The incredible shrinking TV screen
Did my TV screen just shrink? That’s the question a lot of people will be asking after installing one of the converter boxes that will keep their older TV sets tuned into over-the-air broadcasts after Feb. 17, 2009.

Gen X-er has tech nostalgia
If you have a hankering to go back in tech time, and you fondly remember Atari and other names and gadgets, some of them live on, re-cast in modern forms.

The ‘Net: A Tangled Web of Health Information
Experts offer advice on how to use the Internet to your advantage.

Neurofeedback May Help ‘Retrain’ Brainwaves In Children With Autism
ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2008) — Playing a video game called ‘Space Race’ that requires nothing more than brainpower to make rockets on a computer screen move forward is more than just fun and games. A University of Missouri researcher is using video games to see if the brainwaves of children with autism can be ‘retrained’ to improve focus and concentration.

Psychologists Demonstrate Simplicity Of Working Memory
ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2008) — A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but humans may have even less to work with than previously thought. University of Missouri researchers found that the average person can keep just three or four things in their “working memory” or conscious mind at one time. This finding may lead to better ways to assess and help people with attention-deficit and focus difficulties, improve classroom performance and enhance test scores.

Guarding Against Genetic Discrimination
People seeking genetic testing to learn if they are predisposed to serious diseases would not have to fear losing their jobs or their health insurance under anti-discrimination legislation.

Embryonic Stem Cells Turned Into Three Types of Heart Cells
When transplanted into mice, they improved heart function, researchers report

Menstrual Blood: A Valuable Source Of Multipotential Stem Cells?
ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2008) — Researchers seeking new and more abundant sources of stem cells for use in regenerative medicine have identified a potentially unlimited, noncontroversial, easily collectable, and inexpensive source — menstrual blood.

Presence Of Certain Antibodies Signals Healthier Teeth And Gums
ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2008) — Antibodies present in people with good oral health could become the first tool for dental professionals to assess a patient’s probable response to periodontal disease treatments, say researchers at the University of Michigan.

Environment Key Early: Genes’ Role Expands In Alcohol Dependence
ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2008) — The influence of genetics increases as young women transition from taking their first drink to becoming alcoholics. A team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that although environment is most influential in determining when girls begin to drink, genes play a larger role if they advance to problem drinking and alcohol dependence.

Exercise Plays Role in Recovery From Sports Injuries
Expert says goal is to maintain strength, not gain it, while you mend

Life Expectancy Drops for Some U.S. Women
For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women… The trend appears to be driven by increases in death from diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema and kidney failure. It reflects the long-term consequences of smoking, a habit that women took up in large numbers decades after men did, and the slowing of the historic decline in heart disease deaths. It may also represent the leading edge of the obesity epidemic.

Papaya genome bares evolution’s secrets
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Papayas have extra copies of genes that make them sweet and nutritious, researchers reported on Wednesday in a study that can help shed light on how flowering plants evolved.

Report: Soyuz hatch nearly burned up
The crew of the Soyuz capsule that landed in Kazakhstan hundreds of miles off-target after an unexpectedly severe descent was in serious danger, a Russian news agency reported.

Black hole captured in mid-belch
Using powerful radio telescopes, scientists have captured a supermassive black hole just as it was belching out a jet of supercharged particles, offering a first look at how these cosmic jets are formed.

Galaxies Gone Wild: Dramatic Collisions Trigger Bursts Of Star Formation
ScienceDaily (Apr. 24, 2008) — Interacting galaxies are found throughout the Universe, sometimes as dramatic collisions that trigger bursts of star formation, on other occasions as stealthy mergers that result in new galaxies. A series of 59 new images of colliding galaxies has been released from the several terabytes of archived raw images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to mark the 18th anniversary of the telescope’s launch. This is the largest collection of Hubble images ever released to the public simultaneously.