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From time to time, we report on what scientists are thinking about the films we see. Why is the new Bond film called Casino Royale instead of James Bond 21 (which is what it actually is)? Are movie stars getting so skinny that this sets a dangerous precedent for women with incipient eating disorders? Scientists have good answers to these seemingly show-biz questions.

Researchers have decided that movie watchers prefer sequels with names, rather than just numbers (a style that was popular a few years ago). In LiveScience.com, Jeanna Bryner quotes from the Journal of Consumer Research that, “Hollywood has begun branding movies in a similar way that consumer packaged goods manufacturers brand their products.”
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Three years ago, we reported on evidence that Cro-Magnon man did not interbreed with Neanderthals in order to produce modern humans, as so many scientists have speculated. Now there’s even more proof that the two species went their separate ways, until Neanderthals died out.

The most thorough study to date of Neanderthal DNA, gleaned from ancient bones, points to an early human-Neanderthal split. While the two species have a common ancestry, they do not share much else after evolving their separate ways. This new study also finds no evidence of a genetic mixture between Neanderthals and humans.
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Two Australian researchers say that governments and companies will face an increase in law suits for their role in global warming, due to the damage it causes to health and communities, and they think these claims have a good chance of succeeding. Insurance companies, who have had to pay the costs of most of the weather damage, may be the first ones to bring these suits.
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Curcumin, a chemical found in curry and turmeric, may help the immune system clear the brain of amyloid beta, which form the plaques found in Alzheimer’s disease. And tumeric may also help prevent rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis. We should obviously all be eating more Indian food!

Using blood samples from six Alzheimer’s disease patients, whose ages ranged from 65 to 84, and three healthy control patients, the researchers isolated cells called macrophages, which are the soldiers of the innate immune system and are present at birth. They travel through the brain and body, gobbling up waste products, including amyloid beta.
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