Science Times: Nov. 22, 2011

A Hard Turn: Better Health on the Highway

By ABBY ELLIN

Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times

Roy Williams, 58, is a long-haul truck driver with over 30 years experience. Recently, he has begun to change his diet and added an exercise routine to try to lose weight.

Beset by insurance costs and desperate to make sure that drivers pass health tests, trucking companies and industry groups are working to persuade them to change their habits.

Viktor Koen

Findings

A Serving of Gratitude May Save the Day

By JOHN TIERNEY

A new series of experiments and studies shows, for the first time, that the feeling of gratitude is linked to lower rates of aggression.

A Rare Isotope Helps Track an Ancient Water Source

By FELICITY BARRINGER

Krypton 81 allows researchers to reach back a million years to study one of the world’s oldest aquifers.

In Body’s Shield Against Cancer, a Culprit in Aging May Lurk

By NICHOLAS WADE

Senescent cells seem to be a benign by-product of the body’s defense against cancer, but researchers are growing suspicious of their culpability in aging.

After a Promising Discovery, a Struggle for Financing

A Quiet Push to Grow Crops Under Cover of Trees

By JIM ROBBINS

The Department of Agriculture has begun encouraging greater use of trees in agriculture.

Health News

Kelly Blair

Essay

‘Cancer’ or ‘Weird Cells’: Which Sounds Deadlier?

By GINA KOLATA

“Cancer,” some medical experts say, is an imprecise term that is used too loosely these days.

Post a Comment

New Cases of AIDS Hit Plateau

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

About 2.7 million people have been newly infected each year for the last five years, according to a report released by the United Nations.

Health Guide: AIDS »

Well

CROWD-SOURCING Jessica and Sean Haley posted an appeal on IndieGoGo for help with fertility treatments.

Patients, Too, Turn to the Internet for Fund-Raising

By TARA PARKER-POPE

Online fund-raising - a common tactic for nonprofit groups and charity events - is starting to spread to the world of costly health care.

For Some, Psychiatric Trouble May Start in Thyroid

By HARRIET BROWN

Researchers are exploring a somewhat controversial link between minor, or subclinical, thyroid problems and some patients’ psychiatric difficulties.

More Multimedia

Slide Show: Where No Museum Has Gone Before

A sneak peek at the exhibition “Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration,” which opens Saturday at the American Museum of Natural History.

Slide Show: Science, Skin and Ink

Photographs of science tattoos from the book “Science Ink,” by Carl Zimmer.

Video: Michael Gazzaniga

An interview with the neuroscientist and professor of psychology known for his studies, and stories, about the brain's split personality.

Related Article | Previous Articles in the Series »

Podcast: Science Times

This week: Six degrees of separation is history; the obesity occupation goes on the offensive, and a closet clutterer comes clean.

Science Columns

Q & A

Ups and Downs

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

The ability of plants to sense and alter their growth in response to gravity is known as gravitropism, and it is not fully understood.

More Q & A Columns »

Observatory

A study trained starlings to peck at colored keys to get food.

The Case of the Birds That Knew Too Much

By SINDYA N. BHANOO

In a study on European starlings, researchers found that in certain instances, the birds make better choices when they have less information to work with.

Observatory

Getting a Handle on Why 4 Equals Green

By SINDYA N. BHANOO

Neuroscientists from the University of Oxford are trying to determine what exactly is different about the brains of those with grapheme-color synesthesia.