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| April 29th 2009 The Jesus Tree Scientists are marveling over a palm tree grown from a seed that was around when Christ walked the Earth - while visitors to their lab credit the "Jesus Tree" with a series of miraculous healings. The seed, from an extinct variety of Judean date palm known as the "tree of life," was found in the Israeli fortress of Masada. In 70 A.D. Jewish rebels called the Zealots faced down the combined might of the Roman Empire at Masada for three years, then chose to commit suicide rather than become slaves. But before they died, one of them - perhaps even Simon the Zealot, one of Christ's 12 Apostles - ate a Judean date and spat out the seed, where scietists found it two millennia later. "I think it's very exciting," says Dr. Sarah Sallon, an expert in medicinal plants and leader of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem. "The fact it comes from that period of history is very moving." Sallon soaked the seed in warm water and fertilizer, and within eight weeks, it began sprouting. If the tree turns out to be a female, it could be cross-bred with modern palms, bringing the Judean date back into existence. The fruits were traditionally used as a natural remedy for a wide variety of ailments, including heart disease, chest infections, TB, digestive problems and worms. But some say this particular tree has more healing powers than can be explained by traditional medicine. "The day after I saw the palm, the arthritis in my hands and shoulders was gone," says medical missionary Judith Tucker, RN, of Tuskeegee, Alabama. "All I'd done was touch the tree, and my pain vanished." Robert Fennochi, a Catholic pilgrim from New York City, credits the palm with healing the scars from an old traffic accident. "My leg is straight and there's no more pain in my hip," Fennochi declares. "And it's all because I went to see that ancient tree." "I don't know if Jesus touched that seed, but He is certainly working through the tree today!" |
| April 28th 2009 $190,000 Lost And Found A small fortune accidentally tossed in the trash was found at a local landfill, thanks to quick thinking and an amazing strike of luck. When a Provo, Utah, woman inadvertently tossed a business deposit of $188,000 into the garbage, she called sanitation officials in a desperate panic. The money was in a white envelope inside a white trash bag - one of hundreds bound for the dump. But officials re-routed their trucks, allowing workiers - and the woman - to search the most recent garbage arriving at the landfill. She said a quick prayer, which was miraculously answered: The very first garbage bag they searched contained the missing money! |
| April 27th 2009 Nailed! A retiree zapped in the skull with a nail gun took the bizarre icident in stride until doctors informed him that one millimeter over would have left him paralyzed! George Chandler was holding up lattice for his backyard deck while his friend Phil Kern stood on a ladder with the nail gun. Kern was trying to unsnarl the gun's compressor hose when it suddenly fired a 21/2-inch nail downward into Chandler's skull. Since there wasn't any blood and he only felt a slight sting, Chandler thought the nail had only grazed his scalp. Then Kern took a closer look and saw the nail sticking out of his friends's head. "He was hollering at me, telling me to sit down," recalls Chandler, 60, of Shawnee, Kansas. After an ambulance ride to the hospital, an ER doctor struggled to find the right tool for the job. "He had a pair of pliers and he was trying to get hold of the nail, and he couldn't quite get it," says Chandler. "Then he looked at me and said, 'I need a claw hammer.' I thought, 'He's just teasing.'" But it wasn't a joke. The doctor borrowed a maintenance worker's hammer, doused it with iodine and used the claw end to pop the nail free. Chandler wasn't fazed by any of the drama unti lhe learned the nail missed the motor and speech center of his brain by a hair's breadth. "I feel very lucky," he says. "Very, very lucky." Chandler's keeping the nail and the cap he was wearing, which now sports a tiny hole, as souvenirs. And he doesn't blame Kern one bit for the scary accident. "We're still the best of friends," he says. |
| April 26th 2009 Super-Earths Researchers have announced that the universe is full of planets like Earth! Scientists using a telescope called the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) have located three solar systems with relatively small, solid planets like the one we call home. One solar system, located near the constellation Doradus, includes a trio of planets closer to Earth's size than any yet found. The smallest is 4.2 times Earth's mass, and it orbits so quickly that one of its years only takes four days! More than 270 planets have been discovered in other solar systems so far, but nearly all are so-called gas giants - huge, semi-solid planets resembling Jupiter and Saturn. Smaller planets are impossible to see directly and have to be detected using indirect methods, such as the slight wobble they create in the star around which they orbit. HARPS is designed to discover these planets - and so far, it's found that the sky is full of them! In addition to the Doradus system, the super telescope has detected a planet 7.5 times bigger than Earth around the star HD 181433, and another solar system featuring a planet 22 times Earth's mass. "Clearly, these planets are only the tip of the iceberg," declares research leader Michael Mayor, of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland. |
| April 25th 2009 Mars Probes Mystery NASA scientists puzzling over the strange disappearance of dozens of Mars probes have concluded that the missing spacecraft have been hijacked by intelligent aliens, say insiders. Since the first Mariner missions to the Red Planet in the 1960s, interplanetary probes have experienced strange mechnical failures or simply vanished without a trace. In March 1989, the Russian Phobos II probe suddenly shut down while surveying the surface of Mars. The last thing its camera recorded was a huge, cigar-shaped shadow on the planet's surface, as if a giant vehicle had just appeared in the Martian sky. In August 1993, America's Mars Observer probe also spontaneously shut down while mapping the Red Planet. "Radio telemetry records from NASA and the Soviet space agency show a brief burst of radiation before every disappearance or malfunction," explains digital analyst Mark Crosby, an independent contractor from Houston, Texas. "To past engineers, these bursts would have seemed like background noise or power surges." "But analyzing the old recording swith modern equipment reveals the burst are actually rapidly pulsed electronic signals - exactly the kind of coherent signal that indicates intelligent life." |
| April 24th 2009 Yeti Award?!?! Experts are marveling over new evidence that might prove the existence of the Abominable Snowman - a feat that might make the lucky discoverer a millionaire! On a recent expedition to the Himalayan mountains of Bhutan, wildlife painter Polyanna Pickering discovered a remote temple called the Demon Subjugation Monastery, where she was allowed to examine the preserved scalp of a Yeti. Based on the measurements of the scalp and descriptions from local eyewitnesses, she was able to create a "photo-fit" sketch of the hairy, ape-like humanoid. "I was told this scalp was from a Migoi - their name for the Yeti," explains Pickering, 65. "It was bigger than any human or ape scalp I have ever seen." "It had tufts of reddish-black fur coming out of it and was mounted on a pole and seen as a holy relic." Recently, Field & Stream magazine and binocular maker Bushnell joined forces to offer $1 million to anyone who provides photos or video of the creature known as Bigfoot, Sasquatch or the Yeti. To earn the prize, the evidence would have to be substantiated by a panel of scientists, including a zoologist and biologist, and it would have to be delivered by December 15, 2009. Unfortunately, the remote monastery Pickering found had strict rules against photography. But from what the Bhutanese monks described, this area could be a prime location for an explorer angling for the million-dollar prize. "I was amazed when they told me of regular sightings, close encounters and even people being carried off by Migoi," she explains. "What struck me most was that it wasn't like they were trying to convince me it existed." "They were surprised some people think it doesn't." "They see it as just another indigenous animal, roaming the mountains with their snow leopard. There's nothing mythical about it." |
| April 23rd 2009 $50,000 Lake Monster!?!? Monster hunters are flocking to the Midwest, hoping to win a $50,000 reward for capturing or photographing an elusive, snake-like creature. Locals around the Mississippi River's Lake Pepin, on the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota, dubbed the bizarre beast Pepie, and say it's an American counterpart to Scotland's Loch Ness Monster. "Pepie has dark, reptillian skin, a long, twisting neck and a body consisting of several humps or coils," explains historian Doris Mischler, of Maiden Rock, Wisconsin. "She's a very shy and elusive creature, but has been sighted regularly in Lake Pepin for centuries." Native Americans of the Dakota tribe refused to travel in their canoes across Lake Pepin for fear of attracting large creatures that lived deep beneath the dark waters. The first recorded sighting took place on April 28, 1871, and only a handful of people have seen it since then. But that might change, thanks to boat captain Larry Nielson and the Lake City, Minnesota, Tourism Bureau. They've announced a $50,000 reward to anyone who can produce undisputable evidence of Pepie's existence, in the form of clear photographs or samples of skin or fins that can be used for DNA analysis. Hundreds of scientists and sailors are said to be descending on Lake City to try their luck at bringing back the mysterious creature. But this isn't the first time authorities have offered a bounty for concrete evidence of a lake monster's existence. In 1873, P.T. Barnum offered a $50,000 reward to anyone who could bring him Champ, the Lake Champlain monster in New York State. And last year, William Hill bookmarkers offered $2 million to anyone who could deliver proof of a large, serpent-like creature in Loch Ness to London's Natural History Museum. Bookies placed the odds of anyone collecting at 250-to-1. Contenders came close to scooping up both prizes, but so far, the big money has remained as elusive as the lake monsters themselves. |
| April 22nd 2009 Monsters?!?! Explorers are launching new searches for two of the most elusive creatures on Earth, fueled by the desire for discovery and the promise of cold, hard cash! "Discovering a large creature not yet recognized by science could be immensely profitable," explains zoologist Stephen Richarson, of Knoxville, Tennessee. "Research foundations and government bodies have set up rewards for the capture of certain specimens." "But the publicity surrounding such a feat - everything from advertising campaigns to museum displays - could be worth even more." "That, plus the scientific immortality that would come with discovering Bigfoot or living dinosaurs, seems to be driving a whole new wave of exploration." |
| April 21st 2009 Look Back At Mini Skyscraper In June 2008 the newest skyscrapper in New York City had passers-by looking up in awe - because it was made entirely from Erector sets! Artist Chris Burden assembled the 65-foot-tall sculpture at Rockefeller Center as a tribute to dignified buildings of the Big Apple's past. The super-sized artwork, called What My Dad Gave Me, took 1 million stainless steel parts to assemble. "I've always wanted to build a model skyscrapper using Erectir parts," Burden explains. "They're the tools we use to inculcate children into how to be adults." "But because they're for children, there's this potential in them that's never been realized." |
| April 20th 2009 Left Behind? Crazy Christians? Rapture?!?! OK! When the Rapture comes and the righteous are lifted up to Heaven, it's nice to know that someone up there is still thinking about the folks who got left behind to suffer through Armageddon here on Earth. That's the premise behind a new Christian Internet site called YouveBeenLeftBehind.com that lets you arrange for End Times messages to be sent to your friends and family. For only $40 per year, you can add as many as 62 names to your final message list. Six days after the virtuous are swept into God's Kingdom during the Rapture, all the people on your list will get a special e-mail from you to comfort them as the stage is set for the last battle between Good and Evil. "You've Been Left Behind gives you one last opportunity to reach your lost family and friends for Christ," the Web site declares. Organizers explain that five Christian staffers at various locations around America sign in on a regular basis. If three of the staffers miss their sign-ins for six days running, the system will know the End Times have come at last. |
| April 19th 2009 Wursa The Elephant Sure, it's a topsy-turvy world, but this is ridiculous! Artist Daniel Firman created his towering taxidermy to demonstrate what an elephant would be able to do in the weaker gravity 11,185 miles above the Earth. He says he's fascinated by "situations that seem to be in precarious equilibrium." The balancing pachyderm, named Wursa, was recently on display at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, France. |
| April 18th 2009 Air Force Base Ghost Hunt A famous duo of paranormal investigators has made contact wit ha gang of ghosts terrorizing an American military installation. Witnesses reported disembodied voices and weird lights in buildings on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Col. Colleen Ryan, base commander, became convinced there were malevolent forces at work and contacted Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, founders of The Atlantic Paranormal Society (TAPS). Their investigations, featured on the Sci Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters, show how the real-life paranormal detectives solve mysteries all around the world. Their plan for Wright-Patterson was to check out Arnold House, the oldest structure on the base. TAPS crews descended with audio recorders, thermal imaging equipment, digital thermometers, electromagnetic field recorders and night vision goggles. Staff working in the old house, which is now office space, reported hearing footseps in empty hallways and the disembodied voices of children. They also saw doors slam and objects move all on their own. After directing the spirits to communicate bt rapping once for yes and twice for no, HAwes began asking the ghosts a series of questions. The specters answered with appropriate taps, indicating that five restless beings inhabited Arnold House. The spirits also passed other tests, like closing a door and turning a flashlight on and off while Wilson filmed their movements. "They proved Wright-Patterson is haunted," says Sydney Raymond, 57, a civilian maintenance worker who's had several run-ins with the ghosts. "It feels great to be vindicated by an organization like TAPS. They've really put my mind at ease because lots of people - I think even my wife - had doubts I saw what I saw." |
| April 17th 2009 Hair Collecting???? It's time to trade in your old baseball cards and comic books for something REALLY valuable - hunks of human hair! The Upper Deck company is issuing a limited run of collectible Hair Cut Signatures cards featuring autographs and strands of hair from such historical heroes as Babe Ruth, George Washington, Jackie Kennedy, Charles Lindbergh and Geronimo. The 10 cards will be randomly inserted in packs of SP Legendary Cuts baseball cards. And if you're lucky enough to find one, it could be worth as much as $10,000! John Reznikoff, of University Archives, who authenticated the strands of celebrity hair, says there's a long history of collectible tresses. "If Robert E. Lee came to town 150 years ago, you wouldn't ask for an autograph, you'd ask for a snippet of his hair," says Reznikoff. "It's a very Victorian thing." In 1915, a lock of Napolean's hair sold for $107.50. But today, Reznikoff explains, the same sample would fetch more than $100,000. |
| April 16th 2009 Winged Monster?? or nutjobs Paranormal experts are puzzling over sights of a huge, winged beast that has historically been linked to deadly weather disasters. In the wake of the killer tornadoes that recently swept the Midwest, dozens of witnesses have come forward with nearly identical accounts of seeing an unearthly, dragon-like creature in the night sky. Chuck Beavins, a plumber from Scandia, Minnesota, is one of five witnesses who spotted a 30-foot-tall creature with scaly wings hovering over a remote highway. "I saw it near the same location on three different occasions," recalls Beavins, 46. "The last time, it followed me in the air at more than 50 miles per hour." Two weeks later, a massive tornado destroyed more than 340 homes in the nearby town of Hugo. A creature described as a "flying crocodile" was next seen in Blencoe, Iowa, every night. "One day, my dogs were going crazy, so I went out in the yard to see if there was a raccoon or something," recalls June Tucker, 59. "I looked out into the woods past the fence and I saw something rising over the branches." "The thing was like an alligator with a long neck, or a python with legs like a gorilla." "He twisted around and looked at me. Then he jumped straight into the air and unfolded these wings!" "I kept waiting for him to come down, but he just hung there like a helicopter, looking down at me. And then he flew away as fast as an 18-wheeler." The next day, a massive funnel cloud devastated the Little Sioux Scout Ranch, killing four young Boy Scouts and injuring 40. Across the state at the same time, 3,200 homes were evacuated as the Cedar River flooded. "Reaseachers have previously seen a correlation between natural disasters and sightings of UFOs, ghosts and other paranormal entities, but these winged creature cases are entirely new," explains paranormal researcher Bob McCoy. "Does this creature somehow cause the storms? Or are the sighting triggered by some kind of psychic premonitions?" "We just don't know." |
| April 15th 2009 Genetically Modified Beer In the culmination of a project that's been brewing for several years, scientists at the University of California at Berkeley have succeeded in creating a beer that can knock deadly malaria on its can. The process uses yeast that's been modified with 12 lab-manufactured genes in such a way that, in combination with sugar and several other ingredients, it produces an artemisinic acid. It then takes just a few easy and expensive chemical steps to convert the acid into artemisinin, a powerful anti-malaria drug. "The process is very similar to producing beer," says lead researcher Jay Keasling. "We put in some sugar and minimal nutrients, and out comes artemisinic acid at the other end." The malaria-fighting beer may pave the way to other drugs, medical experts believe. |
| April 14th 2009 Casimir Force? The fundamental force of nature that causes objects to stick together has been defeated! That means humankind is a giant step closer to the day when we'll be able to levitate and float in the air like a leaf on the wind. The Casimir Force is what holds the material world together. At the level of tiny particles, it prevents atoms from flying apart. When it comes to larger objects, it works with gravity to keep our feet on the ground. Professor Ulf Leonhardt and Dr. Thomas Philbin, of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, have invented a special lens that reverses the Casimir Force in a controlled way. The device is designed to help overcome the problem of friction in nanotechnology - the creation of molecule-sized machines.But Leonhardt and Philbin insist there's no reason why larger lenses couldn't be used to levitate heavier objects, including the human body. "This invention opens new worlds in space exploration, air travel and a host of other areas," says atomic physicist Naomi Williams. "These two scientists have unlocked the secret of levitation, something that, until now, had been confined to the realm of science fiction." |
| April 13th 2009 Car Fitting Room ? Seventy-two percent of all drivers treat their vehicles as status symbols that express their sense of style. Yet 92 percent of those same drivers admit they have no idea what they look like behind the wheel. Chevrolet has come up with an idea to remedy that situation - a drive-in fitting room that shows you a panoramic view of the image you'll project in the car you're planning to buy. When you drive into the fitting room, the car comes to rest on a giant turntable. Using a remote control, you can rotate the vehicle 360 degrees and observe how you appear from all angles in three large mirrors. "You wouldn't dream of buying a dress without trying it on first," says TV reporter Nicky Hambleton-Jones, who taped a feature on the fitting room . "Why should it be any different when it comes to buying a car? After all, you never know who might pull up next to you at a stoplight!" The concept is being tested at a dealership in London. If it proves popular, it'll soon be making a appearance in a showroom near you. |
| April 12th 2009 Damaged Buildings Will Repair Themselves....HMMM Buildings, bridges and other structures will soon be able to repair themselves - without human intervention - before the damage they've sustained becomes so severe it causes them to collapse. Basing their research on the way the body's skin repairs itself after minor cuts by sending blood platelets to the injured area, scientists have figuired out how to impregnate building materials with glue that behaves in the same way. When the material begins to crack, the glue is released from tiny microcapsules or tubes and rushes to the damaged site, quickly repairing the problem before it gets so bad it threatens the structural integrity of the building. Apart from bridges and buildings, the technology can be used in airplanes and ships. |
| April 11th 2009 Blimp Power Wind is a good, cheap, clean source of energy and many power companies are beginning to build windmill farms to harness this resource. Problem is, not all parts of the Earth's surface are blessed with enough sustained winds to make the effprt worthwhile. But about 1,000 feet up, things are different. Winds blow constantly, and a new company is using rotating blimps to capture that energy and convert it into electricity. If tests work out, these power-generating dirigibles could become a feature of every city's skyline in just a few years. The Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS) consists of a huge helium blimp that looks like a giant sausage, equipped with rotor blades that turn in the wind to generate power. The blimp is tethered to the ground with a cable that also conducts the energy back to Earth, where it gets incorporated into the electricity grid. Tests of the system are being carried out in North Carolina. |
| April 10th 2009 Trees That Eat A Man Whole Travelers in Africa have returned home with terrifying tales of an unknown carnivorous plant - a tree large enough to consume a human being! Botanists and explorers have been seeking the man-eating trees of Madgascar since 1881, when a man named Carle Liche published a terrifying account in the South Australian Register. He wrote of witnessing a local tribe, the Mkodo, sacraficing a woman to a tree with flexible, serpent-like branches that wound around her body with the "savage tenacity of anacondas fastening upon their prey." Reports of similar plants came from the Amazon jungle and Central America, where natives call the tree a "ya-te-veo," or "I see you." Experts seeking the man-eating tree found only much smaller carnivorous plants, the largest species measuring less than 2 feet tall. But that has all changed. Dr. Claude Herrman, an ethnobotantist from the International University of Bad Wimpfen, Germany, retrieved specimens of a man-eating tree during an expedition on the island of Mauritius, off the coast of Madagascar. He discovered the wriggling, vine-like branches of the carnivorous tree while searching for a new species of orchids - and was nearly snared himself! "The organism appears to combine elements of the sundew - a carnivorous plant with long, sticky tendrils - and the sensitive plant - a mimosa species that automatically retracts its leaves once they're touched," Herrman explains. "Despite being more than 8 feet tall, the specimen was nearly invisible, laying down its tendrils under dead leaves or draping them over other trees like vines." "Once a small animal, like a monkey or large bird, brushes against the tendril, the plant rises into life - the tendrils begin thrashing and slowly retracting, snaring any nearby creatures and slowly digesting them." Herrman says he couldn't get close enough to photograph the man-eating tree, but did return with a 5-inch section of tendril that had wrapped around his ankle. "Luckily, I had a machete," he explains. "I could easily have become the plant's next victim." |
| April 9th 2009 Dinosaur DNA Cure Depression? Feeling blue? Doctor Dinosaur can help! Experts have discovered a DNA link between humans and dinosaurs in a set of genes that can turn our moods on and off. The genetic switches, known as "enhancers," haven't changed in millions of years. "The genetic switch seems to have controlled feelings of fear and anxiety in our ancestors 300 million years ago," explains study leader Dr. Alasdair McKenzie, of Scotland's Aberdeen University. "The difference is that, originally, it was part of our survival system. "Now, people suffer these same feelings of fear and anxiety when they don't need them." But now that experts have isolated the DNA structures that trigger unwanted emotions, they can begin working on ways to turn them off - curing depression and anxiety with the flick of a switch! |
| April 8th 2009 The Curse OF Shakepeare's Grave Architects are braving an ancient curse to restore a precious cultural treasure - the grave of William Shakespeare. Their job is to restore the historic burial site, located inside the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-on-Avon, England, without disturbing the remains of one of the world's greatest writers. The stone marker above the tomb is engraved with Shakespeare's final warning: "Blest be the man that spares these stones, and curst be he that moves my bones." Ay, but there's the rub! Priests have been walking on the stones every week for 400 years, which adds up to a lot of wear and tear. "The clergy have to walk on the stones when they give communion, and the stones are flaking away," says Josephine Walker, of the Friends of Shakespeare's Church group. The rest of the church is in the middle of a multimillion-dollar restoration project and the crumbling stones need to be replaced - very carefully. But workers have been instructed not to violate the curse on Shakespeare's grave. In the 1700s, a group of vandals were caught attempting to pry loose Shakespeare's grave marker. Within a week, all of them had been frightened to death by something that came to them in the night. And one night in 1974, three teenagers broke into the church with spray paint and crowbars. Their bodies were found near the grave the next morning. Medical examiners said the otherwise healthy youth had succumbed to heart failure, as if they'de received a lethal shock. Today's restorers are eager not to repeat the tragedies of the past. "We're avoiding the curse," Walker explains. "we are not lifting the stones, we are not looking underneath." |
| PAPbalsamic Flank Steak Get all the vitamin goodness of red meat - minus the artery-clogging cholesterol - with lean, heart-healthy flank steak. "My wife loves her beef, so this recipe is a great way to keep it happy - and healthy," says Ronda Pfleigger, of Seattle, Washington. For sharing his mouthliquidizing dish with PAP viewer/readers whatever, we're sending Ronda a bill for $250 for clean up costs. 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 4 garlic cloves, crushed 1 (1 1/2 lbs.) flank steak 1 tsp. fresh cracked pepper 3/4 tsp. salt Combine vinegar and garlic in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag; add steak, turning to coat. Seal and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, turning steak occasionally. Remove steak from marinade, discarding marinade. Sprinkle with pepper and salt. Grill, covered, over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes on each side or to desired degree of doneness. Let stand 10 minutes; cut into thin slices diagonally across the grain. Makes 4 servings. |
| April 7th 2009 Tumor Update A new vaccine can double survival rates for people with the most common and deadly brain tumors. The vaccine attacks a protein found on about half of all glioblastoma multiform (GBM) tumors - the kind that Senator Ted Kennedy is battling, say researchers at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. "This vaccine represents a very promising therapy for a cancer that comes out of the blue," explains lead researcher Dr. John Sampson, a neurosurgeon at Duke's Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center. GBM tumors account for 20 percent of all brain cancers. While attacking the protein, the vaccine also kills the cancer cells containing it while leaving healthy cells unharmed. |
| April 6th 2009 Because We Care About You And Your Health... Now To Your Feet A survey by the American Podiatric Medical Association reveals that half of all U.S. adults regularly suffer from foot pain so severe it interferes with normal day-to-day activities. Here's a quick survey of what can go wrong with your feet - and what to do about it. Heel Pain is usually caused by plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of a band of tissue that runs from your heel to the ball of your foot. To avoid this condition, stretch and flex your feet for a few minutes a day. To treat the pain, elevate your feet and take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicine such as ibuprofen. Corns and Calluses are layers of dead tissue that can cause painful pressure on parts of your feet when you are wearing shoes. You can sidestep this problem by wearing well-fitting shoes that support your foot without sliding or rubbing. As far as treatment goes, try over-the-counter protective pads to cushion problem areas. A Bunion is a growth at the base of the big toe. It can be hereditary, but it can also be caused by faulty footwear or arthritis. Beat it by wearing wide-toed shoes. Treatment involves padding or taping the affected foot, taking anti-inflammatory drugs or getting steroid injections. Sometimes, surgery is required. Toenail Infections (nasty) usually result from exposure to fungus. To protect youself, wash your feet daily and dry them well, especially between the toes, before putting on socks or shoes. If you already have an infection, you'll have to see your doctor to get the condition cleared up. Treatment involves cutting away infected tissue and taking various medications. |
| April 5th 2009 Are Gene Tests Worth The Expense? Genetic science ha sreached the point where companies can turn it into profit - and many are trying to do just that by offering genetic tests to determine your susceptibility to a variety of diseases. These tests can cost hundreds of dollars, but are they worth it? Harvard University researchers are skeptical. "When it comes to commercial genetic tests, we just don't know enough to make the tests, we just don't know enough to make the test useful," they say in the latest edition of the Harvard Mental Health Letter. So save your money and rely on more conventional medical tests - along with your doctor - to keep you healthy. |
| April 4th 2009 How Long Will You Live? Breakthroughs in geriatrics, the branch of medicine dealing with aging, has finally made it possible for doctors to predict with a higher-than-ever degree of accuracy how long you will live. There's good news on a variety of fronts. Advances in medical science have greatly reduced the death rate associated with many diseases, especially cancer. A new understanding of nutrition, exercise and other lifestyle factors has put the question of how long you'll live into your own hands - and a recent study shows you can add 14 healthy years to your life no matter how old you are now. First, lets look at some statistics. The current life expectancy in the United States is 77.5 years. But that raw data tells only part of the story. The longer you have already lived, the more years beyond 77.5 you are likely to live. For example, if you are now 65 years old, you can confidently expect to live another 18.4 years- until you are 83.4 years old! If you're 75 years old now, your life expectancy jumps to 86.8 years, an impressive 9.3 years longer than the national average. If you're already older than 86.8 years and have no serious chronic illness that might shorten your life, the sky's the limit. You may easily live to be 100 or more, while enjoying excellent physical and mental health! You can push your longevity limit even beyond what these encouraging statistics indicate. A brand new study, published in the January 2008 edition of The Public Library of Science Medicine, looked at more than 20,000 men and women between the ages of 45 and 79 and reached a remarkable conclusion: By making four simple lifestyle changes, anyone can increase his or her life expectancy by an astounding 14 years! The study, endorsed by doctors at the Mayo Clinic, states that the four steps to take are: 1. Have no more than two alcoholic drinks a day. 2. Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. A serving is approximately half a cup of cooked fruit or vegetables or one cup of raw. 3. Get half an hour of moderate exercise each day. Moderate exercise is defined as brisk walking, energetic housework, swimming, dancing or a workout with light weights. 4. Don't smoke. The Mayo doctors suggest limiting your alcohol intake to one drink a day to ensure maximum benefits, especially if you're a woman. The researchers found that other factors - sex, present age, socio-economic status and even how much you wiegh - don't alter the outcome. Follow these steps and you'll add 14 active, enjoyable years to your life! That means if you're now 65, instead of living to the statistical average of 83.4 years, you're likely to make it to 97.4 if you adopt these changes. There are other common-sense things you can do to boost your life span. - Get regular medical checkups. - Limit the amount of saturated and trans fats in your diet. - Take a multivitamin/mineral pill every day. |
| April 3rd 2009 World's Oldest Christian Church Archaelogists are excavating what could be the world's oldest Christian church - in a lost cave that dates back to the time of Christ! The hidden chamber was discovered beneath the foundation of St. Georgeous Church in what is now Rihab, Jordan. The building dates to 230 AD, but experts believe it was built on top of an even older place of worship. They've found evidence that the underground chamber was used as a hiding place and house of worship by 70 disciples of Jesus who fled persecution in Jerusalem. "We have discovered what we believe to be the first church in the world, dating from 33 A.D. to 70 A.D.," explains Adbul Qader Hussan, head of the Rihab Center for Archaeological Studies. "We have evidence that this church sheltered the early Christians - the 70 disciples of Jesus Christ." A mosiac on the floor of St. Georgeous describes "the 70 beloved by God and the Divine." Walk past the mosiac and down a flight of stone stairs and you find yourself in a circular room with several stone seats. Hussan believes this room was the main hall, in which priests would gather to pray in secret. Deeper in the cave, Hussan's team also found a long, sloping tunnel probably used to reach a private water supply. A nearby graveyard has yielded pottery dating back to the 3rd century and other relics showing the area was occupied in the time of Christ. "This discovery confirms that Christians in this region are not strangers," declares Archimandrite Nektarious, Bishop Deputy of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in Amman, Jordan. "They are real citizens who have always had roots in this region from those days until the present." |
| April 2nd 2009 Odd Burglar Results A couple who caught a burglar red-handed forced the sloppy sneak-thief to tidy their house before calling the cops! Adrian and Tiffany McKinnon returned to their Montgomery, Alabama, home after a week-long vacation, only to see that the house had been ransacked. "Tears just rolled down my face as I walked in and saw everything gone and piles of trash all over my home," Tiffany recalls. Then Adrian found the robber in another room. The quick-thinking home-owner drew a gun and made the thief clean up his mess, putting everything away room by room. When the police arrived, the thief complained about being forced to work! Cops told him he was lucky to be alive, the hauled him off to Montgomery County Jail on burglary and theft charges. |
| April 1st 2009 Burning Feet Mystery The ground in a small section of a city park has become so intensely hot that it melted a young boy's shoes to his feet! There was no smoke or flames to warn families enjoying the bright summer day that a hidden hazard lay beneath Golden Hills Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Eight-year-old Matt Bershinski had just captured a garter snake and was scampering to his mom when the child suddenly began screaming in agony. In the blink of an eye, the plastic Crocs shoes he was wearing began to liquefy. "Seriously, you couldn't even make something like this up," says a distraught mom Suzie. "It's stranger than fiction." Matt was rushed to Children's Hospital in Denver, where doctors treated second-degree burns on the soles of his feet. Firefighters who responded to the emergency are unable to explain the fiery heat of this one particular section of the park. "In my 24 years, I haven't witnessed this kind of occurence," says Fire Chief Kent Matthews. "The highest temperature we got at the surface of the soil with the sun shining on it was 800 degrees, which is pretty darn significant!" "Radiant heat from the sun will get it up around 150, 160 degrees, but not to that level." While geological experts continue to investigate, Matt is recovering nicely from his terrifying ordeal. "He's a pretty cool little guy," says Suzie. "HE caught the snake and made sure he didn't drop it even when his feet were burning." |