According to a 2001-2006 government health survey of approximately 3,000 children who'd been given blood tests, at least 20% of children aged 1 to 11 don't get enough vitamin D. That puts them at risk for weak bones, infections, diabetes and some cancers. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children have 400 units of vitamin D daily. Because many children don't drink 4 cups of fortified milk a day or eat lots of fish or spend enough time outside to get vitamin d from the sun, vitamin D supplementation is recommended. It's the D parents will want their children to get.
According to both nutritionists and scientists, Americans have a deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids. They are called essential fatty acids because they have to come from our diet - our bodies don't make them. Omega-3 is necessary for the development of a healthy brain. It also lowers the risk of heart disease, arthritis and cancer. It even fights wrinkles. Fish like salmon, tuna and halibut are rich in omega-3 fatty acids because they eat microscopic, ocean plants and seaweed. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in the green leaves of plants. That they originate in fish is a fish story.
Again, according to both nutritionists and scientists, Americans consume too much omega-6 fatty acids. Omega-6 is also an essential fatty acid. It also originates in plants - but in plant seeds. Human tissue needs the right mix of Omega-3 and Omega-6 because too much Omega-6 blocks Omega-3 from entering cells, causing blood clots and inflammation. Omega-6 is in vegetable seed oils. It's also put in processed foods to prevent rancidity. As Americans' intake of Omega-6 has increased, so have heart disease, arthritis and cancer. Obesity has also increased. Omega-6 fatty acids are in belly fat - the fat associated with "fat-ality".
According to a study by physiologists at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, more protein doesn't mean more muscle. Healthy adults in their 30's and late 60's were randomly assigned to eat 4 ounces or 12 ounces of lean beef in one sitting. Blood tests and muscle biopsies showed that eating 12 ounces didn't build more muscle. Only the first 4 ounces of lean beef, chicken, soy or dairy products turns into muscle. To gain muscle mass protein foods should be spread throughout the day. An increased number of smaller portions is the meat of the matter.
According to a study published in the "British Journal of Psychiatry", children who eat too much candy become violent as adults. More than 17,000 children born in 1970 were studied for almost 40 years. Of the children who ate candy daily at age 10, 69% were arrested for a violent offense by age 34. It wasn't the candy that caused the violence. Supposedly parents who use candy to bribe children to be good are teaching them to want immediate gratification, which supposedly leads to impulsive behavior and violence. Nevertheless, parents are free to consider this study to be sweet nothings.
According to a study published in the online journal "PLoS One", people become more alert to potential threat when breathing stress sweat. Stress sweat was taken from 144 people who tandem skydived for the first time. Twice samples of stress sweat and sweat from treadmill runners were given to 8 men and 8 women whose brains were being scanned. Although participants couldn't distinguish the sweats by smell, the stress sweat caused more activity in a brain area associated with emotion. In fact, discriminating between pictures of neutral and angry faces when breathing stress sweat was - no sweat.
According to a study done at Carolina State University, however, burning paraffin-based candles releases toxic chemicals into the air. Paraffin candles are petroleum-based. When they're burned, they release toluene, which can affect the nervous system and when inhaled in large doses by pregnant women, can cause birth defects. Paraffin candles also release benzene, which has been linked to cancer - especially leukemia. Although the Environmental Protection Agency is concerned about candles causing indoor pollution, it hasn't set standards for candle emissions. However, vegetable-based candles don't emit toxins; so you can breath easy.
According to research published in "Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery", certain behaviors make people look older. The research - based on 186 sets of identical twins - found that a twin who drank looked older than the non-drinking twin because excessive alcohol had damaged blood vessels and collagen. Every 10 years of smoking added 2.5 years to the smoking twin's looks. Unprotected UV exposure caused the exposed twin to have wrinkled, mottled skin. A divorced twin looked an average 1.7 years older than the married or single twin, but surprisingly a widowed twin looked 2 years younger. Of course, for those without an identical twin for mirror imaging, there are mirrors.
Police talk changed to code in the 1920's because of the scarcity of radio channels. Police had to get on and off the air quickly. It was also thought codes would provide privacy. Not anymore. In fact, the differences in local codes cause confusion. For example, an Independence, Missouri police dispatcher used plain English - instead of 10/33 - when radioing the Highway Patrol that one of their officers was down. To the highway Patrol 10/33 meant traffic backup. In 2006 the Department of Homeland Security asked law enforcement agencies to voluntarily talk in plain English, but some still use "double talk".
In plain English, a study done by 2 researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that women have become less happy than men. In spite of the progress brought by the feminist movement 35 years ago, women's happiness has been declining over the past 3 decades, while men's happiness has remained stable or slightly increased. The study took into consideration women's age, marital status, labor force participation and whether they had children. Although the study found that the unhappiness gap covered all demographics, further research is necessary to find out why. And why aren't men less happy? Perhaps because of women.
There are more than 100 million men and women using electric bicycles in China - about 4 times the number using private cars. Although E-bikes are also popular in Europe, they're just catching on in the U.S. About 200,000 sold in 2008. E-bikes have a small motor and a throttle. By law they can't have more than 1 horsepower or go faster than 20 mph on motor power. E-bikes range in price from a few hundred to more than $13,000. They're supposedly for customers wanting comfortable, green transportation - but in a down economy E-bikes make going up hill easier.
Boston Beer Co., maker of Samuel Adams beer, teamed with Weihenstephan, the renowned German brewery, to make a new beer. The 2-year project resulted in a yet unnamed beer that will be 10% alcohol instead of the usual 4%-7% and be bottled with a cork instead of a metal cap. It will also be brewed following Germany's purity law, allowing only 4 ingredients - water, malt, hops and yeast. When it's released in 2010, the 2 brewers hope their premium, craft beer will win over more wine and spirits drinkers. That may depend on what's brewing economically.
Between 2005 and 2006 the Transportation Security Administration confiscated 13 million items from passengers' carry-on bags. Liquids in access of 3 ounces are immediately disposed of. Guns and firearms are turned over to local law enforcement. Items of value - electric saws, meat cleavers, 10-pound exercise weights, even a kitchen sink - are donated to state surplus agencies and sold - the states keeping the profits. Bats, clubs, knives and blades are confiscated the most; but instead of legally putting these items in checked luggage or mailing them, 90% of passengers relinquish them - realizing their protests won't fly.
Crickets don't fly, but different species have different calls. It's the males that make the calls and they do it by rubbing their wings together. However, what sounds like a continuous chirp to humans is actually a series of pulses - or rhythm. For example, the snowy cricket's chirp is made up of 8 pulses, which are arranged in a rhythm of 2 beats, 3 beats, 3 beats. The Riley's tree cricket divides its chirp into 11 beats. The different calls enable female crickets to know which calls are from their species. Basically, female crickets are "on call".
For humans musical training can improve hearing. According to studies presented at Neuroscience 2009, serious musicians are better at perceiving and remembering sounds. This is because sounds are interpreted by the brain and experience improves the brain's ability to interpret. Fifteen classically trained musicians and 16 non-musicians were asked to listen to a voice speaking simple sentences amid increasingly loud conversations. Because this experiment is similar to musicians being able to hear their own instruments amid many others, the musicians excelled in the experiment. Music teaches auditory concentration, which improves hearing - which should be music to our ears.
Something else that requires concentration is getting silk from golden orb-weaving spiders - a species that bites. The spiders have to be gently harnessed to a small machine that holds them down. A hand then carefully pulls the golden thread from each spider and wraps it around a spindle for weaving on a hand loom. After about 20 minutes of "silking" the spiders are released back into nature. It took Madagascan weavers 4 years, over 1 million spiders and half a million dollars to weave a one-of-a-kind, 11-by-4-foot tapestry, finished in 2009. Arachnophobiacs, however, might prefer using silk worms. Their silk comes from cocoons.
