While we’re always using our brains, we’re not necessarily doing much to keep them in good shape. Here are the top ten sites and tools to train your brain and exercise your mental muscles…
Continue reading… “Top 10 Tips and Tricks to Train, Exercise, and Better Your Brain”
A miswak is a tooth cleaning stick made from the Salvadora persica tree. It’s traditionally used in Pakistan, India, and the Middle East in place of a modern plastic toothbrush. The bristles inside the plant, once exposed by cutting across the stem, are effective as a cleaning instrument. Leen Sadder, a design student, decided to make a modern version..
Continue reading… “Brush Your Teeth with THIS Stick”
Hot flashes lower risk of breast risk.
Here’s some good news for women ever bothered by hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms: Your risk for breast cancer may be reduced as much as 50%, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle report.
Continue reading… “Hot Flashes Linked to Lower Breast Cancer Risk”
Mussel byssus enables mussel to surfaces even in water.
A new gel that the inventors say you can play with like Silly Putty, can repair torn skin, bond implants, or act as an adhesive for underwater machinery. The invention, under development for several years, is now patent pending, and it’s all thanks to the biomimicry of a mussel’s byssus, the hair-size filaments that form a sticky foam enabling the mussel’s fierce attachment to rocks, substrates, and beds on the sea walls and floors.
Continue reading… “‘Mussel Gel’ Can Repair Tissue and Bond Medical Implants”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has officially approved the unregulated planting of Monsanto’s genetically engineered alfalfa. In a move that will undoubtedly set a precedent for what comes next (namely, the question of whether or not to deregulate GE sugarbeets) Vilsack did nothing more, and nothing less than obliterate our choice as organic consumers to be assured that we are avoiding genetically modified organisms in our food…
Continue reading… “Monsanto Wins Big and Consumers Again Get Screwed”
The economy has added to the stress, not just because of financial pressures
on their parents but also because the students are worried
about their own college debt and job prospects.
The emotional health of college freshmen — who feel buffeted by the recession and stressed by the pressures of high school — has declined to the lowest level since an annual survey of incoming students started collecting data 25 years ago.
Continue reading… “Emotional Health of College Freshman Has Declined to Record Low”
The dairy industry is butting heads with the FDA over the agency’s plan to increase testing for antibiotics in milk. Food safety advocates are concerned about overuse of drugs in dairy cows (and increased antibiotic resistance in humans), while the industry says the new testing procedures would cause a lot of milk to be wasted because the results can take a full week to come back.
Certain farms are already caught regularly with milk containing illegal levels of drugs—and farmers also use drugs that are not regularly tested for.
Continue reading… “Dairy Industry Fights FDA’s Proposed New Drug Testing for Milk”
Drinking tea in front of a roaring fire may be enjoyable but it could be encouraging your body to pile on weight.
Sitting in your cosy home stops you from burning calories. It already adds unwanted pounds to your winter fuel bills.
Continue reading… “How Central Heating is Making You Fat”
25% to 35% of wounded soldiers are addicted to drugs.
Medical officials estimate that 25% to 35% of about 10,000 ailing soldiers assigned to special wounded-care companies or battalions are addicted or dependent on drugs — particularly prescription narcotic pain relievers, according to an Army inspector general’s report made public Tuesday.
Continue reading… “Up to 35% of Wounded Soldiers in Warrior Units are Addicted to Drugs”
Questions such as how much fresh water we have left on Earth, where it is located, and how we can access it are all nearly impossible to answer. However, scientists working on understanding and revealing the planet’s surface structure are helping to hone in on an answer. University of British Columbia researchers have created a world’s-first with their new map that outlines how fluid flows through Earth’s various porous surfaces. Information gleaned from the map can help us discover more about water supplies worldwide.
Continue reading… “First-Ever Global Map to Delve Deep Into Earth Surface Helps Reveal Water Supply”
You could get sick letting your pet sleep with you.
Letting sleeping dogs lie in your bed can make you sick, research suggests. Pet owners may increase the chances of contracting everything from worms to the bubonic plague. Of the 250 known diseases transmitted from animals to humans, more than 100 of them come from domestic animals, researchers say.
Continue reading… “Don’t Sleep With Your Pet, You Make Catch Something”
What if detecting urban pollution was as easy as looking down at your neighbor’s chest? It is–if your neighbor is wearing one of the high-tech sweatshirts designed by NYU grad students Sue Ngo and Nien Lam. The shirts, designed for a class on wearable technologies, feature internal organs that change colors depending on the levels of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere…
Continue reading… “Color-Changing Shirts Sniff Out Air Pollution”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.