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Should Sugar Be Regulated like Alcohol and Tobacco?
TIME: Sugar poses enough health risks that it should be considered a controlled substance just like alcohol and tobacco, contend a team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In an opinion piece called “The Toxic Truth About Sugar” that was published Feb. 1 in the journal Nature, Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis argue that it’s a misnomer to consider sugar just “empty calories.” They write: “There is nothing empty about these calories. A growing body of scientific evidence is showing that fructose can trigger processes that lead to liver toxicity and a host of other chronic diseases.
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Réseaux sociaux : plus addictifs que l’alcool ou la cigarette ?
Yahoo! France: Passer une journée sans "checker" Facebook ou Twitter ? Impossible! Une étude américaine démontre que les réseaux sociaux sont aujourd'hui devenus totalement addictifs. Si parmi les addictions les plus fréquentes, l'alcool et le tabac sont souvent pointés du doigt, il y a désormais pire. Selon des spécialistes américains, vérifier son smartphone ou son ordinateur serait devenu une addiction bien plus importante, notamment parce qu'elle concerne une part massive de la population. Publiée dans le Psychological Science et menée par l'Université de Chicago, l'étude montre que nous sommes tout à fait capables de résister à nos envie de tabac, d'alcool ou encore de shopping.
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The emoticon on your face
Boston Globe: What’s in a face? We generally see it as a window into our inner lives — so much so that it’s possible to read our emotions from our facial expressions. And in recent decades, we have become enchanted by the notion that with a little specialized knowledge, we can read these feelings very, very accurately. A program launched at Logan Airport last year has trained security personnel to converse with passengers while scanning their facial movements for suspicious emotions. Companies like Affectiva, a spinoff of MIT’s Media Lab, are developing ways to automatically judge a person’s mood in part by observing the movements of facial muscles.
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Valentine’s Day shoppers spending more this year
USA Today: Cupid wants your money, and he'll get more of it than ever this Valentine's Day. John Smith of Alexandria, Va., plans on dropping about $400 treating his wife to flowers, jewelry and dinner. And he isn't the only one splurging. Consumers are expected to spend more this Valentine's Day than in the last 10 years, making February's ode to Cupid second only to the Christmas season in consumer spending, according to a National Retail Federation survey of more than 8,000 people, conducted by consumer surveyor BIGinsight. Those celebrating Valentine's Day will spend an average of $126.03, up 8.5% from 2011 and the most since NRF began the survey 10 years ago.
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Internet Cupids often miss their mark: researchers
Chicago Tribune: Combing dating websites for that perfect love match can be very frustrating, and a group of U.S. psychology professors released a report on Monday explaining why there is no substitute for meeting face-to-face. "Online dating is a terrific addition for singles to meet. That said, there are two problems," report author Eli Finkel, an associate professor of psychology at Northwestern University, said in an interview. First, poring over seemingly endless lists of profiles of people one does not know, as on Match.com, does not reveal much about them. Second, it "overloads people and they end up shutting down," Finkel said. Read the full story: Chicago Tribune See Eli J.
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“Likes long walks in the woods on autumn days”
Valentine’s Day is for many just a cruel reminder that they have not yet found the love of their life, their soul mate, their life partner. And let’s face it, finding that special person can be tough in 21st century America. The village matchmakers are long gone, along with the villages themselves, and most of us are spread far and wide, without the traditional networks of family and old friends. That’s why millions are turning to on-line dating services, which promise to use math and science to find people dates—and often more than dates, life partners. But how reliable are these popular services, and the matchmaking algorithms they use?
