Ever wonder why there are no colored bubbles? If you have kids, chances are you’ve played with bubble solutions that shimmer and shine, but which are basically clear. Bubbles in a solid hue, however, are a non-trivial problem in chemistry. Until recently, no one had created one. This didn’t deter inventor Tim Kehoe, however, and […]
After the last post, I thought you might want something uplifting: Research presented last week at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting indicates that sweets relieve stress. This may not be news to many of us, but now we know why it works: sweets cause the body to produce lower levels of glucocorticoid stress hormones.
The U. S. National Center for Health Statistics has released its analysis of birth data for 2004. One of the potentially worrisome findings was that C-sections in the U. S. are at an all-time high. The increase may be connected in part to the rise in multiple and preterm births, as well as a large drop in
Reportedly, pulmonary embolism has overtaken all other causes of maternal mortality in the past two to three decades. Research from a thirty-year study just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine indicates that pregnant women and those up to three months postpartum are four times more likely than other women to suffer pulmonary embolism or
The Supreme Court ruled today, 6-2, that parents who challenge the adequacy of a disabled child’s “individualized education program” have the burden of proving it inadequate. The two dissenting justices felt that conversely, the school district should have to prove a program’s adequacy in such cases. While much of the current press surrounding Supreme Court
Researchers at the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin, Ireland, announced a new screening test last week to detect Down syndrome in first-trimester fetuses. If the results of the test are positive, a woman can then choose to have further tests to confirm the diagnosis. The new test, a combination of a blood test and
This weekend marked the 18th annual “Creating Change” conference sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Among other things, the conference included a screening of “In My Shoes,” a half-hour movie produced by middle and high school-aged members of COLAGE, about their experiences as children of same-sex parents. I haven’t seen the film
Thanksgiving is almost upon us, so I thought I’d offer a recipe idea: Cranbanero Sauce, a fiery version of the classic condiment. If you like spicy food, and grandma’s lumpy gravy just isn’t doing it for you, try this. Buy a standard 16-ounce bag of cranberries at your local supermarket. Put cranberries, sugar, and water
The protagonist lives in a realm that’s been described as “magical,” and which has some parallels with the United Kingdom. He finds adventures with his friends and is brave, kind, and sometimes a little cheeky. His stories and movies have had phenomenal success around the world and are beloved of both children and parents. No,
Eartheasy has some great ideas for one-pot cooking, including “templates” for three different types of dishes: rice, potato, and pasta based. You can adapt them to suit your tastes and leftovers. These are useful for those of us with young kids who need to cook quickly, or those who want to limit the mess when
