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Health

Mild Obesity May Not Be So Bad

A recent study finds that overweight or slightly obese people live longer than normal-weight people, but critics call foul on some of these conclusions

Hungover? There’s a Cure for That No Matter Where You Live

There are some things that are universal—trade, money, shelter, hangovers

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The Science of Keeping New Year’s Resolutions

Want to bolster your chances of actually staying true to your New Year’s resolution, whatever it may be?

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Some People Can Tickle Themselves

Just as schizophrenics may hear voices in their heads, they may also experience self-induced phantom tickling

Adam Lanza’s DNA Will Tell Us Nothing

Genetics is a powerful tool, but it will not tell us why Adam Lanza killed those people

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Was Yasser Arafat Poisoned by Polonium?

In November, the body of Yasser Arafat was exhumed from beneath several feet of concrete to determine whether or not the leader had been poisoned by polonium 210

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Why Do Placebos Work?

Researchers are trying to figure out just why the placebo effect works, and when doctors should use it

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With Commercial Spaceflight Just Around the Corner, Are You Healthy Enough to Fly?

The price of a ride to space is dropping, but is your body ready?

Instead of Dieting After the Holidays, Take the Bus

Driving just 1 mile less per day is more effective at reducing weight than cutting back on 100 calories per day

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Food Can Give You a Hangover

The connection between specific foods and migraines is tough to prove

Even NASA Doesn’t Know Exactly What Causes Motion Sickness (But There Is a Way to Avoid It)

Fluorescence images of uncompressed (left) and compressed (right) colonies of malignant breast epithelial cells. Compressed colonies are smaller and more organized.

Giving Breast Cells a Little Squeeze Can Stop Cancerous Growth

Good news for breasts: simply giving would-be malignant mammary cells a little squeeze helps guide them back to a normal growth pattern

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Soon There Should Be Fewer Microscopic Soot Particles in the Air

The Obama administration just set new limits on soot from smoke stacks and diesel engines, a type of air pollution linked to early death and higher rates of heart attacks, strokes and lung diseases

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Even Mummy Doctors Forgot Tools in Their Patients Sometimes

Researchers examining the brains of mummies have found a small tool that was used during embalming, left behind after the procedure

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To Treat Drug Dependency, Doctors Are Burning Off Chunks of Addicts’ Brains

Through surgical means, doctors burn away the parts of the brain that deal with pleasure and motivation.

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A New Way to Generate Brain Cells from Pee

This trick could help supply cells for studying the mechanisms of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

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This Weird Map Visualizes Air Pollution as Nose Hair Length

If there’s one thing nobody wants, it’s really long nose hairs. Which is perhaps why Clean Air Asia has decided to start visualizing each person’s air pollution as super-long, disgusting nose hairs

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What Would It Be Like To See Infrared Light?

Scientists have engineered some proteins to “see” infrared

Middle School Jocks Actually Get the Best Grades

The fittest kids on the playground are also the ones who excel in the classroom at standardized tests and good grades

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Extroverted Gorillas Live Longer Than Shy Ones

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