The assumption is high mortality hospitals have high complication rates. But a new report shows complications are common after major surgery -- about one in six patients. What distinguishes good and bad hospitals is how proficient they are at rescuing patients from those complications. Patients at high mortality hospitals are twice as likely to die from a post-surgical complication.

Scientists are looking for cover crop perennials that provide the best balance in biofuel production between agronomic success and environmental sustainability.

Mathematicians have developed powerful new tools for winnowing out the genes behind some of humanity's most intractable diseases.

Market prices don't reflect hundreds of billions of dollars in hidden costs of energy production to human health and the environment, a National Research Council panel said in a report released today.

"There are many external effects of energy production and use," said Jared Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon University and chairman of the panel that wrote the report. "These are important because they can lead to distortions in decision making."

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Children who have had an episode of diabetic ketoacidosis, a common complication of diabetes, may have persistent memory problems.

Scientists tested our ability to interpret a robot's "emotion" by reading its expression to see if there were any differences between the ages. They found that older adults showed some unexpected differences in the way they read a robot's face from the way younger adults performed.

According to a new study by geologists, the wealth of some minerals that lie in the rock beneath the Earth's surface may be extraterrestrial in origin.

Whereas standard behind- and in-the-ear hearing aids work well in relatively quiet, more intimate settings, these devices often lose their effectiveness in larger, public spaces where background noise puts the hard of hearing at a disadvantage. Although the technology to solve this problem--induction-loop systems that broadcast sound directly to hearing aids and cochlear implants--has been available for years, implementation has lagged, advocates say, because not enough is being done to promote their use. [More]

A new study explores the question: "If we can make a deal, why fight?" The authors conclude that a combination of common knowledge and a common rate of time preference allow a potential loser to use small concessions to successfully appease an expected winner.

Exercise is a key factor in improving both memory and mood after whole-brain radiation treatments in rodents, according to new research.