an issue for over 5 million Australians: Are we treating it right?

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A new study by researchers at The George Institute for International Health has found that back pain is a reoccurring problem for five million Australians.

According to lead author, Professor Chris Maher, Director of Musculoskeletal Research at The George Institute, "After an episode of back pain resolves, one in four people will experience a recurrence within one year. This explains why around 25% of the Australian population suffers from back pain at any one time."

New study 'pardons' the misunderstood egg

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Park Ridge, Ill. (December 16, 2008) – A study recently published online in the journal Risk Analysis(1) estimates that eating one egg per day is responsible for less than 1 percent of the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in healthy adults. Alternatively, lifestyle factors including poor diet, smoking, obesity and physical inactivity contribute 30 to 40 percent of heart disease risk, depending on gender. This study adds to more than thirty years of research showing that healthy adults can eat eggs without significantly affecting their risk of heart disease.