Some children may suffer greater consequences of secondhand smoke exposure. In both toddlers and adolescents, obesity enhances the cardiovascular toxicities of secondhand smoke exposure. Toddlers had a four times greater risk of secondhand smoke exposure when compared to adolescents, despite having similar reported home exposures.

In an advance with overtones of Star Trek phasers and other sci-fi ray guns, scientists are reporting development of an internal on-off "switch" that paralyzes animals when exposed to a beam of ultraviolet light. The animals stay paralyzed even when the light is turned off. When exposed to ordinary light, the animals become unparalyzed and wake up.

Eight percent of obese people misperceived their body size, believing they did not need to lose weight or that they could afford to gain weight. While those who misperceived their need for weight loss thought they were healthier than others their age, they had the same risk factors for heart disease as other obese patients. Those who misperceived their body size were less likely to exercise and see a physician than their counterparts who accurately perceived their body size.

Between 1999 and 2006, the prevalence of adults in the US with high levels of LDL cholesterol, the "bad" cholesterol, decreased by about one-third, according to a new study. But a high percentage of adults still are not being screened or treated for high cholesterol levels.

A shocking decline in the Russian Federation's wild tiger population highlights the importance of eliminating trade in and demand for tiger parts, the International Tiger Coalition has said.  Research shows that Siberian tigers may have suffered a serious drop in numbers over the past four years.

A new delivery and trigger system has for the first time successfully placed TRAIL, a cancer-fighting protein, directly into solid tumors and on cue, turned it on. The treatment improved the 30-day survival time of mice with mammary tumors from 0 to 100 percent.

One-third of Wii sport and Wii fit activities provide energy expenditures equal to moderate-intensity exercise. Active video games may help prevent or improve obesity and lifestyle-related diseases, researchers said. The study was funded by Nintendo.

We are approaching the millennial anniversary of the first meaningful written description of how lenses and light could be used to magnify objects. It was in 1011 that Arab scientist Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) began writing the Book of Optics , which described the properties of a magnifying glass, principles that later led to the invention of the microscope. The entrants in the 2009 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition provide fitting tribute to nearly 1,000 years of making the invisible visible.

Optical microscopy, energized by generation after generation of technological advance, continues to furnish dazzling proof that beyond the resolution of the human eye resides a sweepingly large world of small things, both around and within us. The artistic beauty of the microcosm can be witnessed in these photographs of the beadlike band of toxin-carrying compartments on the tentacle of the Portuguese man-of-war, the gemlike quality of row on row of single-celled algae and the red-and-yellow patterning of a Triceratops bone, reminiscent of a loud necktie. A selection of winning and honorable mention images that particularly appealed to us at Scientific American follows.

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Dear EarthTalk: What would you recommend as a non-toxic/non-lethal way to keep squirrels, gophers and groundhogs away? --Faye Gillette, Coarsegold, CA

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Tree ring expert Kevin Anchukaitis, of the tree ring lab at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, talks about the information available in tree rings. And Colin Chartres, the director general of the International Water Management Institute, talks to Lynn Peeples about water issues. Plus, we test your knowledge of some recent science in the news, specifically the November issue of Scientific American magazine. Web sites related to this episode include http://snipurl.com/sciamwater ; http://snipurl.com/sciamnov

The transcript of this podcast wil be posted in two to three weeks.

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