Adult Obesity in the U.S.

 

Adult obesity remains high across the U.S. Learn what you can do to get to a healthy weight. Obesity is a common, serious, and costly health issue that affects people in every state in the nation. New data show that at least 1 of 5 adults in every state has obesity. This condition is linked to some of the leading causes of death, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. Obesity and the health problems it causes cost the U.S. health care system as much as $147 billion per year. States differ in their levels of obesity. The percentage of people with obesity varies from state to state, and the problem is worse in some parts of the country than in others. The percentage of people with obesity also varies by other factors, such as race and ethnicity. These differences may be partly due to difference in people's access to healthy foods and safe places to be physically active. Some Americans have less access to stores and markets that sell healthy, affordable food such as fruits and vegetables. Safe routes for walking or biking do not exist in some neighborhoods. Some communities do not have parks and recreation centers that people can get to easily. Adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate activity every week. All the US people can take actions to get to and stay at a healthy weight. Everyone can: Eat more fruits and vegetables during meals and as snacks. Eat fewer foods high in fats and added sugars. Drink water instead of sugary drinks. Help children develop healthy eating habits by being a good adult role model. Limit TV watching and other non-homework screen time for children to less than 2 hours a day. Support and encourage breastfeeding among moms. National, state, and local governments can: Make sure that our schools, worksites, and communities offer healthy, affordable food choices. Create safe and convenient places in our communities where residents can be physically active.   Design local streets that are safe for walkers and other street users. Allow community residents to use local school tracks or gyms after classes have finished.   http://www.cdc.gov/features/adult-obesity-us/

Clues to keeping brain cells alive in those with Alzheimer's

 

A drug may be able to make it easier to learn a language, sharpen your memory and help those with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. (Stock image) Credit: © kenwnj / Fotolia Can you imagine a drug that would make it easier to learn a language, sharpen your memory and help those with dementia and Alzheimer's disease by rewiring the brain and keeping neurons alive? New Rutgers research published in the Journal of Neuroscience found that a drug -- RGFP966 -- administered to rats made them more attuned to what they were hearing, able to retain and remember more information, and develop new connections that allowed these memories to be transmitted between brain cells. "Memory-making in neurological conditions like Alzheimer's disease is often poor or absent altogether once a person is in the advanced stages of the disease," said Kasia M. Bieszczad, lead author and assistant professor in Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology. "This drug could rescue the ability to make new memories that are rich in detail and content, even in the worst case scenarios." What happens with dementias such as Alzheimer's is that brain cells shrink and die because the synapses that transfer information from one neuron to another are no longer strong and stable. There is no therapeutic treatment available that reverses this situation. The drug being tested in this animal study is among a class known as HDAC inhibitors -- now being used in cancer therapies to stop the activation of genes that turn normal cells into cancerous ones. In the brain, the drug makes the neurons more plastic, better able to make connections and create positive changes that enhance memory. Researchers found that laboratory rats, taught to listen to a certain sound in order to receive a reward, and given the drug after training, remembered what they learned and responded correctly to the tone at a greater rate than those not given the drug. Scientists also found that the rodents were more "tuned in" to the relevant acoustic signals they heard during their training -- an important finding Bieszczad said because setting up the brain to better process and store significant sounds is critical to human speech and language. "People learning to speak again after a disease or injury as well as those undergoing cochlear implantation to reverse previous deafness, may be helped by this type of therapeutic treatment in the future," said Bieszczad "The application could even extend to people with delayed language learning abilities or people trying to learn a second language." This hypersensitivity in processing auditory information enabled the neurons to reorganize and create new pathways -- allowing more of the information they learned to become a long-term memory, said Bieszczad who collaborated with colleagues in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California Irvine. "People normally remember an experience with limited detail -- not everything we see, hear and feel is remembered," she said. "What has happened here is that memory becomes closer to a snapshot of the actual experience instead of being sparse, limited or inaccurate." Story Source: The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Rutgers University.Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: K. M. Bieszczad, K. Bechay, J. R. Rusche, V. Jacques, S. Kudugunti, W. Miao, N. M. Weinberger, J. L. McGaugh, M. A. Wood. Histone Deacetylase Inhibition via RGFP966 Releases the Brakes on Sensory Cortical Plasticity and the Specificity of Memory Formation. Journal of Neuroscience, 2015; 35 (38): 13124 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0914-15.2015   http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151002113548.htm

Google’s autonomous cars will drive themselves around Mountain View this summer

 

Newsfeeds have been abuzz lately with discussions about the safety of Google’s self-driving cars. On the heels of the news that none of the autonomous vehicles were at fault in the motor vehicle ‘incidents’ they’ve been involved in, Google’s Self-Driving Car Project plans to free the cars from the confines of their test track and let them loose this summer on the streets of Mountain View, California. Well, sort of. In a blog post, Chris Urmson, director of the Google Self-Driving Car Project, explains that the cars will head out onto the open road with a safety driver on board. One of the biggest goals of the self-driving car movement is to free up drivers to do other tasks instead of, well, driving. Google’s autonomous car, like many other emerging prototypes, still has a steering wheel and brakes so a human driver can take over if necessary, but the car’s ability to drive itself is ever-improving. In a press conference, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said the search engine giant’s self-driving vehicles are capable of recognizing police cars, joggers, hand signs from traffic cops, and the inevitable fact that “occasionally people make terrible decisions—turning right from the far left lane, for instance, or running a red light—and is on alert for them.” Related: Google unveils the first fully functional prototype of its self-driving car By putting the autonomous cars on the road, Google’s engineering team aims to learn even more about how the vehicles operate and play with other traditionally operated cars (i.e. human-driven cars), as well as the host of variables that drivers encounter on a daily basis. The team is also really keen on getting people excited about the technology, by allowing them to see and interact with the cars. From the announcement, it doesn’t appear that Google plans to roll out all 23 of the self-driving prototype cars—just “a few.” The models that will be tooling around Mountain View have “the same software that our existing fleet of self-driving Lexus RX450h SUVs uses,” according to Urmson’s blog post. “That fleet has logged nearly a million autonomous miles on the roads since we started the project, and recently has been self-driving about 10,000 miles a week. So the new prototypes already have lots of experience to draw on—in fact, it’s the equivalent of about 75 years of typical US adult driving experience.” I guess that explains why they haven’t been to blame for any of the accidents. + Official Google Blog Images via Google   http://inhabitat.com/googles-autonomous-cars-will-drive-themselves-around-mountain-view-this-summer/

Japan will begin testing self-driving cabs next year

 

(The image above is a snapshot, not a video) A company called – wait for it – Robot Taxi has announced it will begin trials on autonomous taxi cabs in Japan next year. Fifty lucky residents of Kanagawa prefecture, just south of Tokyo, will be the first to ride the taxis of the future on round-trip journeys from their homes to local stores. And don’t worry, there will still be a human riding along in the driver’s seat during the test runs just in case the self-driving car gets into any trouble. Robot Taxi is optimistic about the trials and is aiming for a full commercial release of self-driving taxi service by 2020. The company will target areas that aren’t currently served by public transportation in an effort to close the gap and provide wider city access to people without cars, like tourists and the elderly. Robot Taxi’s two-minute ad, above, illustrates that idea, as it follows an empty robo-cab on its way to pick up an older couple from their home. The only question is, why are so many people waving at the empty taxi? Related: 6 Problems driverless cars will have to overcome Self-driving car technology is progressing like gangbusters, and now it really does seem like everyone has a horse in the race. Google’s already got self-driving cars on the streets of Mountain View, California. Uber is reportedly researching autonomous car technology, and even big car makers like Chevy and Hyundai are in on the game. Even Tesla has committed to producing a self-driving car by next year. Although it’s not clear what make of car the Robot Taxi will employ, one thing is quite certain: within just a few years, there will be a lot of driverless cars on the roadways. Via Engadget   http://inhabitat.com/japan-will-begin-testing-self-driving-cabs-next-year/

Iconic American Sport Photography by Neil Leifer

 

Posted: 01 Oct 2015 07:00 AM PDT Neil Leifer est un photographe américain né en 1942. Il a saisi de nombreux évènements de la société américaine. Sa photographie sportive est un de ses travaux les plus célèbres. Il a capturé les heures de gloire du sport américain. Des combats de Muhammad Ali aux matches de Michael Jordan en passant par le célèbre point levé des athlètes afro-américains Tommie Smith et John Carlos aux Jeux Olympiques de Mexico en 1968, tous ces instants figurent dans toutes les mémoires. www.fubiz.net

TruPosture smart shirt helps reduce back pain with real-time guidance

 

The TruPosture smart shirt is designed to provide real-time posture feedback (Credit: Adela Health) Those who have suffered through any type of back pain know it's not a fun feeling. Given the amount of sedentary slouching at desks and/or strained hunkering over display screens done on a daily basis, it's a wonder that more people haven't been afflicted by the pinch of poor posture. Adela Health has just unveiled TruPosture, a shirt that's designed to help reduce back pain by improving the way we sit. Having just read the mention of posture, some of you may be finding yourselves sitting up a little straighter in your seats. And that's the idea behind TruPosture. This latest wearable features patented nano-sensors embedded within a machine-washable, breathable stretchy material. These sensors are designed to measure the spine's movement with an accuracy of half a degree, and then send real-time feedback as necessary to the user. When TruPosture detects an excess in slouching or leaning, it sends vibrations to the target area so the user knows where and how to sit straighter. And by sitting straighter, one may be less susceptible to back pain and fatigue. Physical monitoring and feedback is at the heart of wearables like the Sensoria smart running system, but instead of tracking typical fitness data, TruPosture focuses on core muscles and spine alignment. TruPosture also features Bluetooth connectivity, which transmits measured data to the free TruPosture app. Through the app (compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows devices), users can see a real-time graphical represenation of their spine as well as track individual progress. TruPosture also offers additional modes to help users improve postures for standing, stretching, or a custom activity. Those who want more coaching can switch the difficulty from beginner to intermediate or advanced. The TruPosture smart shirt is currently the subject of a US$50,0000 Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. Backers will need to pledge $99 for a single TruPosture smart shirt, saving 50 percent off the planned retail price, and will be able to choose shirt style (men's or women's), size, and color. If production and quality assurance go according to schedule, backers can expect shipments of the TruPosture to start sometime in May, 2016. http://www.gizmag.com/truposture-smart-shirt/39682 Sources: Adela Health, Indiegogo

3D-printed ice shelter wins NASA's Mars habitat design competition

 

Ice House is based on NASA's "follow the water" approach to exploration (Credit: Team Space Exploration Architecture and Clouds Architecture Office) NASA has announced the winners of its 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge Design Competition. The contest sought architectural concepts for how 3D printing might be used to create shelters on the Red Planet. The overall winner, Ice House, would be built using the planet's predicted abundant water supply. More than 165 submissions to the competition, which was launched in May, were received by NASA. The 3-D Printed Habitat Challenge, of which the design competition is part, is ultimately aimed at contributing towards the development of new technologies for additive manufacturing using "local indigenous materials" in space and on Earth. "The creativity and depth of the designs we’ve seen have impressed us," says NASA's Centennial Challenges Program Manager Monsi Roman. "These teams were not only imaginative and artistic with their entries, but they also really took into account the life-dependent functionality our future space explorers will need in an off-Earth habitat." Ice House was designed by Team Space Exploration Architecture, and Clouds Architecture Office. It is based on NASA's "follow the water" approach to exploration. As water is a means of sustaining life and ice a potential building material, the team opted to locate at Alba Mons in Mars' northern hemisphere, where it is believed sub-surface water ice is plentiful. The proposal uses a lander as the basis of the shelter, containing both private and communal interior spaces. Once in situ, it would deploy an inflatable ETFE membrane to create an interstitial environment between the outside of the capsule and the Mars atmosphere. Rovers would then extract water from the ice below the surface at Alba Mons and apply it to form a protective skin on the inside of the inflatable environment. Not only does the layer of ice provide protection from radiation in the outside atmosphere, it is also translucent and allows light into the habitat. By conditioning the environment within the inflatable section, it is proposed that the ice be kept frozen indefinitely and vegetation could be grown, which would help to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. The second place award of $15,000 went to Team Gamma, from architecture firm Foster + Partners. Its concept proposes using semi-autonomous robots to build a shelter using regolith (the loose soil and rocks found on the surface of Mars). Finally, third place honors went to Team LavaHive. It proposes using construction rovers with inflatable attachment sections as the basis for the shelter. Once inflated, the sections would be covered in "lava-casted" regolith to create a protective layer. This approach would be used to create a number of adjacent shelters with adjoining corridors. Teams were judged on many factors, including architectural concept, design approach, habitability, innovation, functionality, Mars site selection and 3D print constructability. The highest ranked 30 submissions, including the three winners, were displayed at the New York Maker Faire on Sunday, Sep. 27. Source: NASA   http://www.gizmag.com/nasa-3d-printed-habitat-challenge-design-competition-winners/39673

A golden retriever, 8 birds and a hamster are the best friends.

 

Based in Brazil, along with his human owner and at least eight pet birds, ‘Bob’ is a golden retriever and his best friends–a chubby hamster and eight birds. The owner of this cuddly group posts photos of the group under Instagram moniker ‘bob_goldenretriever’.

http://trenf.com/a-golden-retriever-8-birds-and-a-hamster-are-the-best-friends/