A new technique allows radiologists to lower the radiation dose that computed tomography (CT) delivers by tailoring the dose based on a child’s size, according to a study appearing in the August issue of the journal Radiology.

“The purpose of our research was to provide the technologists who run CT scanners with a precise recipe for lowering the radiation dose levels for pediatric patients by matching radiation to body size, while still delivering a high-quality CT scan,” said th

Females prefer burrows

The signal is an arched wall of sand called a hood which courting males of the fiddler crab Uca musica build at the entrances to their burrows on sand flats in Panama. Males have one very large claw that they wave to attract females to their burrows and females visit several males before choosing a mate by staying with a male in his burrow. These small crabs are at great risk of predation from ever-present shore birds. When moving between burrows they reduce th

Earth’s youngest desert is shown in this July MERIS satellite image of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Once the fourth largest lake in the world, over the last 40 years the Aral Sea has evaporated back to half its original surface area and a quarter its initial volume, leaving a 40,000 square kilometre zone of dry white-coloured salt terrain now called the Aralkum Desert.

As its water level has dropped 13 metres since the 1960s the Sea has actually split into two – the larger horseshoe-shaped

Healthy older people living with a partner feel they have the highest quality of life, whilst those in residential homes are likely to report the poorest, according to new research funded by the Economic & Social Research Council as part of its Growing Older Programme.

A three-year-long study of residents aged between 65 and 98 in the London Borough of Wandsworth was carried out by a team led by Professor Graham Beaumont and Dr Pamela Kenealy of the University of Surrey Roehampton and the R

Drivers with type-1 diabetes reported higher numbers of driving mishaps according to a multi-center study led by researchers at the University of Virginia Health System. The study investigated whether or not diabetes treatments to control blood sugar level are associated with increased risks for driving mishaps. The results will be published in the August edition of Diabetes Care.

Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, occurs when blood glucose levels drop too low to properly fuel the body. A

A collagen-based wound sealant recently developed at Texas A&M University could be an alternative for human and animal wound care treatment.

The material – which can be poured or injected into the wound – speeds the closure of wounds, said Dr. Douglas Miller, research scientist with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and one of the scientists working on the project.

In testing, Miller and his colleagues found a significant difference in closure between treated and