In case you're keeping count, the science portion of this year's Nobel Prizes was given to nine scientists, seven of whom are American.
This year's announcement for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was like when the big movie that everyone's talking about fails to take home the Oscar. Just as when filmmakers understand why the small, indy film won, the same is true here.
Researchers from UCLA found that through mice experiments, decaffeinated black tea may promote some form of weight loss, which occurs when chemicals, known as polyphenols, produce changes in the gut bacterium.
As great as is it, who would have expected the TV series Game of Thrones to be fodder for a chemistry lesson about electrons, oxidation, reduction and tin. But it is, thanks to (former) King Stannis Baratheon. Whoever said that chemistry wasn't magic?
A new report from the American Cancer Society says that deaths attributable to breast cancer have decreased by 39 percent, with improvements in mortality rates observed in all races and ethnicities. All told, nearly 323,000 fewer women have evaded the horror of this terrible disease.
The Centers for Disease Control notes that obesity-related cancers now comprise 40 percent of all cancers diagnosed. When scaremongering groups insisted chemicals were the problem, we noted this was happening.
Protecting foreign service members is one of the most important responsibilities of the U.S. State Department. So, reducing the number of American diplomats in Cuba – as well as expelling Cuban diplomats from Washington, to emphasize the situation's gravity – is entirely appropriate, especially since we still have no idea what actually happened.
Women are underpaid. That's because, in the workplace, they're not considered equal to their male colleagues. They come with other needs, most significantly from an economic point of view, a need for flexible hours – and a resulting penalty is assessed. But the marketplace is now reducing this disparity.
With respect to the state of England's National Health Service and its rapidly eroding quality of care, the bad news just keeps coming. Recently, its new chief hospital inspector declared that, among other serious issues, current practices endanger patients.
Air pollution in China has a substantially negative impact on public health. But with the exception of central and southern California and the upper Midwest, the United States has extremely clean air. And in fact, most regions in this country would not benefit from tighter air pollution standards.
