Online science news...
What are babies made of?
For some it is sugar, salt and not all things nice
Children as young as four weeks old are being fed a poor diet of biscuits, ice-cream and soft drinks, according to new Australian research.
A study published in the journal Nutrition & Dietetics found some month-old babies had been introduced to high fat, salt and sugar foods, despite health authorities recommending exclusive breastfeeding to six months of age.
Researcher Jane Scott and colleagues tracked 587 women from two Perth maternity hospitals through regular phone interviews for 12 months to understand how the new mothers fed their babies.
Morning Sickness: Still No Relief
There are currently no reliably safe and effective treatments for morning sickness, according to a systematic review of the available evidence.
Morning sickness is the term used to describe vomiting and feelings of nausea in pregnant women. Symptoms can in fact occur at any time of the day and affect more than half of all women in the early stages of pregnancy. Due to concerns that pharmaceutical medicines may damage their unborn children, women are increasingly turning to non-drug treatments, including complementary and alternative therapies, to treat these symptoms. However, there is less evidence that alternative therapies work and they tend to be less well-regulated.
Why Migrating Birds Have a Small Window to Spread Bird Flu
Virus dispersal by migrating birds would require asymptomatic infection to coincide precisely with the migration season.
In 2005 an outbreak of the H5N1 ‘bird flu’ virus in South East Asia led to widespread fear with predictions that the intercontinental migration of wild birds could lead to global pandemic. Such fears were never realised, and now research published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology reveals why the global spread of bird flu by direct migration of wildfowl is unlikely - while also providing a new framework for quantifying the risk of avian-borne diseases.
Phosphorus scarcity threatens food security
Future scarcity of phosphorus will be a major threat to food security and a potential source of conflict.
Presenting research at the Australian Fertilizer Industry Conference 2010 on the Gold Coast, Professor Stuart White, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS, said that unless further attention is paid to the issue of phosphorus (P) scarcity, we risk a global 'hard landing' as demand outstrips production in less than 25 years.
Early Diagnosis of Degenerative Brain Disorders
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy can distinguish between neurological diseases in patients without clear symptoms
A team of American scientists claim that a new method of testing for neurological diseases could provide doctors with a rapid and non-invasively method of diagnosing degenerative disorders. The research, published in The journal of Comparative Neurology, reveals that Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) can distinguish between different disorders in patients, allowing earlier diagnosis.
