Because you can only worry about razor blades in apples for a few more hours, here are some headlines from the worlds of science and parenting to freakout over the rest of the weekend:
- 610,000 cheap-ass Halloween flashlights sold at Target in the last two months have been recalled because they can overheat, melt, and burn the little hands holding them. [cpsc]
- Here are the 100-and-counting products and companies the FDA has called out for making fraudulent H1N1 flu prevention or treatment claims. [fda.gov]
- When they're not busy abusing their kids, British parents are now 2-4x as likely to be abusing drugs or alcohol, say professional estimators of such vice. [sciencedaily]
- A connection between some rare testicular tumors and genetic disorders which are more common in children of older fathers seem to indicate that certain genetic mutations happen at certain stages of life. [eurekalert]
- A very rare mutation on the 16th chromosome has been linked to both schizophrenia and autism. [sciencedaily]
- Iron-folic acid supplements during pregnancy lowered child mortality by 31%. [sciencedaily]
- More than 2/3 of American kids have Vitamin D deficiencies, and it's even worse the browner the kid gets. That's due partly to the additional exposure to the sun required for darker-skinned people to make Vitamin D, and partly to the researchers' proposal to jack up the daily recommended dose by 50%. [sciencedaily]
- Vegetables [not root vegetables] during pregnancy prevent childhood diabetes in Sweden. No one knows why. [sciencedaily]
- Vegetables don't prevent the flu. Antioxidants in vegetables prevent the flu. [sciencedaily]
- The CDC reports that two infants infected in 2008 with Cronobacter in New Mexico got it or probably got it from powdered infant formula. One died, the other's got brain damage. [cdc.gov]
- Sperm may play a key role in HIV transmission, say Argentine researchers. [eurekalert]
- The cereals marketed the most to kids are the worst for them. Come here, Honeycomb, you can hide out with me. I'll take care of you. [consumerreports.org via murketing]
