Talk Away Back Pain?

• Talk away back pain? Maybe that’s possible. Over 700 back-pain sufferers were divided into two groups. One group received talk (behavioral) therapy for a year, while the other group received pain-management advice. After a year, 60 percent of those receiving talk therapy recovered from back pain, while only 31 percent of the other group received relief. (Lancet, March 12, 2010).

Speaking of back pain, a number of years ago Scientific American published a study where CRT scans were compared between people with and without back pain. The results were surprising: there was no correlation between what the scans showed and whether a person had back pain. For example, individuals that showed no abnormalities could have back pain, and individuals with a number of spine abnormalities could be pain free.

• A typical cell has a nucleus, containing the genetic material, surrounded by cytoplasm, where biochemical reactions occur that maintain the life of the cell (e.g., energy production). The surface of the nucleus contains openings, or pores, through which molecules can move back and forth into the cytoplasm. Scientists calculate that these pores “facilitate passage of the 1,000 molecules that are transported [through them] per second in human cells.” Try to imagine one thousand individual molecules whizzing in and out of the nucleus per second in a controlled manner. (Science, Vol. 328, May 7, 2010)

• Do people give up sex after age 60? Hardly. In a national survey, more than three quarters of men aged 75 to 85 and half of their female counterparts reported interest in sex. Also, 73 percent of people between the ages of 57 and 64 were sexually active, as were 53 percent of those between 64 to 74. Among people aged 75 to 85, 26 percent said they were sexually active. (Scientific American Mind, March/April 2010)

• Ancient humans called Neanderthals lived in Europe and parts of Asia from 400,000 to as late as 30,000 years ago, when they became extinct. Until recently, there was no solid evidence that Neanderthals interbred with other ancient human groups in Eurasia. Now DNA analyses show that Neanderthals and early European Homo sapiens share some of the same genes, indicating that interbreeding did indeed occur. The scientists conducting these studies suggest that modern Eurasians are between 1 percent and 4 percent Neanderthal. If your ancestors immigrated to America from Europe or Asia, it’s possible that your genome carries a few Neanderthal genes. In the recent genetic study, it was also discovered that Neanderthals share the modern human variant of a gene linked to speech and language. Also, there is a U-shaped bone (the hyoid bone) at the base of the tongue of modern humans required to form words. Within the past few years, a similar bone was found in a Neanderthal skull. This suggests that these ancient people were more like modern humans than previously thought. (The Economist, May 8, 2010, and other sources)

• From ScienceNOW (Science, Vol. 328, April 2010), East African elephants are terrified of African bees, for swarming bees can sting elephants around their eyes and inside their trunks. Young elephant calves are especially vulnerable, for the bee stingers can penetrate their skin. A recent study discovered that the elephants utter a characteristic warning rumble when bees are encountered, which is a signal to flee the scene.