It's a thrill as old as the hills: a kid, a sled and a snowy slope.

But as early-season storms continue to wallop the nation this month, researchers warn that the traditional wintry slide actually carries some pretty serious risks.

Whether they're gliding on plain plastic saucers or high-tech snow tubes, children and teens on sleds account for at least 20,820 injuries in the United States each year, according to a first-ever analysis of U.S. emergency room reports.

"I want them to go sledding, I want them to have fun, but we could do a better job," said Lara McKenzie, principal investigator for the Center on Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who led the study. "Twenty thousand injuries a year for an activity you can only do a couple days a year is big."

[Source: Medical News Today and Time Magazine]

Researchers at Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital and the University of Utah have developed the best biologically based test for autism to date. The test was able to detect the disorder in individuals with high-functioning autism with 94 percent accuracy. The study was published online in Autism Research.

The test, which uses MRI to measure deviations in brain circuitry, could someday replace the subjective test now used to identify those with the disorder. It could also lead to a better understanding of autism and to better management and treatments of affected individuals.

"This is not yet ready for prime time use in the clinic yet, but the findings are the most promising thus far," said lead author Nicholas Lange, ScD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the Neurostatistics Laboratory at McLean. "Indeed, we have new ways to discover more about the biological basis of autism and how to improve the lives of individuals with the disorder," said senior author Janet Lainhart, MD, Principal Investigator of the research at the University of Utah.