Rip currents pose greater risk to swimmers than to shoreline

October 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has found that visual problems that cannot be corrected are linked to an increased risk of death in older adults. Visual impairment has been linked to a higher risk of death as well as factors that may lead to increased death such as unintentional injury, depression, lower body mass index (BMI), reduced walking speeds, increased risk of falls, self-reported difficulty in physical activity, cardiovascular disease, dementia and cancer, according to background information in the article.

October 13th, 2009 SYDNEY - Vision problems that cannot be corrected are linked to heightened risk of death among people between the ages of 49 and 74 years. These findings are based on data from the Blue Mountain Eye Study that examined 3,654 participants aged 49 years and older, between 1992 and 1994 and after five and 10 years.

September 19th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Drinking at young age may affect genes linked to alcoholism and make youngsters vulnerable to severe problems, says a new study. The study led by Dr Arpana Agrawal, from Washington University School of Medicine in St.

August 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Want to know the chances of your death in the near future along with its cause? Well, then log on to www.DeathRiskRankings.com. The new website, developed by researchers and students at Carnegie Mellon University, allows users to query publicly available data from the United States and Europe, and compare mortality risks by gender, age, cause of death and geographic region.

July 9th, 2009 LONDON - A new study is going to determine the archaeological sites along the coast of England which are most at risk from the impacts of climate change. The effects of climate change, including rising sea level and coastal erosion, as well as other factors such as coastal development and shoreline management initiatives, constantly threaten archaeological sites along the coast of England.

July 2nd, 2009 Safety commission recalls 4 million baby floatsWASHINGTON — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday that Aqua-Leisure Industries would recall about 4 million floating baby pool toys that pose a drowning risk.

June 20th, 2009 LONDON - A controversial new hypothesis has proposed that oceans' currents are responsible for the slow wandering of the Earth's magnetic poles. According to a report in New Scientist, the theory has been put forward by physicist Gregory Ryskin of Northwestern University in the US.

June 17th, 2009 Macy's recalls children's hooded sweatshirtsWASHINGTON — The Consumer Product Safety Commission says Macy's will voluntarily recall about 33,000 hooded children's sweatshirts that pose a strangulation risk. The recall announced Wednesday covers boys' and girls' Epic Threads and girls' Greendog sweatshirts, in small and medium sizes, that have a drawstring sewn in the base of the hood.

May 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - One in five Americans has admitted to peeing in a swimming pool, says a new poll. In fact, almost half of the total quizzed admitted to one or more behaviors that contribute to an unhealthy pool, according to the survey conducted by the Water Quality and Health Council, reports Live Science.

May 9th, 2009 AP Sources: White House likes making Fed supercopWASHINGTON — The White House is telling industry officials it is leaning toward wanting the Federal Reserve to become the supercop for "too big to fail" companies capable of causing another financial meltdown. Officials who attended a private one-hour meeting Friday said the administration made it clear it was not inclined to divide the job among various regulatory agencies, as suggested by industry and some federal regulators.

May 8th, 2009 SEC chief backs 'systemic risk council' ideaWASHINGTON — The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission favors a new proposal for federal regulators sharing oversight of companies that pose financial risks to the economy. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said she's "inclined toward" the idea floated this week by the head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

May 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has documented for the first time the process in which increased mercury emissions from human sources across the globe, and in particular from Asia, make their way into the North Pacific Ocean and as a result contaminate tuna and other seafood. The study, by researchers at the US Geological Survey (USGS) documents for the first time the formation of methylmercury in the North Pacific Ocean.

April 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New observations by a suite of five NASA space probes has reportedly solved the mystery of the Northern Lights, attributing the cause of the natural phenomenon to powerful currents generated by giant electrical tornadoes in outer space. The probe cluster, called Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), indicate that these "space tornadoes" span a volume as large as Earth and produce electrical currents exceeding 100,000 amperes.

April 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Burdening yourself with excess weight early on is likely to impair your old-age mobility, even if those extra pounds are shed, says a new research. 'In both men and women, being overweight or obese put them at greater risk of developing mobility limitations in old age, and the longer they had been overweight or obese, the greater the risk,' said lead investigator Denise Houston.

March 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama Thursday extended US sanctions for at least another year, saying the Iranian government's policies continue to pose an 'extraordinary threat' to the US. The US enacted tight sanctions on Iran following the 1979 hostage crisis and they have remained in place since.