KNIGHT WATCH

DOES TRIVIA MAKE LIFE SEEM LESS TRIVIAL?

Every second millions of people worldwide are using Twitter to send 140-character messages – tweets. Tweets convey what people are thinking at any given minute; and because there’s open access to public tweets, researchers are studying them to interpret the mood of the U.S. For example, tweets sent on weekends are happier; and tweets from users in Florida, California and Hawaii use happier words. Twitter data provides much more detailed information about local, national and international events than traditional methods of polling – such as predicting movie box-office success. In fact, the endless possibilities are causing a “twitter” among academic researchers.

The Best Friends Pet Resort, which opened at Disney World in August 2010, also offers many possibilities. With 50,000 square feet – half outdoors – the luxury facility can accommodate 270 dogs, 30 cats and assorted other animals. Standard indoor boarding for dogs is $37 a night. However, vacation villas with flat-screen televisions and patios ($59) and 226-square-foot luxury suites with a personal concierge and a play yard ($76) are available. For cats there are 2- and 4-story condos. Services include playgroups, bedtime stories, a water park and walking trails. “Going to the dogs” doesn’t sound so bad when the dogs are going to Disney World.

People going to London will have the world’s best – and most expensive – taxis. According to a 2010 poll by the travel website “Hotels”, London’s friendly taxi drivers actually know where to go. New York City’s yellow taxis ranked second – up 10% from 2009, in spite of tying with Parisian taxi drivers as the rudest. Rome’s taxi drivers, however, ranked as the worst drivers. Tokyo’s taxis ranked third overall, Berlin’s fourth and Bangkok’s fifth. Taxis were ranked by 1,900 travelers on cleanliness, value, driving, knowledge, friendliness, safety and availability – in other words, by which country’s taxis were least “taxi-ng”.

State and local police departments across the U.S. are using more unmarked cars to catch speeders. Officers are driving Chevrolet Camaros, Ford Fusions, SUV’s and sports cars in places like Fargo, North Dakota; South Bend, Indiana; and Westchester County, New York. Fifteen to 20% of Iowa State Patrol cars are unmarked. “Ghost” cruisers – cruisers without roof lights and with markings that can be read only at close range - are also being used. Considering speeding caused 31% of fatal crashes in 2008 – 11,674 deaths at a cost of $40.4 billion – it’s hoped unmarked police cars will "make their mark".

HAVE YOU FOUND YOURSELF WONDERING ABOUT...?

Have you ever wondered why there isn’t a traffic jam when a swarm of bees returns to its hive? Because other bees inside the hive rush to open the bottleneck. Why do fish swim in schools? Because thousands of eyes are better at spotting food, as well as danger. What does a queen ant do? She just lays eggs. The work of the hive is divided among maintenance ants, trash collectors, foragers and patrollers. There aren’t any bosses. In nature many species work together for the good of the whole. So…have you ever wondered why we call them dumb animals? 

Have you wondered about bias in drug trails that are funded by the pharmaceutical industry? American and Canadian researchers looked at 546 trials in a registry of both federal and private trials in the U.S. and abroad. Sixty-three percent of them were funded by the drug industry and more than 85% of the industry-funded trials posted favorable results. That was 4 times greater than the favorable results posted for government- and non-profit-funded trials. The “Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America” say they are committed to increasing transparency in their drug trials, but will be able to “see through” that transparency? 

How about expiration dates – have you wondered if you can use some foods after their “use by” date? According to the Website Shelf Life Advice, 75% of U.S. consumers believe food is unsafe after the date on the package has passed and thus they throw away billions of dollars worth of food yearly. Use-by dates are generally determined by the manufacturers to mark the point when food starts to deteriorate – not become dangerous. If stored correctly, eggs can be used for another 3-5 weeks, peanut butter for several months and breakfast cereal for another year. It seems food suffers from ageism too. 

Hasn’t everyone with a lawn wondered how to make grass green? Charlie Koerkel has the answer. Koerkel owns Lawn Green USA and dyes lawns green. Having gotten the idea while watching an end zone painted during a football game, he custom-designed a lawn sprayer. Initially his customers were banks and realtors, wanting to increase the curb appeal of foreclosed homes. Now competitive homeowners are becoming customers and starting a national trend. Considering the dye costs only a few hundred dollars for an average lawn, is non-toxic and saves water, it’s perfect for homeowners “dyeing” for a green lawn.

WHAT DON'T WE KNOW ABOUT US?

When we’re talking, our hands talk too. According to a study published in PloS ONE, left-handed people tend to gesture with their left hand when talking about things they feel positive about and gesture with their right hand about negative things. For right-handed people it’s the opposite. People also tend to associate good things with the side of their dominant hand. When looking at a picture of space aliens, lefties thought those on the left were smarter, happier and more attractive. Righties preferred the aliens on the right. Apparently when we’re talking, our preferences are “at hand”.

Women’s preferences about clothing are affected by their hormones. In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, pictures of men and women were shown to single women 18-27 years old before they shopped from a study-created website. Pictures of attractive men resulted in sexier clothing purchases – regardless of the women’s fertility. Pictures of attractive women affected purchases only if the women were ovulating and usually only if the study participants thought the pictures were of local women. Also, although half the women were in a committed relationship, relationship status didn’t affect shopping behavior – unconsciously taking the “i” out of committed. 

Women also prefer men in red. In a study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, researchers showed young women photos of men. In some photos men were wearing articles of red clothing or standing in front of a red background. In other photos there was no red. Consistently the women were more attracted to men associated with red – and this was true whether the women were English, German, Chinese or American. Supposedly red makes men look more powerful and it’s the power that creates the attraction. – which gives new meaning to “seeing red”. 

Men must see less red – as in stop signs and traffic lights – during summer because they have more car accidents in summer. A study by a British insurance company found in the past 5 years 25% of male drivers had at least 1 summertime crash or very near miss compared to 17% of female drivers. In 2009 men made 16.4% more insurance claims in summer than in any other season. Twenty-nine percent of these men admitted being distracted by women’s low-cut tops and short skirts. According to behavioral psychologists, men are more easily distracted because they’re more visually oriented – or maybe in summer they’re just more “shortsighted”.

SHOULD WE HAVE A "WEIGHT-AND-SEE" ATTITUDE?

Weight gain is being blamed on bacteria in the gut. Everyone has 160 different types of gut bacteria that are genetically inherited. According to a study published in the journal Nature, some bacteria influence metabolism by storing fat or burning less of it. Other bacteria slow down food moving through the intestines, which allows more fat to be absorbed. In the future it’s hoped that gut bacteria can be retooled to promote weight loss and to increase metabolism by using special drinks or antibiotics. For now, however, people who feel it’s harder for them to keep weight off can trust their “gut feeling”. 

Weight gain is also being blamed on eating meat – red or white meat. According to a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, study participants gained approximately 4 pounds over a 5-year period for every extra 8.8 ounces of meat eaten daily. Although Americans have cut back on eating red meat, we each consume about 60 pounds of chicken a year. Unfortunately, the study’s link between weight gain and meat remained strong even when total calories, weight, sex, physical activity and other variables were considered. Eating fish seems to be the “meat of the matter”.

Which diet is more effective for losing the weight we gain – low-fat or low-carb? A Temple University study followed 300 people for 2 years. Some were put on a low-fat diet and the others on a low-carb diet. Everyone participated in behavior therapy programs. The first year both groups lost approximately 11% of their weight. The second year it was 7%. Both groups had identical changes in blood pressure, bone density and body fat percentages. The only difference was that those on the low-carb diet had higher levels of HDL – the good cholesterol. It seems that low-carb diets are for the “high-minded”. 

The mind itself is an effective tool for losing weight. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests thinking differently can help control cravings. Two areas of the brain are involved in cravings. The prefrontal cortex deals with reasoning and the ventral striatum deals with craving. Instead of thinking about the immediate reward from food – taste – study participants thought about the long-term consequences – obesity, diabetes and heart disease. This activated the reasoning part of the brain more than the craving part. Although rewiring the brain is a long process, it promotes longer life.

WHAT KEEPS CHILDREN HEALTHY?

Starting school later is healthier for children. A 2006 poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that nearly half of adolescents got less than 8 hours of sleep. In a study done at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, researchers surveyed over 200 students in grades 9-12 before and after their school’s start time was changed from 8 to 8:30 a.m. Overall, fewer students reported feeling unhappy, depressed or irritated; and fewer went to the health center for fatigue-related problems. If adolescents get only 6.5-7 hours of sleep, an extra half hour makes a big difference. It helps prevent “adolescent sleeping sickness”. 

To keep children healthy a report in the journal Pediatrics recommends that all children have cholesterol tests. As of 2010, government guidelines recommended testing only children whose parents or grandparents had heart disease or high cholesterol. However, a West Virginia study of 20,000 children over a 5-year period found that 1% of 5th graders had cholesterol levels warranting drug treatment and one-third of those children didn’t have relatives with heart disease or high cholesterol. Considering the risk of developing heart disease from high cholesterol, a cholesterol test is a test parents would want their children to score low on. 

Another recommendation to keep children healthy is to keep household chemicals out of their reach. Although injuries from cleaning products dropped from 22,000 in 1990 to 12,000 in 2006, accidents involving spray bottles increased. According to a study published in Pediatrics, three-fourths of the cases were 1-3 years olds and more than half of the injuries were from eating or drinking toxic products – bleach being the toxic product 37% of the time. Because the risk to children is greatest when they start to crawl and walk and are spending most of their time at home, we should spend good “cents” locking up toxic chemicals. 

Unfortunately, there are no recommendations for reducing the number of children with food allergies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number increased 18% from 1997 to 2007. In 2007 approximately 3 million children under age 18 had a food or digestive allergy. There are 2 theories. First, American sanitation and vaccinations have decreased children’s exposure to bacteria, not allowing them to build up immunities. Second, American children aren’t eating common allergens – nuts, shellfish – at an early enough age to avoid developing allergies. However, there isn’t a definite explanation for the “rash” of children’s allergies.

 

 

ARE OUR RELATIONSHIPS SINKING?

Sixty-six percent of American families sometimes or always sleep with children in their bed and 16% sleep with pets. That’s according to a 2005 survey. According to a 2005 survey by the National Sleep Foundation, almost 25% of couples sleep in separate beds or bedrooms. In fact, the National Association of Home Builders predicts 60% of custom homes will have 2 master bedrooms by 2015. Reasons given for separate sleeping include snoring, restless leg syndrome, television viewing and different sleep schedules. It seems Americans are increasingly making sleep a priority. Separate bed or bedrooms can be an escape from “bed-lam”. 

Same bedroom or separate, a British study found the longer couples are married, the less they talk to each other. During a 1-hour meal couples who are dating talk an average of 50 minutes. Immediately after marriage talking drops to 40 minutes. After 20 years couples talk an average of 21 minutes. After 30 years it’s 16 minutes and by 50 years the average married couple talk for 3 minutes during a 1-hour meal. Nevertheless, it was Bill Cosby who said, “For two people to live together day after day is unquestionably the one miracle the Vatican has overlooked”. 

However, instead of divorcing, some couples choose to be “permanently separated”. Permanent separation has several benefits such as filing joint tax returns, being covered by the spouse’s insurance and continuing a relationship with someone impossible to live with. Billionaire Warren Buffet separated from his wife in 1977, but stayed married to her until her death in 2004. Artist Willem de Kooning was separated from his wife until her death 34 years later. Jann Wenner, co-founder of the magazine Rolling Stone, separated from his wife in 1995. There’s political and religious and now there seems to be marital “separatism”. 

Married, divorced or separated, friends extend life. Researchers reviewed 148 studies linking friendship and mortality. The studies involved more than 308,000 participants, who were followed for an average of 7.5 years, and covered social networks, perception of relationships and integration in community. According to the results, people with strong friendships reduced their odds of dying prematurely by 50%. That’s the same benefit as from stopping smoking and almost twice the benefit as from physical activity – and that’s regardless of age, gender, health status and cause of death. Friends help us deal with stress, encourage healthy behavior and add meaning to life. They’re “lifelines”.

 

 

IS TRIVIA ABOUT THE FAMOUS LESS TRIVIAL?

Bimbo Bakeries, maker of Thomas’ English muffins, had one of its former executives banned by the U.S. Court of Appeals from working for rival baker Hostess, maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs. It seems Chris Botticella was one of 7 executives who knew the complete “nooks and crannies” recipe, originally developed by Englishman Samuel Bath Thomas in his New York City bakery in the late 19th century. Considering Thomas’ English Muffins now produce more than $500 million in annual sales, Bimbo Bakeries literally knows which side its “muffin” is buttered on. 

McCormick, the world’s largest spice and seasoning company, definitely knows that over the past several decades U.S. consumption of spices has grown almost 3 times as fast as the population. This is partly due to the influx of immigrants. According to the Department of Agriculture, Americans eat 300% more cumin and 1,600% more ginger than in the 1970’s. Among the 1 billion containers of spices and seasonings McCormick produces annually, sales of chipotle chili pepper increased 70% in 5 years and sales of smoked paprika increased 300% in 3 years. With net sales exceeding $3 billion in 2009, the company is definitely “well seasoned”. 

Having served 2 terms as Britain’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill was a seasoned politician. In 2010 his dentures sold at auction in the UK for $23,723. Churchill so highly regarded his dentist he nominated him for knighthood. He also prevented his dentist’s technician from enlisting in the military so he’d be on standby for repairs. It seems Churchill had a lisp from childhood, making it difficult for him to say S’s. His slurred speech became famous from his WWII radio broadcasts. Because he wanted to maintain the lisp, his dentures intentionally didn’t connect with the top of his mouth. For Churchill they were “den-sures”. 

Systematic eating is a sure thing. It’s eating the same thing on a routine basis. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps’ breakfast consists of 3 fried-egg sandwiches with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise; 2 cups of coffee; a 5-egg omelet; a bowl of grits; 3 slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar; and 3 chocolate-chip pancakes. For the 10 years Courtney Cox, Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow filmed “Friends”, they had Cobb salads every day. Winston Churchill always had Pol Roger champagne with lunch. However, for those wanting more variety in their meals, this type of eating may be “systemat-ick”.

WHY CAN'T ALL HEALTH NEWS BE HEALTHY?

Alcohol may fight rheumatoid arthritis – healthy news. A study published in the journal Rheumatology asked 873 people with RA and 1,000 people without it to estimate how many days in the past month they’d had at least 1 drink. Those who drank on more than 10 days were less likely to have RA or to have less severe symptoms than those who didn’t drink. Researchers attribute this to alcohol reducing immune activity. Although 1.3 million adult Americans experience their immune system attacking their joints, those for whom alcohol isn’t contraindicated might not have to have “joint possession” of the disease. 

Calcium can increase heart attack risk – unhealthy news. In a study published in the journal BMJ nearly 12,000 people – mostly women, average age 72 – were followed for about 4 years. Approximately 2.7% of those taking calcium had heart attacks compared with 2.2% of those taking placebos. Translated that means older people who take at least 500 mg of calcium daily are 30% likelier to have a heart attack than those who don’t take calcium. Supposedly, the modest benefit in building bone density ad reducing bone fractures may not be worth the risk. One’s doctor should be consulted – no bones about it. 

A new version of CPR - healthy news. The American Heart Association and the American Red Cross approve cardiopulmonary resuscitation using only rapid chest compressions – no rescue breathing. Chest compressions are thought to be more important because they circulate blood containing residual oxygen. In 2 studies 3,200 victims of cardiac arrest were randomly assigned conventional CPR or the hands-on version. In both studies the new version was as effective: 11%-12.5% in one study and 7%-8.1% in the other. Considering 60% of cardiac arrests are witnessed, it’s important to know “lip service” no longer has to be paid to CPR. 

Food poisoning can be catered - unhealthy news. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 76 million Americans get food poisoning yearly and 5,000 of those people die from it. The report also showed that food borne illnesses traced to caterers outnumber those traced to restaurants or home cooking. A breakdown of the numbers showed 36 illnesses per catering outbreak compared with 13 illnesses per restaurant or home cooking outbreak. Although the increased number of people affected by 1 catering event increases the likelihood of it being reported, it can still leave a bad taste in your mouth.

IS IT TRIVIA IF IT PERTAINS TO YOU?

Daydreaming interferes with memory. An experiment published in the journal Psychological Science required 116 college students to do 1 of 2 things between memorizing 2 lists of words. They could think about a vacation in the U.S. or one abroad. Those who daydreamed about a vacation abroad remembered fewer words from the first list. It seems the farther away your mind drifts in time and space, the harder it is to remember something you just did. Of course, if you’re trying to forget something embarrassing you just did, this could be a “dreamy” solution. 

You could forget July 30th is National Cheesecake Day. Celebrating with a slice of plain cheesecake – no strawberries, no chocolate, no fun – is approximately 411 calories. That translates into about 36 grams of fat, 16 being saturated fat; 185 mg cholesterol; 310 mg sodium; and 42 grams of carbohydrates. If you weighed 150 pounds, working off 411 calories would take about 61 minutes of vigorous strength training, 145 minutes of yoga, 52 minutes of biking, 91 minutes of gardening or 121 minutes of cleaning. The next time someone with a camera said “Say cheese”, your smile might not be as big. 

However, knowing lucky charms work could make your smile very big. In a German study participants who were allowed to keep their lucky charms – a stone, coin, keychain, stuffed animal – did better on a computer memory test. Superstition increases confidence, which makes people try harder on a particular task and perform better. Michael Jordon routinely wore his college gym shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform. Serena Williams wore the same socks throughout a tennis tournament. Actor Geoffrey Rush always has a plastic figure of Daffy Duck in his pocket. It seems for many people believing in lucky charms is “luckrative”. 

Bed bug eradication is becoming lucrative because bed bugs are spreading across the U.S. According to Congress’ “Don’t Let The Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2009”, the bed bug population has increased 500% in the past few years. Their increasing numbers are attributed to increased travel, immigration, resistance to insecticides, eradication expense ($800-$1200 for a 1-bedroom apartment) and lack of awareness. In addition to being in homes and hotels, bed bugs have been found in public transit, laundromats and movie theaters. Considering it takes approximately 1 week to see allergic reactions from bed bug bites, figuring out where they are could drive you “bed buggy”.

HOW DO RESEARCHERS SEE US AT WORK?

Looks matter in business. According to a Newsweek survey of 202 corporate hiring managers, 57% said that it’s harder for unattractive people to get hired and 68% said that once hired, looks would affect job performance ratings. Sixty-six percent said that some managers would hesitate to hire people significantly overweight and 84% said that some managers would hesitate to hire people significantly older looking than their would-be co-workers. Nevertheless, although looks were more important than where a candidate went to school or a sense of humor, experience and confidence were more important than looks – which is good for “lookers-on” to know. 

Once hired, employees are inundated with e-mails. A 2010 Harris Interactive survey questioned approximately 340 small business employees. According to the results, only 6% said they could keep up with more than 50 e-mails a day. For the 38% of smartphone-using employees, 37% experience e-mail overload compared to 12% of regular-phone-using employees. In 2009 it’s estimated 90 trillion e-mails – 247 billion a day – were sent. In 2010 it’s estimated 1.9 million people worldwide use e-mail and that number is expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2014. In business e-mail has replaced the telephone and has become the new “hang-up” at work. 

The majority of brides-to-be plan their wedding at work. In an online poll of 1,000 women, about 90% said they used company time to make wedding plans. Although on average they spent 10 hours a week planning – with 30% being done on the job - only 33% thought their work was negatively affected, while 15% said someone had commented on it. In fact, 38% of the women thought being engaged or married had a positive effect on how they were perceived at work. Nevertheless, experts report that post-wedding women are more focused on their job – perhaps gaining a “(wed)lock” on it. 

There’s no statistical evidence about how many employees plan their vacations at work. However, a Netherlands study tracked happiness levels of 974 vacationers and 556 non-vacationers for several weeks. The vacationers were surveyed pre-, during and post-vacation; and their post-happiness levels were the same as non-vacationers’ – except for those who described their vacation as “very relaxing”. Their happiness levels remained elevated for 8 weeks. Because the length of relaxing vacations had no effect on post-happiness levels, the researchers recommended taking multiple, short, very relaxing vacations – or you could send yourself a postcard to remind yourself you’d been away.