Ultraviolet Light

The federal government has become serious about virginity — at least when it comes to olive oil. Propelled by complaints about slippery food purveyors selling low-end product as high-end goods, or olive oils being doctored with cheaper canola, safflower or peanut oils, the U.S. Department of Agriculture this fall will roll out new standards to help ensure that consumers buying "100% extra virgin" olive oil get what they pay for. ...

For all the trouble they cause, bacteria and viruses are actually very fragile. Shower them with a little bleach or Lysol and they'll die in apocalyptic waves. Make their homes too dry, too cold or too hot and they'll drop like microscopic flies. Ultraviolet light -- more specifically, short wavelength ultraviolet light, or UV-C -- kills germs too.

Space shuttle Columbia stood ready for an after-midnight liftoff for an astronomy mission to examine ultraviolet light and X-rays.

When it comes to sunscreens, most consumers are concerned about SPF, brand and price. Typically, they do not turn the bottles around to check out what, exactly, they are slathering on their skin, maybe because they'd be confronted with words such as avobenzone, oxybenzone, octisalate, diethylexyl, triethanolamine and a host of other ingredients unpronounceable to anyone who works outside a lab. It's easy to see why some consumers are turning to...

Elderly people stuck at home and deprived of sunlight may suffer a previously unrecognized vitamin D deficiency, causing bone loss, pain and weakness, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. Sitting by a sunny window won't help, said the report from Union Memorial Hospital's division of geriatrics in Baltimore, because glass filters out a part of ultraviolet light needed to produce the vitamin on the skin.