Scientists are reporting development of a new aquatic microrobot that mimics the amazing water-walking abilities of the water strider - the long-legged insect that scoots across the surface of ponds, lakes and other waterways…

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has developed three new methods to detect an illegal clouding agent which can be found in sports drinks imported from Taiwan. In late May, the Taiwanese authorities informed the European Commission that significant amounts of phthalates were illegally added to certain categories of sports drinks…

Electronic ear tags are being used to provide an early warning system that will help farmers identify sick animals within a herd. The new system, being trialled by scientists at Newcastle University, tracks the feeding behaviour of each individual animal, alerting farmers to any change that might indicate the cow is unwell…

Will Nevin, 25, feared a frightening diagnosis by doctors so much that he went on a diet and exercise drive and lost 175 lbs in 11 months. He had been starting to have tingling sensations in his feet, which after an internet search made him wonder whether he might be pre-diabetic…

Individuals who were brought up in a livestock farm have a higher risk of developing blood cancers compared to other people, researchers from New Zealand and England reported in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, a BMJ publication. For those growing up in a poultry farm the risk was found to be three times higher…

Most synthetic chemical products used in consumer goods end up unchanged in the environment. Given the risks this could pose for the environment and human health, researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) have developed a new tool to effectively predict what will happen to current and future pharmaceutical products…

The first scientific measurements in humans show that potentially harmful haloacetic acids (HAAs) appear in the urine of swimmers within 30 minutes after exposure to chlorinated water where HAAs form as a byproduct of that water disinfection method. Reported in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology, the study found that HAAs also appeared in the urine of swimming pool workers…

Building muscle can lower your insulin resistance risk, which in turn lowers your chances of developing pre-diabetes, and ultimately protecting you from ever suffering from diabetes type 2, researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles revealed in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Insulin resistance is a major precursor for diabetes type 2…

A high school football player’s broken neck - from which he’s recovered - has yielded breakthrough biomechanical data on cervical spine injuries that could ultimately affect safety and equipment standards for athletes. University of New Hampshire associate professor of kinesiology Erik Swartz collaborated on the study, which appears in a letter in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine…

Three research projects at the University of British Columbia have won five-year grants totaling nearly $6 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to promote greater equity in global health. Jerry Spiegel, an associate professor in the School of Population and Public Health, received $1…