Airline travel has gotten so complicated. Security lines are long; there are extra fees for baggage; adults need to keep out their federal or state-issued ID through the checkpoint; and there are restrictions on what can be carried onto the flight. The Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) website is the first place to go to find out the truth about these restrictions.
Here are three things you can’t carry on to your flight: Read the rest of this post »
If you enjoy gazing at the starry summer sky, the best show of the year happens this week. The Perseid meteor shower reaches peak activity August 12 – 13, and at its peak you’ll be able to see about 50 meteors an hour.
The Perseid meteor shower is caused by debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle. Every 133 years the huge comet swings through the inner solar system and leaves behind a trail of dust and gravel. When Earth passes through the debris, specks of this dust and gravel hit the atmosphere at 140,000 mph and disintegrate in flashes of light. These meteors are called Perseids because they fly out of the constellation Perseus.
Arlene Hernandez is the manager of Kids.gov, the government’s official source for kids to find all kinds of government information.
When I was a teenager and hanging out at the mall, I used to see young kids whaling and crying and throwing a fit at the toy store. I would think “Geez, what’s up with that kid?” and I probably rolled my eyes.
It’s right about this time each summer that I start looking forward to the fall. To cooler weather, leaves falling off the trees and apple cider.
The dog days of summer really start to get to me. Granted I love the warm weather, pools and the beach. There’s nothing I wish for more all winter long.
It’s mid-August and many families are in the middle of the mad dash to get the kids ready for the coming school year. There are school supplies and clothes to buy, forms to fill out, busing/carpool schedules to arrange, and, if needed, ensuring that after school childcare is in place.
Then of course, there is the emotional side of getting the kids ready for school. Many kids get a little anxious about going back to school. For parents with children just starting kindergarten, there is a lot of time spent talking about what to expect and reassuring little ones that school will be fun. There may also be some battles over changes
in routine. In the summer, bedtime schedules are more lax, but with the start of a new school year, bedtimes and other routines go back to being a little more structured.
Increasing evidence linking strep infection to OCD in children suggests that microbiomics may prove an important research area for understanding and treating mental disorders.
Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have for the first time activated mouse egg cells at the earliest stage of their development and brought them to maturity. In a related experiment, the researchers replicated the finding by also bringing human eggs to maturity in the laboratory.
I have been on a mission to be healthier for about a year. I do 1 hour of cardio and about 30 minutes of strengthening and stretching exercises, 5 times a week. I also try to eat a healthy diet with whole grains, fish, chicken, and lots of fruits and veggies. I do this to stay healthy and to fight my diabetes. Do I like doing all of this? Not really! It is hard work. In the back of my mind I am always thinking: when can I fit in my exercise; how much water have I had today; and what will I eat today that is healthy and nutritionally balanced? I am always on the lookout for anything that will help me in my quest to be healthy.
Recently, when I learned of a new tool called MyFoodapedia, I was thrilled. This tool allows visitors to search on a particular food to learn about its nutritional value. You select the quantity and any add-ons that you may use with that food. Using those values, the tool classifies what food groups and what portions of daily requirements are being met by eating that item. It calculates total calories, and the calories for the extras (solid fats, added sugars, and alcohol) for that serving. For instance, I entered oatmeal and set the quantity to 1 cup. I selected fat free milk and white sugar as an add-on. The tool classified it as 2 oz. of whole grains, 1 cup of milk, 33 calories for the extras, and a total of 261 calories.
The National Institutes of Health today launched a multidisciplinary network of experts who will explore new approaches to understanding the origins of health disparities, or differences in the burden of disease among population groups. Using state-of-the-science conceptual and computational models, the network’s goal is to identify important areas where interventions or policy changes could have the greatest impact in eliminating health disparities. The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), part of NIH, is contracting with the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, to establish the Network on Inequality, Complexity, and Health (NICH).