Category Archives: health

The Blueberries In Your Food Could Be Fake

Here’s something to choke on. The “blueberries” inside that muffin or cereal you love so much might not actually have ever been blueberries. Instead, they are a composite of sugars and starches that have been dyed blue. Check the la… Continue reading

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Mice Kept on Unnatural Schedule Go Haywire

Artificially separated from a natural cycle of light and dark, the bodies and brains of mice go haywire in ways that may mimic the human effects of circadian disruption.
The mice are not an analogue for humans who work a night shift or regularly trave… Continue reading

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How to Recognize Signs of Burnout (and What to Do About Them) [Health]

We all feel burnt out from work now and again, but it’s not always easy to recognize and easier to place blame elsewhere. Here are some burnout signs to look for and what you can do if you fit the bil… Continue reading

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Can sitting too much kill you?

This article in Scientific American titled “Can sitting too much kill you?” is the boost I need to get off my butt and make a treadmill desk.

[E]ven if you are meeting current physical activity guidelines by exercising for one hour per day (something … Continue reading

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2010?s Best Long Reads: Science & Technology

Longreads and Brain Pickings have teamed up to highlight the most fascinating in-depth stories published on the web this year. Earlier, we featured the best of Business and Art, Design, Film & Music. Our final spotlight shines on Science, Medicine … Continue reading

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Astronauts’ fingernails fall off

You know how you always wanted to be an astronaut, because you really wanted to have an EVA jaunt in the great empty of space? Well, good luck with that: it’ll make your fingernails fall off. Some astronauts actually pull their own fingernails off befo… Continue reading

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EPA Reverses Controversial ‘Human Guinea Pig’ Rule

Under proposed changes to federal research ethics standards, the Environmental Protection Agency will no longer accept studies that use people as guinea pigs in chemical tests.
In 2006, under chemical-industry pressure, and over arguments that the st… Continue reading

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Swine Flu Jumps Back to Pigs and Keeps Evolving

A new strain of swine flu shows that the pandemic version has jumped from humans back to pigs, where it’s evolving in new and unpredictable ways.
The new strain, identified in a Hong Kong slaughterhouse, isn’t especially virulent. But the findings… Continue reading

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The Caffeine Database

Use this handy site to calculate how much caffeine you’ve had. Link (via Lifehacker)

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Mind-Control Microbe

Can a cat parasite infect humans as well? An article on Discover suggests that Toxoplasma gondii is altering the behaviour of its human hosts, and can even cause a shift in the sex ratio of their babies in favour of … Continue reading

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Paradoxical Undressing

This article explains why some hypothermia victims undress themselves even as they freeze to death. Shunting blood to your core and away from your extremities is accomplished through vasoconstriction of your peripheral circulation. This allows the outer portions of your … Continue reading

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Action video games improve eyesight

Not really surprising, but playing action games can help improve your visual processing abilities. In an article to be published in Psychological Science, they have shown that people who played action video games for a few hours a day over … Continue reading

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Spilling the Beans

This article examines some of the myths and facts surrounding coffee and your health. For example, recent studies indicate that drinking coffee may reduce your chances of developing Type 2 diabetes, and could also protect you from Parkinson’s disease. In … Continue reading

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