Mite-free sleep

The average person spends a third of his life in bed. It's supposed to be a cozy, restful time, but the creepy-crawly dust mites - microscopic, hard-shelled little pests with a see-through shell - that dwell in your mattress and bedding might be making you sick.

The mites are known for making allergies and asthma worse, but CleanRest, a new "bedding encasement" designed by a textile entrepreneur to help his own child, promises to completely block microtoxins such as dust mites and their feces, plus mold and other bed-bound allergens, according to a press release.

The pillow encasement retails for $19 to $25, and the mattress encasement goes for $79 to $119 at retail locations including Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Get more info at www.cleanrest.com.

Fish ears

An assistant biology professor at Western Kentucky University suspects that an increase in man-made sounds underwater makes fish deaf.

Michael Smith cited Navy sonar and oceanic shipping as possible noise pollution for fish, which use sound to find their way around and listen for predators. He now plans to study the auditory system of fish. The study will expose locally bought rainbow trout, silver perch and goldfish to various sound combinations at a sound booth at the WKU Complex for Engineering and Biological Sciences. Tests then will be performed to see whether there has been hearing loss. The fish's brain waves will be recorded through electrodes while the fish listen to tones.

Blog of the Week

If you or someone you love is coping with cancer, check out The Assertive Cancer Patient at www.assertivepatient.com. "There is nothing like being stripped of your own clothing (and identity) and dressed in a backless cotton hospital gown to make the most self-confident among us feel like children," writes the author, Jeanne Sather, a Seattle-based former journalist who has been coping with breast cancer since 1998.

But she says you can wrest back some control if you know how to advocate for yourself. She offers insights on participating in clinical trials and the ins and outs of scheduling treatments, and lighter fare such as how she handles the toll cancer treatment has taken on her physical appearance. (It's all about the "warpaint," especially lipstick.)