Dolphins smarter than chimps
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Dolphins have proven so intelligent that it is morally repugnant to kill them for food or hold them captive in aquariums, U.S. researchers said.
Dolphins "are 'non-human persons' who qualify for moral standing as individuals," said Thomas White, who teaches ethics at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Research suggests dolphins are smarter than chimpanzees and second only to humans in terms of intelligence, said White and other dolphin advocates, including zoologist Lori Marino of Emory University in Atlanta.
"Many dolphin brains are larger than our own and second in mass only to the human brain when corrected for body size," Marino told The Times of London in a story published Wednesday.
It's unacceptable to kill such intelligent animals for food or to keep them in amusement park aquariums, which is akin to mistreating them, Marino said. estimating about 300,000 dolphins, whales and porpoises are killed each year for food or die in captivity.
Some 27 million in U.S. have hearing loss
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Some 27 million Americans will suffer from untreated hearing loss this year, a U.S. hearing care company estimates.
"Even mild hearing loss, left untreated, can impair communication and negatively impact social and family relationships, job performance and health and safety," Stephen Hansbrough, chief executive officer of HearUSA, says in a statement.
Studies show that untreated hearing loss has been linked to depression, loneliness, reduced alertness, stress and can put personal safety and overall health at risk, Hansbrough says.
Hansbrough says hearing aids are used by only 25 percent of the 36 million Americans with hearing loss.
Barriers to having hearing loss treated include, cost, stigma, unfamiliarity with today's new technology and lack of trust and confidence in an often-confusing hearing aid marketplace, Hansbrough suggests.
"Acceptance of hearing care as a medical necessity would enable millions suffering from untreated hearing loss to receive hearing aids and support services from qualified, credentialed providers," Hansbrough adds.
Endangered sea turtles rescued in N.C.
MANTEO, N.C., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Dozens of endangered sea turtles are recuperating at a North Carolina aquarium after being rescued from the state's Outer Banks beaches, an aquarist says.
North Carolina Aquarium aquarist Christian Guerreri said of the 44 sea turtles discovered in recent weeks on Cape Hatteras National Seashore beaches, four have died and nine were relocated to other rehabilitation facilities, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot said Tuesday.
The cold-blooded animals appear to have beached themselves after being stunned by frigid water temperatures. The endangered animals are all either loggerhead, green or kemp's ridley varieties of sea turtles.
The most recent addition came on Tuesday when one of the turtles was brought to the aquarium's Network for Endangered Sea Turtles rehabilitation center.
The Virginian-Pilot said last year, 28 sea turtles were found beached in the Outer Banks area due to cold water temperatures.
Bacteria linked to some cancers
URBANA, Ill., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- The only bacteria known to survive long-term in the human stomach also activates an enzyme linked to some cancers, scientists in Illinois said.
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori activates an enzyme in host cells associated with several cancers, including gastric cancer, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign said Wednesday.
If researchers can determine how the activation occurs, drugs could be developed to treat or prevent illnesses associated with long-term H. pylori infections, microbiologist Steven Blanke said.
About half of the world's population is infected with H. pylori and gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death, Blanke said.
H. pylori, like other disease-causing bacteria, have evolved to evade the body's defenses and can even
