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TAMPA, United States (AFP) — Could teenagers suffer symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder after engaging in excessive smartphone use? A new study out Tuesday says digital overload could be linked to a “modest” but significant rise in new ADHD behaviors, offering a warning to parents about the potential dangers of too much screen time. The findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association were based on nearly 2,600 Los Angeles teens who answered […]
by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The near 40-year quest for an AIDS vaccine received a hopeful boost Saturday when scientists announced that a trial drug triggered an immune response in humans and shielded monkeys from infection. Shown to be safe in humans, the candidate vaccine has now advanced to the next phase of the pre-approval trial process, and will be tested in 2,600 women in southern Africa to see […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Cloudy with a chance of… spiders? The phenomenon of “flying” spiders gliding into the air and traveling like balloons for hundreds of miles (kilometers) has a new possible explanation: the air’s natural electric charge. Aerial spider journeys — often known as “ballooning” — have long been observed, notably by biologist Charles Darwin, who documented the spectacle in his diary in the 19th century. One closely studied hypothesis suggested that spiders […]
PARIS, France (AFP)–Air pollution caused one in seven new cases of diabetes in 2016, according to a US study, which found even low levels raised the chances of developing the chronic disease. Diabetes has primarily been associated with lifestyle factors like diet and a sedentary lifestyle, but research by the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis said pollution also plays a major role. The study estimated that pollution contributed to 3.2 million new […]
by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France-Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — Has the maximum lifespan for a human already been reached? Maybe not, said a study of Italian centenarians published Thursday that found that human longevity is slowly increasing. Scientists have long debated whether or not the ultimate lifespan in people has been attained. A 2016 study in the journal Nature argued that it has, in 1997, when Frenchwoman Jeanne Calmant died at the record-breaking age […]
by Michel Comte Agence France Presse A mad rush is needed to preserve or catalogue thousands of Arctic archeological sites before they are washed away by warming hastening the thaw of permafrost and coastal erosion, a study said Thursday. For millennia, the cold has conserved ivory artifacts, driftwood houses and human remains in often near-perfect conditions. But with faster and more severe climate change in the poles than the rest of the world, the situation […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — A record 68.5 million people have been forced flee their homes due to war, violence and persecution, notably in places like Myanmar and Syria, the UN said on Tuesday. By the end of 2017, the number was nearly three million higher than the previous year and showed a 50-percent increase from the 42.7 million uprooted from their homes a decade ago, according to a report by […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — People who live in rural areas of the United States are far more likely than city dwellers to smoke, be overweight, and face a host of related health concerns, researchers said Tuesday. Many chronic diseases are linked to obesity, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, some cancers and arthritis, and researchers say understanding local trends can help them design better intervention strategies. The study in the Journal of the American […]
by Marlowe Hood Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Video gaming can be addictive in the same way as cocaine or gambling, the World Health Organization said Monday in a much anticipated update of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). “After consulting with experts across the world, and reviewing evidence in an exhaustive manner, we decided that this condition should be added,” Shekhar Saxena, director of the WHO’s department of mental health and substance abuse, […]
by Kerry Sheridan © Agence France-Presse SARASOTA, United States (AFP) — Along sun-splashed shorelines in the US state of Florida, home prices are on the rise, developers are busy building new complexes, and listings just blocks from the beach describe homes that are “not in a flood zone,” meaning no flood insurance is required. But experts warn that ignoring sea level rise won’t prevent a looming economic crisis caused by water-logged homes that will someday […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US and Danish researchers said Thursday they have developed an inexpensive blood test that may predict with up to 80 percent accuracy whether a pregnant woman will give birth prematurely. While more research is needed before the test is ready for widespread use, experts say it has the potential to reduce fatalities and complications from the 15 million premature births per year worldwide. The test can also be used to […]
TAMPA, United States (AFP) — Pluto is covered with surprising dunes made of methane ice, which have formed relatively recently despite the frigid dwarf planet’s very thin atmosphere, international researchers said Thursday. Pluto’s atmosphere has a surface pressure 100,000 times lower than Earth’s, which researchers suspected might be too little to allow tiny grains of solid methane to mobilize and become airborne. Yet mild winds blowing across Pluto’s surface at speeds of some 19-25 miles […]
