New Research

Midwife-attended home births risky, says study
The risk of newborns dying is higher when delivery is at home attended by a certified nurse midwife than when babies are born in hospitals with a certified nurse midwife in attendance, according to data released in Baltimore, Maryland at the meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies. While the study of nearly 12 million births in the US found only 14 newborn deaths among babies delivered at home by a certified nurse midwife, this rate was more than two-fold higher than for hospital deliveries attended by a certified nurse midwife. Furthermore, the rate was four-fold higher for home deliveries by other midwives.

Sex hormone plays vital role in hearing:
Oestrogen, a sex hormone, also has a vital bearing on how our brain processes sounds, according to a new discovery. The findings show for the first time that a sex hormone can directly affect auditory function, and seemingly control other types of sensory processing as well. “We’ve discovered oestrogen doing something totally unexpected,” said Raphael Pinaud, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester, who led the study.

Famed Nefertiti bust a fake?
The bust of Queen Nefertiti housed in a Berlin museum and believed to be 3,400 years old is a copy dating from 1912, says Swiss art historian Henri Stierlin. Stierlin says in a new book that the bust was made at the order of German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. In 1912, it was admired as an original work by a German prince and the archaeologist “couldn’t sum up the courage to ridicule” his guest, Stierlin said.