A survey of more than 14,000 college freshmen in 19 colleges across eight countries found that a third of the students reported symptoms consistent with a diagnosable mental health disorder, according to the American Psychological Association. Major depression was the most common disorder, evinced by 35 percent of the respondents; 30 percent admitted symptoms that...
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Clean water
Clean water is becoming scarcer at a time when the world’s population is growing. Now, scientists at the University of New South Wales and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia have found a way to make dirty water clean enough to drink. The researchers have developed a simple filtering sheet that cleans up...
Big brewers think outside the six-pack
Despite the thriving universe of craft beers, the U.S. market for beer is shrinking, as younger drinkers have a long list of coffees, teas, energy drinks, and more exotic beverages that distract them from plain old brew. That’s one reason why total US beer sales fell 1 percent in 2017. So, the biggest brewing companies...
Do household cleaners make infants obese?
A Canadian study suggests that the epidemic of childhood obesity may be caused in part by the chemicals in typical antibacterial household cleaners. The researchers theorize that such chemicals are absorbed through the lungs, skin, or mouth (babies taste everything) and find their way into babies’ intestines. Once there, they kill off key elements of...
Growing your new heart
And it started beating on its own. In a lab, the scientists created a scaffold of nanofibers made of gelatin and a biodegradable plastic. Then they seeded it with living heart cells. After a few days, the heart cells had reproduced, covered the scaffold, and it started to beat. Housed in a container simulating conditions...
Mechanical carpenters
Anyone who’s had to manhandle a 4-by-8-foot sheet of plywood into place and hold it steady while nailing it to a wall will appreciate the construction robots developed at Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. The humanoids are designed to ease the shortage of construction laborers in a nation with one of...
Drinkable sensors monitor tumor treatment
Instead of starting a cancer patient on a drug and then waiting weeks to see if it works, scientists at Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne have come up with an innovative way to speed up the news. The team has created cubic electronic nanosensors coated with a substance that lets them pass through the...
“Economic 9/11”
Rising U.S. interest rates, higher oil prices, lower earnings and geo-political unrest are merging to form an economic tsunami. When the Dow dropped 830 points on 10 October, and fell 1,300 points for the week, $1.7 trillion was wiped off the S&P 500 and nearly $3 trillion off global stocks. Since that turning point moment...
What could stave off a crash — for now?
While technically, President Donald Trump has no day-to-day management authority over the Federal Reserve, he can with “cause” fire Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, who he appointed, and the U.S. Senate would have sign off on any replacements he recommends. The Federal Reserve and its board of five governors, also appointed by the president, serve as...
Higher interest rates, lower consumer spending
With 30-year residential fixed mortgage rates now at 5 percent in the U.S., higher interest rates are hitting the real estate market. On the heels of the September 0.25 percent rate hike, mortgage applications fell 32 percent lower than last year, when rates were a full percent lower. And new home sales plunged 5.5 percent...