Health research:What salamanders can teach us about baseball ♦ One very brainy bird ♦ Is testosterone therapy safe?

What salamanders can teach us about baseball Researchers have increased our understanding of how people and animals deal with sensorimotor delay in day-to-day interactions by analyzing the hunting skills of salamanders.

One very brainy bird A new study has found pigeons performed as well as humans in categorizing digitized slides and mammograms of benign and malignant human breast tissue.

Weekday sleep changes may raise risk of diabetes, heart disease Monday mornings could be harmful to your health. Even routine sleep changes such as waking up early for work during the week may raise the risk of developing metabolic problems such as diabetes and heart disease.

Is testosterone therapy safe? The increasing use of testosterone replacement therapy to treat reduced testosterone level in older men has been accompanied by growing concerns over its long-term safety. The findings of two studies examining the health risks of receiving testosterone are presented by scientists

FDA-approved drug protects mice from Ebola A new study suggests that gamma interferon, which is an FDA-approved drug, may have potential as an antiviral therapy to prevent Ebola infection when given either before or after exposure to the virus. The study found that gamma interferon, given up to 24 hours after exposure, can inhibit Ebola infection in mice and completely protect the animals from death

Childrens Health News: Reducing baseball Elbow Injuries ♦ Link between diet, Epstein-Barr ♦ Children with autism can learn to be social

Game played in sync increases children's perceived similarity, closeness Children who played a simple computer game together in sync felt a greater sense of similarity and closeness -- suggesting that time-based synchronized activities, including in music, dance and sports, could help bring children closer together.

Reducing baseball elbow Injuries A new approach to analyzing baseball-pitching biomechanics may one day give players more personalized feedback and help prevent elbow injuries. In a computer simulation study of baseball pitching, biomedical engineers found that the strength of the elbow muscles of a baseball pitcher likely play a bigger role in injury risk and prevention than previously thought.

Researchers shed light on link between diet, Epstein-Barr A new study is shedding light on the connection between diet and a common childhood disease. Using national health data, the researchers determined children who ate certain types of food or dealt with food insecurity may be more likely to contract the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). EBV is a common virus that often causes no symptoms on its own; it’s better known as a cause of infectious mononucleosis and having a connection to some cancers

Children with autism can learn to be social, Teachers and speech therapists can teach children with autism how to be social with their peers, a randomized trial shows. "We found that the children who participated in the social network not only made significant progress in social communication during the intervention but also made many more initiations to their peers in general," an author of the study said. "Teachers also reported that children in the intervention were more social and had better classroom behavior