Health & Fitness – Page 6

Analysis, Food, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

The world’s most popular artificial sweetener may not be safe for consumption

September 5, 2019

The hugely popular sweetener aspartame – also known as Nutrasweet – has been taken to task by researchers for not being sufficiently proven to be safe for consumption. Aspartame has been a controversial ingredient for decades.

According to a new study by Professor Erik Millstone, a University of Sussex expert on food chemical safety policy, and Dr. Elisabeth Dawson, the 2013 appraisal by the European Food Safety Authority that aspartame is safe is flawed. The study finds that the EFSA disregarded the results of every one of the 73 studies that indicated that aspartame could be deleterious to health while accepting as reliable 84% of studies that concluded that aspartame was safe.

Continue reading… “The world’s most popular artificial sweetener may not be safe for consumption”

Green Friendly, Health & Fitness, Latest Trend, Science & Technology News, Transportation

Dutch city cuts ribbon on World’s largest bike garage

August 30, 2019

The world’s largest bicycle parking facility in Utrecht, the Netherlands. (Photo via CU2030/City of Utrecht)

UTRECHT, Netherlands (CN) – When your country has more bikes than people, you need somewhere to park them all.

On Monday, the Dutch city of Utrecht opened the world’s largest bicycle parking facility. The Netherlands has a population of 18 million people but 23 million bicycles.

Located beneath the central train station in the country’s fourth-largest city, the Stationsplein bicycle parking can hold 12,656 bikes. The previous record was held by Tokyo, Japan, which has a facility that can hold 9,400 bikes.

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Engineering, Health & Fitness, New Inventions, Science & Technology News

Scientists create contact lenses that zoom on command

August 14, 2019

Blink twice to get a closer look.

Nosebleed seats may soon be a thing of the past. Scientists at the University of California San Diego have created a prototype contact lens that is controlled by the eye’s movements. Wearers can make the lenses zoom in or out by simply blinking twice. A paper detailing the team’s findings was published this month in Advanced Functional Materials.

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Health & Fitness, Healthcare, Medicine, Science & Technology News

New research uncovers compelling link between gut bacteria, obesity and the immune system

August 8, 2019

Researchers have discovered the immune system can directly alter populations of certain bacteria in the gut that affect how dietary fats are absorbed

An impressive new study from scientists at the University of Utah has described how an impaired immune system can alter the composition of the gut microbiome resulting in metabolic disease and obesity. Demonstrated in mouse experiments, the research suggests certain species of gut bacteria can prevent the gut from absorbing fat, pointing to exciting potential future anti-obesity therapies.

The research originated from an unexpected observation. Ongoing experiments in mice engineered to lack a gene called MyD88 surprisingly resulted in the animals gaining significant amounts of weight. The specific gene was being studied for its relationship to immune function in the gut. It was discovered that suppressing this gene resulted in lower production of immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies in the gut, but the real mystery was how this gut-related immune mechanism resulted in metabolic disease and obesity.

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3D Printer, Breakthrough Thinking, Fashion, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Baldness breakthrough uses 3D-printed “hair farms” to grow new hair follicles

July 11, 2019

The 3D-printed structure can for the first time grow human hair follicles entirely in a laboratory dish

An exciting breakthrough from Columbia University researchers demonstrates a new way to grow human hair follicles using 3D printed molds. This is the first time human hair follicle cells have been grown completely in lab conditions, opening up a potentially unlimited source of hair follicles for future hair restoration surgical procedures.

Over the last few decades hair transplantation surgery has rapidly evolved, becoming more sophisticated and successful, however the process has still fundamentally relied on hair follicles being redistributed from one part of the body to another. Growing human hair follicles in laboratory conditions has proved challenging for researchers, ultimately limiting the efficacy of hair restoration surgery, especially in patients without hair already present that can be grafted.

This new breakthrough brings together a couple of recent innovations. First, the researchers created a unique plastic mold using 3D printers. The moulds are designed to resemble a natural micro-environment stimulating hair follicle growth through tiny extensions just half a millimeter wide.

Continue reading… “Baldness breakthrough uses 3D-printed “hair farms” to grow new hair follicles”

Analysis, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Wine kills germs that cause sore throats and dental plaque, says awesome study

July 4, 2019

Yet another reason to pour yourself a glass.

We already know that wine is one of the greatest things in life, but did you know that it could actually keep you from getting sick? Yup, apparently wine is a fantastic disinfectant for bad mouth germs, which is just another reason why we should all be drinking more of the good stuff.

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Children, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News, Stem cells

Dentists are asking parents not to throw their kids’ baby teeth, here’s why

June 10, 2019

Do you remember the strange thrill of losing a tooth when you were a child? On the one hand, you had the distressing feeling of seeing blood and feeling it pop out. At the same time, you knew something exciting was going to happen when you put it under your pillow. If you were lucky, by the next morning, the tooth was gone and some money had magically appeared.

Continue reading… “Dentists are asking parents not to throw their kids’ baby teeth, here’s why”

brain hacking, Engineering, Health & Fitness, Inventions, Science & Technology News

Experimental brain-controlled hearing aid decodes, identifies who you want to hear

June 4, 2019

Engineers develop new AI technology that amplifies correct speaker from a group; breakthrough could lead to better hearing aids

Our brains have a remarkable knack for picking out individual voices in a noisy environment, like a crowded coffee shop or a busy city street. This is something that even the most advanced hearing aids struggle to do. But now engineers are announcing an experimental technology that mimics the brain’s natural aptitude for detecting and amplifying any one voice from many.

Powered by artificial intelligence, this brain-controlled hearing aid acts as an automatic filter, monitoring wearers’ brain waves and boosting the voice they want to focus on.

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Health & Fitness, NASA, Science & Technology News, Space Flight

Mars colonists ‘will become super-mutants with cancer-immune skin’ – but could die ‘if they mate with Earthlings’, scientist warns

June 3, 2019

One of the winning teams of a NASA competition to make a full-scale Mars habitat using
modeling software, Team SEArch+/Apis Cor, designed this Martian abode, which is built
from the upper part of a Hercules Single-Stage Reusable Vehicle.

The first humans on Mars will quickly become too fragile to have sex with.

That’s according to one scientist, who reckons colonists will warp into super-mutants who’ll keel over the moment they sleep with an Earthling.

NASA is keen to land humans on Mars in the 2030s with an eye on setting up a permanent Martian colony.

Continue reading… “Mars colonists ‘will become super-mutants with cancer-immune skin’ – but could die ‘if they mate with Earthlings’, scientist warns”

Analysis, Big Problems, Food, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

It’s not just salt, sugar, fat: Study finds ultra-processed foods drive weight gain

June 1, 2019

An example of one of the study’s ultra-processed lunches consists of quesadillas,
refried beans and diet lemonade. Participants on this diet ate an average of 508 calories
more per day and gained an average of 2 pounds over two weeks.

Over the past 70 years, ultra-processed foods have come to dominate the U.S. diet. These are foods made from cheap industrial ingredients and engineered to be super-tasty and generally high in fat, sugar and salt.

The rise of ultra-processed foods has coincided with growing rates of obesity, leading many to suspect that they’ve played a big role in our growing waistlines. But is it something about the highly processed nature of these foods itself that drives people to overeat? A new study suggests the answer is yes.

The study, conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, is the first randomized, controlled trial to show that eating a diet made up of ultra-processed foods actually drives people to overeat and gain weight compared with a diet made up of whole or minimally processed foods. Study participants on the ultra-processed diet ate an average of 508 calories more per day and ended up gaining an average of 2 pounds over a two-week period. People on the unprocessed diet, meanwhile, ended up losing about 2 pounds on average over a two-week period.

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Analysis, brains, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

Striking study reveals how dietary fats enter the brain and cause depression

May 21, 2019

A new study demonstrates how fatty acids can enter the brain and disrupt signaling pathways that lead to depression

An intriguing new study, led by scientists from the University of Glasgow, suggests there is a direct causative link between eating a high-fat diet and the development of depression. The new research demonstrates how certain dietary fats can enter the brain, disrupt specific signaling pathways in the hypothalamus, and subsequently induce signs of depression.

Scientists have long observed a strong correlation between obesity and depression and, while it may seem like the two are simply interlinked through obvious psychological associations, some studies are starting to suggest the connection may actually be underpinned by biological mechanisms.

Continue reading… “Striking study reveals how dietary fats enter the brain and cause depression”

Biotech, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News, Wearables

‘Smart’ pajamas could monitor and help improve sleep

April 20, 2019

Ordinary-looking pajamas are transformed into “smart” ones with five strategically placed sensors that measure heartbeat, respiration and posture.

If you’ve ever dreamed about getting a good night’s sleep, your answer may someday lie in data generated by your sleepwear. Researchers have developed pajamas embedded with self-powered sensors that provide unobtrusive and continuous monitoring of heartbeat, breathing and sleep posture — all factors that play a role in how well a person slumbers.

If you’ve ever dreamed about getting a good night’s sleep, your answer may someday lie in data generated by your sleepwear. Researchers have developed pajamas embedded with self-powered sensors that provide unobtrusive and continuous monitoring of heartbeat, breathing and sleep posture — all factors that play a role in how well a person slumbers. The “smart” garments could give ordinary people, as well as clinicians, useful information to help improve sleep patterns.

Continue reading… “‘Smart’ pajamas could monitor and help improve sleep”