Fall Semester

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/46878/title/Caloric-Restriction-Turns-White-Fat-Brown/ A report in the New Scientist about research done in mice at the U of Geneva to be published in Cell Metabolism which showed that restricting dietary calorie intake turned white fat into energy-burning brown fat. Calorie restriction by 40% in animal models has been shown to lead to longer lifespans and improved health outcomes. Finding a way to make the transition could help with diabetes and other diseases.





http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/graduate-students-the-laborers-of-academia  Article in the NYer about (adjuncts and) grad students, the laborers of academia.



http://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/353/6302/872.full.pdf This is a link to a commentary in Science by David Baltimore's group about new strategies for understanding neurodegenerative diseases. For those of us who still bear onus against Baltimore for his claiming credit for his student's work, this commentary is a step towards forgiveness. He suggests that, just as we undertook new strategies from a cellular perspective to figure cancer out, he suggests we similarly "rethink the path to progress" in the case of Alzheimers and other diseases.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-review-finds-nondrug-approaches-effective-treatment-common-pain-conditions  This is a report of an NIH-funded study about non-drug treatment for pain.It was reported in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings that yoga, tai chi and acupuncture are effective treatments for back pain, osteoarthritis, neck pain, fibromyalgia, and severe headaches and migraine.



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/01/science/oldest-fossils-on-earth.html?_r=0 An article from the NYT about a fossil discovery in Greenland which may be the oldest fossils ever found. This publication will appear in Nature. These fossils are thought to be stromatolites, layers of sediment packed together by microbial communities living in shallow water. They may antedate the oldest previously known fossils by 220 million years. The U of Wollongong  discovered the fossils.




http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/03/science/fda-bans-sale-of-many-antibacterial-soaps-saying-risks-outweigh-benefits.html  From the NYT an article about the banning the sale of most antibacterial soaps by the FDA. Most of the banned products contain triclosan or triclocarban. In 2013 the FDA said the companies that marketed these products would have to prove they did more good than harm and this week the decision was made that they did not. Studies in animals have shown that these two chemicals disrupt normal reproductive development and metabolism and they may behave similarly in animals.