Other Science News

An online support campaign has taken women on FB by storm. The idea: put a simple red heart on your wall in support of Breast Cancer Prevention Week. But given the grim tale of metastatic breast cancer, we ought to do more than update our Facebook status.
Given that optics and buzzwords can sometimes influence more than a concept or specific technology, nothing baffles us more than how the start-up Theranos was able to rise so precipitously and garner a multi-billion dollar valuation – before its famous fall. That said, here's why Theranos' technology wasn't groundbreaking.
The Massachusetts' legislature recently passed a bill titled, "An Act establishing a board of registration in naturopathy," that will give the naturopaths legitimacy. Regarding the health of the people of the Bay State, it's one of the worst moves that officials there could have made. 
New research shows that when it comes to packaged foods and beverages sold in Canada, two of every three items contain added sugar of some kind. That jarring news comes from a report by Public Health Ontario and the University of Waterloo, a joint venture that included studying labels of more than 40,000 supermarket products. 
Sex is considered an essential component of life and wellness. Touch, intimacy and the resultant pleasurable physiologic responses bestow a number of benefits. So is sex-on-prescription insurance coverage in our future?  
If one can get past its superficial reputation, there's value in understanding why photographing oneself has become a global phenomenon, and what in human nature drives billions of people to do it. In fact, researchers have identified three behavioral types of selfie shooters. We know you do it, too, so which one are you?
A new MIT study projects that innovative, app-based carpooling in New York City could create unimaginable reductions and euphoric efficiencies in taxi traffic. But we need to point out that those brilliant researchers considered everything except for one tiny detail – the psyche of the demanding New York taxi passenger. 
Gun violence is not solely about gun regulation or the environment. There are many nuanced contributors, including the social networks.
The Cleveland Clinic remains mortified that one of their physicians, Dr. Daniel Neides, wrote blog post full of anti-science quackery. It has issued as strong of a rebuke as possible without firing him on the spot. Here's the full whiplashing by the Cleveland Clinic. 
The latest exercise fad, aiming to make your workout more interesting and personal, incorporates your DNA sequence as an integral part of your regimen and diet. But unfortunately, making your trainer aware of your DNA isn't going to improve your workout – anymore than it'll tell him your preference of smoothie flavor. 
In a new study of elderly Chinese, researchers sought to learn if mid-day napping was beneficial – and if so – when it was best to do, and for how long to achieve optimal results. They concluded that for adults 65 and older, post-lunch, one-hour naps improved mental performance as compared to those who napped longer, shorter or not at all.
Besides deceiving readers about science policy, there are plenty of other reasons to avoid Slate. Perhaps best is that the online site loves posting contrarian articles using a time-tested formula to attract readers: Take an obviously-stupid statement and add a headline vigorously defending it. Whether the article is accurate, compelling or well-conceived is an afterthought.