PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT . . .

■ a new cattle-feed supplement that boosts the percentage of unsaturated fatty acids in cow’s milk, giving us healthier whole milk, tastier cheese, and more spreadable butter

■ Chinese “space potatoes”: Bred from seeds that mutated while aboard a spacecraft, they’re purple, slightly sweet, and said to be hearty and nutritious.

■ manure from hog farms being converted into electricity

BIOFUELS BOOST

With ethanol production expected to reach 12 billion gallons in 2008, the demand for corn will increase to 5 billion bushels per year. The rising prices of corn and soybeans are a boon to farmers and rural towns: The construction and plant managem ent fields are sparking new job growth. Midwestern “Corn Belt” towns have been the first to benefit, but the use of cellulose ethanol (made from leafy plant material) may involve others. “This could open it up to other crops, and potentially, other geographies,” says Joe Cornely, Ohio Farm Bureau spokesperson.

The Picture of Health

WALK FOR A BIGGER BRAIN A stroll can increase the size o f your brain, says a new study. Researchers compared the brain size of 60 people before and after six months of walking 45 minutes a day, three times a week. Regardless of age, “a relatively modest amount of exercise can produce increases in brain efficiency and brain volume as well as improvements in memory, attention, and decision making,” says study author Arthur Kramer, a professor at the University of Illinois.

LOCATION = LIFE SPAN Location plays a big role in longevity, according to a study from the Harvard University School of Public Health. Shared ancestry, dietary customs, and local industry are among the positive factors. At opposite ends in the life-expectancy spectrum would be an Asian woman living in Bergen County, New Jersey ( 91 years) and a Nativ e American man in South Dakota ( 58 years).

Doctors may be nicer in the future, thanks to a first-of-its-kind medical course to explore the neurobiology of empathy, or how our bodies respond to compassion. “There is a huge concern about how many patients who expect compassionate exchanges are disappointed,” says Helen Riess, M.D., assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where the course is offered.