Interesting ↓

Tomatoes Help You Lose Weight

“Forget fancy diets and strict exercise regimes. The key to keeping trim could simply be eating lots of tomatoes. Eating the fruit leaves you feeling satisfied, suppressing the urge to snack, which is one of a slimmer’s main pitfalls. It is thought tomatoes are rich in compounds that alter levels of appetite hormones, making them an easy – and cheap – way to keep hunger pangs at bay. The findings emerged from research into the benefits of enriching white bread with fruit and vegetables. A small group of normal weight women aged between 18 and 35 were offered cream cheese sandwiches that had been made with either white bread or bread that had been enriched with carrots or tomatoes. It was thought that the extra fibre provided by the carrot would make the carrot-bread lunches the most filling. Instead, the tomato bread was the most satisfying, a nutritional conference in France heard.” w/ photos

The Fear Detector

“A device that smells human fear is being developed by British scientists and could soon be sniffing out anxious terrorists. The technology relies on recognizing a pheromone – or scent signal – produced in sweat when a person is scared. Researchers hope the ‘fear detector’ will make it possible to identify individuals at check points who are up to no good. Terrorists with murder in mind, drug smugglers, or criminals on the run are likely to be very fearful of being discovered. However calm they might appear on the surface, their bodies could give them away. Although the research is at an early stage, the aim is to develop a prototype device in the next two to three years.” w/ photo

100 Things To Run Out In An Emergency

“[This is] a great list of items. I’m guessing that the items are not in any specific order, but collectively that’s a good checklist to review when making preparations.” — cmlesq

Texting While Driving Experiment

“Driving experiment shows the dangers of texting while driving. Studies show you are 5 times more likely to get in an accident.”

Why The World Will NOT End In 2012

“Skyscrapers crumble to the ground, fiery meteorites smash into Earth and a Tibetan monk cowers as a massive tidal wave swamps his mountain retreat. It is a vision of the coming apocalypse thrillingly captured in the latest Hollywood blockbuster. But fears that the world is due to end in December 2012 is just a myth fueled by internet rumor, according to a leading Nasa scientist. Dr David Morrison, who runs the space agency’s ‘Ask an Astrobiologist’ service, says he has received more than a thousand emails from those worried that the world is due to end in 2012. In an article published by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Dr Morrison has answered the top 20 questions in an attempt to assuage these fears.” w/ photos

Worms Are World’s Most Influential Species

“They’re silent, slimy and wriggly, utterly devoid of personality and shaped so that you can’t even tell one end from the other – that’s what most people think about earthworms… Nothing, not even humans, can match the impact these noiseless digesters of the Earth have had on the history of planet, life and people. Worms are the ultimate survivors with a direct ancestry stretching back an epic 600 million years. That puts us in our place, since our human lineage manages only a paltry four million at a stretch. When they first appeared, at the bottom of the seas, wriggling worm-like bodies quickly became the generic design for all animal life… But to me, earthworms are the most extraordinary creatures ever to have lived. After an exhaustive 21/2 year study of 100 of life’s most successful species (from viruses and bacteria to fish, fungi, plants, insects, mammals and humans) I have come to the humble conclusion that, despite their lowly lifestyle, earthworms sit at the very top of the evolutionary tree.” w/ photos

Chocolate Can Melt Away Pain

“Nibbling on chocolate or even sipping a glass of water can relieve aches and pains, a study has shown. A team of researchers says the distraction of eating or drinking for pleasure acts as a natural painkiller. Although the findings come from studies on animals, the scientists believe the same effect takes place in people. Dr Peggy Mason, of Chicago University, found that rats were less bothered by pain if they were eating a chocolate chip or drinking water. ‘It’s a strong, strong effect, but it’s not about hunger or appetite,’ she said. ‘If you have all this food in front of you that’s easily available to reach out and get, you’re not going to stop eating, for basically almost any reason.’ Past studies have shown that eating can ease pain.” w/ photo

Sugar Heals Wounds Faster

“A British-based scientist has won a $37,000 grant to develop an African tribal remedy of healing wounds – with SUGAR. Zimbabwean-born Moses Murandu, 43, stunned doctors when he sprinkled granulated sugar on infected cuts to heal them earlier this year. Incredibly, the ancient remedy cured 21 patients quicker than conventional medicines. Bosses at the Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham have been so impressed that he has been awarded $37,000 to treat up to 100 more patients with sugar. Delighted Moses, a medical lecturer from the University of Wolverhampton, said: ‘Using granulated sugar in wounds has never been done in the UK before, although sugar paste has been used. ‘When I was a child, my father used sugar or salt on wounds and I grew up without realising that not everybody else uses it. ‘While salt is painful, sugar is not and it reduces the pain drastically. Sugar is also much cheaper than expensive medicines and it has proven to be just as effective.’ Moses learned the treatment after seeing wounded warriors regularly cured with sugar in the Zimbabwean village where he grew up. He was baffled when he arrived in the UK to find that sugar was not used in any hospitals and funded a six-month pilot study himself.” w/ photo

180 Other Things You Can Do With A Pig

“When we tuck into a bacon sandwich, few of us wonder what has happened to the other parts of the pig whose life has been sacrificed so we can enjoy a juicy breakfast. But one inquisitive writer set out to trace where all the body parts of one porker ended up. Christein Meindertsma, 29, said: ‘Like most people, I had little idea of what happens to a pig after it leaves the abattoir so I decided to try to find out. I approached a pig farmer friend who agreed let me follow one of his animals. Identified by its yellow ear tag number, 05049, her pig trail ended with her identifying an incredible 185 different uses to which it was put – from the manufacture of sweets and shampoo, to bread, body lotion, beer and bullets. Christein said: ‘I was shocked when I began to find out just how unusual and varied the different uses for a ordinary pig were. It’s almost as if these days, a pig is no longer thought of an animal – more like an industrial raw material with a mind-blowing amount of different uses.” w/ photos

Oldest Member Of The Human Family Tree

“She lived at the dawn of a new era, when chimps and people began walking (or climbing) along their own evolutionary trails. This is Ardi – the oldest member of the human family tree we’ve found so far. Short, hairy and with long arms, she roamed the forests of Africa 4.4million years ago. Her discovery, reported in detail for the first time today, sheds light on a crucial period when we were just leaving the trees. Some scientists said she could provide evidence that our ancestors first started walking upright in the pursuit of sex.” w/ photos