Health and Science

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. more »

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… more »

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… more »

Results from a brain-imaging study led scientists into a medical mystery going back to 1881, involving a disputed brain pathway discovered by one scientist and ignored by others. The team rediscovered the pathway's original publication in texts in the basement of Stanford's Lane Medical Library and traced the structure's contentious scientific history. more »