By Charlotte McDonald Radio 4, More or Less

It's commonly believed that women who live together eventually experience the syncing of their monthly periods. But could it just be chance?

The theory behind the syncing of menstrual cycles is that women's pheromones interact when they are in close proximity, causing them to have their period at the same time. Many females buy into it.

"I definitely think its true," says Emma. "It would be too much of a coincidence otherwise."

Emma, 24, lived with five girls at university. She says that within a few months they all had their period at the same time.

They were all buying tampons at the same time, they were moody at the same time - and their one male housemate really noticed it.

"It's a popular belief," says Alexandra Alvergne, associate professor in biocultural anthropology at the University of Oxford.

"As humans we always like exciting stories. We want to explain what we observe by something that is meaningful. And the idea that what we observe is due to chance or randomness is just not as interesting."

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Alvergne has tried to review the evidence for this phenomenon . She says the idea started with research findings published in Nature , a scientific journal, in 1971. A researcher called Martha McClintock studied the menstrual cycles of 135 women in an American college.

"[McClintock] found that the onset of the date of menstruation was more similar among friends and roommates than among random pairings of women," says Alvergne.

Dr McClintock hypothesised that this was because the women who were spending time together had the chance for their pheromones to affect each other.

And why would this happen? The most prevalent theory was that it was an evolved strategy among females to co-operate with each other - to stop becoming a kind of harem for a single dominant man.

The idea is that if women had synchronised cycles, they would all be fertile at the same time - so one man would not be able to reproduce with them all.

"He can't manipulate all the females at the same time so that's why it was believed to be a form of co-operation between females," says Alvergne.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Did the idea of synchronised menstruation reflect the emergence of the feminist movement in the 1970s?

In the 1970s when this paper came out, feminism was emerging as an important movement. Alvergne thinks this may be one of the reasons the idea became so popular.

"I find that sometimes 'society values' are hiding in hypothesis. And from a feminist point of view, the idea that females would co-operate in the face of male domination is attractive."

Other studies, some in humans and some in other primates, seemed to show similar results.

But, there were also studies that didn't find evidence of periods syncing. And people started to pick holes in the earlier research - critics identified problems in the people chosen for the study. The definition of when they were syncing was quite loose.

Perhaps most importantly, critics pointed to the fact that in McClintock's 1971 findings she didn't account for chance to explain why women's cycles were in sync.

This seems to go against what many women feel they experience.

Image copyright Science Photo Library Image caption That syncing feeling - but it's probably just a feeling

"If I spend any period of time with a woman who is menstruating, I will start my period," says Inez, 26. "My womb is a huge team player. It just wants to be one of the girls."

Not only that but, Inez, thinks some women have wombs that prefer to play a leadership role.

"I've got a classic beta womb. My friend Suzanne has an alpha womb. She will bring anyone on within a 10-mile radius. She walks in menstruating, everyone is reaching for the tampons."

But the problem comes when the theory seems to break down. Inez says she has never synced with her flatmate.

A period is the part of the menstrual cycle when a woman bleeds from her vagina for a few days

For most women this happens every 28 days or so, but it's common for periods to start sooner or later than this, ranging from day 24 to day 35

Periods can last between three and eight days, but will usually last for about five days

"I have known her since I was 12 and I think she is quite offended that I don't sync with her."

Alvergne is not surprised that women observe overlap in their menstrual cycle with their friends.

"The question is - does it happen by chance or not? By chance you would expect it to happen at least half of the time."

Some academics recently decided to find out if the findings of synchronicity of periods could be put down to chance . They looked at six years' worth of data of the menstrual cycles of our close cousins, baboons.

"They proposed two models," says Alvergne. "One was the model with the exciting hypothesis" also known as the "evolved strategy" in which women sync as a defence against dominant males.

"And the other model was the boring model. Where the patterns are explained by chance."

The researchers compared how much each model would account for the data being observed. They found that the model assuming that patterns would appear by chance was the best model by far.

More research could be carried out in the future that does reveal evidence that women's periods sync. But currently many researchers are sceptical.

"Maybe actually, what we observe is nothing more than randomness," says Alvergne.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Cassin

Is it true that periods synchronise when women live together? - BBC N...

There are many who believe that women's periods sync together when they live in close proximity. But could it just be down to chance?


Has George Lucas Seen the 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Trailer?

Over 100 million people across the world have watched the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer over the past week and a half. The 88-second tease is on track to be the movie viewed movie trailer in the history of the Internet and for good reason. It’s arguably one of the most anticipated and talked about sequels of all time.

Maybe you made your mom watch the trailer, or your grandma, uncle, hell, every family member. But one person who hasn’t seen it is series creator George Lucas. Lucas sold his company and rights to Star Wars in October 2012 to Disney for $4 billion but was rumored to be a peripheral creative consultant on The Force Awakens. Whether that’s true or not, he hasn’t watched the trailer yet. Read his reasoning below..

Lucas was talking to the New York Post’s Page Six and was asked if he’d seen the trailer:

I don’t know anything about it. I haven’t seen it yet.

Because it’s not in the movie theater. I like going to the movies and watching the whole thing there. I plan to see it when it’s released.

The question is does he mean he wants to see the trailer in the theater or the full movie? I’m thinking the latter. And if that’s true, it’s funny because Lucas sounds like he’s being spoilerphobic. (Or, probably more likely, he just doesn’t care about what J.J. Abrams is doing with his baby and will find out at the premiere.) I definitely know a few people (COUGHJeffCannataCOUGH) who are avoiding seeing anything from the film until December 18, 2015. Which, I have to admit, is an admirable, even herculean task. And if they can manage it, more power to them. I just don’t have the willpower, and enjoy reveling in rumors, speculation and spoilers leading up to the release.

Do you believe Lucas when he says he hasn’t seen the trailer? Do you think you could wholly avoid anything about a movie you were excited about? And do you think Lucas will be happy with the film once its released?

George Lucas Star Wars 7 Trailer: Has The Creator Seen it?

Has the man who created Star Wars seen the Star Wars The Force Awakens trailer? You'd be surprised. Read the George Lucas Star Wars 7 quote here.


The one word you need to stop saying at work

If someone asked how your day was going, what would be your knee-jerk reaction? If you're a member of the American workforce, there's a good chance your immediate response would be a single word: "Busy!" But in many cases, these lamentations about our jam-packed schedules amount to little more than a humblebrag about how important we are (so many things to do and people to see!). And according to comedian Mindy Kaling a conversation about how busy and stressed we are isn't really conversation at all.

"No one ever wants to hear how stressed out anyone else is, because most of the time everyone is stressed out," Kaling writes in "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" "Going on and on in detail about how stressed out I am isn’t conversation. It’ll never lead anywhere. No one is going to say, 'Wow, Mindy, you really have it especially bad. I have heard some stories of stress, but this just takes the cake.'"

Busyness has become something of a badge of honor -- a way to hint at our own relevance and superior productivity without saying it in so many words -- but in reality, constant busyness may be a sign of just the opposite. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that if you're busy all the time (and not giving yourself a chance to rest and recharge), you're very likely doing something wrong.

Here five reasons to try to let go of excessive busyness -- or at least stop telling people how busy you are.

Too much busyness can easily prevent you from actually getting things done. When we fill our days up with one task after another and frequently multitask -- rarely giving our full focus to the task at hand -- it can keep us from doing any one thing to our best ability. In other words, quantity takes precedence over quality.

Working unceasingly and without substantial breaks has been shown to be an ineffective way to master a task. Studies in Berlin in the 1990s on young violin players -- looking at the daily practice habits of elite players (those who were likely to become professionals one day) as compared to average players -- yielded some surprising data. The elite players weren't more successful because they practiced more. Both groups on average spent the same amount of time practicing each week. And whereas the average players spread their practice out through the day, the elite players worked in two intense periods of deliberate activity each day, followed by down time. The elite players were not only more relaxed, but they slept an extra hour each night, writer Cal Newport notes.

It could hinder your communication and connection with others.

According to Nell Minow, co-founder of The Corporate Library, the word "busy" can be "profoundly toxic" to both our careers and our personal lives. When someone asks how we're doing and we answer "Busy," Minow argues, it's a statement of our own self-importance and the relative lack of importance of the person we're talking to, which automatically precludes the possibility of authentic interaction.

"I promise that if you eliminate this word from your life, you will instantly, permanently and powerfully be more conscious about your choices and more effective in your communication with others," Minow wrote in a recent Huffington Post blog, "How 'Busy' Became A Toxic Word."

You might be suffering from a bad case of Time Deficit Disorder.

Do you feel busy and frantic all day? Get anxious just looking at all the blocked-out slots on your Gmail calendar? You might have a case of the unofficial but all-too-real Time Deficit Disorder (also known as "time famine"). If you're feeling constantly pressed for time, the best remedy may be the most unlikely one: Giving more of your time away to others. A 2012 study from Yale and Harvard researchers found that those who are more eager to devote some of their time to helping others are less likely to feel that time was their "scarcest resource."

Another solution? Schedule time into your schedule to do nothing -- a strategy LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner calls the "single most important productivity tool" he uses. Weiner says creating meeting-free "buffers" in his day affords him the time he needs to think strategically about the company's big picture.

It could be a veil for underlying laziness.

We tend to think of being busy as the opposite of being lazy, but the two qualities may be more connected than we'd like to think. If you're constantly busy, there's a good chance that you're expending a great deal of energy on tasks that may feel urgent -- but aren't actually all that important. Viewing busyness as a virtue actually keeps us from doing meaningful work, according to iDoneThis COO Janet Choi, and in this sense, busyness is a form of laziness.

"It’s easy, even enticing, to neglect the importance of filling our time with meaning, thinking instead that we’ll be content with merely filling our time," Choi told Fast Company. "We self-impose these measures of self-worth by looking at quantity instead of quality of activity."

You may not be managing your energy well.

Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project and author of "The Way We're Working Isn't Working," knows better than anyone that excessive busyness can be a destructive force in our work and lives.. We've been taught that "more, bigger, faster" is always better. But this "volume is God" mentality, Schwartz explains, presumes that we have unlimited resources -- which, of course, we don't.

Renewal is actually a way to increase our capacity to be more effective, Schwartz explains, allowing us to get more out of the time we put into a task. The time spent on a task is not the same as the energy spent on a task, and taking time to rest and recharge can help you to get more done by allowing you to be more intentional with your energy -- so when you're relaxing, you're really relaxing, and when you're working, you're fully engaged with work.

"Renewal is not for slackers," Schwartz said in June at The Huffington Post's conference, "Redefining Success: The Third Metric." "Renewal is a way in which to increase your capacity to be more effective."

The One Word To Never Ever Say Again At Work

If someone asked how your day was going, what would be your knee-jerk reaction? If you're a member of the American workforce, there's a good chance your ...

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Kim Jong-un has threatened the US with a 'super-mighty preemptive strike' and warned America: 'Don't mess with us'.

State controlled media claimed North Korea could 'immediately wipe out the US mainland' and reduce its enemies 'to ashes'.

The latest threat from Pyongyang comes amid mounting tensions between North Korea and America and after China moved 150,000 troops to its border with the secretive state.

This morning it emerged that Vladimir Putin is also reinforcing his border with North Korea by relocating troops and equipment.

Video purports to show one of three trains loaded with military equipment moving towards the 11 mile-long land frontier between Russia and the repressive state in Russia's far south east.

Another clip highlights military helicopter movements towards the North Korean border and manoeuvres across rough terrain by army combat vehicles. Other reports suggest there have been military moves by road as well.

There have been concerns that if a conflict breaks out Russia could face a humanitarian exodus from North Korea.

But Putin has been warned, too, that in the event of a US strike on Kim Jong-un's nuclear facilities, contamination could swiftly reach Russia.

'Railway trains loaded with military equipment moving towards Primorsky region via Khabarovsk have been noticed by locals,' reported primemedia.ru in the Russian far East - linking the development to the North Korean crisis.

'The movement of military equipment by different means of transport to southern areas is being observed across Primorsky region over the past week,' said military veteran Stanislva Sinitsyn.

'Many relate this to the situation in the Korean peninsula.

'The video shows artillery systems that either support troops in assault or meet the aggressor.'

He said: 'The movement of military equipment means that authorities of our country are keeping up with the situation - and take appropriate measures.'

The movements were 'a preventive but necessary' measure.

'If the situation worsens, especially related to military events, the armed forces of all the neighbouring countries obviously monitor it more closely, and we are no exception.

'It is not the first time that North Korea has broken the peace in the region, that's why this situation deserves attention.'

Russian military spokesman Alexander Gordeyev declined to give the exact reasons for the troop and equipment movements but said exercises had recently ended in the TransBaikal region of Siberia.

However, a number of local sources appear to believe the movements are linked to the Korean crisis.

The naval port of Vladivostok - where Russia has huge military forces - is less than 100 miles from North Korea.

Expert on the repressive state, Konstantin Asmolov, said: 'Should the US strike with missiles at North Korea's nuclear facilities, a radioactive cloud will reach Vladivostok within two hours.'

Asmolov, from the Russian Far Eastern Institute, warned that in the event of full-scale war 'hungry asylum seekers will flood into Russia.'

Russia on Wednesday blocked UN Security Council condemnation of Pyongyang's latest missile test - even though China, which has a major frontier with North Korea had backed the strongly-worded statement put forward by the United States.

The proposed statement would have demanded that North Korea 'conduct no further nuclear tests' and halt missile launches .

Pyongyang carried out a failed test on Sunday.

Russia wanted to include language contained in a previous statement stressing the need to achieve a solution through dialogue, according to council diplomats.

Moscow's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said: 'Unfortunately, we have to admit that the risk of a serious conflict in this region has substantially increased.'

He called for a 'demonstration of responsibility' from all sides to avoid escalation.

U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from sole major ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions.

There has been some confusion over the whereabouts of a U.S. aircraft carrier group after Trump said last week he had sent an 'armada' as a warning to North Korea, even as the ships were still far from Korean waters.

The U.S. military's Pacific Command explained that the USS Carl Vinson strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-planned period of training with Australia. It was now heading for the Western Pacific as ordered, it said.

China's influential Global Times newspaper, which is published by the People's Daily, the Communist Party's official paper, wondered whether the confusion was deliberate.

'The truth seems to be that the U.S. military and president jointly created fake news and it is without doubt a rare scandal in U.S. history, which will be bound to cripple Trump's and U.S. dignity,' it said.

North Korea did not refer to the mix-up but said the United States and its allies 'should not mess with us'.

The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, did not mince its words.

'In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes,' it said.

Yesterday, footage emerged of Kim Jong-un smiling and waving as cheering crowds watched a simulation of a US city being wiped out by a nuclear attack.

North Korea put on a musical show to mark the birthday of founding father Kim Il Sung which ended with a mock-up of rockets engulfing America in flames.

The choral performance was attended by dictator Kim Jong-un, the elder of Kim's grandson, on Sunday, after a massive military parade in the capital.

The singing was followed by footage of its test-firing of a missile in February which, in the video, was joined by other missiles shooting into sky, passing over the Pacific and exploding in giant balls of flames in the United States.

The video ended with a picture of the American flag in flames, overlapping row after row of white crosses in a cemetery.

'When the performance was over, all the performers and participants in the military parade broke into enthusiastic cheers of 'hurrah!',' state run KCNA news agency said.

State TV footage showed leader Kim smiling and waving in return.

'The Dear Supreme Leader waved back to them and congratulated the artistes on their successful performance,' KCNA said.

North Korea said in February that it had successfully tested a new type of medium- to long-range ballistic missile, the Pukguksong-2, propelled by a solid-fuel engine.

During Saturday's military parade it displayed what appeared to be new intercontinental ballistic missiles.

And a day later it conducted a failed missile test, which drew international condemnation.

North Korea regularly threatens to destroy the United States and amid heightened tension on the Korean peninsula, it has escalated a war of words, warning of full-out nuclear war if Washington takes military action against it.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, on a trip to Asia, has repeatedly warned that the 'era of strategic patience' with North Korea is over and on Wednesday said it would meet any attack with an 'overwhelming response'.

'Don't mess with us': Kim Jong-un threatens US with a 'super-mighty preemptive strike' as Putin reinforces Russia's border with North Korea to stop refugees flooding in if Trump attacks

State controlled media in Pyongyang warned North Korea could 'immediately wipe out the US mainland' and reduce its enemies 'to ashes'.


Old Navy Under Fire For 'Offensive' Father's Day T-Shirt

The retail clothing chain Old Navy recently found itself in hot water over its 2016 Father’s Day campaign.

The store produced a T-shirt for the holiday that reads "It’s Father’s Day," but the words "It’s Her Day" appear in bold white letters with the word "really" placed directly above the "her."

The shirt angered many on social media and Old Navy appears to have pulled the ad in response to all the backlash. Sadly, this is hardly the first time a major company’s marketing campaign has degraded fathers.

Just last year, the toilet paper brand Angel Soft released a YouTube video titled "Happy Father’s Day, Mom," that featured tear-filled stories about how wonderful mothers are.

Of course, no one is doubting the greatness of moms, but wouldn’t that ad have been better suited for Mother’s Day?

The online retail giant Amazon came under fire last year for its parent-focused program, Amazon Mom. The online membership program was referred to Amazon Family the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Austria, France, and Japan.

Fortunately, Amazon, Old Navy and Angel Soft are outliers. Throughout popular culture, dads are being portrayed as more involved and emotionally engaged than ever before.

That’s how fathers should be depicted, because it mirrors reality. Research from the Pew Research Center shows fathers are taking more active roles in caring for their children and more dads see parenting as central to their identity.

As dads are becoming progressively more involved, researchers are learning more about the value those interactions have when it comes to children’s development. Fatherhood research, after being brushed aside for decades, is a rapidly growing and evolving field that is uncovering insights into the unique manner in which dads interact with their kids and how that contributes to their upbringing.

This Father’s Day weekend, families across the country will take time to celebrate those crucial contributions that dads make throughout the year. This day is a joyous one for most fathers, but the holiday can conjure much different emotions for dads who have recently gone through a divorce.

Although fathers are gradually gaining more rights, gender stereotypes still pervade the family court system, which unfairly tend to negate dads to secondary parent status.

It’s so important to keep in mind that divorced dads are still dads and it is crucial for them to remain heavily involved in their kids’ lives.

That’s easier said than done if you’re a dad forced to spend Father’s Day apart from his children. However, regardless of whatever circumstance you find yourself in this year, keep in mind that the love and commitment you show your kids every day throughout the year does make an enormous difference.

"(Father’s Day) is just a day," said author and speaker Laura Petherbridge. "It’s a day on the calendar that was probably created by somebody from Hallmark. Don’t let that determine your worth or your identity. You’re still a great dad even if you don’t spend Father’s Day with your kids. ... Don’t let that be your identity that you’re a bad dad..

"Just step up to the plate on those other days. If you have to do it on Monday rather than on Sunday, just make sure you’re child knows you love them and you desire to spend time with them. That will speak volumes more than if you were able to spend time with them on Father’s Day or not."

Shawn Garrison is an Online Editor for Lexicon, focusing on subjects related to the legal services of customers, Cordell & Cordell and Cordell & Cordell UK. He has written countless pieces dealing with the unique child custody and divorce issues that men and fathers face. Through his work on CordellCordell.com, CordellCordell.co.uk, and DadsDivorce.com, Mr. Garrison has become an authority on the complexities of the legal experience and was a content creator for the YouTube series "Dad’s Divorce Live" and additional videos on both the Dad’s Divorce and Cordell & Cordell YouTube channels. Mr. Garrison has managed the sites of these customers, and fostered the creation of several of their features, including the Cordell & Cordell attorney and office pages, the Dad’s Divorce Newsletter, and the Cordell & Cordell newsletter.

Old Navy Father’s Day Campaign Misses Mark

The clothing store released a t-shirt that tried to be funny but failed miserably.

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How despicable Knicks pretend Linsanity never happened

If I were a rich man ...

I don’t think I’d want to own a ball club. Writing fat checks to fellas who feel it beneath them to run to first or to catch with both hands — no matter how many easy outs they have dropped — and to sportsmen such as Draymond Green and Pacman Jones who would commit any incivility it takes to lose playoff games, doesn’t strike me as money well worn or well spent.

But if I did own a team, I know what I would want — insist upon — from my TV and radio announcers. I would demand what all the other team owners, for some senseless reason, disallow: unvarnished honesty.

There is no better public reflection on a team owner than treating his or her team’s fans, customers and even casual viewers and listeners with respect, especially those in the audience who would know they’re being treated as saps. And if I, the team owner, deserve a shot, fire away!

There is no downside to attaching your team to honest broadcasts. Who wouldn’t want to be known for providing candid TV and radio coverage? Heck, that one owner would stand out like the one light in the dark. How does such a smart approach escape the wisdom of fabulously wealthy team owners?

Since riches-inherited James Dolan first touched down in The Garden — 1995, the year after the Rangers won the Cup and the Knicks made the finals — MSG Network has been converted from a highly credible stop to an often-preposterous and frequently insulting propaganda mill.

Last week, on both MSG Network and MSG’s website, appeared "MSG Countdown," this one providing a timeline of exciting, memorable — even if forgotten — successful achievements by Knicks in the 21st century.

Included are big scoring nights from Carmelo Anthony, the night the Knicks, still long-range-reliant, hit 20 3-point shots, and the time Kurt Thomas played with a broken foot.

However, the singularly most unexpected, extraordinarily exciting and successful 21st-century Knicks happenstance was omitted: Those three weeks when an undrafted scrub who was about to be cut, Jeremy Lin, took an injury- and star-depleted team and turned the Knicks and New York City and its environs into Holy Mackerel Land, those three weeks when "Linsanity" erupted with an all-in, run-and-pass offense that led to countless uncontested layups and an 8-15 team winning seven straight and eight-of-nine — including wins against the far more talented Lakers, Jazz and Mavericks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iWWFk6TX18

From Feb. 4 through Feb. 29 (2012 was a leap year), New York City went Linsane. And while it’s impossible to forget what by far was the most exciting, successful thing about this century’s Knicks, it didn’t make MSG Network’s cut.

The night when Tim Hardaway scored 29? That was deemed a keeper. Lin’s 38 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals against the Lakers? Nope, not included. And that’s sad, sick and insulting.

It was no coincidence that the Linsanity outbreak was due to Anthony’s absence. The Dolan Knicks had thrown in with Anthony’s style — give him the money, then the ball, let him shoot, everyone else just loiter off to the sides — which was antithetical to what Lin’s style brought for three fantastic weeks.

So not only did Lin and five-man-go basketball have to go, Dolan’s MSG Network has made him disappear in the hope that we’ll forget and continue to regard Anthony as savior-in-still-waiting.

Surely, such blatant, dishonestly twisted revisionist history carries the mark of Dolan, or at least of MSG Network employees avoiding the risk of his wrath. Jeremy Lin? Linsanity? It never happened. Got that, stupid? Never.
Van Gundy forcing himself into a corner
ESPN’s Jeff Van Gundy brings to mind the gag about the bum who knocks on the old woman’s back door. "Lady, I haven’t had a bite to eat in two days," he tells her. "Well, force yourself!" she says.

Too often Van Gundy speaks as if he wants to make a splash, come across as bold, thus he forces himself.

In the first half of Game 5, LeBron James, driving toward the hoop, lowered his shoulder and shoved the Warriors’ Anderson Varejao backwards and eventually to the ground. The ball was deflected out of bounds, no call, although Varejao mimed James’ act as worthy of an offensive foul. As a replay began, Van Gundy:

"I think it was [an offensive foul]. But if I’m the referee, I agree. I can’t, I gotta know that he’s not tricking me. And no, he’s falling backwards. Stand up and play!"

Bold stuff!

So Van Gundy very clearly saw it both ways. It was an offensive foul, but the fact that Varejao, after the contact, fell, made it what? Not an offensive foul?

By the way, for those snoring at home, the fourth quarter of Game 5 began on a Monday night at 11:17. That, and the fact that Mike Francesa authoritatively gave the underdog Cavaliers no chance to win on the road made further watching unnecessary.
Stats not the way to do it
Of the two Ken Singletons, I prefer the one who looks at the games, not at the stats.

Tuesday on YES, when Rockies left fielder Gerardo Parra was injured after colliding with shortstop Trevor Story on a fly ball, Singleton smartly reasoned that Colorado’s infielders aggressively pursue such flies because the outfielders at home run haven Coors Field play so deep.

The next day, Singleton went into a dissertation on Yankees starter Ivan Nova’s great statistical success versus NL teams as opposed to Rockies starter Chad Bettis, who had been blasted by AL teams. Singleton spoke as if they normally pitch in two different worlds.

Yet both teams’ lineups included batters who had played for a long time in the other league. Colorado had Mark Reynolds (Indians, Yankees, Orioles) and Ryan Raburn (Tigers, Indians); the Yankees played Starlin Castro (Cubs) and Chase Headley (Padres). Even the umpires are now homogenized.

Singleton’s AL versus NL emphasis gave importance to team names and logos appearing on uniforms rather than how well one pitches. And on this day, despite their previous "other league" experiences, Bettis, the winning pitcher, pitched better than Nova.

Any stat, any time. During Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, NBC posted this graphic: "PIT: 6-1 record following a loss in 2016 playoffs."

Not only did such info stand to reason — the Penguins, after all, didn’t make it this far on losing streaks — what NBC chose for a national audience’s illumination wouldn’t be shared by hockey fans with other hockey fans, because the speakers would be looked upon as idiots.


Why The Apple Watch Will Succeed (Even If It Fails)

Two important, distinct watches bookended my youth. In one corner: the Texas Instruments LED watch, the first digital watch of its kind. In the other: Swatch, the Swiss watch brand that turned the fusty art of time-keeping into a fun, youthful style statement. The TI watch was a feat of technological novelty, but it was neither beautiful nor practical; the LEDs ate up so much battery life that you had to press a button on the side of the band to make time show up. Swatch, on the other hand, worked exquisitely and had a rakish look for everyone under the sun. But the watches were never paragons of technological sophistication.

As Apple prepares to debut its long awaited smart watch, it's worth revisiting the tension that has plagued watch innovation for years: The history of watch design is the history of tradeoffs between functional novelty and personal expression. If the Apple Watch succeeds, it will succeed because the company has attended to both ends of the spectrum well enough—and can make up for the rest with its outsize consumer base and loyal development partners.

And if it doesn't succeed in those ways? Apple could still win the wearable tech wars.

Looking back, the TI watches were scary ugly. But when my older brother got one—I was 10 years old at the time—he and I spent hours pushing the button just to watch those numbers magically appear. It was attractive, not because of its aesthetic, but because it was so new. That's functional novelty. Put a conventional analog watch in the same clothing, and it would have been passed over as cheap and undesirable, even then. It's little surprise that the TI watch, despite all its shortcomings, sold millions.

Watch technology has been settled for a long, long time. There have been minor variations in the underlying mechanisms, and TI's LED innovation was an important breakthrough. But for the most part, the technology has been ubiquitous for over a century, and unimpressive for longer.

Over the same period, watches have become statements of personal expression, and they have proliferated around this dimension. Swatch took this proliferation to the extreme. (For me, as a teenager, it was the go-to birthday, Christmas and graduation gift.) There are 1.2 billion watches produced around the world today representing perhaps hundreds of thousands of different styles. The only things that distinguish one watch style from the next are fashion features (and price points); you rarely see any kind of functional novelty.

To date, wearable technology has found its center on the "functional novelty" end of the spectrum. Call it the left end. It’s Silicon Valley, not New York City. Tech not fashion. Fitbit, Withings, Jawbone—they have all operated from the urge to deliver new use cases to their customers. Just look at their sites; they're all about data.. Learn more about yourself so that you can be a better human.

It's not that these companies totally disregard the importance of personal expression. The days are over when you could launch a product without paying heed to its design. But the kind of design you see today does not say, "I’m wearing this thing because I love how it makes me look." It’s more about announcing that you belong to a particular club. Take Fitbit. Fitbit devices owe much of their aesthetic to the rubber, yellow Livestrong bands that became popular a decade ago. Users wear them to announce their membership in a league of people who care about pushing themselves physically to be better. The design expresses the personal choices of a very slim (in both meanings of the word) set of the overall population.

Apple is in the rare position to deliver a product that is both functionally novel and chameleon-like in its powers of personal expression. For starters, Apple has invested tremendous energy into making the watch customizable. The watch's core is a chicklet able to take on a variety of personalities like no other wearable to date (unless you count Swatch): Two case sizes, four case finishes, and something like a dozen band styles and colors (I lost count while digging through Apple's site) offer more than 100 possible combinations out of the gate. And there is already at least one third-party company building a custom case and band (Epik). Surely others will follow.

The Apple Watch isn't a product, it's a platform.

On the technological side, Apple may be better poised than any other wearable maker to deliver novel functionality because the company isn't locked into any particular functionality. In contrast to Fitbit, the watch isn’t merely a data collector. It’s a wearable, networked computer that can be programmed for thousands of functions. It’s not a product. It’s a platform that will really come alive when the substantial developer community imagines and builds a dizzying array of apps tailored to the little screen.

The perfect analogy here is the iPad. When it launched, many of us knew we wanted one, but we didn’t know exactly what for. Time and endless experimentation has proven that the iPad is a great place to play Angry Birds, among other things. In a similar fashion, the Apple Watch will prove its usefulness once some ingenious app maker reveals to us what we can't live without.

It's possible that the developer community never produces the Apple Watch equivalent of Angry Birds. It's also possible that Watch's style options miss the mark and fail to gain critical mass. (Not likely, given Apple's loyal fan base, but possible.) Even then, Apple could still win the wearables war.

The big deal in wearable tech is not at all about which particular watch will win the battle for users' wrists. It’s about who will come out on top as the owner of a compelling platform that sits at the center of an entire ecosystem of sensors, software and services just like Apple did for music over a decade ago when they brought the music industry to our fingertips with the iPod and iTunes. In five years, will we talk about how Apple’s Healthkit—the company's software platform that aggregates data from all your health and fitness apps—became the de facto dashboard for our bodies? Or will it be some offering from Google?

Right now, Google is leveraging its acquisition of smart-home products company, Nest, to become that platform leader in the world of home automation. Late last year, Google launched Works with Nest, a partnership program that connects devices together so that, for instance, your Mercedes Benz can tell your Nest thermostat that you’re on your way home. Will they extend this to our bodies, too? I know that I want my home colder right after my workout.

For now, Apple may have built the best beta product that will help us figure out what we really want from our wearables. The winning formula: an easily customizable accessory plus a blank-canvas for new functionality plus a hungry audience and a huge development community poised for experimentation.

Why The Apple Watch Could Succeed (Even If It Fails)

Wearable tech is not about which watch wins the battle for users' wrists.. It's about who has the best platform.

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Why So Many Employers Are Getting Rid of Sick Days

Are sick days a thing of the past? | iStock.com/IPGGutenbergUKLtd

We’ve all had the weekday morning roll around when the night before is all too fresh in our minds — or perhaps a hazy mess. Or that morning when you wake up and just simply can’t deal with facing your boss, and that We’ve all had the weekday morning roll around when the night before is all too fresh in our minds — or perhaps a hazy mess. Or that morning when you wake up and just simply can’t deal with facing your boss, and that nasty co-worker who is always making your life miserable. Or perhaps you simply need a day away from the spreadsheets, the customers, and the mind-numbing routine you call work.

In most companies, your only way out involves pulling a modern-day Ferris Bueller, running a thermometer under hot water (or whatever makes you feel slightly better about your subterfuge), and then calling your boss — hoping he buys the sniffles you’re conjuring up. Taking a much-needed personal day turns into a mini saga reminiscent of the soap operas your mom used to watch, and you spend half your day wondering if they’ll believe you the next time you really are sick.

Thankfully, a more flexible approach to work in a number of facets also means that companies are making paid time off more flexible, too. Not only can you avoid the cloak-and-dagger approach to taking a personal day, but companies are seeing a more malleable PTO schedule pay dividends as well, in terms of employee engagement and job satisfaction.

Sick days give employees the urge to lie about their health, but there are better ways to give time off while promoting engagement at work.


Ask This One Question to Get Past Awkward Small Talk and Make a Real Connection

Making small talk is one of those things that no one likes, but everyone has to do. Kalina Silverman decided to ditch the tradition and dive straight into a big question instead. It’s one of the most effective ways to Making small talk is one of those things that no one likes, but everyone has to do. Kalina Silverman decided to ditch the tradition and dive straight into a big question instead. It’s one of the most effective ways to get over the discomfort of small talk

Instead of talking about the weather, Silverman framed one question that everyone has an answer to:

What’s the one thing you want to do before you die?

Yes, it takes you Yes, it takes you out of your comfort zone , but that’s the whole point. Small talk is uncomfortable because it’s uncomfortable for both parties. Instead, asking a big question that actually requires a thoughtful response breaks the ice and the conversation gets more real.

Making small talk is one of those things that no one likes, but everyone has to do. Kalina Silverman decided to ditch the tradition and dive straight into a big question instead. It’s one of the most effective ways to get over the discomfort of small talk.

social gps, Social, Communication, Parties, videos, small talk, conversation, Lifehacker


Can't sleep? The best color for a restful and relaxing room is...

The hues you choose for your decor have a great effect on the mind and body. So, while comfortable bedding, dim lighting and soft music are some ways to make a bedroom restful and de-stressing, one feature that will have a big impact on how you feel in a space is COLOR. Read below for the most relaxing option.

Ever hear of a blue power suit? There's truth to wearing this color to evoke authority, trust and a sense of calm. But blue is also a very soothing color that, according to Shape, will help calm your mind and reduce tension. It also is know to slow down your body's metabolism. That's why it’s particularly great for bedrooms because it will help you relax and fall asleep with ease. And it's also found in meeting and conference rooms to keep people calm and focused.

"There's something in the color blue that triggers a relaxation response. It makes me feel as if I'm floating in a boat, looking up at the sky. Everything about it speaks of a gentle, tranquil, Zen state of mind, "Leatrice Eiseman of Pantone told House Beautiful.

When choosing the right blue for your interiors, you'll want to pick one that's soft and soothing, and grey-based, rather than bright in value.

Before you begin painting, read these stress-free tips below:

1 of 9 Don't Stress About Color Don't let finding the right paint color cause you stress. Jordan tells us, "there are plenty of tools to help you choose the right color for your space and I recommend using them for every step of the design process." Tools like Chip It allow you to pull a palette from any inspirational image, and online apps let you add color to photos of your own space so you can visualize the result before you start.

The Best Color For A Restful, Relaxing Room Is A Cool Blue (PHOTOS)

The hues you choose for your decor have a great effect on the mind and body. So, while comfortable bedding, dim lighting and soft music are some ways...

color for relaxing,colors for bedrooms,color for de-stressing,color psychology,best colors for relaxing,relaxing color,paint color ideas,color,Making a Home,color ideas


The Real Reason We Don't Hear About Jon Heder Anymore

Jon Heder shot to fame with the 2004 indie hit Napoleon Dynamite. Just a few years later, he'd pretty much disappeared from the spotlight, and these days, it seems like movie studios want nothing to do with him. Why isn't Jon Heder welcome in Tinseltown anymore?

This isn't to say that Jon Heder is a bad actor. He's made some enjoyable films. It's just that no matter what he does, he's never going to shake Napoleon Dynamite. In School for Scoundrels, he attempted to play a romantic lead. In Blades of Glory, he played an eccentric, disgraced figure skater. Yet whenever audiences hear or see his name, they expect to see the curly-haired, bespectacled nerd who danced his way into movie watchers' hearts.

Again, Heder has made some good flicks. His more prominent movies, such as Just Like Heaven and Monster House, met with financial success, critical praise, or some combination of the two. But if you look at his filmography, those are the exceptions to the rule. Most of his films, like Mama's Boy or Bling, were greeted with critical wrath or outright indifference. Even worse, the majority have made very little money. Whether or not that's Heder's fault, his name's attached to those projects.

Take away the hair, the glasses, and the "Vote for Pedro" T-shirt, and Heder looks nothing like the awkward, dweeby heroic nerd fans took him for in Napoleon Dynamite.. In real life, Heder resembles a classic, rugged leading man with a five o'clock shadow, square chin, and sharp jawline. Perhaps when the geek masses saw the true Heder, they felt betrayed and turned their backs on him—and suddenly there was no one left to buy tickets to his flicks.

Even though we haven't seen that much of Jon Heder, it doesn't mean he's out of the picture. In fact, he's been behind it. Beginning with 2005's Monster House, Heder booked a lot of voice work for video games, animated films, and cartoons, which includes an animated series/quasi-sequel to Napoleon Dynamite. As of this writing, he's completed almost 20 projects of this ilk, and the work seems to be ramping up. It's not surprising, considering his, let's say, distinctive voice. So it could be a matter of him not wanting to bother with Hollywood anymore, just like his other venture…

His prolific voiceover career keeps him busy, but Heder hasn't stayed completely behind the scenes. Like many creative professionals, he's gone to work for himself by taking his talents to the internet. Since 2009, Heder's appeared in several web projects, like the zom-com Woke Up Dead. With these successful ventures, and the sans-studio freedom it affords him, there's no reason for him to bother with Hollywood productions. He's already got all the opportunity he needs.

Jon Heder leads a fairly innocent life. The reason movie watchers are attracted to some celebs—like, say, Lindsay Lohan—is that they're human trainwrecks. Or film fans clamor for a star who's overcome a serious, debilitating problem, like Robert Downey, Jr. Either way, studios love this—after all, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Heder's never had any problems like this. Nothing sensational ever occurred in his life. In fact, he's even made sure to stay away from potential projects because he believed they'd attract the wrong kind of attention, and conflicted with his Mormon faith. He might be so squeaky clean that there's nothing for ticket buyers to stick to.

If he wants, Jon Heder could revive his career easily, and he doesn't have to compromise his values at all. As a father of three, it should be a piece of cake for this indie star to develop a project that appeals to audiences of all ages without being cringe-inducingly corny. And seeing as how he's worked in multiple platforms, it's pretty much up to him how he gets his productions to the people. Or, if nothing like that pans out, he could always take after Kip and train to become a cage fighter.

He's gone from Napoleon Dynamite to persona non grata. Why isn't Jon Heder welcome in Tinseltown anymore?

Jon Heder whatever happened, Jon Heder now, Napoleon Dynamite guy


A new study has found that electromagnetic brain stimulation can help obese people lose weight, partly by changing the composition of their intestinal bacteria.

Unlike deep brain stimulation, the technique the researchers tested, called deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS), does not require an operation or implantation of electrodes.

It simply involves an noninvasive electromagnetic coil placed on the scalp to send magnetic pulses to stimulate specific deep regions of the brain.

It seems not a day goes by without a new article appearing about our how our gut bacteria can make us overweight.

It has spurned a host of books, diet plans and supplements all geared towards balancing your microbiome and resetting your metabolism.

Now this research has expanded understanding of the relationship between the brain and gut flora when it comes to weight loss.

Author of the study, professor Livio Luzi, head of endocrinology at the IRCCS Policlinico San Donato and the University of Milan, said: 'We need new safe and effective therapies for obesity.

'Despite numerous preventive and therapeutic interventions, none has stopped obesity from reaching epidemic proportions.'

Scientists believe an underlying cause of obesity may be an impaired gut microbiota composition - an imbalance in the complex mix of 'good' and 'bad' micro-organisms in the digestive tract.

Our microbiome plays a role in regulating blood sugar and metabolism, and sends signals to our brain that can affect appetite..

A bad diet, stress, alcohol and lack of sleep can upset your microbiome, creating imbalances.

Professor Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology at King's College London, argues changes to our microbiomes due to diet and lifestyle may be fueling the obesity epidemic.

'We know that the more diverse their microbiome, the healthier people tend to be,' he said.

'But modern diets and lifestyles work against this diversity and, from studies, we can see that the variety of microbes in our bodies is roughly 30 per cent lower than it was 50 years ago, which may contribute to the obesity epidemic.'

Luzi said an imbalanced gut microbiota can alter the brain's signals for appetite and satiety, or fullness.

He and his co-workers discovered that dTMS could improve the gut microbiota composition in obese people.

In the study three obese men and 11 obese women, aged 22 to 65, with a BMI of over 30, were randomly assigned into two groups. Over five weeks, one was given 15 sessions - three times per week - of dTMS (to the insula and prefrontal cortex deep in the brain) or a sham stimulation as a control.

After treatment, those receiving dTMS lost more than 3 per cent of their body weight and more than 4 per cent of their fat - significantly more than controls did.

Before and at the end of treatment, subjects provided stool samples for microbiota analysis.

Results of the fecal analysis demonstrated that dTMS-treated subjects had greatly increased quantities of several beneficial bacterial species with anti-inflammatory properties..

The control group, however, had  significant alterations in their microbiota.

The team also measured blood levels of glucose (sugar), insulin, pituitary gland hormones and neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine.

Pituitary hormones play a key role in regulating appetite, and recent research shows that norepinephrine and other neurotransmitters affect gut flora.

The group that dTMS also saw improved metabolic and hormonal parameters, including glucose, insulin, several pituitary hormones and norepinephrine..

'These changes suggest a beneficial effect of dTMS on both weight loss and change in microbiota composition,' Luzi said.

The brain technique has been approved in the U.S. for treating major depression and is being studied in some countries for the treatment of other neuropsychiatric disorders, including addiction.

Researchers now estimate that a typical human body is made up of about 30 trillion human cells and 39 trillion bacteria.

These are key in harvesting energy from our food, regulating our immune function, and keeping the lining of our gut healthy.

Interest in, and knowledge about, the microbiota has recently exploded as we now recognise just how essential they are to our health.

A healthy, balanced microbiome helps us break down foods, protects us from infection, trains our immune system and manufactures vitamins, such as K and B12.

It also sends signals to our brain that can affect mood, anxiety and appetite.

Imbalances in the gut are increasingly being linked to conditions ranging from irritable bowel syndrome to diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and obesity..

Disruption of the gut microbiota might contribute to a variety of conditions including childhood asthma, obesity, colitis and colon cancer.

Last year, scientists at California Institute of Technology found the first ever link between the gut and Parkinson's symptoms.

The composition of our gut microbiota is partly determined by our genes but can also be influenced by lifestyle factors such as our diet, alcohol intake and exercise, as well as medications.

Is this the most bizarre weight loss technique ever? Scientists discover simple magnetic pulses to the brain can make gut bacteria healthier and reduce food cravings

Researchers at IRCCS Policlinico San Donato and the University of Milan discovered a technique using coils on the scalp can improve microbiota and cause weight loss.


Scientists have found a human protein that blocks Zika virus replication and prevents brain cell death

Zika virus has emerged as a severe health threat with a rapidly expanding range. The IFITM family of restriction factors inhibits the replication of a broad range of viruses, including the closely related flaviruses West Nile virus and dengue virus. Here, we show that IFITM1 and IFITM3 inhibit Zika virus infection early in the viral life cycle. Moreover, IFITM3 can prevent Zika-virus-induced cell death. These results suggest that strategies to boost the actions and/or levels of the IFITMs might be useful for inhibiting a broad range of emerging viruses.

Zika virus has emerged as a severe health threat by virtue of its fast paced global spread and its associated morbidities, including microcephaly and Guillain-Barre syndrome. Zika virus was initially isolated from an infected macaque in Uganda in 1947, and the first human cases were reported in 1952. Similar to the closely related dengue virus, Zika virus is primarily spread via the bite of an infected Aedes mosquito. In 2007, Zika virus emerged in Micronesia and expanded its range to Southeast Asia. Zika virus was identified in Brazil in May 2015 and has since led to widespread infection in Central and South America.

Zika virus illness has been described as self-limited and moderate in severity with the common findings of malaise, headache, fever, joint aches, a maculopapular rash, and inflammation of the conjunctiva (Haug et al., 2016, Lazear and Diamond, 2016). However, an alarming number of birth defects, including microcephaly, have been attributed to Zika virus infection occurring in the first two trimesters of pregnancy (Driggers et al., 2016, Haug et al., 2016, Rasmussen et al., 2016). In addition, an upsurge in reported cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome, which manifests as a symmetric ascending flaccid paralysis, have recently been associated with Zika virus infection. Multiple reports have demonstrated that Zika virus can be sexually transmitted via infected seminal fluid, with resultant infection of pregnant mothers

the risk of sexual transmission may persist for months after remission of clinical illness (D’Ortenzio et al., 2016). These events have led to Zika virus being declared a public health emergency by the World Health Organization.

We and others have found that the small membrane-associated interferon-inducible transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) can inhibit the replication of a wide range of pathogenic viruses, including all flaviviruses tested to date, including West Nile virus, dengue virus, and reporter viruses carrying the envelope of the Omsk hemmorhagic fever virus (Bailey et al., 2014, Brass et al., 2009, Chesarino et al., 2014a, Chesarino et al., 2014b, Chesarino et al., 2015, Everitt et al., 2012, Huang et al., 2011, Perreira et al., 2013, Tartour et al., 2014). Murine models of Zika virus pathogenesis require an absence of type I interferon (IFN) signaling, suggesting that IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) can prevent heightened levels of infection (Lazear et al., 2016). Further evidence for the protective role of ISGs comes from work showing that placental cells can resist Zika virus infection due to actions of IFN-λ (Bayer et al., 2016).. In light of these data, and given that IFITMs are potent inhibitors of flaviviral infection, we wished to determine their effect on Zika virus replication. Using both loss- and gain-of-function examples, we found that both IFITM3 and IFITM1 inhibit the replication of a prototype lab strain of Zika virus first isolated in Africa in 1947 (MR766) (Dick et al., 1952), as well as a more recent strain isolated from a child in Cambodia in 2010 (FSS13025) (Haddow et al., 2012). We found IFITM3 to be more potent than IFITM1 in its inhibition of Zika virus replication. Consistent with this, the loss of a specific endocytosis motif required for the proper localization of IFITM3 is necessary for maximal viral restriction (Jia et al., 2014, John et al.., 2013). We also revealed that Zika virus causes a cytopathic effect in HeLa cells and that IFITM3 modulates this phenotype. These data examine the role that specific ISGs might play in the intrinsic immune system’s defenses against Zika virus and further extend the important role played by the IFITMs against viral infection. Our data, and those of others, also suggest that methods of enhancing the actions of IFITMs could serve to ameliorate the global impact on human health created by the expansion of Zika virus, as well as the challenges posed by other emerging viral infections.

IFITM3 Modulates Zika Virus Replication and Cytopathicity

In view of the established role of the IFITMs in the anti-viral response against multiple flaviviruses, we wished to examine the effect of IFITM3 on Zika virus infection (Brass et al., 2009, John et al., 2013). We found that depletion of IFITM3 via a stably transduced short hairpin RNA (shIFITM3) in human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) cells increased Zika virus replication as demonstrated by increased expression of Zika-virus envelope (E) protein staining with a flavivirus cross-reactive antibody that recognizes the E protein, 4G2 (Figure 1A). We obtained similar results by assessing viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) with a recombinant J2 (rJ2) monoclonal antibody (data not shown). In keeping with these results, IFITM3-overexpressing cells potently blocked viral infection as compared to the shScramble control cells (Figure 1A). We note that the shIFITM3 used in this study spares IFITM1 expression but targets a nearly identical region of both IFITM2 and IFITM3, which differ by only 11 amino acids (Figure S1A) (Feeley et al., 2011, Perreira et al.., 2013). Furthermore, we have not found an antibody that can discriminate between endogenous IFITM2 and IFITM3, therefore the increased susceptibility of the shIFITM3 cells to Zika virus infection represents the depletion of both endogenous IFITM2 and IFITM3, with the latter likely playing the predominant role (see Discussion).

Zika virus infection has been reported to cause the death of Vero cells but not of human or murine fibroblasts (Way et al., 1976). We therefore wanted to confirm that Zika virus infection caused the death of HeLa cells and whether the loss or gain of IFITM3 impacted this effect. We found that there was a moderate amount of cell death detected after Zika virus infection of the shScramble control cells and that this effect was ameliorated with overexpression of IFITM3 (Figures 1B and 1C). Importantly, the loss of IFITM2 and IFITM3 (shIFITM3 cells) enhanced the susceptibility of the cells to viral cytopathic effect. We saw similar results when using both the MR766 and FSS13025 strains, with the MR766 strain displaying a stronger cytopathic effect. We conclude that IFITM2 and IFITM3 are required for cellular resistance to Zika virus replication and cytopathicity and that the overexpression of IFITM3 can potentiate this protection.

IFITM1 Inhibits Zika Virus Replication, and the Proper Localization of IFITM3 Is Needed for Its Full Restriction of Viral Replication

We next tested whether overexpression of the IFITM3 paralog, IFITM1, impacted Zika virus replication. IFITM1 and IFITM3 have been shown to have partially overlapping specificities of viral inhibition, with IFITM1 being more potent against viruses that enter at the cell surface or in the early endosomal pathway and IFITM3 preferentially acting more strongly against viruses that enter in the late endosomal pathway, such as dengue virus or influenza A virus (Bailey et al., 2014, Chesarino et al., 2014b, Perreira et al., 2013). In keeping with these observations, overexpressed IFITM1 did inhibit Zika virus replication (MR766 and FSS13025 strains), but to a lesser extent than IFITM3, with the caveat that we cannot compare the levels of these two untagged proteins directly (Figures 2A–2C). An IFITM3 mutant, Y20A, which harbors a mutation in a clathrin-mediated endocytosis motif required for proper protein localization in the endosomal pathway, also demonstrated a moderately reduced ability to block viral replication (Jia et al., 2014, John et al.., 2013).

Deletion of the Murine Ifitm3 Locus Leads to Increased Zika Virus Infection In Vitro

Murine Ifitm3 has been shown to prevent viral replication in vitro and also to stop severe influenza in vivo (Brass et al., 2009, Everitt et al., 2012, Feeley et al., 2011). Therefore, we compared Ifitm3+/+, Ifitm3−/−, and Ifitm3−/−Ifitm3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFS) in the setting of Zika virus infection (MR766 strain), with the latter null cells complemented in trans with a stably transduced murine Ifitm3 cDNA (Lin et al., 2013). These studies revealed an increase in infection in the Ifitm3−/− cells, which was prevented by exogenously expressed Ifitm3 (Figures 3A–3C). We conclude that Ifitm3 protects mouse cells from Zika infection, similar to its role in human cells.

IFITM3 Inhibits the Early Stages of Zika Virus Replication

The IFITMs have been shown to restrict viral replication by blocking fusion-pore formation and the entry of the viral genome and its associated proteins into the cytosol (Bailey et al., 2014, Brass et al., 2008, Feeley et al., 2011, Li et al., 2013, Lin et al., 2013, Perreira et al., 2013). Therefore, we tested whether altering the levels of IFITM3 could inhibit the early stages of Zika virus infection by using an imaging assay we designed to detect Zika virus RNA. Zika virus (MR766, MOI 50–100) was incubated on ice with HeLa-shScramble, -shIFITM3, and -IFITM3 cells to permit viral binding but prevent endocytosis. Warm media was then added, and at the indicated time points, the cells were washed with cold PBS, incubated with or without trypsin, fixed, immunostained, and confocally imaged with a probe set that recognizes Zika virus RNA. We found that the loss of IFITM3 resulted in increased viral RNA signals (in terms of both intensity and number) as compared to the shScramble control cells (Figures 4A and 4B , Figure S1B). Consistent with this, the overexpression of IFITM3 resulted in little to no detectable viral RNA signals in the cytosol. Given that IFITM3 prevents the fusion of multiple viruses, these results suggest that this assay only recognizes viral RNA once it has exited the viral particle and entered the cytosol subsequent to fusion-pore formation

attempts to detect viral RNA fixed to the cell surface in time-zero samples not treated with trypsin showed little to no viral RNA signal, supporting this notion (data not shown). However, we cannot rule out the possibility that some viral RNA transcription occurred at these early time points post-infection, and thus it remains possible that the IFITMs act after viral fusion but prior to early viral RNA transcription.

Of note, at time zero we saw no differences in viral binding (either in signal intensity or number) to the cell surface across the three cell lines when using samples that were incubated with virus then immediately fixed and immunostained for viral E protein (Figures S1C–S1F). We also estimate that the larger "spots" of viral signals (E protein and viral RNA) represent multiple viruses or viral RNAs that are close together and beyond the resolution of this assay, which is 360 nm for the E protein and 400 nm for the viral RNA. Therefore, with individual Zika viruses estimated to be ≈50 nm in size, our imaging assays are not capable of discriminating between individual virions and are thus useful for evaluating the relative level of viral signals rather than their absolute numbers. Taken together, these studies reveal that IFITM3 inhibits the early stages of Zika virus infection that occur after viral-host binding but before either the viral RNA’s cytosolic entry or its early transcription.

The IFITMs Inhibit Zika Virus Replication


This is what Christmas is like when you've just won £1m on a scratchcard

Disneyland Paris, pigs in blankets and plentiful prosecco

Natalie was at a playcentre with the couple’s three-year-old daughter when Andrew called to tell her the incredible news that they’d won the money.

"I just put the kettle on and made a cup of tea and went and sat down," she explains, revealing that neither of them could believe what they were looking at.

Finally able to afford the wedding they’d always wanted, Andrew proposed to Natalie that evening - he’d already bought the ring, but the win gave him the push he needed.

"It was my Nana’s engagement ring and he’d had it reset. It was really lovely," Natalie told Refinery 29.

Despite their newfound riches, the family hasn’t had any huge extravagances over the year except for a trip to New York and some home improvements.

It could have been tempting, however, to blow a lot of the money over Christmas.

But aside from a festive trip to Disneyland Paris "as a special treat for our daughter," the couple decided to keep their Christmas much like every other year.

"We have 13 people coming round to ours this year and that’s what we always do. We’re very down-to-earth people," Natalie explained before the big day.

That said, the couple did treat themselves a bit - they ordered a bigger turkey, more pigs in blankets and a few extra bottles of prosecco.

With all your family and friends knowing about your windfall there must surely be a lot of pressure to buy expensive presents for everyone though?

Not for Natalie and Andrew, who decided not to spoil anyone really. "Our daughter needs to understand that nothing has changed, really," Natalie said, adding that "Disneyland is a big treat."

Encouragingly for mankind, Natalie revealed that no one had actually asked them for anything, and the couple seem to have their heads firmly on their shoulders: "Obviously it’s an amazing amount of money but you have to be really, really sensible with it to make sure it lasts for you and your family. You could quite easily spend a million pounds these days."

It's like the Grinch says: maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store.

What Christmas is like when you’ve just won £1m on a scratchcard

Indulgent food, drinks, parties, travelling and presents make Christmas an expensive time of year, so imagine how great it would be to have won £1m in the run up? For one lucky couple, that’s exactly what happened. Last February, 31-year-old Natalie and her husband Andrew from Blackpool won £1m on a scratchcard after Andrew randomly decided to buy one when picking up teabags.


The city that may soon lose its "skyskraper crown" to NYC:

Can NYC leapfrog HK to take skyscraper crown? Wednesday, 22 Apr 2015 | 8:46 PM ET | 04:22

Skyscraper rents in Hong Kong are still the world's highest, but the city is in danger of losing its crown to New York, Knight Frank said.

"New York is closing fast," Knight Frank said in a report Wednesday. "While Asia may be building apace, economic recovery in the U.S. is buoying demand for towers from investors and tenants in the big North American cities."

Read MoreNot just the tallest, but also the techiest

Hong Kong's office skyscraper rents are around $250 a square foot, up 11.3 percent from July 2014, boosted by a low vacancy rate and limited space in the central business district (CBD), the report said. But New York's skyscraper rents surged 20 percent over the same period to $150 a square foot.

Commercial Real Estate, New York City, Real Estate Development, Real Estate Management and Development, Hong Kong, Real Estate Services, Real Estate, business news


The Pirate Bay has returned, but does it even matter?

The Pirate Bay has been back online for roughly a month, after a Swedish raid knocked it offline for two months. But does it even matter?

The site's comeback has been fraught with problems from the get-go. In the days before it relaunched, the placeholder site was hosting malware. The malware issue seemed to be cleared up with its launch, but other problems have cropped up. The site still isn't accepting new user registrations, citing "security concerns"; its entire moderation team was fired (they have since returned); and conspiracy theorists believed the site was perhaps being run by the FBI.

Things haven't gotten any smoother. The Pirate Bay has had trouble finding a stable web host, going through four separate hosting providers in the last month, according to filesharing news site TorrentFreak. Reddit posts about the site are mainly of the "is-the-site-down-again" variety. While reporting stories about the site, I've noticed it has fallen offline several times.

Monday, TorrentFreak reported that a Portuguese court ordered local ISPs to block the site in the country, and new uploads to the site are also currently broken.

Meanwhile, the Pirate Bay appears to have been replaced in popularity by sites like Kickass.to, which went down earlier this month but resurrected itself within a matter of hours, showing a kind of resiliency that the Pirate Bay became infamous for. Kickass is now believed to be the world's most popular torrent site.

There was a lot of hype in the lead up to the Pirate Bay's return, but the filesharing masses, it seems, learned to make do without it. The site's founder, Peter Sunde, wrote in a blog post shortly after the site initially went down that he didn't care that the site was raided, and that he didn't care whether or not it came back up, partly because the site became something of a money grab that was littered with ads.

"I once learned that it's great to burn great things up," Sunde wrote in December. "At least then you can quit while you're on top. I think I left TPB just a little bit after that top, and not when it's as shitty as it was when it was closed today."

At the time, lots of people disagreed with him. Now, considering that the site remains a shell of its old self, it seems hard to still feel that way.

The Pirate Bay's Return Continues to Be a Trainwreck

The embattled torrent site continues to face a whole litany of issues.

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Why George Clooney won't give Ben Affleck any Batman advice

"Batman is still the biggest break I ever had and it completely changed my career, even if it was weak and I was weak in it," Clooney told Total Film in a 2011 interview. "It was a difficult film to be good in. I don’t know what I could have done differently."

With that kind of perspective on things, did Clooney offer Ben Affleck -- Clooney's producer partner on the Best Picture-winning "Argo" -- any advice about taking the Batman role in "Man of Steel 2"?

"I am the least qualified person to comment on anyone playing the role of Batman since I so terribly destroyed the part," Clooney said to Empire magazine (via The Playlist).

Despite that, Clooney did provide some comment to those Batman fans who were so enraged by Affleck's casting in the first place. "I tend to look at it like this -- let's just see what the movie is before everyone starts beating him up," he said. "He is a smart man, he knows what he is doing."

Clooney's comments echo Matt Damon's words of support from back in August, when the Batfleck controversy was still quite fresh.

"I think it will be great. It will be terrific. I know there are a lot of people grousing on the internet. I just think it's kind of funny. You know, he's not playing King Lear. It's Batman!" Damon said to the Times of India. "[That's] certainly within his skill set. If anybody saw 'Argo' or 'The Town,' and all the work he's been doing lately, it's way more nuanced and interesting and way more difficult than Batman! Batman just sits there with his cowl over his head and whispers in a kinda gruff voice at people. Bruce Wayne is the more challenging part of the role, and Ben will be great at that."

Affleck will play Batman in Warner Bros.' "Man of Steel" sequel. The film is due out in theaters on July 17, 2015.

George Clooney Says He's 'Least Qualified' To Comment On Ben Affleck Playing Batman

George Clooney is a pretty great movie star who also happened to be a pretty bad Batman.

"Batman is still the biggest break I ever had and it complete...

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Science Explains Why Cats Are Always Knocking Over Your Stuff

Cats are among the most divisive pets that a person can own. Cat haters tend to cite their temperamental behavior and misanthropy, while cat lovers claim they are as capable of love as any other animal (or they agree with the haters’ assessment and just choose to ignore those traits).

But those familiar with cats can attest that, intentional, spiteful, or otherwise, felines have a proclivity to bat things over with seemingly no provocation or regard. Are they just being jerks?

Not really, claims Katherine Houpt, a Cornell University professor of veterinary behavior. She says, "This tends to happen a lot in the middle of the night—when you’re trying to get some sleep."

The reasons for this wanton disregard for their owners’ breakables is two-fold. First of all, they are attempting (and succeeding) in getting their owners’ attention. Just about the only thing a cat can’t do in the confines of a house or apartment is feed itself, so it’s likely trying to say it’s hungry. Sure, they could approach their owner and purr, but why be subtle when it comes to matters of hunger?

Secondly, they bat things around in the apartment because they’re instilled with the predatory instinct to hit something with their paws. Obviously, they’re not hunting a cereal bowl on your kitchen counter, but they might be doing something else – practicing. House cats use scratching posts to keep their claws sharp and exercise because they are natural predators, even in a domestic environment, so it stands to reason that they would be eager to practice their swiping skills as well with the objects at hand.

So while this doesn’t give you the tools necessary to trump a cat’s hunger or millennia of genetic behavior, you might not be so inclined to take it as an act of meanness. However, you should know that whatever the cause, deaf cats are far more likely to engage in this type of behavior since they can’t get startled by the sound of their actions.

So, know it can be worse. Unless you have a deaf cat. That’s as bad as it gets.


This Is the Saddest Song in the World, According to Scientists

Listen to the song in the video above, and pay close attention to how it makes you feel. Are you relaxed by the sweeping sounds of string instruments? Does the song's tone make you feel frightened or uneasy? Or maybe the music actually moves you tears?

Don't be embarrassed if you got a little weepy: It turns out that researchers have been using this instrumental piece (which is called "Discovery of the Camp" and, as you can see, was featured in the TV show Band of Brothers) to "induce sadness" in participants across several studies the past few years. And the most recent study results suggest that a strong emotional reaction to the song is actually linked to empathetic traits and "sensitivity to emotional contagion."

Music researchers asked 102 people between the ages of 18 and 67 to listen to "Discovery of the Camp" before answering questions about how it made them feel. Based on those answers, researchers divided the participants into three separate groups: those who experienced "relaxing sadness" (the song made them feel at peace), those who experienced "nervous sadness" (the song made them feel anxious or scared), or those who experienced "moving sadness" (the song made them feel intensely, well, sad). Then the participants completed a series of tests designed to measure empathy.

Ultimately, the researchers found that people who experienced moving sadness while listening to the piece were more likely to have high empathy scores than those who experienced relaxing or nervous sadness.

Of course this study has many limitations and doesn't mean having a strong emotional reaction to music is proof that you're empathetic. But it does give us a good retort the next time the Titanic theme song comes on and someone judges us for getting misty: "Leave me alone, I'm sensitive to emotional contagion!"

People who were moved by this song were more likely to have higher empathy scores, researchers say.

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You're not going to like the latest changes coming to Instagram

Brace yourself.. Ads are coming to Instagram.

The company's director of business operations, Emily White, told the Wall Street Journal that the popular photo-sharing service should be ready to start selling ads by the end of this year.

White told The Journal's Evelyn Rusli that her team is looking to place ads in a few corners of the app: In the Discover function, where members can find popular photos and videos, and in search results.

The move should not be surprising. When Instagram announced it was adding video capabilities in June, it conveniently capped the length of videos at 15 seconds -- the normal runtime of most television ads. That same month White discussed how she wanted to protect Instragram, which is owned by Facebook, from ad backlash, telling Fast Company:

Despite being a newbie, White is already protective of the Instagram experience. "If people see super spammy ads in their feeds," she says, "it's going to be destructive." She's also started parroting [Instagram CEO Kevin] Systrom's belief that there's no reason the advertising can't be as luscious as the content, saying that Vogue magazine, a rich, glossy publication where that virtue is certainly evident, could be its model.

Every major advertising addition to Facebook or Twitter has generated negative reaction, but Instagram's case is unique, which may explain the extra attention on style. Its cohort of amateur artisans, which numbered 150 million as of Sunday, seem acutely sensitive to corporate gestures. In December, a seemingly mild change to Instagram's terms of service that let Instagram use people's photos and likenesses in ads kickstarted a grassroots campaign that seems poised to get novice photographers to quit the app en masse. Co-founder Kevin Systrom was eventually forced to alter some of the document's language.

But eight months after those terms of service went into effect, that mass exodus has yet to happen. Instagram has grown 50 percent since February. It seems that for every person compelled to flee the service, many, many more don't know or care enough to leave.

Even if there's backlash against Instagram's ads, its parent Facebook has proven adapt at inserting ads into its own network while retaining members. White's interview in The Journal doesn't mention any of the particularly invasive types on ads, like Facebook's infamous "Sponsored Stories" where a members' likenesses were used to promote a brand. It doesn't even mention the possibility of ads in Instagram's main feed.

The Instagram community may not even be Systrom and White's biggest hurdle. It may be the fact that de facto ads are already thriving on Instagram. Brands like Nike, Starbucks, Victoria's Secret and Forever 21 already have million-person followings -- all without paying a cent for ad space.

Brace yourself. Ads are coming to Instagram.

The

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A Shockingly Easy Way to Avoid Wasting Thousands of Gallons of Water a Year

Beautiful woman under splash of water against blue background

Photo Credit: Yeko Photo Studio/Shutterstock

"Typically 20 percent of every shower, the duration, is essentially lost," said Jonah Schein, technical coordinator for homes and buildings for the EPA’s WaterSense program. "The average shower is a little over eight minutes long, so that’s a good chunk of the shower that we’re not actually being able to utilize."

The EPA says a five-minute shower uses between 15 to 25 gallons of water. According to the agency, Americans go through 1.2 trillion gallons of water every year just for showering. That's enough to supply the water needs of New York and New Jersey for a year.

But there’s a super simple shower hack that, if everyone would do, would help save 1.4 trillion gallons of water every year: Switch to a low-flow showerhead.

The findings are part of a new study conducted by Angie’s List, an online home services marketplace. Simply by switching from a conventional showerhead to a low-flow showerhead, your daily shower water usage will drop from around 20.5 gallons to 5.1 gallons—a savings of more than 15 gallons every day.

That amounts to saving more than 5,600 gallons of water a year—and over 386,000 gallons over your lifetime.

Some conventional showerheads pump out as much as 2.6 gallons per minute. But low-flow showerheads that are approved to carry the WaterSense label meet the EPA's water-saving standard of no more than 2 gpm.

The study also includes an analysis of potential monetary savings by state. New Yorkers could each save about $70 a year by making the switch. The most savings would be in Hawaii, where residents could prevent nearly $110 each year from going down the drain.

Iif everyone made the switch, the country would save around $14.5 billion a year, enough to pay the average annual wage for 312,000 Americans.

Want to find out the difference you can make by switching? Just plug your numbers into the water savings calculator below and find out.

A small change to something you do every day can make a big difference—and save some money, too. According to new research by Technavio, a London-based market research firm, the global bath and shower products market is expected to exceed $10 billion by 2019.But while we are increasingly interested in new products to use in the shower, are we also thinking about all the water that’s wasted while we’re showering?


Bill Clinton Never Expected To Get This Disease!

I’ve suffered from seasonal allergies since I was a kid, so I always assumed that life was designed to be a painful, nasally-congested experience for two months out of every year. As I got older, my symptoms got worse. Things eventually got to the point where I would spend almost 24 hours a day in bed during allergy season, trying as hard as I could to breathe through the firmly shut passages in my nostrils. I tried every medication I could get my hands on but they offered minimal improvements at best. I spent my second semester of my junior year at college studying abroad in Italy for six months. I lived in a small town and studied at the local university. A few weeks into the semester I noticed that my allergies had begun to improve. I stopped needing to use my sinus rinses every night before bed and was no longer blowing my nose or hacking up mucous every two minutes. After a few months my allergies had basically disappeared. I couldn’t believe that life could be experienced at this level. I thought such amazing energy was reserved for super heroes, angels and reality TV stars. For the first time since I could remember, I was waking up every morning feeling... energetic. And happy. I started working out in the mornings because I had to find a way to deal with this newfound energy. My friends, teachers and even random people on the street started treating me differently as my social alertness and positive energy came bursting through my pores. My flight back home to Boston at the end of that semester was the culmination of a transformative journey to a higher quality of life. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. It’s hard to realize that you’re depressed if you’ve always been that one way. I didn’t have many friends when I was younger. I had a terrible seIf-image and non-existent self-esteem. Only after coming back from Italy did I realize how much life I had been missing out on. But the joy was short-lived. Visit the link in bio and navigate to our Inspiration section to read the rest of Max’s story. #healevate #howihealed

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"How Anne Hathaway Became Hollywood's Most Hated Celeb"

While winning an Oscar forLes Miserableswas obviously a huge moment for Hathaway, it was also an insufferable one for those who had to sit through her endless string of awkward acceptance speeches. Take, for example, the time she called out the Broadcast Film Critics Association for spelling her name wrong while casually mentioning it was the second time they had given her an award. Or how about her nails-on-a-chalkboard, overly theatrical acceptance speech at the BAFTAs, during which she thanked herself for having laryngitis because otherwise she might burst into song?But none of those aforementioned moments compared to her inevitably groan-worthy Oscar speech . "It came true," Hathaway awkwardly quipped, referencing the iconic song she sang in the movie, "I Dreamed a Dream." The immediately cringe-worthy instant felt equal parts corny and way too rehearsed, to the point where it continues to be mocked all these years later. Suddenly, her dream became everyone's worst nightmare.

How Anne Hathaway became Hollywood's most hated celeb

Over the years, people have grown to hate Anne Hathaway so much that the term "Hathahate" was coined to describe the movement. How did this happen?

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New Internet Favourite To Play James Bond Is Pretty Surprising

The ongoing debate over who should be the next actor to play James Bond was ramped up recently after Daniel Craig reportedly turned down a £68 million to reprise the role.

Although subsequent reports insist Craig has not made his final decision, bookies have actually called off bets on Tom Hiddelstone to replace the 48-year-old, reports the Daily Mail.

But, even though Hiddelstone is clearly the bookmakers favourite, it seems like the good people of the Internet have a very different idea of who they would like to take on the iconic role.

A fan petition using #NextBond is currently making the rounds calling for non other than Gillian Anderson to play the famed secret agent.

According to Screenrant, the campaign was jump-started by this image:

However, it didn’t take long for Gillian herself to hear what was going on, taking to Twitter to say:

It’s Bond. Jane Bond. Thanks for all the votes! (And sorry, don’t know who made the poster, but I love it!) #NextBond.

Thanks for all the votes! (And sorry, don't know who made poster but I love it!) #NextBond pic.twitter.com/f8GC4ZuFgL — Gillian Anderson (@GillianA) May 21, 2016

She’s had recent roles in TV series The Fall and Hannibal, and her profile is on the up following the revival of the X-Files.

Casting her would definitely give a brand new spin to the role and in fact, Daniel Craig has already said he’d be on board with a ‘Jasmine Bond’.

The film industry is slowly beginning to introduce more diversity on screen – so a Jane Bond may not be entirely outside the realms of possibility...

It would certainly be very, very different...

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State official offers ABSURD reasoning for gay marriage ban

When April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse's case goes to trial in Detroit this fall, it could mean the end of Michigan's ban on gay marriage. But that hasn't stopped the state's top lawyer from pushing back against the lawsuit with a recent filing arguing the gay marriage ban allows the state to "regulate sexual relationships."

The lesbian couple initially sued over a law banning joint adoption by same-sex couples: DeBoer has adopted a 3-year-old girl and Rowse has adopted 3- and 4-year old boys. But U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman, a conservative, recommended they instead challenge the constitutionality of Michigan's ban on gay marriage.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a brief in the case in which he claimed the state's definition of marriage was needed to "regulate sexual relationships" and their "unique procreative capacity":

Responsible procreation and childrearing are well-recognized as legitimate State interests served by marriage.. One of the paramount purposes of marriage in Michigan -- and at least 37 other states that define marriage as a union between a man and a woman -- is, and has always been, to regulate sexual relationships between men and women so that the unique procreative capacity of such relationships benefits rather than harms society. The understanding of marriage as a union of man and woman, uniquely involving the rearing of children born of their union, is age-old, universal, and enduring. As illustrated by a plethora of research, social scientists have consistently recognized the essential connection between marriage and responsible procreation and childrearing.

In a statement, LGBT advocacy group Equality Michigan Managing Director Emily Dievendorf countered that Schuette's stance was "hypocritical" and not aligned with the Supreme Court's ruling against the Defense of Marriage Act.

"The U.S. Supreme Court ... found that regulating sex for the purpose of procreation is not a role for our government," Dievendorf said in a statement.. "Marriage is about more than just procreation, as the Supreme Court said this June, 'marriage is a way for couples to define themselves by their commitment to each other.' Suggesting the benefit of marriage is limited to just producing children is more insulting and damaging to the institution of marriage than anything Schuette fears."

This is not Schuette's first opposition. When he filed a motion to dismiss the case in July, Friedman denied it, writing that DeBoer and Rowse were "entitled to their day in court and they shall have it."

After the Supreme Court struck down DOMA in June, Schuette reiterated that the ruling had no effect on Michigan's gay marriage ban.

"Michigan’s Constitution stands and the will of the people to define marriage as between one man and one woman endures in the Great Lakes State."

But the "will of the people" may have changed since 2004, when the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage passed with 59 percent of the vote. A statewide poll published by the Detroit News earlier this month found that 57 percent of Michiganders support same-sex marriage, a 12.5 percent increase from 2012. However, a poll last month showed that a small majority in Michigan, just over 51 percent, of 600 likely voters would oppose legislation or a ballot measure seeking to allow same-sex marriage.

For some Michiganders, Schuette's brief felt deeply personal. Chris Lacefield is trying to adopt a child with his partner. In a blog post Tuesday, he wrote that the state is failing its LGBT community, as well as some of its children:

"We want to welcome a child into our home, because we want to start a family," he wrote. "Despite the fact that the state we call home does not recognize our relationship and would not recognize our family, we, like many couples our age, feel the basic human need to provide for the next generation. There are children in Michigan who need loving, stable, two parent homes. And Michigan fails them."

"Rather than focusing on the ability of a couple to procreate, perhaps we should be focused on the ability of a couple to provide love, education and moral structure to the children who are already part of our population," Lacefield said.

Michigan Gay Marriage Ban Needed To 'Regulate Sexual Relationships': State Official

When April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse's case goes to trial in Detroit this fall, it could mean the end of Michigan's ban on gay marriage. But that hasn't sto...

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Could this limit mass animal extinctions?

OSLO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Ancient farming practices, such as raising fish in rice paddies in China or Aboriginal Australian fire controls, will get a new lease of life under plans to slow extinctions of animals and plants, experts said on Monday.

Turning to traditional farming is seen as a way of limiting what U.N. studies say is the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago, driven by a rising human population that is wrecking natural habitats.

A 115-nation group seeking to protect the diversity of wildlife, which underpins everything from food supplies to medicines, will look at ways to revive and promote indigenous peoples' practices at talks in Turkey from Dec.. 9-14.

"Indigenous and local knowledge ... has played a key role in arresting biodiversity loss and conserving biodiversity," Zakri Abdul Hamid, founding chair of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), told Reuters.

The idea is partly to compare traditional farming around the world and see if the practices can be used in other nations.

Among ideas, raising fish in the waters of rice paddies, a practice used in south China for 1,200 years and in some other Asian nations, can reduce pests. Most modern rice paddies are not used to raise fish.

Farming the two together "reduces by 68 percent the need for pesticides and by 24 percent the need for chemical fertilizer compared with monocultures", an IPBES report said. Pesticides often kill many more species than those targeted.

And in countries including Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Venezuela, traditional burning of small patches of countryside can create a mosaic of firebreaks that prevents the spread of devastating blazes in the dry season, it said.

Small fires mean that wildlife can get out of harm's way more easily than in a big fire, reducing risks of extinctions.

In Australia, such protection generates carbon credits for Aborigines by slowing deforestation - a source of up to a fifth of man-made greenhouse gases blamed for causing global warming.

In June, Australia's Indigenous Land Corporation said it sold 25,000 tonnes of carbon credits for savannah burning, the first such open market sale, to Chevron for more than $A20 ($18.20) a tonne.

Trees and other plants absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from human activities, from the air as they grow and release it when they burn or rot.

Sam Johnston, an Australian expert at the U.N. University's Institute for Advanced Studies, said carbon markets might be used elsewhere. "We've found almost identical conditions in parts of Africa and Latin America," he told Reuters.

Other examples of traditional knowledge include pits dug on Tanzanian hillsides to collect rainfall in the rainy season to limit erosion, or weather observations by Inuit people in the Arctic to complement satellite data about melting ice.

And many Pacific island communities safeguard fish stocks around coral reefs, for instance by declaring some areas sacred sites that are then off limits to fishing.

Anne Larigauderie, incoming executive secretary of IPBES, said indigenous peoples often felt ignored by government planners. "There is a great need for recognition and acceptance of their knowledge," she said.

Other efforts to slow extinctions include creating more protected areas and enforcing laws on wildlife protection. ($1 = 1.0991 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Alister Doyle; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

Traditional Farming Techniques Could Help Limit Mass Animal And Plant Extinctions, Experts Say

OSLO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Ancient farming practices, such as  raising fish in rice paddies in China or Aboriginal Australian  fire controls, will get a...

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