Sabrina Cohen, founder of The Sabrina Cohen Foundation for Stem Cell Research (SCF), was just recognized as a WebMD 2009 Health Hero. She will receive national media attention with a full-page article about her personal story of triumph and courage, and shares the spotlight with celebrity movie-star, Scarlett Johansson and other Health Heroes in the November/December issue. [More]

A glowing, eerily beautiful image of a water flea with its radiant green "crown of thorns" took top prize in the 2009 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition®, the world's foremost forum for showcasing microscope photos and movies of life science subjects. Dr. Jan Michels, a zoologist at the University of Albrecht, Kiel, Germany, took top honors for the image of a water flea, with its defensive "crown of thorns" to protect it against predators. The image reveals not only the exoskeleton, but also interior detail down to the nuclei within its cells, seen as tiny, glowing blue dots. This [More]

Desperate times equal desperate measures, says, Captain John Murray of The Salvation Army as reports of a "Salvation Army Santa", an unauthorized individual going door-to-door trying to collect donations in North York, Ontario has been reported. "In tough economic times, people will resort to all means of trying to make a buck and some prey on the kindness of unsuspecting individuals in our community." [More]

Even if you are not a cook, you might have wondered why a pinch of flour (or any small particles) thrown into a bowl of water will disperse in a dramatic fashion, radiating outward as if it was exploding. Pushpendra Singh, PhD, a mechanical engineering professor at NJIT who has studied and written about the phenomenon, has not only thought about it, but can explain why. [More]

Sulfate groups are crucial building blocks for many molecules but are difficult to handle. Dutch researcher Martijn Huibers has discovered how sulfate groups can be protected during the construction of a molecule. Thanks to his method new molecules, which could be used for the production of medicines, can now be constructed far more easily. [More]

A major new study by researchers at Harvard and McGill Universities - the largest ever to look at working conditions worldwide - finds the United States far behind other economically successful nations in terms of adopting policies that support workers and families. [More]

Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., an agricultural technology company focused on developing technologies and products that benefit the environment and human health, and Vilmorin, the world’s fourth-largest seed company and the global leader in wheat genetics and seed, today announced that they have reached an agreement for the development and commercialization of Nitrogen Use Efficient (NUE) wheat. [More]

The Arizona Technology Council in partnership with the Arizona Department of Commerce today announced the winners of the 2009 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation (GCOI) awards. [More]

Professor Stephen Mennell of University College, Dublin, will deliver a visiting speaker seminar on the 'Fear of Food and Fear of the Sociology of Food' on Thursday 26 November at 3pm. The free public lecture has been organised by the University's Department of Media and Communication. [More]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today completed a coordinated, weeklong, international effort, called the International Internet Week of Action (IIWA), intended to curb illegal actions involving medical products. [More]

Maja Mataric', who directs the University of Southern California Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems, will lead an effort to evaluate robots as exercise coaches for adults of all ages, with a particular focus on the elderly. [More]

Scientists at the University of Granada have identified and characterized for the first time different antioxidant compounds from foods such as olive oil, honey, walnuts and a medicinal herb called Teucrium polium. [More]

As negotiators on Capitol Hill try to find ways to fund a health care overhaul, a 5% tax on cosmetic surgery has been introduced on Nov. 18 as part of the Senate's proposed health reform bill, introduced by US Senator Harry Reid (D-NV). [More]

In light of World Toilet Day Thursday, several news outlets examine the impact of poor sanitation on health. [More]

The U.N. World Summit on Food Security ended Wednesday in Rome with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) head Jacques Diouf calling for the global community to shift the fight against global hunger from "words to action," Agence France-Press reports. Diouf said, "We must do this to have a more prosperous world, fairer, more equitable and more peaceful. But above all we must do this fast: the poor and starving can not wait" (11/18). [More]