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A new survey finds the Bush-backed consumer-directed health plan scheme can, indeed, cut spending on health care. And scare half the enrollees into wanting to bail out.

Findings from one of the largest HIV/AIDS therapy studies conducted to date show that a specific strategy of interrupting antiretroviral therapy more than doubles the risk of AIDS or death from any cause. Researchers affiliated with the Mailman School of Public Health and Harlem Hospital Hospital led a large multi-center international study, known as Strategies for Management of Anti-Retroviral Therapies, or SMART, comparing two treatment strategies for people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Findings from the study, published in the November 30 New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrate the value of continuous antiretroviral therapy.

Using an ultra-stable laser to manipulate strontium atoms trapped in a “lattice” made of light, scientists at JILA have demonstrated the capability to produce the most precise “ticks” ever recorded in an optical atomic clock—techniques that may be useful in time keeping, precision measurements of high frequencies, and quantum computers using neutral atoms as bits of information.

It’s 2015. You’re NASA’s chief engineer designing a moonbase for Shackleton Crater at the Moon’s south pole. You’re also designing a com-system that will allow astronauts constant radio contact with Earth. But you know that direct transmissions won’t work–not always. As seen from Shackleton Crater, Earth is below the horizon for two to three weeks each month (depending on the base’s location). This blocks all radio signals, which travel line of sight.

Liquid silicone, which is often used for breast augmentation and other cosmetic procedures, can cause respiratory failure if not injected properly by a licensed physician. A study of individuals who underwent illegal silicone injections revealed a high fatality rate from pulmonary silicone embolism, or obstruction of the lungs.

Living in a home with multiple dogs may help reduce an infant’s risk for developing wheezing in the first year of life, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC). Cincinnati researchers, led by David Bernstein, MD, have found that infants living in homes with high levels of endotoxins (bacterial contaminants) and multiple dogs were more than two times less likely to wheeze than other infants.

Oslo, Norway, November 30 (UPI): Breaking News – A Norwegian archaeologist has found what might be the African site of mankind’s oldest ritual – a discovery said to change our knowledge of human history.

University of Oslo Associate Professor Sheila Coulson* and colleagues say their discovery in northwest Botswana means Homo sapiens began performing advanced rituals in Africa about 70,000 years ago.

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A startling archaeological discovery this summer changes our understanding of human history. While, up until now, scholars have largely held that man’s first rituals were carried out over 40, 000 years ago in Europe, it now appears that they were wrong about both the time and place.

It could bite a shark in two. It might have been the first “king of the beasts.” And it could teach scientists a lot about humans, because it is in the sister group of all jawed vertebrates. Dunkleosteus terrelli lived 400 million years ago, grew up to 33 feet long and weighed up to four tons. Scientist have known for years that it was a dominant predator, but new embargoed research to be published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters on November 29 reveals that the force of this predator’s bite was remarkably powerful: 1,100pounds. The bladed dentition focused the bite force into a small area, the fang tip, at an incredible force of 8,000pounds per square inch.

Public health demands a high standard of cleanliness, if not nutrition, in dining establishments.

What is alarming about this particular scenario, are the esoteric schemes mitigated by the credit card industry, to attract customers to their respective brands, by offering 0% APR. Hence, a customer misses one payment, there are drastic changes to the customer’s APR. This has been one of the primary debates in contract law and pending legislation.

Going to church might help you breathe easier. A new study by Temple University’s Joanna Maselko, Sc.D., found that religious activity may protect and maintain pulmonary health in the elderly. “Pulmonary function is an important indicator of respiratory and overall health, yet little is known about the psychosocial factors that might predict pulmonary function. At the same time, religious activity is emerging as a potential health promoting factor, especially among the elderly. We wanted to determine whether there was a connection between the two,” Maselko said.

Answering a question that has lingered for centuries, a team of scientists has proved that chemicals used to treat the wood used in Stradivarius and Guarneri violins are the reasons for the distinct sound produced by the world-famous instruments. The conclusions, published in the current issue of Nature magazine, have confirmed 30 years of work into the subject by Joseph Nagyvary, professor emeritus of biochemistry at Texas A&M University, who was the first to theorize that chemicals – not necessarily the wood – created the unique sound of the two violins. Nagyvary teamed with collaborators Joseph DiVerdi of Colorado State University and Noel Owen of Brigham Young University on the project.

In a new twist on the slogan “milk does a body good,” radiologists are testing use of the dairy staple as a contrast agent in gastrointestinal imaging exams—with excellent results. The researchers reported their findings today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). “We are able to achieve similar bowel distension and enhancement as we see with the commonly used contrast agent, VoLumen,” said Lisa R. Shah-Patel, M.D., a radiology resident at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. “In addition, we found that patients are more willing to drink milk because it is part of their daily lives, and they know what to expect.”

Is the online world as important to Internet users as the real world? Large numbers of Internet users hold such strong views about their online communities that they compare the value of their online world to their real-world communities, according to the sixth annual survey of the impact of the Internet conducted by the USC-Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future.

Mayo Clinic Cancer Center has begun three clinical studies looking at the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to prevent cancer — colon, esophageal or lung. These studies are part of the ongoing Cancer Center chemoprevention program, using medications to prevent cancer, especially for people with increased cancer risk.

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The dinosaurs, along with the majority of all other animal species on Earth, went extinct approximately 65 million years ago. Some scientists have said that the impact of a large meteorite in the Yucatan Peninsula, in what is today Mexico, caused the mass extinction, while others argue that there must have been additional meteorite impacts or other stresses around the same time.

A new study provides compelling evidence that ‘one and only one impact’ caused the mass extinction, according to a University of Missouri-Columbia researcher…

For the first time, scientists have directly measured the amount of heat flowing from the molten metal of Earth’s core into a region at the base of the mantle, a process that helps drive both the movement of tectonic plates at the surface and the geodynamo in the core that generates Earth’s magnetic field.