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POPSAn 82-year-old's perspective on the debates She says: "It’s OK. We’ve been part of the greatest generation. We had our turn. Now we get to sit back and enjoy our pie while someone else worries about the calories. The new guy has the energy and the new ideas. Senator Obama, I hope you’re up for the challenge."
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POPS"Wireless" Electricity Next step: wireless calories, wireless memory inputs directly into our brains who knows... maybe that Demolition Man fantasy will someday come true and we'll have "wireless" sex
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POPSHunger Can Make You Happy The researchers think that hunger-induced happiness is an adaptive measure. Getting food, especially in the wild, requires concentration, clear-headed perception and often cooperation.
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POPSEat less, Remember more Though some of the effects are clearly physiological, i think it also the fact that eating less interferes with the need for immediate full satisfaction. That gap might as well be utilized in better ways (such as in this context improving memory). No wonder that one of the best rock songs is dubbed 'i can't get no satisfaction'... ;-)
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POPSBeer Versus Religion Jesus was crucified for our sins — beer is just pasteurized. Jesus is free; beer starts at $2.50 a six-pack. Holy water doesn't affect your sense of balance. You don't have to worry about getting religion stains on your clothes. Jesus is who you need in emergencies — beer is only useful when you find a burning bush. http://s143.photobucket.com/albums/r150/thisnamecantbetaken/?action=view¤t=2008-05-10-Picnic059Small.jpg
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POPSToo many calories send the brain off kilter The researchers report that that increased activity of the IKKß/NF-?B pathway can be divorced from obesity itself -- infusions of either glucose or fat into the brains of mice alone led to this inflammatory brain reaction. Further studies revealed that this activity in the brain leads to insulin and leptin resistance. Insulin lowers blood sugar by causing cells of the body to take it up from the bloodstream. Leptin is a fat hormone important for appetite control. Moreover, the researchers found that treatments preventing the activity of IKKß/NF-?B in the animals' brains protected them from obesity.
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POPSSwiss Company Promises Chocolate Revolution Too Good to Be True? Chocolate That Doesn't Melt and Is Low in Calories "The bar's creators want to use it to tackle a growing problem: In Western Europe and North America, chocolate consumption has leveled off and, in some cases, begun to decline. In the past year, consumers in the eight largest western European countries consumed 2 percent less chocolate. In the US, consumption decreased by 8 percent. Under these circumstances, manufacturers are forced to rely on emerging markets for future profits. The calorie-reduced "Vulcano" will be made available in both bar and cookie form."
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POPSCooking and Cognition: How Humans Got So Smart We started innovating. We tried different materials, such as bone, and invented many new tools, including needles for beadwork. Responding to, presumably, our first abstract thoughts, we started creating art and maybe even religion. To understand what caused the cognitive spurt, Khaitovich and colleagues examined chemical brain processes known to have changed in the past 200,000 years. Comparing apes and humans, they found the most robust differences were for processes involved in energy metabolism. The finding suggests that increased access to calories spurred our cognitive advances, said Khaitovich, carefully adding that definitive claims of causation are premature. The research is detailed in the August 2008 issue of Genome Biology.
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POPSLive Longer: SEX EVERYDAY - Medical Reasons
"Sex is a vigorous form of exercise," says Dr. Michael Cirigliano of the University of Pennsylvania. "The physiological changes in your body are consistent with a normal workout. Your heart and respiratory rates rise, and you burn calories." "You’re releasing endogenous opioids. They’re like drugs, but they’re manufactured internally," says Dr. Alice Ladas, a psychologist and one of the authors of The G Spot "Pain threshold in women is elevated 60 to 80 percent during pleasurable stimulation," explains Dr. Beverly Whipple, a professor of neuroscience and president of the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists. "In the midst of orgasm," Ogden noted, "she apparently feels no pain." "Sexual activity helps strengthen the pubococcygeus muscles (PC muscles), which in turn help keep the pelvic organs in shape and where they belong," explains Dr. Ladas. "The more you train the coordination between nerve and muscle, the easier it is to perform," Dr. Andre G
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POPSDrug for Longer Life The other drug is a small synthetic chemical that is a thousand times as potent as resveratrol in activating sirtuin and can be given at a much smaller dose. Safety tests in people have just started, with no adverse effects so far. The hope is that activating sirtuins in people would, like a calorically restricted diet in mice, avert degenerative diseases of aging like diabetes, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s. There is no Food and Drug Administration category for longevity drugs, so if the company is to submit a drug for approval, it needs to be for a specific disease. Nonetheless, longevity is what has motivated the researchers and what makes the drugs potentially so appealing.