Fat friends 'can boost your size'
People are subconsciously influenced by the weight of those around them - so fat friends can cause someone to put on weight too, researchers suggest.
An international team, including University of Warwick experts, dubbed it "imitative obesity" - or "keeping up with the Joneses" on calories.
Their study, presented to a conference in the US, looked at data on 27,000 people from across Europe.
But one expert said the causes for the rise in obesity were much more complex.
The work, by scientists at the University of Warwick, Dartmouth College, and the University of Leuven, is being presented to an economics conference in Cambridge Massachusetts.
They suggest choices about appearance, on which decisions such as job offers or being deemed attractive are based, are determined by the choices others around you make.
So, if people around you are fat, it is permissible for you to be fat too.
It found nearly half of European women feel overweight, while just under a third of men felt the same.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7524944.stm
mother kills daughter over homework
Quote:
Chilean mother kills daughter over homework
Reuters
Tuesday, July 22, 2008; 11:43 AM
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A Chilean woman beat her daughter to death after she refused to do her homework, police said on Tuesday.
Erna Rivera, 26, admitted losing her temper on Monday when her 9-year-old daughter refused to read a book her teachers had assigned as a holiday task. She kicked and beat the child at their home in the Chilean capital, Santiago, police said.
The girl died shortly after -- on the eve of her 10th birthday. Rivera has been charged with murder
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...072201142.html
Actress Christina Applegate Battles Cancer
Australia suffering 'man drought'
Aimus should have gone to Australia instead of Canada: :D
An analysis of new census figures has shown that Australia is suffering from an unprecedented "man drought".
The statistics have revealed that there are almost 100,000 more females than males in Australia.
The problem is worse in the coastal cities, where women have moved seeking better jobs and lifestyles, while many men have gone overseas.
Thirty years ago Australia was with flush with men thanks to immigration policies that favoured males.
That position has been reversed because thousands of Australian men in their 20s and early 30s have gone overseas either to travel or to work.
It has caused a gender imbalance that is having far-reaching implications.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/7589382.stm
Concern over age bands for books
In the normally sedate gardens of the Edinburgh Book Festival, it is causing quite a furore.
From this autumn, a number of publishing houses will "age band" their children's books.
Each book will carry a specific marking indicating they are suitable for readers aged 5+, 7+, 9+, 11+ and 13+/teen.
Research within the book industry suggests people buying books for children would welcome the guidance.
But it is a scheme which has already enraged a number of writers, among them former children's laureate Michael Morpurgo.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/...st/7568992.stm
Buddha statue find at Afghan site
A giant statue of a Buddha has been discovered in central Afghanistan, near to the ruins of the world-famous Bamiyan Buddhas.
Archaeologists say the 19m (62ft) statue is in a sleeping position and dates back to the Third Century.
Other relics such as coins and ceramics were also found.
The Taleban blew up two giant standing Buddhas carved into the mountainside at Bamiyan - once a thriving centre of Buddhism - in 2001.
The statues, the tallest such standing Buddhas in the world at the time, were considered by the Taleban to be un-Islamic representations of the human form.
Archaeologists are working on restoring the largest of the two Buddhas in a project that is expected to take a decade.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7604519.stm
'Big Bang' experiment starts well
Scientists have hailed a successful switch-on for an enormous experiment which will recreate the conditions a few moments after the Big Bang.
They have now fired two beams of particles called protons around the 27km-long tunnel which houses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The £5bn machine on the Swiss-French border is designed to smash particles together with cataclysmic force.
Scientists hope it will shed light on fundamental questions in physics.
The first - clockwise - beam completed its first circuit of the underground tunnel at just before 0930 BST. The second - anti-clockwise - beam successfully circled the ring after 1400 BST.
The beams have not yet been run continuously. So far, they have been stopped, or "dumped" after just a handful of circuits.
By Wednesday evening, engineers hope to inject clockwise and anti-clockwise protons again, but this time they will "close the orbit", letting the beams run continuously for a few seconds each.
Cern has not yet announced when it plans to carry out the first collisions, but the BBC understands that low-energy collisions could happen in the next few days.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7604293.stm
Teacher OK after crashing into bear on a bicycle
My first thought after reading the title of the article was, "where did the bear get a bicycle?" :lol: This is a funny story and made funnier by the misplaced modifyer in the title. ;)
Quote:
Teacher OK after crashing into bear on a bicycle
Wed Sep 10, 11:17 PM ET
MISSOULA, Mont. - A middle school teacher suffered some bruising and a big scratch on his back after he struck a bear while riding his bicycle to school.
Jim Litz said he was traveling about 25 mph Monday morning when he came upon a rise and spotted a black bear about 10 feet in front of him. He didn't have time to stop and T-boned the bruin.
He tumbled over the handlebars, his helmet hit the bear's back and the two went cartwheeling down the road.
The bear rolled over Litz's head, cracking his helmet, and scratched his back before scampering up a hill above the road. [Snip]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080911/...yclist_vs_bear
New Hitchhiker's author announced
Children's author Eoin Colfer has been commissioned to write a sixth instalment of the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy series.
Mostly Harmless, the last Hitchhiker book, was written by its creator, the late Douglas Adams, 16 years ago.
Now Adams's widow, Jane Belson, has given her approval to bring back the hapless Arthur Dent in a new book entitled And Another Thing...
Eoin Colfer, 43, is best known for the best-selling Artemis Fowl novels.
He said he was "terrified" by the prospect of creating a new Hitchhiker book almost a quarter of a century after being introduced to what he described as a "slice of satirical genius" in his late teens.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7619828.stm
Women to rule Rwanda parliament
Rwanda will be the first country where women will outnumber men in parliament, preliminary election results show.
Women have taken 44 out of 80 seats so far and the number could rise if three seats reserved for the disabled and youth representatives go to females.
Rwanda, whose post-genocide constitution ensures a 30% quota for female MPs, already held the record for the most women in parliament.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7620816.stm
New Mozart piece of music found in French library
Here's an exciting piece of news.
Quote:
New Mozart piece of music found in French library
By JOHN LEICESTER,
PARIS - A French museum has found a previously unknown piece of music handwritten by Mozart, a researcher said Thursday. The 18th century melody sketch is missing the harmony and instrumentation but was described as an important find.
Ulrich Leisinger, head of research at the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, Austria, said there is no doubt that the single sheet was written by the composer.
"This is absolutely new," Leisinger said in a telephone interview. "We have new music here."
"His handwriting is absolutely clearly identifiable," he added. "There's no doubt that this is an original piece handwritten by Mozart."
The work, described as the preliminary draft of a musical composition, was found by a library in Nantes in western France as staff were going through its archives. Leisinger says the library contacted his foundation for help authenticating the work.
"It's a melody sketch so what's missing is the harmony and the instrumentation but you can make sense out of it," he said. "The tune is complete. It's only one part and not the whole score with eight or twelve parts." [Snip]
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080918/...rt_discovery_6
No bull: Police lasso bull on NYC's streets
Now here is a really strange occurance:
Quote:
No bull: Police lasso bull on NYC's streets
Sep 18 11:58 PM US/Eastern
NEW YORK (AP) - It looked like an urban rodeo on the streets of New York City.
Police say a young bull made a dash for freedom through the streets of Queens on Wednesday night but suddenly died before he could be taken to an animal sanctuary.
Police cars tried to steer the bull off the crowded roadways but the several-hundred-pound animal hit and damaged a squad car. An NYPD officer with urban cowboy skills lassoed the bull and it was tranquilized. ...[Snip]
...An NYPD spokesman says it's not known where the bull had been kept.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...cle=1&catnum=9
Now where in heaven's name does anyone in New York keep a bull? :confused: I wonder ifanyone got this on video. I would love to see this drama in the streets of New York. :lol:
Nearly 53,000 Chinese children sickened by milk powder
Nearly 53,000 Chinese children sickened by milk powder
Quote:
BEIJING, (AFP) - - Nearly 53,000 children in China have been sickened by milk powder contaminated by an industrial chemical, the government said Monday, dramatically ramping up its previous figures.A total of 52,857 children had been brought to hospitals after falling ill, an official in the health ministry spokesman's office told AFP.Most had received outpatient care and had "basically recovered" but 12,892 remained hospitalised, added the official, who declined to be named.
(More information.)
Let me articulate my perspective on this peculiar occurrence.My mother buys sweets chiefly manufactured from China,and we eat them as snacks,and this safe food is literally nothing to disparage China.But when these poisoned milks are given to babies,people feel chagrined.China does not take things acutely of manufacturing foods,and thereby sell in cheap price.I give my condolences to the demise of the poisoned babies and covet them to be died placidly.China now must ensure that they themselves must be liable for their products.
Migraines 'mean less cancer risk'
Women who suffer regular migraines may have the comfort of knowing they face a much lower risk of breast cancer, say US researchers.
The discovery points to the potential importance of hormone levels in both.
The study of 3,412 women suggests a 30% lower risk for people with a history of disabling headaches.
However, the researchers, from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, warned more work was needed to confirm the link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7710674.stm
Inmate escapes German jail in box
A manhunt is under way in western Germany for a convicted drug dealer who escaped by mailing himself out of jail.
The 42-year-old Turkish citizen - who was serving a seven-year sentence - had been making stationery with other prisoners destined for the shops.
At the end of his shift, the inmate climbed into a cardboard box and was taken out of prison by express courier. His whereabouts are still unknown.
The chief warden of the jail told the BBC this was an embarrassing incident.
The prison authorities in Willich, near Duesseldorf, said the man, who was tall and broad-shouldered, had hidden in a box that was about 150cm by 120cm.
When the weekly express courier arrived to pick up several boxes of merchandise, the one containing the prisoner was also loaded into the back of the lorry.
Shortly after it had passed through the prison gates, the inmate made his dash for freedom by cutting a big hole in the tarpaulin of the lorry and jumping off.
The driver alerted the police after he noticed the tarpaulin flapping in the breeze.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7730018.stm
