MS-LS1-7
Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.
- Health & Medicine
Eating breakfast — even twice — is truly the healthier choice
Some experts argue that breakfast is the most important meal of the day — especially for keeping school-age kids at a healthy weight.
- Life
Fattier yeast live long and prosper
Scientists were hoping to build better biofuels. Instead they discovered that fatter yeast cells live longer than lean ones.
- Microbes
Microbes mine treasure from waste
Like miniature factories, bioreactors house microbes recruited to chew through wastes to clean dirty water, make chemicals or generate electricity.
- Health & Medicine
Food supplements can make you sick
Drugs must past safety testing before they can be sold. But food supplements don’t have to meet the same standards.
- Plants
Explainer: Some supplements may not have what it takes
Dietary supplements made from plants may not contain all of the chemicals that usually make a particular plant healthy for humans.
By Janet Raloff - Health & Medicine
Sugar makes mice sleepy
Sugar may amp up sleep-promoting cells in the brain, a new study in mice finds.
- Health & Medicine
For better weight control, fiber up!
Certain types of fiber suppress appetite, at least in mice. Found in fruits, vegetables, oats and barley, this fiber breaks down in the gut to release acetate. That travels to the brain, where the chemical prompts the release of hunger-fighting hormones.
- Chemistry
Urine may make Mars travel possible
On Earth, urine is a waste. En route to Mars, it could be a precious renewable commodity: the source of drinking water and energy.
- Health & Medicine
Some of chocolate’s health benefits may trace to ‘bugs’
Dark chocolate offers people a number of health benefits. A new study finds that the breakdown of chocolate by microbes in the human gut be behind some benefits.
- Health & Medicine
Low protein, longer life — for some
Eating less protein can lengthen life and improve health. That’s the message from new studies in mice and in people.
- Earth
Intel STS finalist brings earthworms to the big time
Earthworms and charcoal help plants resist infections, according to research by Anne Merrill, a finalist in the 2014 Intel Science Talent Search.
- Chemistry
Explainer: What are oxidants and antioxidants?
Certain chemicals, including many in foods, fight chemical reactions that could harm cells in the body and in wildlife.
By Janet Raloff