Clark Science Center - Smith College

Many US Children May Live In Families Receiving Food Stamps
Nearly half of all American children will reside in a household receiving food stamps at some point between the ages of 1 and 20, according to a new report.

Calm Before The Spawn: Climate Change And Coral Spawning
Biologists have explained why corals spawn for just a few nights in some places but elsewhere string out their love life over many months. A new study shows that corals spawn when regional wind fields are light. When it is calm, the eggs and sperm have the chance to unite before they are dispersed.

Early Results Of Nitric Oxide Therapy For Preemies Not Sustained, Study Finds
Inhaled nitric oxide, a therapy used in the treatment of premature newborns with respiratory failure that had shown promising results in short-term studies, does not significantly improve long-term outcomes, according to a national study.

Timber Harvest Impacts Amphibians Differently During Life Stages
Researchers found that removing all of the trees from a section of the forest had a negative effect on amphibians during their later life cycles, but had some positive effects during amphibians' aquatic larva stages at the beginning of their lives. To lessen the negative effects during the later lif...

Dementia: Rare Brain Disorder Is Highly Hereditary
New research shows that frontotemporal dementia -- a rare brain disorder that causes early dementia -- is highly hereditary.

Eating Quickly Is Associated With Overeating, Study Indicates
According to a new study, eating a meal quickly, as compared to slowly, curtails the release of hormones in the gut that induce feelings of being full. The decreased release of these hormones, can often lead to overeating.

Early-stage, HER2-positive Breast Cancer Patients At Increased Risk Of Recurr...
Early-stage breast cancer patients with HER2 positive tumors one centimeter or smaller are at significant risk of recurrence of their disease, compared to those with early-stage disease who do not express the aggressive protein, according to a new study.

Green Is Cool, But US Land Changes Generally Are Not
Most land use changes occurring in the continental US result in raised regional surface temperatures, according to new research. The study found that almost any change that makes land cover less "green" contributes to warming. A perhaps less intuitive finding is that conversion of any land to agricu...

Reducing Consumption of Glycotoxins From Heat-processing Of Foods Reduces Ris...
Researchers report that cutting back on the consumption of processed and fried foods, which are high in toxins called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs), can reduce inflammation and actually help restore the body's natural defenses regardless of age or health status. The benefits of a diet lower...

Not Just Bleach: Hydrogen Peroxide May Tell Time For Living Cells
The common household chemical hydrogen peroxide, also made naturally by living cells, appears to be involved in regulation of circadian rhythms, according to a new study.

More Action Is Needed To Support Millions Of Tinnitus Sufferers Worldwide, Re...
One in seven people worldwide will suffer from tinnitus (ringing in the ears) at some point. It is the most common injury arising from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq and 75 pecent of 18 to 30 year-olds who go to nightclubs and concerts may experience temporary tinnitus. A research review (150...

Protecting Your Virtual Privacy: A Closer Look At Digital And Internet Security
The details of your personal life, such as grocery purchases and pizza topping preferences, are collected every day -- online and by club and discount cards from the gym, department store and supermarket. Though this data seems innocent enough, when it's put together it can tell a whole lot about yo...

Use Of Cannabinoids Could Help Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Patients
Use of cannabinoids (marijuana) could assist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder patients, according to a new study.

Newly Drilled Ice Cores May Be The Longest Taken From The Andes
Researchers spent two months this summer high in the Peruvian Andes and brought back two cores, the longest ever drilled from ice fields in the tropics. This latest expedition focused on a yet-to-be-named ice field 5,364 meters above sea level in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range.

Three Killer Indicators Identified That Are Even Worse Than High Cholesterol
Researchers in the UK have identified a particular combination of health problems that can double the risk of heart attack and cause a three-fold increase in the risk of mortality.

North Atlantic Fish Populations Shifting As Ocean Temperatures Warm
About half of 36 fish stocks in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, many of them commercially valuable species, have been shifting northward over the last four decades, with some stocks nearly disappearing from US waters as they move farther offshore, according to a new study.

Folic Acid Supplements Linked To Asthma, Study Suggests
A new study may have shed light on the rise in childhood asthma in developed countries like Australia in recent decades. Researchers have identified a link between folic acid supplements taken in late pregnancy and allergic asthma in children aged between 3 and 5 years, suggesting that the timing of...

Learning To Talk Changes How Speech Is Heard: 'Sound Of Learning' Unlocked By...
Learning to talk also changes the way speech sounds are heard, according to a new study. The findings could have a major impact on improving speech disorders.

Children Who Often Drink Full-fat Milk Weigh Less, Swedish Research Finds
Eight-year-old children who drink full-fat milk every day have a lower BMI than those who seldom drink milk. This is not the case for children who often drink medium-fat or low-fat milk, according to new research from Sweden.

Shedding Light On The Cosmic Skeleton
Astronomers have tracked down a gigantic, previously unknown assembly of galaxies located almost seven billion light-years away from us. The discovery, made possible by combining two of the most powerful ground-based telescopes in the world, is the first observation of such a prominent galaxy struct...