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In the “giant impact” model of the moon’s formation, the young moon began its orbit within Earth’s equatorial plane. In the standard variant of this model (top panel), Earth’s tilt began near today’s value of 23.5 degrees. The moon would have moved outward smoothly along a path that slowly changed from the equatorial plane to the “ecliptic” plane, defined by Earth’s orbit around the sun. If, however, Earth had a much larger tilt after the impact (~75 degrees, lower panel) then the transition between the equatorial and ecliptic planes would have been abrupt, resulting in large oscillations about the ecliptic. The second picture is consistent with the moon’s current 5-degree orbital tilt away from the ecliptic. Credit: Douglas Hamilton

Simulations suggest a dramatic history for the Earth-moo...

Food items to avoid if you have migraine

Eliminating that morning coffee consuming processed foods high in nitrites or MSG and enjoying too much alcohol are potential headache triggers for individuals battling migraines, says Vincent Martin, MD, professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine. There are 2 different approaches to preventing headaches with diet. The first approach would be an elimination diet that avoids foods and beverages known to trigger headaches. The second approach would be follow a comprehensive diet whose very composition may prevent headaches, explains Martin, co-director of the Headache and Facial Pain Center at UC Gardner Neuroscience Institute...

Credit: Martha Sexton/public domain

A team with University of California has found that introducing a type of antimicrobial protein called a microcin into the guts of mice with inflamed bowels caused a reduction in the degree of inflammation. The team describes their study of the use of the protein in mice and their evidence that microcins intercede in the relationship between different types of bacteria in the gut.

Over the past several decades, scientists have made a lot of progress in better understanding the factors that lead to irritable bowel syndrome, IBS, which covers a host of gut ailments, from Crohn’s disease to colitis. Most of them, they believe, are due to harmful gut bacteria multiplying and pushing out beneficial bacteria...

Serotonin and AVP structures

The brain regulates social behavior differently in males and females, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Elliott Albers, director of the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience and Regents’ Professor of Neuroscience at Georgia State University, and graduate student Joseph I. Terranova, has discovered that serotonin (5-HT) and arginine-vasopressin (AVP) act in opposite ways in males and females to influence aggression and dominance. Because dominance and aggressiveness have been linked to stress resistance, these findings may influence the development of more effective gender-specific treatment strategies for stress-related neuropsychiatric disorders.

“These results begin to provide a neurochemical basis f...