Health & Safety

Nestle announced that it is removing artificial flavors and colorings from all of its chocolate candy products — including the dyes used to give the inside of a Butterfinger, like this one, that orange hue.

Chocolate Makeover: Nestle Dumps Artificial Colorings

6:22pm February 23, 2015

by Allison Aubrey

Nestle says it's removing artificial flavors and dyes from its chocolate candies, and Hershey's says it's shifting to simpler ingredients. The moves come amid growing demand for natural food.

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Health & Safety

Lots Of Seniors Are Overweight, But Few Use Free Counseling For It

4:16pm February 23, 2015

by Sarah Varney

A little-known part of the Affordable Care Act pays primary care doctors to help overweight seniors lose weight. So why aren't more seniors taking advantage of the free weight loss counseling?

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A woman pushes a cart at a Costco store in Hackensack, N.J., in 2013. Big-box stores are effective delivery devices for fattening foods, economists argue in a new study.

Have Big-Box Superstores Helped To Make Us Fat?

2:21pm February 23, 2015

by Alan Greenblatt

A study argues that the density of restaurants and large-scale food retailers in parts of the U.S. has been a major factor in the rise of obesity. But some see it as a "chicken and egg" problem.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that unpasteurized milk can cause serious illness, because it's a fertile breeding ground for harmful germs like salmonella and E. coli. But such warnings haven't deterred raw milk enthusiasts.

Why Some States Want To Legalize Raw Milk Sales

2:20pm February 23, 2015

by Abby Wendle

Selling unpasteurized milk across state lines is illegal because it poses a threat to public health. But raw milk sales are growing nonetheless. Legalization would let states regulate a risky market.

An example of a human precision grip — grasping a first metacarpal from the thumb of a specimen of Australopithecus africanus that's thought to be 2 to 3 million years old.

Maybe Early Humans Weren't The First To Get A Good Grip

1:16pm February 23, 2015

by Nell Greenfieldboyce

The opposable thumb you use to hold a pencil was long thought to be a defining aspect of humans. But an analysis of finger bones suggests stone tool use by pre-humans — perhaps 3 million years ago.

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An experimental circular disc with tiny reservoirs releases medication slowly. Then the disc dissolves.

Dissolving Contact Lenses Could Make Eye Drops Disappear

11:57am February 23, 2015

by Alison Bruzek

Eye drops are unpleasant, and they don't do a great job of delivering medication to the eye. A superthin wafer that slowly dispenses medication and then dissolves is a promising replacement.

If your idea of fun is being falling-down drunk, there's plenty for you on YouTube.

Hammered And Heedless: Do Dangerous Drinking Videos Harm Teens?

11:57am February 23, 2015

by Maanvi Singh

Being falling-down drunk is often played for laughs on YouTube videos, but those videos don't show the downside of getting trashed. That can't be good for teenagers and young adults, researchers say.

Health & Safety

Brain Training May Help Calm The Storms Of Schizophrenia

11:49am February 23, 2015

by Amy Standen

Drugs can tamp down the hallucinations and delusions associated with schizophrenia, but at a cost. A newer approach to treatment aims to teach people to tune out the distractions instead.

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After Hill's first basket, the sold-out crowd at Cintas Center in Cincinnati went wild.

Terminally Ill Player Scores First Basket Of NCAA Season

11:49am February 23, 2015

by Sam Sanders

College freshman Lauren Hill has a rare form of brain cancer. One of her dying wishes was to play college basketball, and the NCAA allowed a game to be moved up by two weeks so she could.

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New Hospital Buildings Define Future Of Health Care

11:25am February 23, 2015

by Lauren Silverman

Across the country, the health care industry is pouring billions of dollars into new hospitals and medical centers. And the new hospitals of today are very different than the ones they're replacing.

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