"Dragon's blood"may sound like an exotic ingredient in a witch's brew or magic potion. But researchers in China are reporting that the material --which is actually a bright red plant sap used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine -- contains chemicals that were effective in laboratory experiments in fighting bacteria that cause millions of cases of gastrointestinal disease each year.

  Young women who are constitutionally thin, or naturally severely thin, may have impaired bone quality and be at increased risk for osteoporosis, according to a new study. Constitutional thinness refers to young women with no identified eating disorder who have a low body mass index yet continue to have a close-to-normal fat mass percentage, normal physiological menstrual cycles, and normal energy metabolism.

  A major component of green tea could prove the perfect elixir for severe sepsis, an abnormal immune system response to a bacterial infection. An ingredient in green tea rescued mice from lethal sepsis -- and the findings could pave the way to clinical trials in patients.

  In nine out of 10 cases, a burst abdominal aortic artery is quickly fatal for its most common victim: elderly males. A new study -- the largest yet performed -- now confirms that women over 65 with a history of smoking or heart disease are also at high risk for an abdominal aortic aneurysm -- supporting the notion that they should also receive ultrasound screening to help spot and correct the dangerous condition.

  The "Big Five"international oil companies are spending less money on oil exploration in real terms despite a four-fold increase in operating cash flow since the early 1990s. On the flip side, the study, "The International Oil Companies,"finds that second-tier oil companies are spending more in exploration, positioning themselves to be in better shape when it comes to future oil reserves.

  It has long been assumed that consumers are good judges of affordability, but a new study reveals that how much you're willing to spend is influenced by whether you think about a larger pool of resources (such as your bank account) or a smaller pool (the cash in your wallet). Counting calories? You're more likely to eat that slice of cake if you think about how many calories you have allotted for the week, rather than just for the day.

  Hydrogen as an everyday, environmentally-friendly fuel source may be closer than we think. A new process produces 288 percent more energy in hydrogen than the electrical energy that is added to the process.

  Molecular biologists have detailed the cascade of cellular events behind some potentially dangerous autoinflammatory diseases. In doing so, they not only have gained a greater understanding of the disease process, but have also identified new potential drug targets for diseases ranging from arthritis to cancer.

  New studies reveal the effects of environmental substances on the promotion or slowing of symptoms associated with Alzheimer's disease. Drug screening has identified three antihypertension drugs capable of preventing Alzheimer's-like degeneration of nerve cells in the brain. Fish oil elevated the level of a protein that prevents the formation of amyloid, the tell-tale protein found in Alzheimer's. Caffeine reversed memory impairment in animal models of the disease. In addition, environmental copper reduced the clearance of amyloid, from the brain to blood.

  Sex is supposed to be enjoyable, but for countless women suffering from vulvodynia, that's not the case. Characterized by pain or discomfort with sexual intercourse, rawness, stinging, itching and burning in the vagina or vulva, vulvodynia is a common condition, but it is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

  The syrupy soup of proteins, ribosomes and membranes inside a living cell is so tightly packed it may increase the structural content of proteins by as much as 25 percent, according to new research. The study is one of the first aimed at determining how the crowded environment inside a living cell affects protein structure.

  One of the most fragile detectors for the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment has been successfully installed in its final position. LHCb is one of four large experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, expected to start up in 2008.

  Rarely is it the case that highly influential individuals are responsible for bringing about shifts in public opinion. Instead, scientists find that it is the presence of large numbers of "easily influenced"people who bring about major shifts by influencing other easy-to-influence people.

  In youth with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the brain matures in a normal pattern but is delayed three years in some regions, on average, compared to youth without the disorder, MRI scans reveal. The delay in ADHD was most prominent in regions at the front of the brain's outer mantle important for thinking and attention. Both groups showed a similar back-to-front wave of brain maturation with different areas peaking in thickness at different times.