Research finds that going to Church at Christmas is good for you !

Even if you have no religion and worry about being hypocritical, services improve relationships

Did you know that in the US, people aren’t supposed to say Merry Christmas any more: it’s Season’s Greetings. How about going to church ? Isn’t it superficial to go just for the atmosphere, the carols and greeting neighbours you haven’t seen in a while? Isn’t it a bit conformist to go to church if you’re not “religious”? Around the world, millions of people describe themselves as “Christian” without belonging to a church or attending services.

Merry Christmas Everyone !

A lot of us feel that our spirituality, faith or belief system – whatever you want to call it – is no longer part of an organised religion. We don’t feel we have a spiritual home in a specific building called “church”.

This phenomenon is known as post-denominationalism. This lack of a church where we might feel welcome, is a kind of spiritual homelessness. It’s not easy to have this post-denominational faith, where we believe in “something” without having a trustworthy religion to hang it on. Millions worldwide describe themselves as “Christian” even though they’re not “religious”.

The secularisation of Christian values has taken hold. Humanists, for example, believe that God is other people – which was Jesus’s point, actually. Yet at the same time to admit to being Christian in certain circles is like saying you’re a spiritual Neanderthal who takes comfort in fairy tales.

But if we don’t believe in a particular church, where do we find one? Will the church down the road do? Religious or not, there are many reasons why going to church is good for us. Teenagers who attend religious services with parents are more likely to feel greater well-being, while romantic partners who pray for their “significant others” experience greater relationship commitment, according to research. Studies looked at how spiritual beliefs seem to strengthen generally happy marriages. In families, it’s enough for just one member to be spiritual. “Relational spirituality” is research that focuses on the ways diverse couples and families can rely on specific spiritual beliefs and behaviours to motivate them to create, maintain and transform intimate relationships.

Research shows how this spiritual “connectness” creates well-being. You don’t have to “believe” to benefit from being with believers. Whether you are atheist or agnostic, or whatever you choose, going to church at Christmas is good for you and your family. We’re all part of this awkward celebration of pagan Solstice and commercial/Christian Christmas. It really is okay, this Christmas, to go to church, wherever it is and whatever it means to you. It will be good for you

Research of idiotic behaviour by man

The theory that men are idiots and often do stupid things is backed up by new evidence...lol..

Little is known about sex differences in idiotic risk-taking behaviour. So researchers in north east England decided to test "male idiot theory" (MIT) that many of the differences in risk seeking behaviour may be explained by the observation that men are idiots and idiots do stupid things.

They reviewed data on idiotic behaviours demonstrated by winners of the Darwin Award over a 20 year period (1995 to 2014), noting the sex of the winner. To qualify, nominees must improve the gene pool by eliminating themselves from the human race using astonishingly stupid methods.

Worthy candidates include a man stealing a ride home by hitching a shopping trolley to the back of a train, only to be dragged two miles to his death before the train was able to stop; and the terrorist who posted a letter bomb with insufficient postage stamps and who, on its return, unthinkingly opened his own letter.

Of the 413 Darwin Award nominations, 332 were independently verified and confirmed by the Darwin Awards Committee. Of these, 14 were shared by male and female nominees -- usually overly adventurous couples in compromising positions -- leaving 318 valid cases for statistical testing.Of these 318 cases, 282 Darwin Awards were awarded to males, and just 36 awards given to females. Males thus made up 88.7% of Darwin Award winners, and this sex difference is highly statistically significant.

This finding is entirely consistent with male idiot theory (MIT) and supports the hypothesis that men are idiots and idiots do stupid things. However, this study has limitations, still it is puzzling that males are willing to take such unnecessary risks -- simply as a rite of passage, in pursuit of male social esteem, or solely in exchange for "bragging rights," . 

They believe male idiot theory deserves further investigation, and, "with the festive season upon us, we intend to follow up with observational field studies and an experimental study -- males and females, with and without alcohol -- in a semi-naturalistic Christmas party setting," they conclude.

Forgetfulness, it turns out, is all in the head.

Scientists have shown that fading memory and clouding judgment, the type that comes with advancing age, show up as lost and altered connections between neurons in the brain. But new experiments suggest an existing drug, known as riluzole and already on the market as a treatment for ALS, may help prevent these changes.

Researchers at The Rockefeller University and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found they could stop normal, age-related memory loss in rats by treating them with riluzole. This treatment, they found, prompted changes known to improve connections, and as a result, communication, between certain neurons within the brain’s hippocampus.

They have found that in many cases, aging involves synaptic changes that decrease synaptic strength, the plasticity of synapses, or both. The fact that riluzole increased the clustering of only the thin, most plastic spines, suggests that its enhancement of memory results from both an increase in synaptic strength and synaptic plasticity, which might explain its therapeutic effectiveness.

In this case, the clusters involved thin spines, a rapidly adaptable type of spine. The riluzole-treated animals had more clustering than the young animals and their untreated peers, who had the least. This discovery led the researchers to speculate that, in general, the aged brain may compensate by increasing clustering. Riluzole appears to enhance this mechanism.

Would you mind if you can switch on/off your brain at will?

I just read this article which is of great importance to me. I'm the kind that can't stop thinking, it's exhausting & causes me insomnia often. Lucky me, scientists have accidentally come across an area in the brain which can be said to be the on/off switch of the working of the organ.

The discovery might take us a step forward in solving the mystery of exactly how our consciousness works and how its awareness arises. Mohamad Koubeissi and his colleagues at George Washington University, may have found a switch in the brain that can literally make you fall asleep. The scientists described how they managed to switch the consciousness on and off of a woman with epilepsy by electrically stimulating her claustrum. One of the interesting features of the claustrum is the uniformity in the types of cells, indicating a uniform type of processing by all claustral neurons.

In an attempt to point out the area of a patient’s brain that was causing her seizures, the scientists

were performing an experiment to monitor brain signals using deep brain electrodes. They made a surprise discovery when the woman lost consciousness and started to stare blankly into space when one of the electrodes positioned near the claustrum was electrically stimulated.

It was observed that as soon as they stopped the stimulation, she regained her consciousness with no memory of the event happened. To confirm that they were affecting the woman’s consciousness rather than her ability to speak and move, the experiment was continued for more than two days. Though tested on one person only, the discovery might be helpful to understand completely the working of the human brain. Well in time it could help me to turn off my brain, so that I can rest better. ..haha...

A Revolutionary New Fabric Technology- Nano- fibre Cloth

That Cleans With Only Water, Replaces Expensive Paper Towels and Toxic Cleaners, and Can Help You Save Hundreds Of Dollars Per Year While Making Your Home Safer, Healthier & "Greener". I read it in the papers 2 weeks ago & have been very excited even since. It sounds GREAT doesn't it????

 What Is Nanolon® Fiber? Nanolon® fiber is a unique and revolutionary fabric technology that is hundreds of times finer than one human hair, containing almost 100,000 Nanolon® fibers per square inch. It captures liquid, dust, dirt and grime like a magnet, and without toxic chemicals. You can use it to clean and dry virtually any surface without paper towels and without toxic chemicals. When it becomes dirty, you just wash it and use it again.  

No Chemicals At All. The NanoTowels are specially designed to give optimum cleaning with nothing but water, and are so easy to use

Did You Know That Household chemicals are the #1 leading external and preventable cause for sickness. Just having them in your home in any quantity may increase the risk that you or someone you love could get seriously ill. 

 BIG Savings. The cost of cleaning chemicals and paper towels really add up over time. A one time purchase of the NanoTowels can eliminate these long term costs from your budget, and allow you to save a significant amount of money over the long term.

Check out their site & order. Please do give some reviews if you can:)

http://www.nanotowel.com/

Would you dare try sausages made from baby's poop?

Pooperoni? Baby poop sausages ????

This is a slow morning, my colleges & I were kidding around, boss is away in a conference of sorts. The topic that were passionately discussed today is what’s in the news lately- something close to our hearts or maybe butts- haha- baby’s poop! Would you dare try sausages made from babe's poop?

Apparently bacteria from baby poop can help make delicious sausages, which could transform savory meats into health foods much like probiotic yogurts, according to new research. Ok before you even go yucks…. Just read onJ

For millennia, cultures across the globe have relied on microbes to help create a dazzling variety of foods and drinks. The most familiar examples are the yeasts used to make wine, beer and other alcohol. Bacteria and yeast ferment sugars in foods, generating acids, gases and alcohols. Bread gets its spongy texture from bubbles of carbon dioxide released by fermenting yeast; cheese, pickles and kimchi traditionally often got their sharp taste via fermentation as well.

In recent years, scientists have discovered that foods such as yogurt that contain live probiotic bacteria can have a wide variety of health benefits. For instance, these microbes could help burn away belly fat, treat depression, lower inflammation, prevent urinary-tract infections and fight infant gastrointestinal disorders such as constipation.

Scientists in Spain reasoned that probiotic bacteria could be used in fermented sausages as well. Probiotic fermented sausages will give an opportunity to consumers who don't take dairy products the possibility to include probiotic foods to their diet. For probiotic bacteria to work, they must survive the acids in the digestive tract. As such, the researchers focused on microbes found alive in human feces.

Baby bacteria

The scientists concentrated on 43 fecal samples of healthy infants up to 6 months old. The two kinds of bacteria used most often in probiotics, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, are far more abundant in infant poop than in adult excrement. In addition, infant feces are natural samples, easy to obtain- from diapersJ

The scientists tried fermenting six batches of sausages using three strains of bacteria found in baby poop and three other, commercial probiotic strains of bacteria. Studies they had done in the past established the strains they used from infant excrement were safe for people.

Specifically, the investigators made "fuet," a kind of Mediterranean fermented pork sausage commonly found in Catalonia in northeastern Spain. It resembles the Spanish fermented sausage known as "chorizo," although fuet does not contain paprika like chorizo does and is also usually shorter, thinner, less acidic and less fatty. (The sausages the researchers made had no feces in them, only bacteria cultured from the poop.)

The scientists tried their creations as well. According to them,  they tasted very good !!!! Future research needs to confirm if this strain of bacteria actually has probiotic effects. Meanwhile, they can be used for the production of tasty fermented sausages. However no companies are currently interested in commercializing these sausages…..hmmmmm wonder why????? …lol…..