Nearly 42 percent of US adults who drink also report using medications known to interact with alcohol, based on a study from the National Institutes of Health released January 16, 2015. Among those over 65 years of age who drink alcohol, nearly 78 percent report using alcohol-interactive medications.

The more pictures women share through their mobile phones, the more emails they send and receive, and the more frequently they use Twitter, the lower their reported stress. Compared with a woman who does not use these technologies, a women who uses Twitter several times per day, sends or receives 25 emails per day, and shares two digital pictures through her mobile phone per day, scores 21% lower on our stress measure than a woman who does not use these technologies at all.

Wu, lead author of the study, explains that the plot behind a movie like Her (released in 2013) becomes increasingly realistic. The film involves a man who strikes up a relationship with an advanced computer operating system that promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right."The ability to judge personality is an essential component of social living — from day-to-day decisions to long-term plans such as whom to marry, trust, hire or elect as president," said Cambridge researcher Stillwell.

Quotations, toys, and other graphic advertising materials prompt visitors to think about the different ideas embodied in the words "house" and "home." The exhibition showcases domestic objects from cooking utensils to telephones and traces how household goods tell the stories of our family traditions, heritage, and the activity of daily living.

Roberta McReynolds writes: A book about how to read tea leaves was brought to the table. When our cups were empty, my mother and I were instructed to flip them upside down and spin them around three times before turning them upright again. My mother tried to discern shapes in the dregs which were looked up in the book for interpretation. This fortune-telling seemed a tad wicked to me at the time, but still tempting as the forbidden fruit.

FDA has found hundreds of products that are marketed as dietary supplements but actually contain hidden active ingredients contained in prescription drugs, unsafe ingredients that were in drugs that have been removed from the market, or compounds that have not been adequately studied in humans. FDA has found weight-loss products tainted with the prescription drug ingredient sibutramine. This ingredient was in an FDA-approved drug called Meridia, removed from the market in October 2010 because it caused heart problems and strokes.

From junior high school hygiene films to websites, public health campaigns, scientific studies, children’s books, bodice-ripper novels and (sometimes) parents, Americans have always found ways to learn about sex. While attitudes towards sex education swing from the blissfulness of ignorance to the empowerment of liberation — and back again — every generation finds new ways to answer the old questions. Our desire to learn about desire has not changed.

Rose Madeline Mula writes: Something was definitely wrong with this picture. Earrings, nose rings, eyebrow rings, bizarre hair-dos, purple nail polish ... on the boys. Even weirder, one of them was actually wearing a bathrobe and slippers. I swear. The others sported second-skin-tight bicycle shorts or kaleidoscopic, ridiculously baggy pants obviously stolen from Barnum & Bailey.

State politicians turned their attention to pressing health care issues such as preventing drug overdose deaths, restricting e-cigarettes and making medical marijuana more available. States also grappled with the question of who should receive a costly and highly effective cure for hepatitis C. A few states also launched programs aimed at controlling two of the costliest chronic conditions — asthma and diabetes.

Nichola Gutgold writes: Preserving women's history and reminding our younger generations, especially girls and young women about it, is crucial for continued progress. The sad truth is women who have run for the United States presidency are frequently left off the history pages. Researchers found that one in four children believed it is illegal for women and minorities to hold the office of president.

Powerful narrative, unforgettable characters, illustration that stirs the imagination, and insights that engage the mind and heart — literature for children is forged from the same enduring elements as literature for adults. Children's books with these qualities often shine for generations, with some achieving landmark fame. A few such books ultimately go on to enter the canon of classics of children's literature.

Think the actors get hungry sitting around the food hour after hour? While they usually only eat the foods like watercress or cucumber, Food Stylist Lisa Heathcote notes, "They do occasionally tuck in, depending upon how peckish they are, and where we are in the day." She describes a typical menu at a house party: "A clear soup to start with; a fish course; an entrée, a roast; a cheese and fruit course; a pudding; and "a savory, which is a tiny little mini morsel of something savory, a weenie little thing upon a plate. It's a lot of food."

Julia Sneden wrote: So I miss them, those children we reared, but all things considered, I'll settle for the way things are now. Besides, when I feel a deep need I can look into the face of my youngest granddaughter and see my son's merry brown eyes looking back at me. And that's no small thing for which to be thankful.

Website features: Interactive map of the United States that displays the relative severity of seasonal flu in 94 cities across the country; flu and incidence numbers for each. Influenza incidence predictions by city for the coming weeks; map that illustrates the proportion of flu cases by region.

For older adults, being unable to identify scents is a strong predictor of death within five years, according to a study published in the journal PLOS ONE. Thirty-nine percent of study subjects who failed a simple smelling test died during that period, compared to 19 percent of those with moderate smell loss and just 10 percent of those with a healthy sense of smell.

The Dallas Museum of Art exhibit traces the development of the floral still life from the late 18th century through the early 20th century, emphasizing the tremendous depth and scope of creative engagement with the genre throughout this era. The exhibition features more than 60 paintings by more than 30 artists, including renowned figures such as Paul Cézanne, Gustave Courbet, Eugène Delacroix, Vincent van Gogh and Edouard Manet, along with less familiar contemporaries such as Simon Saint-Jean and Henri Fantin-Latour.

The Great Debate features a video of a public debate between renowned SETI scientist, Dan Werthimer, and skeptic, Geoff Marcy. Each side presents evidence for why we should - or shouldn't - believe that there really are other advanced civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy..."As we search for a universal language to communicate with civilizations beyond Earth, where should we start? Math? Pictures? Something else?" ... The American Ballet Theatre was founded in New York in 1939 by a group of dancers, choreographers, and producers enthralled with the magnetic Russian-born ballet master, Mikhail Mordkin...538 is a punchy online magazine that dissects sports, politics, economics, science, and other topics using a numbers-crunching lens

We tend to make fewer fires than most who have fireplaces which means that the leftover wood in the cord is nice and dry for the next season/s. We discovered how wet wood can be really smoky so we appreciate letting the wood age. But what about the environmental cost of having a fireplace? Occasionally a hawk will come closer, just above our backyard trees. Most of the time the birds are savvy and disappear when the hawk is around, though not always. The woodpeckers found us again this year.   Cozy in Our Indoor Backyard   This past week has been cold and often rainy so I decided to enjoy our backyard inside. We stacked firewood from a two-year-old cord (now nicely weathered) in the fireplace in our den then added branches that had…

The study found that among all adults 18 to 80 years old, about 1 in 20 received a benzodiazepine prescription in 2008, the period covered by the study. Long-term use — a supply of the medication for more than 120 days — also increased markedly with age. Research has shown that benzodiazepines can impair cognition, mobility, and driving skills, and they increase the risk of falls. Most prescriptions for benzodiazepines are written by non-psychiatrists.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness report states that 42.5 million Americans suffer from some sort of mental illness, 19.7 million have a substance abuse problem and 8.8 million report that they have seriously considered suicide. The MHA report also ranks the mental health of young people across the states. Vermont, North Dakota and Wisconsin top the list. Nevada, New Mexico and Montana rank last. Still, 29 states plus DC did increase mental health spending. Fewer states increased their spending on mental health programs this year compared to last year, when a spate of horrific shootings by assailants with histories of mental illness prompted a greater focus on the shortcomings of the country’s…

According to the Census Bureau, retired women are nearly twice as likely as retired men to live in poverty... Instead of living the worry-free ideal, they struggle to make ends meet — to pay for grocery bills and keep their homes heated in winter. And their experiences stand in stark contrast to the national trend of seniors living in the middle class." "Time and again, I have heard from far too many survivors of campus sexual assault that they have felt re-victimized by the process of trying to seek justice for the crime committed against them. This inescapable fact must be fixed," Senator Kirsten Gillibrand stated

Serena Nanda writes: Central to all three is the importance of women in keeping their families together under the most agonizing conditions of exile in Germany and France during WW II. Although similar in setting, narrative and characters, each book provides different perspectives on history, demonstrating that historical memories are both collective and individual. A love affair with "the enemy" is central in each story, causing us to deeply reflect on the impact of war on human relationships.

Reseachers Michael LaCour and Donald Green began by identifying California precincts that had supported the ban on gay marriage, eventually settling on an especially conservative area of Southern California. They then used voter rolls to invite every voter in those precincts, as well as their housemates, to participate in an Internet survey on politics, including only two questions about support for same-sex marriage.