A device used to treat osteoporosis may have a surprising side effect—preventing abdominal fat. Mice placed on a vibrating platform 15 minutes a day for 15 weeks developed stronger bones and 27 percent less torso fat than untreated mice. Low-intensity vibrations stimulate bone growth because they send signals to the body suggestive of muscle contractions—and when stem cells become bone cells, they may be diverted from becoming fat cells, explains Clinton Rubin, professor of biomedical engineering at the State University of New York. If the therapy is proven successful in humans, it could help people avoid becoming fat but would not get rid of fat, Rubin says. The device (the Juvent vibration platform) operates at a lower intensity than the vibrating exercise machines in some gyms. Those may do more harm than good, Rubin cautions, because they can generate shaking that is 50 times stronger, which could damage the spine and joints.