15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee

6 Reasons to Kick Your Soda Habit

Do you spend most days with a can of soda by your side? You might want to break that habit. Turns out, all soda -- even diet -- is bad you, and new research suggests it's especially harmful to women. Here are six reasons to give up soft drinks for good.

1. Soda makes you fat. 

Both regular and diet soft drinks are tied to obesity. In one study, people who drank diet sodas had a 70% greater increase in waist circumference over a few years compared to those who skipped soft drinks.
Diet soft drinks are particularly insidious, says RealAge cofounder Michael F. Roizen, M.D. "Sweet diet soda fuels your desire for other sweets," he explains. It also has a "health halo" effect. "You view choosing a 'diet' drink as virtuous (all those calories saved!). So it feels like you can afford to reward that virtue with a hot fudge sundae."


2. Soda boosts your risk of serious disease. 
The extra belly fat that often comes with a soft drink habit is linked to heart disease and type 2 diabetes. A recent study in the Journal of Internal Medicine also tied a daily diet soda habit to a higher stroke risk.
3. Regular soft drinks may cause cancer. 

New research from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health finds drinking two or more regular soft drinks per week may almost double your risk of pancreatic cancer. Researchers speculate that the sugar overload from regular soda triggers insulin production that fuels cancer cell growth.

4. It's bad for your teeth. 

Yep, your mom was right about this one. And here again, even diet soda is bad news because sugar isn't the worst offender in soft drinks. The big culprit is soda's high acid content: phosphoric, malic, citric, and tartaric acid strip tooth enamel. Citrus-flavored soft drinks are the worst -- they dissolve enamel up to five times more than colas.
5. It's bad for your bones.

The same acids that are bad for your teeth also coax calcium from your bones. That goes for regular and diet caffeinated soda. Can't give up your Diet Coke? Roizen recommends upping your daily calcium tally by an extra 20 mg for every 12 ounces of soda you sip.

6. It's bad, even if you don't gain weight.

New research from the American Heart Association finds that women are more vulnerable than men to the harmful effects of drinking two or more sugar-sweetened drinks -- including soda -- per day. Soda-sipping women are likely to have a larger waist size, higher "bad" LDL cholesterol, higher levels of triglycerides (harmful fatty acids that can cause heart disease), higher blood sugar, and lower "good" HDL cholesterol -- even if they don't put on a pound.

Palm Trees `May Hold Key to Immortality`

The key to longevity may not lie in a miraculous essence of water, but rather in the structure and function of cells within a plant and not a special, mysterious, rare plant, but one that we may think of as being quite commonplace, even ordinary – the palm tree, according to researchers.

For centuries, humans have been exploring, researching, and, in some cases, discovering how to stave off life-threatening diseases, increase life spans, and obtain immortality.

Biologists, doctors, spiritual gurus, and even explorers have pursued these quests — one of the most well-known examples being the legendary search by Ponce de Leon for the “Fountain of Youth”.

P. Barry Tomlinson from The Kampong Garden of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Miami, teamed up with graduate student Brett Huggett from Harvard University to write a review paper exploring the idea that palms may be the longest-lived tree, and whether this might be due to genetic underpinnings.

Having retained his essay in his personal files, Tomlinson found that it provided an excellent literature background for working on the question of cell longevity in relation to palms.

A component of an organism’s life span that biologists have been particularly interested in is whether longevity is genetically determined and adaptive.

For botanists, discovering genetic links to increasing crop production and the reproductive lifespan of plants, especially long-lived ones such as trees, would be invaluable.

Another Rape Near Delhi (Teenage girl blames landlord, mother for rape)

Barely three days after the gruesome gang rape of a Delhi girl outraged India, yet another case of rape has surfaced, where a teenage girl has alleged that she was repeatedly raped by her landlord in the presence of her mother.

In her complaint, the 17-year old girl from Faridabad has said that she was first raped by Ahmed Lekh, her landlord in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh early this year, when she had gone there to attend a wedding.

She added that she was raped several times and was threatened of dire consequences, if she revealed anything about the crime.

Lekh raped me and my mother is also involved. He and my mother were forcing me to do wrong things. They tied my hands and feet and then he forcefully raped me. It has been five to six months, since this has been taking place. They threatened me that if I reveal anything, then they would kill my father and other family members and told me they had made a CD of the video,” the rape victim told a reporter on Wednesday (December 19).

According to media reports, the victim's mother was into an illicit relationship with the landlord and she later revealed about the crime to her maternal uncle, after the duo began to harass her sister.

The victim's mother, Ruksana Parveen, refuted the allegations and added that her daughter and her husband's relatives were trying to tarnish her image.

“This is wrong, it is not right. These girls have been spoilt by their father, I was trying to guide them, but her father and other relatives have all spoilt them," she said.

The Faridabad police have registered a report in this connection, adding that the crime was first committed in Bijnor city of northern Uttar Pradesh state and their team would first investigate the matter.

“We heard their complaint in this case. She said that she was raped in Uttar Pradesh. They are going there for the investigation. We have registered a report in this case,” said Station Head Officer, Old Faridabad, Vijay Kumar.

Gender abuses are more common across India's conservative northern belt - which includes Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar - largely due to a deep-rooted mindset that women are inferior and must be restricted to the role of homemakers.

Earlier, the gang rape of a medical student in a moving bus in New Delhi often referred to as the ''rape capital'', on Sunday night (December 16) sparked protests from all quarters of society.

The Delhi girl, who is on ventilator support, has severe genital, abdominal and head injuries and is battling for her life in a city hospital.

iPhone5 is a bestseller

      

 REUTERS - Apple Inc sold more than 2 million iPhone 5s in China in just three days after its launch there on Friday, its best ever smartphone launch in the country, but Apple shares fell on Monday after Citi downgraded the stock.

The highly anticipated release in China, Apple's second-biggest market, has not eased worries about stiffer competition in mobile devices that has driven a slide in the share price of the world's most valuable technology company.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said last week that Apple had started cutting orders to iPhone suppliers to balance excess inventory.

Sales of Amazon.com Inc's cheaper Kindle Fire tablets have also surged this year and rival Microsoft Corp recently forayed into the market with its Surface.

Apple shares have fallen on seven of the last 10 trading days, with several analysts cutting their price targets on the company's stock.

The shares were down 1.3 percent at $502.76 in early trading on the Nasdaq. The stock has shed nearly 13 percent of its value since the beginning of this month to Friday's close.

Citi Research downgraded Apple's stock on Sunday to "neutral" from "buy", and lowered its price target to $575 from $675, citing diminishing hype around the iPhone 5 and improving competition in smartphones.

But Topeka Capital Markets remained upbeat, suggesting Chinese iPhone owners would upgrade from iPhone 4 models.

"The strong iPhone 5 sales this weekend support our view," Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White said in a research note on Monday.

"The iPhone 5 is all about the status upgrade. A new form factor shows the world that you have the latest and greatest iPhone, a sign of status in China."

Apple's latest iPhone, sporting a larger 4-inch screen and 4G capability, made its global debut with a launch in the United States and 30 other countries in September, selling more than 5 million in its first three days on the market.

This is the first time Apple has announced China sales numbers for the iPhone and Chief Executive Tim Cook said that this was the best first weekend sales ever in China.

Analysts, however, say the company's longer-term outlook in the China market may hinge on expanding its partners in that country to include China Mobile Ltd , the country's top telecoms carrier.

Made in China ! Chinese Roadrail

15 amazing facts about McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries.
Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948 they reorganised their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles.
Let's take a look at 15 amazing facts about McDonald's.

McDonald's serves one per cent of the world's population every day.
McDonald's sells more than 75 hamburgers every second.
McDonald's' $24 billion in revenue makes it the 90th-largest economy in the world.
Counting $32 billion in revenue from franchise stores, McDonald's claims the 68th biggest economy, bigger than Ecuador.
McDonald's hires around one million workers in the US every year.
According to company estimates, one in every eight American workers has been employed by McDonald's.
McDonald's is the world's largest distributor of toys, with one included in 20 per cent of all sales.
McDonald's' iconic golden arches are recognised by more people than the cross.
The Queen of England owns a McDonald's near Buckingham Palace as part of her vast real estate portfolio.
For the next three years, McDonald's is going to open one restaurant every day in China.
McDonald's delivers - in 18 countries.
In some countries, McDonald's delivers - 24 hours.
The only place that is more than 100 miles from a McDonald's is a barren plain in South Dakota.
Americans alone consume one billion pounds of beef at McDonald's in a year - five and a half million head of cattle.
McDonald's sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken.

Men Working Night Shifts Likelier To Develop Cancer

Source-ANI: Night work can increase the risk of a number of cancers in men, according to a new study.

It is one of the first studies in the world to provide evidence among men of a possible association between night work and the risk of prostate, colon, lung, bladder, rectal, and pancreatic cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The study was conducted by a research team from Centre INRS–Institut Armand-Frappier and Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier de l’Universite de Montreal.

“Exposure to light at night can lead to a reduced production of the sleep hormone melatonin, inducing physiological changes that may provoke the development of tumours. This hormone, habitually released in the middle of the night in response to absence of light, plays a pivotal role in hormonal functions and in the immune system,” explained Professor Marie-Elise Parent of Centre INRS–Institut Armand-Frappier, the study’s lead investigator.

How to Remove Your Double Chin in the Japanese Way

Interesting japanese gadget. Use it for 1-2 minutes every day and you will get rid of the double chin. Let's see how it works.