ScienceDaily: Top Health News

Prompted by a recent alarming rise in cases of colorectal cancer in people younger than 50, an independent expert panel has recommended that individuals of average risk for the disease begin screening exams at 45 years of age instead of the traditional 50.

Scientists examining the remains of 36 bubonic plague victims from a 16th century mass grave in Germany have found the first evidence that evolutionary adaptive processes, driven by the disease, may have conferred immunity on later generations of people from the region.

Eating a Western diet impairs the immune system in the gut in ways that could increase risk of infection and inflammatory bowel disease, according to a new study.

In sports, it is common practice to apply ice to sore muscles in order to reduce inflammation. However, a new study on mice has revealed that icing severe muscle injuries may actually prolong the healing process. The results indicate that cooling the injury makes it difficult for macrophages to enter the damaged cells in order to repair them.

Classic computers use binary values (0/1) to perform. By contrast, our brain cells can use more values to operate, making them more energy-efficient than computers. This is why scientists are interested in neuromorphic (brain-like) computing. Physicists have used a complex oxide to create elements comparable to the neurons and synapses in the brain using spins, a magnetic property of electrons.

A branch of artificial intelligence (AI), called machine learning, can accurately predict the risk of an out of hospital cardiac arrest -- when the heart suddenly stops beating -- using a combination of timing and weather data.

In a study of low-income, urban youth in the U.S., researchers found that students exposed to Photovoice, an educational intervention, experienced greater improvements in STEM-capacity scores and environmental awareness scores compared to a group of youth who were not exposed to the activity. The results suggest that the Photovoice activities may be associated with improved learning outcomes.