Did you get a red-light camera ticket? Did you pay the fine? If you did, then you’re a sucker.
That’s the message that motorists in Los Angeles got when it was revealed that red-light camera fines – some of which were as high as $476 – were actually “voluntary.”
Changizi thinks that the wrinkles act like rain treads on [tires]. They create channels that allow water to drain away as we press our fingertips on to wet surfaces. This allows the fingers to make greater contact with a wet surface, giving them a better grip.
Scientists have known since the mid-1930s that water wrinkles do not form if the nerves in a finger are severed, implying that they are controlled by the nervous system.
“I stumbled upon these nearly century-old papers and they immediately suggested to me that pruney fingers are functional,” says Changizi. “I discussed the mystery with my student Romann Weber, who said, ‘Could they be rain treads?’ ‘Brilliant!’ was my reply.
For years, the explanation for weight gain was straightforward: it was all about energy balance, or calories-in versus calories-out. This Gluttony and Sloth theory held that obesity simply came from overeating and underexercising, and the only debate was about dieting — whether it was better to join the low-fat or the low-carb camp.
Some scientists explored genetic differences associated with fat, but others said genes couldn’t possibly explain the rate at which Americans were gaining weight: “We just aren’t evolving that fast,” one obesity expert noted.
It could be said that two of the biggest challenges facing our planet arrise from a surging, resource-hungry human population, and from the steady rise in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions which threaten to alter its climate — but in an unprecedented move to counter the former, the government of India is essentially spurring the latter.
In the Indian state Rajasthan, health officials are hoping to lure at least 30,000 men and women into voluntarily being sterilized by offering them expensive incentives, like cars, to ensure that there’s never a baby on board.
The research, part of Nyakatura’s doctoral thesis, revealed that sloths are lazy for good reason. Their bodies have evolved to have adaptations to save energy, with long arms set on short shoulder blades allowing for a large reach with very little movement. This enables sloths to save energy while making the same movements as other mammals.
“With their mode of life, sloths are filling an ecological niche,” said study researcher Martin Fischer, a professor of systematic zoology and evolutionary biology at the University of Jena. “Sloths lead their lives in energy-saving mode.”
A bacon sandwich really does cure a hangover – by boosting the level of amines which clear the head, scientists have found.
Researchers claim food also speeds up the metabolism helping the body get rid of the booze more quickly.
Elin Roberts, of Newcastle University’s Centre for Life said: “Food doesn’t soak up the alcohol but it does increase your metabolism helping you deal with the after-effects of over indulgence. So food will often help you feel better.
