The reason: a hormone called vasopressin, which helps control water retention.

When the body is dehydrated, vasopressin levels ascend, prompting the kidneys to hold onto water. At the same time, the hormone pushes the liver to generate blood sugar, which over time may strain the capability to produce or respond to insulin.

One of the largest studies to gaze at the consequences was published last year in Diabetes Care, a publication of the American Diabetes Association. French scientists tracked more than 3,000 in good physical shape men and women aged 30 to 65 for nearly a decade. All had normal blood sugar levels at the start of the research.

After 9 years, about 800 had developed Type 2 diabetes or high blood sugar. But those who consumed the large amount water, 18 to 34 ounces a day, had a risk roughly 30 percent lower than that of those who drank the least.

The researchers controlled for the subjects’ intake of other liquids that could have affected the results, mainly sugary and alcoholic food and drink, as well as exercise, weight and other factors affecting health.

The researchers did not look at ingestion habits, something future studies may take into account.

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Scientists have revealed a new flowering plant belonging to the scarce Medinilla group on Fiji s Kadavu Island, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said on Friday.

IUCN spokeswoman Ewa Ewa Magiera told AFP, “Even though the plant was first originated in August of 2010, it has taken this long to go through the process and verify it.”

The plant was found during a biodiversity consideration of the Nakasaleka district carried out as part of IUCN s Water and Nature Initiative (WANI), Magiera said.

There are some 193 known variety of Medinilla in Madagascar, Africa, South Asia and the Pacific Islands, according to the conservation body.

Eleven can only be found in Fiji, along with them the Tagimoucia flower, the country s floral emblem.

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Pakistan beat England by 72 runs in the second Test on Saturday to take an incontrovertible 2-0 lead in the three-Test series.

England was shot out for their lowest Test make of 72 against Pakistan in all Tests. Left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman took 6 wickets.

Pakistan won the first Test by 10 wickets in Dubai. The third Test will be played in Dubai from February 3, 2012.
England suffered one of their most terrible batting collapses in Test history as they disintegrated against Pakistan’s spinners to lose the second Test in Abu Dhabi and with it the series. Pakistan went 2-0 up with one to play as Abdur Rehman, their left-arm spinner, took most of the plaudits by a Test-best 6 for 25.
By wining this match Pakistan also win this Test series.

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Australia beat India by 31 runs in the first of two Twenty20 internationals at the Sydney Olympic stadium on Wednesday.

Australia scored 171 for 4 and restricted India to 140 for 6.

Man-of-the-match Matthew Wade highest scored with 72 off 43 balls in Australia s innings and India did not recover after falling to 81 for six in the 14th over.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni Highest scored for his side with an unbeaten 48 while Dan Christian and David Hussey took two wickets each.

The 2nd match in the series takes place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.

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FIFA has revealed the 2013 Confederations Cup logo and confirmed that Brasilia will host the tournament s opening match while the final will be held at Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

The local Brazilian bird Rufous-bellied Thrush is at the center of the logo, with its wings extending upward in front of a football. The green, yellow, red, white and blue logo has “Brasil 2013″ and “FIFA Confederations Cup” etched on it.

With 500 days missing until the test tournament begins, FIFA on Wednesday said that the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia will stage the opening match on June 15, while Maracana will host the final on June 30.

Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza will also host matches, while the northeastern cities of Recife and Salvador still have to approval from FIFA.

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NASA s pronouncement Tuesday came from observations by an Earth-orbiting spacecraft studying the edge of the solar system. The search is the first to directly measure interstellar matter streaming into the solar system.

With the new findings: There are more oxygen atoms within our solar system than in the immediate neighborhood outside. Scientists say its promising the life-supporting element could be locked up in dust or ice.

The spacecraft named Interstellar Boundary Explorer was launched in 2008 and is circling 200,000 miles (321,855 kilometers) above Earth.

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Pakistan’s tennis ace Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and his new collaborator Jean-Julien Rojer of Dutch Antilles reached the third round of men’s doubles in the year’s first grand slam Australian Open.

Aisam-ul-Haq and Rojer outclassed couple of Canada’s Adil Shamasdin and Germany’s Philip Marx as they won the second round match in straight sets with score 7-6 (8) and 6-4.

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It happens during that magical stage when a baby is babbling slowly changes from gibberish into syllables and ultimately into that first “mama” or “dada.”

Florida scientists showed that starting approximately age 6 months; babies begin changing from the intent eye gaze of early infancy to observing mouths and its shapes when people talk to them. One time they master the lip movements, they apparently shift back to look you in the eye again.

The research offers more evidence that quality face-time with your baby is very important for speech development more than, say, turning on the latest baby DVD.

It appears in this week’s subject of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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