NPR Topics: Research NewsNew advances in science, medicine, health, and technology.Stem cell research, drug research, and new treatments for disease.Why Intensive Care Leads To PTSD- September 17, 2008 A new study shows about 20 percent of patients checking out of hospital intensive care units suffer post traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Sydney Spiesel — a practicing pediatrician and professor at Yale Medical School — talks to Madeleine Brand about why this happens and what hospitals can do.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94715147&ft=1&f=1024 Whales Approach New York City- September 17, 2008 Scientists say they've recorded whale calls within commuting distance of New York City. Christopher Clark, director of the Bioacoustic Research Program at Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology, shares the program's findings and some of the whale sounds.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94715152&ft=1&f=1024 FDA Weighs Safety Of Bisphenol A- September 16, 2008 A new study says people with high amounts of bisphenol A in their urine were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes or heart disease. The study's author was at a Food and Drug Administration meeting Tuesday on BPA's safety.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94680753&ft=1&f=1024 M.I.T. Prof To Probe Earth's 'Great Dying'- September 12, 2008 Two colossal events in Earth's history took place about 250 million years ago: a gigantic volcanic eruption and massive extinction of species. Were they related Lindy Elkins-Tanton of M.I.T. has won a major grant to explore that question.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94561226&ft=1&f=1024 Beer Yeast Separates The Ales From The Lagers- September 12, 2008 Different types of beers — ales, stouts, etc — are distinguished primarily by their yeast, but now these groupings might get even more complicated. Scientists have examined the genetic sequences of 17 unique lager yeast strains tracing variations in their genetic code back through time.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94563049&ft=1&f=1024 Mutating Gene May Explain Human Dexterity- September 12, 2008 Scientists believe that a certain genetic sequence, which is uniquely unstable in human beings, may explain how humans became so good at using tools and walking upright. The gene sequence, named HACNS1, is thought to regulate both hand and limb formation in embryos.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94563043&ft=1&f=1024 Study: Arthroscopic Surgery Provides Few Benefits- September 10, 2008 Researchers report in this week's New England Journal of Medicine that arthroscopic surgery does not provide any extra benefit when compared with physical therapy and medication. This is the second study to find little benefit to the procedure.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94486439&ft=1&f=1024 U.S. Physicists Recall Brush With Supercollider Fame- September 10, 2008 For some American scientists, the official start-up of the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland is a bittersweet moment. A super collider in Texas would have been more powerful than the European one, but Congress killed the project in 1993.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94481272&ft=1&f=1024 Physicists Revving World's Most Powerful Smashup- September 10, 2008 The first test beams of protons were sent through tunnels in a multibillion-dollar machine Wednesday. Later this fall, the Large Hadron Collider will begin smashing subatomic particles together so that scientists can search through the wreckage for clues about the early universe.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94439915&ft=1&f=1024 Q&A: The Big Bang Machine- September 9, 2008 Physicists have thrown the switch on what is arguably the most powerful and most complex science experiment ever conducted. A look at what they're hoping to find inside the subatomic smashup soon to start in Switzerland.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94422852&ft=1&f=1024 |