Research News

Science

Baby Simulator Doesn't Deter Teenage Pregnancies, Study Indicates

6:51am August 30, 2016

A study in The Lancet medical journal shows the prevention program didn't appear to have long-term effects on reducing risks of teenage pregnancy. Renee Montagne talks to lead author Sally Brinkman.

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Science

Researchers Test The Effects Of Background Music On People

5:02am August 30, 2016

by Shankar Vedantam

Despite being aware that the background music on a documentary about sharks was manipulating them, viewers found they were unable to keep the music from producing a sense of upliftment or of menace.

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Bacteriophages, in red, look like tiny aliens, with big heads and skinny bodies. They use their "legs" to stick to and infect a bacterial cell, in blue.

Your Gut's Gone Viral, And That Might Be Good For Your Health

8:23pm August 29, 2016

by Michaeleen Doucleff

Think of it as a gift within a gift. Some beneficial gut bacteria contain viruses called "bacteriophages." And some of these phages now have been associated with good intestinal health in humans.

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Professor John Kappelman with 3-D printed replications of Lucy's bones.

Science

Scientists Divided Over How Lucy Died

8:09pm August 29, 2016

by Rebecca Hersher

A new study suggests the 3.2 million-year-old hominin died when she fell from a tree and fractured her bones. But other paleoanthropologists say the breaks happened after she died.

Researchers are recruiting volunteers to participate in a four-year study trial of cocoa extract. Half of the participants will take capsules containing about as much cocoa extract as you'd get from eating about 1,000 calories of dark chocolate.

A Chocolate Pill? Scientists To Test Whether Cocoa Extract Boosts Health

7:16am August 29, 2016

by Allison Aubrey

Chocolate lovers may agree cocoa is the food of the gods, but how strong is the evidence that it boosts heart health? Researchers are recruiting for a new study aimed at answering this question.

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Careful audits of a representative sampling of bills from 37 Medicare Advantage Programs in 2007 have revealed some consistent patterns in the way they overbill, a Center for Public Integrity investigation finds.

Audits Of Some Medicare Advantage Plans Reveal Pervasive Overcharging

5:00am August 29, 2016

by Fred Schulte

Federal audits of 37 Medicare Advantage health plans cited 35 for overbilling the government. Many plans, for example, claimed patients with depression or diabetes were sicker than they actually were.

Ramen will buy anything from smuggled fruit to laundry services from fellow inmates, a study at one prison finds. It's not just that ramen is tasty: Prisoners say they're not getting enough food.

Ramen Noodles Are Now The Prison Currency Of Choice

4:08pm August 26, 2016

by Maria Godoy

Ramen will buy anything from smuggled fruit to laundry services from fellow inmates, a study at one prison finds. It's not just that ramen is tasty: Prisoners say they're not getting enough food.

Lenroy Watt talks with residents of Miami's Little Haiti about Zika, leaving brochures in Creole about how to prevent the illness, as well as phone numbers for local mosquito control agencies and the county health department.

Planned Parenthood Joins Campaign To Rid Miami Neighborhoods Of Zika

5:04am August 26, 2016

by Greg Allen

The organization is going door to door in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. The goal: Reach 25,000 households in six weeks with information about Zika prevention and family planning services.

These are insect cells infected with the Guaico Culex virus. The different colors denote cells infected with different pieces of the virus. Only the brown-colored cells are infectious, because they contain the complete virus.

New Virus Breaks The Rules Of Infection

7:01pm August 25, 2016

by Michaeleen Doucleff

A virus is generally like a little ball with a few genes. Now scientists have found one that's broken up into five little balls — as if it were dismembered.

By testing tumors, researchers hoped to identify women who could avoid chemotherapy without increasing their risk of a cancer recurrence.

Study Of Breast Cancer Treatment Reveals Paradox Of Precision Medicine

1:30pm August 25, 2016

by Richard Harris

A genetic test of breast cancer tumors helped identify women whose survival odds would not be greatly improved by chemotherapy. But that test isn't as precise as women and doctors might like.

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