Veggies Add Vim to Low-Fat Diet

From the article:

You can lower your cholesterol with a low-fat diet. But you get twice the bang for your buck if you eat lots of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

Help for Hair Loss: Table of Contents

Here's a good resource for finding out more about hair loss in men and women and the treatment options that exist.

Caffeine Fuels Most Energy Drinks

Many people don't realize that sodas and energy drinks may have plenty of caffeine in them.

Fiber Good, and Not Just for Your Gut

There are several reasons that fiber may be good for you.

Drinking Juice May Stall Alzheimer's

Fruit and vegetable juices may help prevent Alzheimer's. It's good to know that it is helpful to consume fruits and vegetables, whether you eat or drink them.

Lemonade Helps Kidney Stones

For people prone to getting kidney stones, drinking lemonade may help.

Good physicists make good musicians

Many physicists are also musicians. Here are some ideas on why that may be.

Fight tooth decay with chewing gum? Maybe

Helpful bacteria may soon be in your chewing gum, your mouthwash and even your deodorant.

Japanese Women Catch the 'Korean Wave'

Korean men are the new Cassanovas of Asia. Women from Japan to Vietnam have fallen in love with Korean soaps and movies and the Korean hunks who star in them. These highly paid Korean actors typically play romantic male characters that Asian women find very appealing. Some Japanese women have become so smitten with Korean men on the screen that they have started searching for their own real-life Korean men.

Women Aren't Good in Math . . . or Are They?

Gender differences in the performances of men and women on a test varied based on what the subjects had on their minds when they took the test.

Researchers asked questions that were designed to trigger stereotypes right before the test, and the relative performance of the two genders seemed to be affected by the type of stereotype that was evoked.

5 Summertime Tips for Healthy Ears

How to keep your ears healthy.

Apple Juice May Boost Memory

Apples may be good for your memory.

Walking Gives Older Women a Mental Boost

Exercising can help keep your mind in good condition.

Fatty Fish Helps Heart Keep Its Rhythm

Eating fatty fish "like tuna or salmon once or twice a week can help older hearts keep their rhythm and reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death.

A new study suggests eating fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids regularly acts directly on the heart's electrical function, which regulates the heart rate and keeps it from beating too fast or too slow."

Eating Breakfast is important to losing weight

Don't skip breakfast if you want to lose weight.

12 Places Germs Lurk

Here are 12 places where germs lurk and what you can do to avoid getting sick. Generally, the best defense is to wash your hands with soap and water.

U.S. Report: More Nicotine in Cigarettes

“The level of nicotine that smokers typically consume per cigarette has risen about 10 percent in the past six years.”

By increasing the nicotine people get from smoking cigarettes, tobacco companies are making it easier for people to get hooked and harder for smokers to quit.

America eats its young

Spending on education and school programs is being cut and the national debt is expanding while a costly war in Iraq continues. By all appearances, it seems that young Americans are facing a bleak future. In this opinion piece, the creator and host of the nationally syndicated radio show “A Prairie Home Companion” expresses his frustration at how America seems bent on destroying the future of its youth.

The Frappuccino generation

By offering sugary coffee drinks that appeal to teenagers, Starbucks is creating a new generation of coffee drinkers hooked on caffeine and proud of their “cool” coffee habit.

Back to School at 50

This 50-year-old man talks about what it's like going back to school later in life.

Switch off TV and switch on your memory

An Australian survey yielded findings that might help people improve their memories:

Watching TV and drinking heavily was correlated with poorer memory while reading fiction, doing crossword puzzles and eating fish was correlated with better memory.

“[T]hose who watched [TV] less than one hour a day performed better at all memory tasks.

Those who drank less than two alcoholic drinks a day performed better at all memory tasks.

People who did crosswords were better at remembering shopping lists and recalling names, while eating fish once a week improved the ability to remember shopping lists.

Keeping the mind active could be the key to having a good memory. While TV viewing tends to be inactive compared to reading, but “TV quiz shows and news programs could be good for the mind.

‘So TV is not all that bad. It just might be taking time away from doing something that is a bit more active for the mind.’”

The test can be found online at www.nationalmemorytest.net.au.

Are American newlyweds blending their last names? By Benjamin Zimmer - Slate Magazine

Even though married couples have been blending their last names for a while now, such couples are still very rare.

U.S. Web surfer foils British burglary

An American a continent away stops a burglary in Britain thanks to a live Web cam.

Fake birds save S.African town after seal bloodbath

The birds in this South African town are a tourist draw. When they got scared off by predator seals, the town used decoys made of plaster to lure the birds back to its shore.

Interview: Slowing the addiction to speed

Researchers are working on a vaccine for meth.

What It Feels Like... To Weigh 1,072 Pounds... and lose 700

Read about what it's like to weigh more than a thousand pounds and then lose seven hundred.

What It Feels Like... To Run 350 Miles Nonstop

Learn what it feels like to run 350 miles nonstop from a man who did it.

What It Feels Like...To Pick Up Britney Spears

A reporter learns how to pick up women from the best-pick up artists, eventually becoming a master himself. At one point, he finds himself trying to pick up Britney Spears. He reveals the techniques he used and what he learns about the pop star.

Raising a family on poker. By Erin Hanusa - Slate Magazine

This woman talks about what it's like to be married to a full-time poker player and to support a family on the winnings.

Our strange fascination with box-office numbers. By Bryan Curtis - Slate Magazine

This author wonders why ordinary people have become so fascinated with box-office numbers.

Californians Now Recycle Half of Their Trash - Los Angeles Times

Great news! The California recycling program is working, and no new landfills have been opened in a decade because of its success. Let's hope that this becomes a trend everywhere and that everyone recycles more.

It's time to stop killing meat and start growing it. By William Saletan - Slate Magazine

William Saletan explains why we love meat so much, and tells us why we ought to stop killing animals to feed our carnivorous appetites.

The Expert Mind

By studying how chess players think, people are learning more about how experts become experts.

It seems that the key is not talent or even experience. It is “‘effortful study,’ which entails continually tackling challenges that lie just beyond one’s competence.”

But gaining expertise is hard work: one psychologist theorized that it takes ten years of heavy labor to become an expert in a field.

An Interview with Mike Hoy,Founder and President of Loompanics Unlimited Regarding What is Going On Here Anyway?

A publisher of controversial and unusual books talks about censorship and his business in this interesting interview.

24 Things Love and Sex Experts Are Dying to Tell You (2 pages)

Some good advice for keeping your relationship with your partner going strong.

Actually, hell is other people

Americans have fewer close friends nowadays, though they confide more in their spouses. But the author of this article thinks that this voluntary loneliness and having only one or two close friends may not be so bad.

A Brain of One's Own

Linguist Deborah Tannen reviews a book that explores the effect hormones have on the female brain.

Pay Attention, Students: Link, Look and Learn

Here's a list of links compiled by the LA Times that every college student (or any person) will find handy for researching information on the Web.

Prof: U.S. liberals on slope to extinction

Conservatives are likely to greatly outnumber liberals in the future for a simple reason: they seem to be having a lot more babies.

The Age of Autism: Something Wicked -- 2

Some think that autism may be caused by parental exposure to chemicals.

Study: Microbes smarter than thought

Nepotism is everywhere. Even microbes show a preference for kin.

Why I need to see child porn

The government's considers the viewing of child porn an illegal act even when it is done by journalists or academic researchers who want to study the subject. By making investigation into child porn nearly impossible, journalists and researchers are unable to verify the information we have on child porn and prevented from forming independent conclusions which could serve to check the claims being made by the government.

Cows 'moo' with an accent, farmers believe

Some British farmers think that cows in different regions may be picking up different accents.

Price tag for lost productivity: $544 billion

Employees in the US waste almost two hours a day at work doing things like surfing the Internet and socializing with co-workers, although older workers wasted far less time than younger ones.

New Method Makes Embryo-Safe Stem Cells

Read about it here.

Pluto Is No Longer a Planet, Astronomers Say - (washingtonpost.com)

Textbooks will have to be rewritten now that pluto is no longer considered a planet.

Just a Few Extra Pounds Could Mean Fewer Years, Study Finds

A new study finds that being overweight can increase the risk of dying prematurely.

10 things you should never buy used - MSN Money

Here are 10 things you should never buy used.

Total recoil: is disgust genetic?

Find out more about the things we humans disgusting.

Sex ID Test

Take this interesting Sex ID test to find out whether you have a “male” or “female” brain.

Dying Breaths: Why men who run and cycle outdoors may be speeding toward an early grave

Exercising outdoors when the air is polluted is bad for your health.

The Philippine name game

A BBC correspondent reports on the idiosyncracies of naming in the Philippines.

Princeton University - Snap judgments decide a face's character, psychologist finds

This is why first impressions matter.

The Giant Burger - mjgradziel.com

Awesome megaburger!

Pausing The Panic

People thought that DVRs like TiVo would render advertisements ineffective and make them obsolete because people would just fast-forward through the commercials, but according to this article, this hasn't been the case. Households with DVRs end up watching more TV and they are able to watch more of the popular shows even when these air at the same time. DVR owners also recall advertisements, and may even end up spending more time looking at them than people who don't own DVRs, not that new forms of advertising are being rolled out that are geared for DVR users.

Writing Off Reading

What has become of the new generation in America? This professor of journalism ponders the question as he encounters students who have graduated from high school with As but who do not read for pleasure and who seem to possess limited vocabularies.

post edited on August 26, 2006 at 3:35 am

Hope Has Withered for India's Farmers - Los Angeles Times

The situation for India’s farmers is so bad, many of them are committing suicide.

Casual Is Working Full Time - Los Angeles Times

The trend toward dressing casually at the office is becoming more and more widespread. Some people are even beginning to miss wearing their suits and ties and have tried to start a Tie Tuesday.

Thailand plans 1 free laptop per child

This is an interesting idea. Since you can read books on computers, Thailand plans to give each child a cheap laptop computer to read on instead of books.

Big-Earning Wives, and the Men Who Love Them - MSN Lifestyle - Relationships

An increasing number of women are earning more than their husbands.

The Associated Press

How do you feel about paying kids to get good grades? It seems many parents are doing it.

10 things you shouldn't buy new - MSN Money

Some things are better to buy used.

AICR: Link Between Diet, Colon Cancer "Stands at a Crossroad"

Experts are still examining the relationship between diet and colon cancer . A diet high in meat may increase colon cancer risk.

AICR: Taking a Closer Look at Phytochemicals

Read this to learn more about how phytochemicals might help prevent cancer.

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Sleep

Interesting trivia about sleep.

Are You Immune to Cancer?

Some mice are.

Study Finds That a Type of Cancer in Dogs Is Contagious

Read about a cancer among dogs that is spread by “sex or from animals biting or licking each other”.

Unusual headaches - Headaches & Migraines - MSN Health & Fitness

Here are a few of the different kinds of headaches you may have experienced.

A Smashing Success: Shattered Qing Vase Restored

The restorer did an impeccable job putting together this antique Qing Dynasty vase that was accidentally broken when a museum visitor tripped and fell down a staircase.

Architecture Portal News: Top 10 Most Strange Monuments

Cool.

Is Your Hair Aging You? - MSN Lifestyle - Beauty & Fashion

Tips on how to keep your hair looking young.

Can you drink a liquid explosive? By Daniel Engber

It looks like asking people to taste baby formula before allowing it on planes won't be enough.

Scientists Find Gene That Controls Type of Earwax in People - New York Times

Did you know that East Asians often have have dry, flaky ear wax while Caucasians and Africans mostly have wet ear wax? Scientists have found a gene that determines the type of ear wax a person will have. They think that the gene determined not just ear wax, but sweating as well.

“They write that earwax type and armpit odor are correlated, since populations with dry earwax, such as those of East Asia, tend to sweat less and have little or no body odor, while the wet earwax populations of Africa and Europe sweat more and so may have more body odor. Several Asian features, like small nostrils, are conjectured to be adaptations to the cold. Less sweating, the Japanese authors suggest, may be another adaptation to the cold in which the ancestors of East Asian peoples are thought to have lived.”

Tattoos Become a Fad Among Iranian Women

In a country where showing skin can be scandalous, women have found a way to show their wild side.

U.S. Babies Getting Fatter: Study - Pregnancy & Kids - MSN Health & Fitness

American babies are getting fatter and this may mean that they will have even more trouble controlling their weight as adults compared to today's adults.

Lifestyle changes might help prevent dementia

From the article:

[A]dults who suffer from obesity, high cholesterol or high blood pressure at the age of 40 are more likely to suffer from dementia by the time they turn 60...those adults who suffer from all three are six times more likely to develop dementia.

Those adults who are of normal weight, blood pressure and cholesterol at 40 have a one percent chance of developing dementia within 20 years. Those adults who "tick" all of the checklist, however, have a 16 percent chance of succumbing to dementia within the same period.

It should be noted that the dementia high-risk factors are also those factors which put one at greater risk of cardiac arrest and a number of other health complaints, suggesting that dementia can be added to the list of health problems that can be made less likely through lifestyle change.

Some Say Ending Antidepressants Daunting

People who stop taking certain anti-depressants can suffer from withdrawal. In some cases, the withdrawal symptoms are so bad, they find themselves unable to stop taking the medication.

Bump keying - YouTube

Don’t expect your lock to keep you safe. Around 90% of locks can be opened with a special key and doing it requires no skill or training.

Bar invites customers to take a swing

Feel like punching and kicking someone? This bar is the perfect night spot for you.

Designer creates floating bed

For $1.54 million, you can get a bed that floats with the aid of magnets.

Dads may suffer postpartum depression too

It’s not just mothers who suffer from post-partum depression—fathers do too:

In a study of more than 5,000 U.S. couples that had recently had a baby, 14 percent of mothers and 10 percent of fathers were found to have significant levels of depression.

Ultrasound affects mouse brains: study

Ultrasounds may have still unknown effects on fetuses exposed to them. Therefore, they should only be done when medically necessary. Strive to minimize your unborn baby’s exposure to ultrasounds.

Allergists offer food safety guidelines for infants

Here are some guidelines for introducing food to infants.

A Nation of Wimps - Pregnancy & Kids - MSN Health & Fitness

“Parental hyperconcern may be why kids can’t cope.”

The Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

This guide lists popular fresh fruits and vegetables that are the most and least contaminated with pesticides.

Half of U.S. Still Believes Iraq Had WMD

In reality, what we have are weapons of mass delusion.

'Baby, Give Me a Kiss' - Los Angeles Times

Here’s a disturbing artible about the man behind Girls Gone Wild.

Window or Aisle? How to Increase Your Odds - New York Times

Tips on how to get good seats on your next flight.

Facing Middle Age With No Degree, and No Wife - New York Times

From the article:

Once, virtually all Americans had married by their mid-40’s. Now, many American men without college degrees find themselves still single as they approach middle age.

How does heat kill you? By Daniel Engber

Find out here.

Alzheimer’s Curry

Consuming turmeric (a spice that is often found in curry) may help people who have Alzheimer’s and could help prevent the disease. It may even improve the cognitive abilities of normal people.

India has one of the lowest incidences of Alzheimer’s; this may be due to the high consumption of curcumin (in turmeric) which has “anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and cholesterol-lowering properties.”

post edited on August 5, 2006 at 6:41 pm

Breast-feeding reduces anxiety into childhood-researchers

Here’s another reason to breast-feed. It may make your child better able to handle stress.

Years after being weaned, breast-fed children cope better with stressful situations like their parents’ divorce than their bottle-fed peers

Blood pressure rises in stressed-out workers

Try not to stress too much at your job. Researchers found that people whose jobs were highly stressful had higher blood pressure. Having social support from co-workers and supervisors is good for you though.

Severe sleep apnea raises stroke risk in elderly

Old people with sleep apnea might want to do something about it, as it can greatly increase the risk of stroke.

Woman's SUV useful for baking cookies

Here’s one way to put all that hot air trapped in your car to good use. This woman bakes cookies in her SUV.

Study: French nuke tests linked to cancers

This is no surprise. An increase in thyroid cancer was found among people living in areas within 1000 miles of recent French nuclear tests.

Alcohol contributes substantially to cancer burden

From the article:

3.6 percent of all cancer cases worldwide are related to alcohol drinking, and these lead to 3.5 percent of all cancer deaths

“A causal link has been established between alcohol drinking and cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, colon, rectum, liver, larynx, and breast…[f]or other cancers, a causal association is suspected.”

Charity wants people to lend a hand...

Europe will have its first Masturbate-a-thon for charity, to raise funds and awareness about HIV/AIDS and safe sex.

S.African hotel pampers worms to cut waste

This hotel in South Africa is using worms to turn vegetable refuse from its operations into fertilizer, helping the environment in the process.

Are you better off single?

Being single may not be such a bad thing after all. Here are some reasons why you might be better off single.

Group to Sue EPA Over Dirty Beach Water - Los Angeles Times

People get sick from swimming in dirty water. This article lists beaches in Southern California that have had the most problems with water quality:

Beaches that violated public health standards at least half of the time water samples were taken:

Los Angeles County
• Will Rogers State Beach

Orange County
• Aliso Beach
• Crystal Cove State Park
• Doheny State Beach
• Newport Bay (Santa Ana Delhi)
• Newport Beach (Buck Gully)
• Salt Creek Beach Park

San Diego County
• Imperial Beach

Ventura County
• Rincon Creek

Beaches that violated health standards 33% to 49% of the time:

Los Angeles County
• Avalon Beach
• Cabrillo Beach
• Dockweiler State Beach (Ballona Creek)
• Malibu Beach
• Topanga State Beach
• Will Rogers State Beach (Temescal Canyon)

Santa Barbara County
• East Beach

San Diego County
• Tijuana Slough National Wildlife Refuge

Is the president shrinking? By Daniel Engber

Bad news. It turns out that everyone will eventually find themselves shrinking.

[T]he average man starts to shrink at about 30 and will have lost a couple of inches in height by the time he reaches 80.

post edited on August 4, 2006 at 12:55 pm

Art boosts Alzheimer's patients' spirits

Art and music seem to be good for Alzheimer’s patients.

Ariz. considers $1 million voter lottery

To increase voter turn-out, some people in Arizona are proposing giving everyone who votes a chance to win a million dollars.

Is the economy heading into recession? By Daniel Gross

This Slate article discusses the possibility of a U.S. recession.

A Primeval Tide of Toxins - Los Angeles Times

The oceans are becoming toxic to animals and humans thanks to changes caused by man. We are polluting the seas with sewage and runoff, increasing nutrients in the oceans which is making bacteria, algae, and the jellyfish that feed on them multiply rapidly, while causing fish and larger, more advanced sea creatures to dwindle in numbers. We are effectively turning the oceans back into a more primeval state filled with primitive organisms and turning many bodies of water into slime-filled dead zones. The toxins in some places are so powerful, they seem to come straight out of a horror movie. The red tides in some areas are causing grave health problems for people and killing animals.

In addition to turning the oceans into a bacterial soup, the increasing quanities of our plastic garbage that ends up in the oceans and that stays there collecting is threatening marine life. Birds and fish who swallow plastic objects in the water suffer, often eventually dying with their stomachs filled with these plastic items like Lego pieces and clothes pins. Abandoned nets, fishing lines and traps drifting in the oceans are killing sea creatures. We are making the oceans into a big garbage dump filled with cigarette lighters, toothbrushes, and little plastic pellets covering the ocean bottom, instead of sand, and very little is being done about it.

Jicama in the 'hood

In poorer neighborhoods, the lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables may be contributing to higher rates of obesity and poorer health. Many poor neighborhoods do not have a supermarket nearby where they can get fresh produce, so residents get used to eating mostly processed food and are limited to less than healthy choices. To top it off, usually these small convenience stores charge higher prices than larger grocery stores. Some people are working to try to change all that.

The odds of economic meltdown

According to this economist, the US may very well be headed toward a recession. He puts the odds at 3 out of 10.

U.S. Employers Look Offshore for Healthcare - Los Angeles Times

The latest in "offshoring":

As costs rise, workers are being sent abroad to get operations that cost tens of thousands more in the U.S.

Apparently "forever" has been over-rated

Nowadays, women are into technology as much as men.

According to a study, “three of four women would prefer a new plasma TV to a diamond necklace.”

Can Nutrition Help Fight Cancer?

From the article:

Cancer patients spend billions a year on vitamins and dietary supplements, but there is no proof that these products—or other nutrition strategies—are effective for treating or preventing the disease, a new analysis shows.

Why You Need More Fiber

Here's why you need more fiber.