Mobile banking gaining traction among younger customers
NEW YORK (AP) – Most Americans are still hesitant about banking with their cell phones and PDAs, but young people are increasingly coming around to the idea of mobile banking, according to a new survey

Britain fires warning on rise of cyber-hackers
LONDON (AFP) – More than one in 10 big British businesses has detected computer hackers on their IT networks, a government report said Tuesday, warning of a rampant rise in such activity.

Virtual reality aids children with autism
A playmate named Sam, a talking dog named Buddy and an Israeli street leading to a Toys”R”Us store all have starring roles in a new generation of virtual reality games designed to teach basic safety and social skills to children with autism.

From DNA of Family, a Tool to Make Arrests
Privacy Advocates Say the Emerging Practice Turns Relatives Into Genetic Informants. Investigators obtained a court order without the daughter’s knowledge for a Pap smear specimen she had given five years earlier at a university medical clinic in 

Treating PTSD Helps Kids Deal With Loss
Camp-based therapy proved more beneficial than individual grief counseling, study finds

Heart Disease Risks Hit Boys in Teens
Girls protected by hormones during adolescence, study suggests

FDA: Contaminated Heparin Found in 11 Countries
And ‘biological mechanism’ that leads to adverse reactions identified, officials add.

Chemotherapy Causes Delayed Severe Neural Damage, Study Shows
ScienceDaily (Apr. 22, 2008) — Cancer treatment with chemotherapeutic agents is often associated with delayed adverse neurological consequences – an occurrence often referred to as “chemobrain” – that may compromise the quality of life of a proportion of cancer survivors. Now, new research demonstrates that treatment with a single chemotherapeutic agent, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), by itself is sufficient to cause a syndrome of delayed degeneration in the central nervous system.

Using Anti-cholinergic Drugs May Increase Cognitive Decline In Older People
ScienceDaily (Apr. 22, 2008) — Anticholinergic drugs, such as medicines for stomach cramps, ulcers, motion sickness, and urinary incontinence, may cause older people to experience greater decline in their thinking skills than people not taking the drugs, according to new research.

Mammograms Still a Good Idea for Elderly Women
Study finds it reduces risk of being diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer

Life expectancy falls in poorer U.S. counties: study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Life expectancy may have reached an all-time high for the United States, but it is declining in many poor counties, especially among women, researchers reported on Monday.

Ancient Buddhist Paintings From Bamiyan Were Made Of Oil, Hundreds Of Years Before Technique Was ‘Invented’ In Europe
ScienceDaily (Apr. 22, 2008) — The world was in shock when in 2001 the Talibans destroyed two ancient colossal Buddha statues in the Afghan region of Bamiyan. Behind those statues, there are caves decorated with precious paintings from 5th to 9th century A.D. The caves also suffered from Taliban destruction, as well as from a severe natural environment, but today they have become the source of a major discovery. Scientists have proved, thanks to experiments performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), that the paintings were made of oil, hundreds of years before the technique was “invented” in Europe.

Midwest quakes remain a mystery
Scientists say they know far too little about Midwestern seismic zones like the one that rumbled to life under southern Illinois Friday morning, but some of what they do know is unnerving.

Ancient supernova leaves an echo 400 years later
Astronomers recently captured a supernova’s blinding flash “echoing” off dust 400 light-years from the detonation site in the Large Magellanic Cloud which means Earthly observers may have seen the original blast 400 years ago.