Artwalk Gainesville

The boredom diet: How eating the same food every day could help shed the pounds

They say variety is the spice of life but new research shows that it may also fuel weight gain.

Eating the same food every day could lead to eating fewer calories, say scientists.

While past research had already shown that today’s increased choice – being bombarded with chocolate varieties at the supermarket, for example – can lead to obesity and poor food choices, the new work highlights the link between monotony of meals and calorie intake

Read it all here.

Ford phases-out CD players

Ford is set to phase-out in-car CD players and instead push customers in to accessing music via USB or Bluetooth.

The new Ford Focus, which will ship with DAB, will not include a multi-disc CD player, instead incorporating the company’s new Ford Sync music system.

The Ford Sync system offers a “a sophisticated multimedia infotainment hub providing connectivity options including multiple USB inputs, SD card ports, RCA inputs and Bluetooth connectivity”.

Read it all here.

Check Out the Skinniest House in the World

There are skinny houses. And then there is Jakub Szczęsny’s Keret House, which could make Calista Flockhart look like a fatty. At its most generous, the proposed place, in Warsaw, Poland, will clock in at 4 feet wide. At its narrowest, it’ll be just 28 inches wide — thinner than the average doorway.

Read it all here.

Minority rules: Scientists discover tipping point for the spread of ideas

Troy, N.Y. –Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found that when just 10 percent of the population holds an unshakable belief, their belief will always be adopted by the majority of the society. The scientists, who are members of the Social Cognitive Networks Academic Research Center (SCNARC) at Rensselaer, used computational and analytical methods to discover the tipping point where a minority belief becomes the majority opinion. The finding has implications for the study and influence of societal interactions ranging from the spread of innovations to the movement of political ideals.

“When the number of committed opinion holders is below 10 percent, there is no visible progress in the spread of ideas. It would literally take the amount of time comparable to the age of the universe for this size group to reach the majority,” said SCNARC Director Boleslaw Szymanski, the Claire and Roland Schmitt Distinguished Professor at Rensselaer. “Once that number grows above 10 percent, the idea spreads like flame.”

Read it all here!

Chinese rhino cups set “Antiques Roadshow” record

(Reuters) – A collection of Chinese cups carved from rhinoceros horns has become the most valuable find in the 16-year history of the television program “Antiques Roadshow” in the United States.

The five cups, believed to date from the late 17th or early 18th century were valued at $1-$1.5 million on Saturday after being brought to the TV show at a stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The owner, who prefers to remain unidentified, told Asian arts expert Lark Mason he started collecting cups inexpensively in the 1970s and had no idea of the collection’s current value.

Read it all here.

Haul in the family: one lucky clan wins its third lottery

Wondering where all your good luck has gone? Maybe the McCauleys of Charlotte, N.C., have it. For the third time in 20 years, a member of the family has won the lottery.

A buzzy article from the AP delves into the details. Back in 1991, the family won $15.5 million from the New York Lotto. This was their biggest haul, but not their last. Sixteen years later, Amy McCauley held the ticket to $160,000 in the North Carolina Education Lottery. Then, in 2009, Amy picked up two more prizes, each worth $1,000.

And now, in 2011, Kimberly McCauley (daughter of Amy) won $100,000 on a scratcher card.

Read it all here.

20 Habits That Make You Fat

Decades ago, around the time of Steven Tyler’s last haircut, a completely wrong-headed idea started being passed around America’s dinner tables: Eating fat makes you fat.

Wrong. Eating fat won’t make you fat, any more than eating money will make you rich. Calories make you fat, and most “low-fat” or “fat-free” foods actually have just as many calories as their full-fat versions, because of added sugar and chemicals. And there’s no debate on this one: Since we made “cut down on fat” our favorite food craze roughly 30 years ago, the U.S. obesity rate has doubled. Among children, it has tripled.

Read it all here.

Cuddly Cameron is looking for his forever family! Could he be searching for you?

I’m Cameron and I am something special, alright.  I am only a year old!  I came from a puppy mill that deemed me unfit for breeding due to my coloration, but who could resist the love I have to give!  I am a great puppy and would love to live and grow in your heart!

• Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue
• Gainesville, FL
• (352)395-6131

• Email Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue
• See more pets from Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue
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Please contact Kirk (keppenstein65@gmail.com) for more information about this pet.

Help support Haile’s Angels Pet Rescue tonight!

Cocktails for Tails

Walnuts are DRUGS! FDA makes bizarre claim after seller says they ‘reduce risk of heart disease and cancer’

They may just be the hardest drugs on the market, if the FDA are to be believed.

A company which sells walnuts has been told they are dealing in drugs because their packaging suggests health benefits which the Food and Drug Administration has not approved, it has been reported.

A fiercely-worded letter from the agency allegedly insisted Diamond Foods, from Stockton, California, remove the health claims or send off for a new drug application if it did not wish to be closed down.

The nut company has been selling its products with packaging which states the omega-3 fatty acids in walnuts have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and some types of cancer.

Read it all here.