|  Aratana's experimental appetite stimulator succeeds in study on dogs (Reuters) - Animal health drugmaker Aratana Therapeutics Inc said its experimental appetite-stimulating drug was found effective in dogs in a pivotal study. Aratana shares jumped 21 percent in extended trading on Friday. The study showed that an oral 3 mg/kg dose of the drug, AT-002, given daily for four days significantly increased appetite in dogs, compared with those on placebo. Read More » Space Stress: How 1-Year Mission Is Studying Astronaut Health  | You're flying and falling at once, people are scrutinizing your every move, the light is unnatural, everyday tasks are inexplicably difficult and you see your family and friends only at a distance: Being in space is much like a stressful dream, and that constant stress must take a toll on astronauts over time. Researchers are probing how the bizarre stresses of space affect astronauts aboard the International Space Station, with an eye toward reducing negative impacts as much as possible. Over the course of the ongoing one-year mission on the orbiting lab, two spaceflyers are undergoing five behavioral health investigations to examine cognitive performance, sleep, brain structure, emotion and fatigue.
| Read More » Python Eats Porcupine, Regrets It Later (Here's Why)  | One of these giant snakes — which kill prey by suffocating it and then consuming it whole — recently dined on a porcupine and didn't live to brag about it. On June 14, a cyclist riding along one of the mountain bike trails at the Lake Eland Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, spotted a very engorged snake. Lots of people came to the park in the following days just to view the swollen snake, according to Jennifer Fuller, general manager at the game reserve.
| Read More » 'Astronaut Wives Club': Space History vs. Hollywood in 'Protocol' (Ep. 2)  | "The Astronaut Wives Club," ABC's 10-part docu-drama about the spouses behind America's first spacemen, entered orbit Thursday night (June 25) with its second episode. Picking up where the premiere "Launch" left off, "Protocol" revolved around the second and third U.S. manned spaceflights from the perspectives of the astronauts' wives. "As Louise and Alan Shepard bask in the success of his mission, Betty Grissom preps for Gus' launch and turns to Louise for advice," wrote ABC in its synopsis.
| Read More » How Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Could Improve Health  | The Supreme Court decision that same-sex couples anywhere in the United States have a right to marry could improve the health of gay, lesbian and bisexual people, experts say. A large body of evidence shows that heterosexual people who are married have better physical and mental health than people who are not married. "We know that marriage does enhance people's health," said Richard Wight, a community health researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health.
| Read More » Stepping on a Scale Daily May Help You Lose Weight  | In the study, researchers found that, among people who were trying to lose weight, those who weighed themselves daily and recorded their results lost about 3 percent of their body weight, on average, over the course of a year. Moreover, after that year, the people who weighed themselves daily were able to maintain their weight loss for another year, which is important because maintaining a new, lower weight without gaining pounds back tends to be more difficult for people than losing weight, the researchers said. "There are thousands of ways of losing weight," said study author David Levitsky, a professor of nutrition and psychology at Cornell University.
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