Mounting evidence suggests that fetuses are surprisingly susceptible to outside influences such as food, environmental pollutants, even stress.IF Aly Hartman could have placed herself in a protective bubble for the duration of her recent pregnancy, she would have done so.

  Fourteen percent of U.S. preschoolers are overweight. This fact alone points to perhaps the strongest evidence for the effects of fetal programming.

  Want to put away the cigarettes and talk with some interesting people? Go to a hookah bar, says Aaron Alu, as he takes a leisurely puff from a glass water pipe at the Mirage Coffeehouse and Hookah Lounge in Long Beach.

  Studies of a wearable artificial kidney prototype have been promising. It could free patients from the long hours tied to machines.PEOPLE with chronic kidney failure face a bleak future. Conventional dialysis cleanses the blood of only about 17% of the toxic chemicals that a healthy kidney removes. And donor organs are scarce. The 300,000 Americans who depend on dialysis to stay alive are crippled by an array of complications caused by the buildup of dangerous poisons in their blood, and only one-third survive more than five years.

  Nanotechnology -- precision tooling at the micro-molecular level -- is being used to create the next generation of artificial kidneys, ones that would be small enough to be implanted and engineered to more closely simulate the function of human kidneys than current equipment.

  Leftover pills piling up? Dirty kitty litter may be the answer, according to a pilot project focusing on safer disposal tactics.It's time to pooper-scoop that leftover medicine.

  New government guidelines on disposal of leftover medications:

  The product: Coenzyme Q10 -- it sounds like an obscure, man-made chemical, perhaps the final ingredient in a snack food, right behind yellow No. 5.

  The differences between fraternal and identical pairs help researchers sort out the influences of nature and nuture.Twins boast considerable entertainment value, to judge from the success of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, among other famous pairs. But they have scientific value as well.

  To her, 'survivor' is just too passive."Since you are a cancer survivor, it would be wise to run a few tests," said the neurologist I recently visited. I cringed when I heard his words. The thought of a few tests didn't bother me: I like it when a doctor pays attention to my history. However, the word "survivor" did.