Press Releases

Women who gain too much weight during and after pregnancy could increase the risk that their child will be overweight or obese in adolescence, a new study from the Netherlands suggests. Scientists at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health studied the association between gestational weight gain and long-term weight retention and body fat among a multi-ethnic urban population. The …

Lithium was found in a recent study to be safe and effective for treating bipolar disorder in children, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine reported. Lithium is one of the oldest drugs for bipolar disorder, a chronic brain condition marked by spontaneous, seesawing bouts of abnormally high moods and depression. The drug’s ability to stabilize mood extremes …

Minority Teachers Are Quitting at Rapid Rates. The Albert Shanker Institute released a major report on the state of teacher diversity. The report shows that, nationally, progress toward greater diversity is being made, but it is quite modest compared with the need for more minority teachers. In the nine cities studied—Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, Cleveland, …

By making a habit of using smaller plates, glasses and cutlery, over time, you are likely to reduce your body size, according to a review of more than 60 high-quality studies. The research, carried out by the University of Cambridge and published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, suggests that eliminating larger-sized portions from the diet completely could reduce …

Sanofi’s combination diabetes drug hits goal in second late-stage trial. Sanofi announced today that the LixiLan-L Phase III clinical trial met its primary endpoint in patients with type 2 diabetes treated with insulin glargine with or without metformin. The fixed-ratio combination of insulin glargine 100 Units/mL and lixisenatide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, demonstrated statistically superior reduction in HbA1c (average blood …

Double population of prey does not mean double predator. A systematic pattern is observed in various ecosystems, which had not been noticed previously Why there are not more lions? Despite the fact a lot of prey is available for them. To find the answer, Ian Hatton, a PhD student at McGill University looked at the predators/ prey ratio in dozens …

The University of Victoria’s Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is about to embark on what’s expected to be its most exciting expedition. For the first time ONC will be using two ships, exploration vessel (E/V) Nautilus, on its first trip to Canada, and research vessel (R/V) Thomas G. Thompson. Both ships are outfitted with robotic vehicles that provide realtime video streams …

A new species of lizard may just be the missing link for lizard evolution. Scientists have discovered a fossil lizard, named Gueragama sulamericana, which dates back to the outcrops of a Late Cretaceous desert that existed about 80 million years ago.

Researchers have examined one of the smallest parts of the fossil record—theropod teeth—to shed light on the evolution of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous. Findings published in the prestigious journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica have effectively quadrupled the dinosaur diversity in the area of study, eight localities from Treviño County, Huesca and Lerida—including the exceptional site of Laño. There …

Fragments of the Quran held by the UK’s Birmingham University have been found to be among the oldest in the world. The Quran manuscript will be on public display at The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, from Friday 2 October until Sunday 25 October.

Pluto just can’t stop blowing our minds. Not only is it a geologically active world with ice mountains the size of the Rockies and frozen plains of methane and nitrogen, we’ve just learned that Pluto’s atmosphere is pouring away into space. It’s leaving a massive tail of charged plasma in its wake.