STUDY: Walking each day cuts heart attack, stroke risk...

STUDY: Walking each day cuts heart attack, stroke risk...



Taking just 2,000 extra steps a day could help people prone to heart attacks and stroke cut their risk by eight per cent, claim researchers.
The exercise is equivalent to walking 20 minutes a day at a moderate pace, says a study in The Lancet medical journal (must credit).
The health benefits are gained by anyone doing 2,000 extra steps for a year on top of their normal levels of activity.

But doing 4,000 extra steps - 40 minutes of additional daily walking - matches the benefits from taking a statin, says study leader Dr Thomas Yates, of the Diabetes Research Unit at Leicester University.
He said ‘Doing 4,000 extra steps a day reduces your cardiovascular risk by about 16-20 per cent, which is the equivalent of taking a statin.
‘However, a statin has side effects and only reduces cholesterol, whereas walking has a much bigger range of health benefits.’

The study looked at 9,306 adults from 40 countries who had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), which can lead to diabetes, or other heart disease risk factors.
Using a pedometer, researchers recorded usual walking activity in terms of average number of steps taken per day over a week, both at the start of the study and again 12 months later.
The researchers analysed the relationship between the number of steps taken per day and the risk of subsequent cardiovascular disease after taking account of a wide range of factors such as body-mass index, smoking status, diet, clinical history, and medication use.
Altogether 531 cardiovascular events such as heart attacks were recorded.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2526750/2-000-steps-healthier-heart-Walking-far-day-year-reduce-heart-attack-stroke-risk-8.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

Elk Rescued After Christmas Lights and Candy Canes Get Stuck In Antlers -

Elk Rescued After Christmas Lights and Candy Canes Get Stuck In Antlers - 



Banff residents got quite the holiday display this week after an elk got tangled up in some Christmas lights and decorations. 

A resident spotted the bull elk wandering around with the lights and some candy cane ornaments strung up in his antlers near the Albertan mountain town Wednesday. 

Parks Canada, who responded to the call, tranquilized the elk to get him untangled from the lights. About four and a half metres of lights were trailing behind him. 

"We thought that it could get wrapped up in its legs and cause some injury and or get wrapped up in a bush and somewhat hold that elk hostage to the bush," said resource management officer Blair Fyten. 

Out of concern an incident could happen again, more drastic action was taken. 

Antlers taken off 

"This elk is one that frequents the edge of the townsite and we just thought there could be another possibility that he could find himself wrapped up in some more Christmas lights, so instead of putting him through the drugging situation again we decided to cut his antlers off." 

The elk is doing fine without his antlers, said Fyten. The animal's antlers grow back every year. 

"Every couple of years we'll get an animal that's got Christmas lights on him and sometimes they're able to shed the lights themselves, and sometimes they're wrapped up so tight that we have to intervene."

This year, at least two animals have been trapped in Christmas lights, he said. 

Parks Canada is warning residents who live in areas frequented by deer or elk to string lights onto their houses rather than trees or shrubs, where some wildlife feed.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/12/19/banff-elk-christmas-lights_n_4476858.html

1,250 Bags Of Heroin Stamped Obamacare’ Seized -

1,250 Bags Of Heroin Stamped Obamacare’ Seized - 



Four people are facing drug trafficking charges after Massachusetts State Police say a Trooper found 1,250 plastic bags of heroin in their vehicle. The heroin packages were all marked with stamps that read either “Obamacare” or “Kurt Cobain.”
Officials say Trooper Joseph Petty had pulled over a car on Interstate 91 in Northampton when a passing vehicle committed “several violations,” State Police said.
Trooper Petty caught up to the vehicle in Hatfield and pulled it over.
During the stop, Trooper Petty says he noticed illegal drugs in the car.
A K-9 unit was called in and allegedly found 1,250 individual plastic bags of heroin in the vehicle.
All four people in the vehicle were arrested.

Read more- 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/12/20/1250-bags-of-heroin-stamped-obamacare-and-kurt-cobain-seized/

5 Surprising Things We Feed Cows -

5 Surprising Things We Feed Cows - 



In addition to the old standbys of corn, soy, hay (and, uh, drugs), "there's a lot of stuff which the general public might not think of as feeds which are actually quite common," says Cory Parsons, a livestock nutrition expert at Oregon State University. For example:

Sawdust: Decades ago, when Bob Batey, an eastern Iowa entrepreneur, observed cows gobbling up sawdust hosed down from his paper mill, he had an idea: Why not make the stuff into a commercial cattle feed? Sawdust is made largely of cellulose, a carbohydrate, but it's bound together with a compound called lignin, which makes it hard to digest. To strip the lignin, Batey soaked some of the stuff in nitric acid, and voilà! The cows were ready to chow down. "They like it," he says. "It's good for them. It's economical. And it's green." 

But it was only after a 2012 drought laid waste to local hay and grass that Batey put his idea into action. He teamed up with local feed producers to devise a mix of sawdust, corn, vitamins, and minerals. While ranchers have not yet widely adopted the sawdust feed, Byron Leu, a regional beef specialist at Iowa State University, said with corn prices high, the stuff could catch on "pretty fast." The Iowa City Gazette noted that in tests, the cows ate the stuff "like candy." Speaking of which…

Candy, wrapper and all: Ranchers report feeding their beef steers and dairy cows a variety of bulk candy, including gummy worms, marshmallows, hard candy, sprinkles, chocolate, candy corn, and hot chocolate mix. Candy provides sugar that cows would usually get from corn, giving them more energy and making them fatter. When corn prices skyrocketed, the practice became popular: In fall 2012, one candy supplier who sells farmers and ranchers "salvage" chocolate—that's imperfect and broken chocolates—said the price of the stuff had recently doubled.

In some cases, ranchers found, the candy feed comes wrapped. Asked if he was concerned about his cattle eating plastic, one animal nutrition expert in Tennessee said he was not worried. "I think it would pass through just like excess fiber would."


Chicken shit: What's not to love about the fecal waste of America's 36-million-plus broiler chickens? It's plentiful and cheap. But according to a recent OnEarth story by Brad Jacobson, the problem may be less the poop itself than the smorgasbord of other substances it frequently comes with, including feathers, heavy metals, bacteria, antibiotics, and bits of rodents. Jacobson also notes that the practice could promote the spread of mad cow disease. 

Ground limestone: Strange as feeding rocks to cows may sound, limestone can be found in cattle troughs all over the United States. The stuff is a cheap source of calcium, and it also seems to promote growth. As one study put it, cows that ate limestone late in life "tended to have more desirable carcasses" than cows that didn't. 

Crab guts: For ranchers and feedlots near the coast, the guts and other undesirable parts of fish, crabs, shrimp, and crawfish can be an abundant source of cheap protein. Ground up into a tasty meal, seafood byproducts can be mixed into other feeds. Fish-meal cattle feed isn't a new idea; Marco Polo observed in his diary that cows ate it "without any sign of dislike." 

Read more -

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/12/cow-feed-chicken-poop-candy-sawdust

Study: Your Dog Probably Recognizes Your Face — Even In Photos -

Study: Your Dog Probably Recognizes Your Face — Even In Photos - 



Your dog may be able to recognize your face in a photo.
That’s the latest from the University of Helsinki, which published the results of its study in the journal Animal Cognition this December.
According to Science News Daily, the researchers had dogs look at facial images of familiar humans (such as their owner) and other dogs in the family, as well as unfamiliar humans and dogs they’d never encountered. Then the researchers measured the dogs’ eye movements as they viewed the photos.
Scientists say that while the dogs viewed the faces of other dogs for longer than the human faces (backing up findings from previous studies), the canines studied also studied the faces of familiar humans for longer than unfamiliar ones.
Additionally, when the dogs were given upside-down photos of faces to view, they viewed those in much the same way that humans do. While the pups stared at the inverted pictures for just as long, they tended to focus more on the eye area of the upright photos.
“Familiar faces and eyes attracted more fixations than the strange ones, suggesting that dogs are likely to recognize conspecific [relating to the same species] and human faces in photographs,” the study’s authors conclude.
It’s just more proof that “dogs are people, too.”

Read more - 

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/12/19/study-dogs-able-to-recognize-familiar-faces-in-photos/

OOps - Nelson Mandela Tribute Billboard Uses Picture of Morgan Freeman... -

OOps - Nelson Mandela Tribute Billboard Uses Picture of Morgan Freeman... - 



Actor Morgan Freeman earned kudos for his portrayal of South African leader Nelson Mandela in the Clint Eastwood drama Invictus.
Perhaps Freeman's performance in the 2009 was too good as it lead to some confusion for an Indian-based billboard artist.
An owner of a billboard dedicated to Nelson Mandela was red-faced on Thursday after the discovery that a photo of actor Morgan Freeman was used instead of one of the anti-apartheid hero.
The billboard was erected on the side of a road in Coimbatore as part of memorials across India and the world to Mandela, who died on December 5.

Read more - 

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2013/12/19/freeman-mandela-billboard-mistake

SUV Vs. Moose -

SUV Vs. Moose - 



Pictures released by Alberta RCMP of an SUV that collided with a moose, from which the driver walked away unscathed, can only be described as a Christmas miracle.

According to police, North Star resident Kevin McFadgen was heading to his job site in Peace River the morning of Dec. 17, when a northbound semi-trailer passed his vehicle, creating a whiteout situation.

Although he slowed his SUV, McFadgen spotted a moose just ahead in the lane on Highway 35, with no time to slow down. Instead, he ducked down below the dash and into the passenger seat, his vehicle smashing into the massive animal.

Police say the moose was flipped onto the hood of the SUV, peeling back the roof in the impact.

Unbelievably, McFadgen was able to remove himself from the wreck and call for help. He was taken to hospital with only minor injuries. The moose, however, did not survive.

"Judging by the extent of the damage seen on the vehicle, this is a perfect example of a driver who was paying attention to the road therefore able to quickly respond", said Sgt. Thomas Howell of the RCMP Manning detachment, in a press release.

"Without Mr. McFadgen's quick action and thinking, he may not be here today to tell this story."





Read more - 

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/12/19/kevin-mcfadgen-moose-crash_n_4475275.html

Fully Functional, Life-Size Lego Car -

Fully Functional, Life-Size Lego Car - 



We've seen some pretty amazing machines made out of Lego bricks over the past several years, but this project (shown in the video below), built by Steve Sammartino and Raul Oaida, takes the cake as the most impressive. After all, not only is it built in full scale, it can move under its own power with human beings on board. Powered by four engines with a total of 256 pistons and a couple of high-pressure air tanks, its creators claim it can potentially hit speeds of up to 32 km/h (20 miles per hour).

The Super Awesome Micro Project, as it's being called, was built in Romania and then shipped to Melbourne, Australia. It apparently took some 500,000 individual Lego bricks to build, and while we're not sure we'd have gone with a yellow and black hot rod motif, we're suitably impressed by the result.

We offer a hearty pat on the back to the car's builders, and to the 40 Australian backers who donated some cash after reading a single tweet from one of its builders. 

Read more - 

http://ca.autoblog.com/2013/12/19/super-awesome-micro-project-fullsize-functional-lego-car-video-toy-car-kit/#continued

Scientists believe death could be reversible... -

Scientists believe death could be reversible... - 



Scientists are stretching the boundaries of understanding what happens as the body dies - and learning more about ways to perhaps interrupt the process, which takes longer than we might suppose.

Death is the final outcome for 100 percent of patients. But there's growing evidence that revival is possible for at least some patients whose hearts and lungs have stopped working for many minutes, even hours. And brain death - when the brain irreversibly ceases function -- is also proving less open and shut.

For decades, doctors have recorded cases where people immersed in very cold water have been revived after hours have gone by. Normally, brain cells start dying within a few minutes after the heart stops pumping oxygen.

Many studies have found that hypothermia protects the brain by decreasing its need for oxygen and staving off cell death. Body cooling has become common for many patients after cardiac arrest.

However, cooling more a few degrees below normal temperature can also cause cell damage.

Cardiologists are still tinkering to find the best approach. Two recent studies presented at the American Heart Association's scientific meeting in Dallas in November tried to see whether early cooling by paramedics after they get a heart restarted is helpful (it didn't seem affect survival or brain damage) or whether cooling to 91.4 degrees Fahrenheit or 96.8 degrees during the first day in the hospital brings better results (again, not much difference).

Then there's the issue of how long to perform CPR. One 2012 study found the median duration in hospitals was 20 minutes for patients that didn't survive; 12 minutes for those who did. The AHA recommends bystanders keep performing CPR until emergency medical services arrive.

A Japanese study presented at the AHA meeting, based on six years of data on cardiac arrest survival across Japan, concluded it is worthwhile to continue CPR for 38 minutes or longer and still have a chance to avoid major brain damage.

Defining brain death is becoming more complex as researchers find signs of activity in both human and animal subjects whose brain waves at first show they've "flat-lined" to the point that there is no brain function. While some doctors use the EEG as a final check for signs of life in the brain, most rely on a series of reflex and respiration tests given over several hours to determine brain death.

Scientists at the University of Montreal reported in September on the case of one Romanian patient who was in an extreme deep coma after treatment with a powerful anti-epileptic drug. Although the electroencephalogram (EEG) showed no activity in the man's cortex (the master processor of the brain), there was activity in the hippocampus, the region responsible for memory and learning.

The Montreal team, which reported their findings in the journal PLOS One, recreated the same coma state in 26 cats, and observed the same type of oscillations being generated in the hippocampus of each one.

Read more - 

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/science-tech/scientists-looking-closer-at-what-happens-when-body-dies

"The Chinese Don't Want Dollars Anymore, They Want Gold" - London's Gold Vaults Are Empty -

"The Chinese Don't Want Dollars Anymore, They Want Gold" - London's Gold Vaults Are Empty - 



Today gold slid under $1200 per ounce, dropping to a level not seen in three years. Judging by the price action one would think that gold is not only overflowing from precious metal vaults everywhere, but can be found thrown away on the street, where nobody even bothers to pick it up. One would be wrong. In fact, as Bloomberg's Ken Goldman reports, "you could walk into a vault in London and they were packed to the rafter with gold, and the gold would trade from me to you to somebody else. You could walk into these vaults today and they are virtually empty. All that gold has been transferred out of London, 26 million ounces...." To find out where it has gone and why it is never coming back, watch the clip below (spoiler alert: listen for the line: "the Chinese don't want US dollars anymore, they want gold").



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