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Concussions and Head Impacts May Accelerate Brain Aging

By Guest PostAugust 3, 2012Sciencealzheimer, balance, brain, brain aging, brain injury, cognitive decline, concussions, electrical activity, gait, head impacts, kinesiology, lifestyle choice, natural aging, natural deterioration, pothole, signaling pathway, steven broglio, subconcussive impact

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Concussions and even lesser head impacts may speed up the brain’s natural aging process by causing signaling pathways in the brain to break down more quickly than they would in someone who has never suffered a brain injury or concussion.

Researchers from the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology and the U-M Health System looked at college students with and without a history of concussion and found changes in gait, balance and in the brain’s electrical activity, specifically attention and impulse control, said Steven Broglio, assistant professor of kinesiology and director of the Neurotrauma Research Laboratory. (more…)

Light Pollution Transforming Insect Communities

By Guest PostJune 1, 2012Environmentartificial lighting, balance, ecosystem, ecosystem services, falmouth, ground beetles, harvestmen, helston, insect communities, invertebrates, kevin murphy, light pollution, market town, scavenging species, species, street lighting, tom davies, university of exeter, urban spaces, west cornwall

Street lighting is transforming communities of insects and other invertebrates, according to research by the University of Exeter.

Published in the journal Biology Letters, the study shows for the first time that the balance of different species living together is being radically altered as a result of light pollution in our towns and cities.

Believed to be increasing by six per cent a year globally, artificial lighting is already known to affect individual organisms, but this is the first time that its impact on whole communities has been investigated.

This study shows that groups of invertebrates living near to artificial lights include more predators and scavengers. This could be impacting on the survival rates of different species, having a knock-on effect on birds and mammals that rely on these species for food. The effects could be affecting entire ecosystems and even humans. (more…)

Not Your Parents’ Chem Labs

By Guest PostApril 25, 2012Educationacetone, anti-inflammatory, balance, benzene, borneol, carbon dioxide, carbon trachloride, catalyst, chalcone, chemical industry, chemistry, cloves, cookbook chemistry, cylindrical container, deane morrison, density, environmental problem, extract, fluid, general chemistry labs, graduated cylinder, grams per milliliter, greener, hazardous, industry, inorganic chemistry, james wollack, jane wissinger, josh jansen, lindsay nevalainen, liquid, marc hillmyer, michelle driessen, molecule, oil, organic chem, organic molecule, plastic, renewable resources, scale, sodium bromide, solution, solvent, university of minnesota, volume

‘Greener’ and more engaging experiments draw students in

As a college student, Michelle Driessen had an all-too-typical experience.

“I hated general chemistry,” she says. “I thought it was terribly boring.”

She had plenty of company. Experiments were all laid out in advance, and the goal seemed to be to get to a predetermined result without blowing up the glassware.

In the old days, “very few students appreciated the point of most general chemistry labs,” adds Driessen. “With cookbook chemistry, you couldn’t have anything go wrong or deviate [from what’s supposed to happen], but I find those things to be the most interesting part of science.” (more…)

Today’s Severe Drought, Tomorrow’s Normal

By Guest PostDecember 7, 2011Environmentatmospheric greenhouse gases, balance, benjamin santer, berkeley lab, canada, century, climate models, david easterling, drought, dust bowl, evapotranspiration, global climate, jay lawrimore, Mexico, michael wehner, noaa, normal occurrence, North America, oklahoma, precipitation, richard heim, russell vose, severe drought conditions, simulations, state-of-the-art, texas, united states, warming planet

*Berkeley Lab scientists part of team that analyzed 19 state-of-the-art climate models.*

While the worst drought since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s grips Oklahoma and Texas, scientists are warning that what we consider severe drought conditions in North America today may be normal for the continent by the mid-21^st century, due to a warming planet.

A team of scientists from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) came to this conclusion after analyzing 19 different state-of-the-art climate models. Looking at the balance between precipitation and evapotranspiration—the movement of water from soil to air—they found that no matter how rainfall patterns change over the next 100 years, a warming planet leads to drought. Their results were published in the December 2011 issue of the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Hydrometerology. (more…)

Tai Chi Helps Prevent Falls and Improves Mental Health in Elderly

By PravdaJuly 19, 2011Healthancient chinese art, balance, british, cardiovascular disease, chinese, diabetes, diseases, effects of tai chi on health, elderly, hypertension, improves mental health, korean, meditative effects, musculoskeletal pain, osteoporosis, parkinson's, philosophy of tai chi, symptoms of cancer or rheumatoid arthritis, tai chi, tai chi master, treatment for fibromyalgia, yang chengfu

Tai Chi helps reduce the risk of falls in the elderly, and improves mental health, is what a new study shows. However, practicing the ancient Chinese art does not help to ease the symptoms of cancer or rheumatoid arthritis.

The information is from the research of a team that analyzed 35 reviews of studies evaluating the effects of Tai Chi on health.

The databases reviewed were British, Chinese and Korean that assessed the impact of Tai Chi on various diseases, including diabetes, hypertension, cancer, osteoarthritis, Parkinson’s, musculoskeletal pain, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. (more…)

Tag Archives: balance

Concussions and Head Impacts May Accelerate Brain Aging

Light Pollution Transforming Insect Communities

Not Your Parents’ Chem Labs

Today’s Severe Drought, Tomorrow’s Normal

Tai Chi Helps Prevent Falls and Improves Mental Health in Elderly