For more on the Svaldbard seed vault, catch the new documentary Seeds of Time, out May 22 at Cinema Village in New York City and May 29 at Laemmle Music Hall 3 in Los Angeles (other markets to come). At 78 degrees north latitude, Svalbard, Norway is about as close to the north pole as it gets, and as far north as you can fly on a regularly scheduled flight....

The number of different opinions out there is a bit dizzying. Some people think full-fat milk is healthiest; others vouch for skim. Some people believe protein from dairy is good for you; others say it’s a weak and potentially troublesome source. Some support drinking milk every day; others affirm that we don’t need it, and some even think it’s a drain on our environment and economy. So, rather than take a definitive stance about milk consumption, we’ve done our best to be honest about the discrepancies and the things research still can’t say for sure, while also pointing out some of the ways in which organic milk shines....

It’s easy. With no meat thermometers to check—and no scary feeling you’re about to poison your family with underdone chicken—vegetarian cooking is perfect for worry warts. Plus, we make it simple: Starting today, our Recipe of the Day newsletter exclusively features all-veg recipes every Monday. Sign up for it! It’s free, and we only include recipes we’d eat too. It’s more eco-friendly. Producing meat uses up to 50 times more fossil fuels than growing veggies—and up to 18,000 gallons of water per pound of beef....

Overindulgence usually starts small: a potato chip, a dab of ranch dip. You fill out the plate with raw carrots and cherry tomatoes, but that chip tasted so good. Pretty soon you have another, and then another. Later, you may feel anxious about it, wondering, Where’s my willpower? Why couldn’t I just walk away? If it’s any consolation, it may not be entirely your fault. New research is illuminating how junk food works on our bodies, creating an addiction comparable to cocaine....

12 Eat-Right Rules That Work Knowing that a lack of sleep has been linked to everything from heart attacks to obesity, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers wanted to see if it could also be linked to an increase in stroke symptoms—like sudden weakness in half the body or being unable to speak or write. They asked 5,666 people over age 45 about their sleep habits, and then followed them for an average of two years....

These can be symptoms of three cancers—oral, leukemia, and endometrial—that don’t get the attention they deserve. Even though they are among the most common cancers affecting women over age 55, these diseases can fall through the cracks as doctors focus on the biggest killers hogging the health headlines, says Elmer Huerta, MD, MPH, president of the American Cancer Society. Here are the facts behind these quiet dangers—and the simple ways you can protect yourself....

At The Store When shopping for bagged greens or precut produce, buy only those kept on ice or refrigerated and stored separately from meat, says Douglas Powell, PhD, scientific director of the Food Safety Network at Kansas State University. Also, consider avoiding raw sprouts, which the FDA categorizes as high risk because their growing conditions encourage food bacteria to flourish. Though healthy adults can often fight off the germs, those who are susceptible–children, pregnant women, and the elderly–shouldn’t take the chance....

Compared to past estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency and other organizations, emissions of the greenhouse gas methane are about 1.5 times higher across the U.S. and up to 2.7 times higher in the south-central region of the country, reports a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Unlike carbon dioxide, it’s not emitted in direct proportion to fossil fuel uses like driving your car....

As part of a larger study on finding ways to curb emotional eating, Microsoft scientists tested sensors aimed at tracking people’s emotional states by monitoring things like heart and breathing rate, skin temperature, and movement. The sensors alerted participants when their stats signaled a state of heightened arousal—like anger, anxiety, or sadness—acting as a warning that emotional eating might not be far off. In one experiment, the sensor was placed in a bra, which offered a prime location for monitoring heart and breathings rates, and could also be worn unobtrusively by women for long periods of time....

But the pain that suddenly overtook her in 2004 beat anything she’d ever known before. “It was like my whole body had tendinitis,” she says. “It hurt to take a shower, to have the water touching my skin.” When she got home at the end of the day, she curled up on the sofa, trying not to move. Halstead was baffled about what was wrong with her, and so was everyone else....

But just like the will-they-or-won’t-they couple you see duking it out over a Facebook relationship status, scientists haven’t made it “official.” Though a growing body of evidence—including a totally gross taste test during which participants sipped glasses of water laced with fat—points to the fact that people can indeed taste fat, more research is required before the sixth taste hits textbooks. MORE: We Tried It: Seaweed That Tastes Like Bacon Still, for scientists like Russell Keast, a professor of sensory science at Deakin University, there’s no doubt that fat has a specific taste....

The research: For 20 years, the study team tracked the diet habits and breast cancer rates of more than 88,000 women between the ages of 26 and 45. The more red meat a woman ate, the more likely she was to develop breast cancer during the study period. Specifically, every daily serving of cow meat increased a woman’s risk for breast cancer by 13%, according to the study data. But swapping out servings of red meat for poultry, legumes (like beans and lentils), nuts, and fish lowered a woman’s breast cancer risk by 14% to 17%, the study shows....

Their new initiative is called the “U.S. Food Waste Challenge,” and they’re targeting everyone from farmers to food processors to families in an effort to stem the flow of the 35 billion tons of food that get sent to U.S. landfills every year. According to the EPA, food waste is the single largest type of waste entering landfills. Various nonprofits and government agencies also estimate that an astonishing 40% of the food produced in this country never sees your belly, instead winding up at the bottom of someone’s garbage heap or compost pile....

You’ve heard the health buzz about flax oil. Watch this 1-minute video to learn just what makes this oil so good for you. Learn some great nutrition tips to help you make better decisions at the grocery store as you follow along with Prevention nutrition director and grocery guru Cynthia Cass in Grocery Guru: Strike it Rich with Flaxseed Oil. Join Cynthia as she gives you valuable nutrition information and tells you about the health benefits of flax oil....

But does it deliver? I gave it a whirl. The pros: The bike itself is quiet, perfect for when you want to ride in the morning without waking the entire household, and looks as sleek as a typically clunky piece of at-home equipment can. (Read: you won’t necessarily have to keep it hidden in the basement, out of sight.) But the HD, touchscreen console is the bike’s standout feature. Using the monitor’s interface is intuitive (like using a smartphone), doesn’t disrupt your workout, and connects to your home Wifi and displays you stats—speed, resistance, and calories burned....

NUTRITION (per smoothie) 162 cal, 5 g pro, 34 g carb, 2 g fat, 0.5 g sat fat, 0 mg chol, 4 g fiber, 55 mg sodium Still thirsty? Click here to see 20 more super-healthy smoothies.

Of the 2,000 couples that participated in the survey, and of the men and women polled, 98% said romance is an important part of relationships. Yet nearly 30% of men and women admitted there was room for improvement. The discrepancy could stem from the fact men and women have different definitions of romance. For example, 20% more men find physical touch to be romantic while 22% of women prefer quality time....

Salubrious. I love the way it sounds. The definition is: promoting good health or well-being. Synonyms: beneficial, healthful, healthy, nourishing, wholesome. Of all places, I was sitting with my dad watching The O’Reilly Factor on Fox News - not a show I ever watch on my own accord, but time is precious with my ill dad and I’ll bond any way I can. At the end of the show, O’Reilly spills out the word of the day, and my ears perk up when I hear the word: Salubrious....

An estimated 55% of employees reported experiencing hay fever symptoms for an average of 52.5 days, according to a study published in Current Medical Research and Opinion. They were absent an average of 3.6 days per year due to allergies, and were unproductive 2.3 hours per workday when they experienced symptoms. That results in an estimated cost of more than $601 million in total lost productivity annually, according to a study in the American Journal of Managed Care....

The researchers followed 632 people enrolled in a weight loss program. The participants were divided into three groups: a group who reviewed a list of weight-loss tips, a group who looked over the same list of tips and made detailed plan on how to follow two of the suggestions, and a control group. Ten weeks later, the first two groups lost similar amounts of weight—enough to drop their BMIs by about 1....