Coach McGaha's Science Blog

Survival rates in heart failure patients with reduced levels of vitamin D are lower than in patients with normal levels. This is the finding of a major study carried out in the Netherlands. […]

Researchers have developed a new type of pump for drug-delivery patches that might use arrays of "microneedles" to deliver a wider range of medications than now possible with conventional patches. […]

The higher up a male bonobo is placed in the social hierarchy, the greater his mating success is with female bonobos, researchers have found. But even males who are not so highly placed still have a chance of impressing females. A new study finds evidence of direct support from mothers to their sons in agonistic conflicts over access to estrous females. […]

Experiments prompted by a 2008 surprise from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander suggest that soil examined by NASA's Viking Mars landers in 1976 may have contained carbon-based chemical building blocks of life. […]

A doctoral student who discovered a new species of bee in Toronto has completed a study of 84 species of sweat bees in Canada. Nineteen of these species are new to science -- never before identified -- including the new Toronto bee, which is actually quite common in eastern Canada and the US. The new research will help scientists track bee diversity, and und […]

Uninsured minority pedestrians hit by cars are at a significantly higher risk of death than their insured white counterparts, even if the injuries sustained are similar, new research suggests. […]

Iron deficiency is a relatively common nutritional disorder that affects more than one third of the general population, and is often associated with chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid diseases and renal failure. New research has demonstrated that iron deficiency also affects at least one-third of non-ana […]

As anyone who has ever struggled to keep his or her eyes open after a big meal knows, eating can induce sleepiness. New research in fruit flies suggests that, conversely, being hungry may provide a way to stay awake without feeling groggy or mentally challenged. […]

Scientists have determined the fine-scale genetic structure of the first animal to show an evolutionary response to rapid climate change. […]

Move over, Sunbelt. The New North is coming through, a geographer predicts in a new book. As worldwide population increases by 40 percent over the next 40 years, sparsely populated Canada, Scandinavia, Russia and the northern United States will become formidable economic powers and migration magnets, Laurence C. Smith writes. […]