Walk into select Lloyds Pharmacy locations in the UK complaining of a headache, and you may be more likely to walk out with a Simon & Garfunkel CD than a bottle of painkillers. The pharmacy chain commissioned a study that found 41% of all people suffering persistent pain (and 66% of people aged 16-24) felt better after listening to music, reports the Telegraph. Now the store is "trialing the use of music within our pain service in some of our pharmacies," says a company pharmacist. "There are lots of different ways of managing pain, not only with medicines but also with lifestyle changes such as moderate exercise and relaxation," he says.

The study of 1,500 people found pop music was the most effective pain reliever, followed by classical, then rock or indie music. The songs with the highest pain-relieving powers reported were "Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon & Garfunkel, "Angels" by Robbie Williams, "Albatross" by Fleetwood Mac, "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John, and "Easy" by The Commodores. This may be an eyebrow-raiser for some people—like the Guardian's music editor, who jokes: "This slightly contradicts my own survey, which found that 100% of all respondents (sample size: one) thought 'Candle in the Wind' induced chronic pain, but there you go."
| Telegraph. #end.

In its latest experiment with live coverage of mundane events, Norway's public broadcasting network plans to dedicate five hours of air-time to an attempt to break the knitting world record. The NRK network says the Nov. 1 broadcast will be preceded by a four-hour knitting documentary.

"It's kind of ordinary TV but very slow, although they'll be knitting as fast as they can," says a producer. The Norwegians hope to break the non-stop knitting record of 4 hours 50 minutes. Live TV in Norway has already enticed viewers with minute-by-minute salmon fishing, a five-day broadcast from a cruise ship, and several hours of watching a fire burn itself out.

| Newser/BBC #end.

What’s more fun than deer crossing signs? Monster crossing signs. Deer with wings. Dinosaurs. Take your pick, and some artist out there has had fun tweaking this old favorite into something a bit more exciting.

These are some of the most creative sign changes around. With tons of creativity, and equal skill, these signs will force anyone into a doubletake.

There have been an increasing number of news stories about electronic construction signs being hacked by mischievous hoodlums. While it may not be in the best interest for the state, it certainly makes the highway trek a bit more interesting.

One of the dangers of putting up street signs with simple text, is that they can be manipulated. “Stop war” seems to be a favorite, but some culture jammers have a bit more creativity, and a love of wizards.

It’s easy to bring one’s favorite childhood stories to life by adding a few elements to signs that would otherwise go unnoticed. Extra points for making the sign seem like it was always meant to be that way.

Anything can be adjusted! Adding one’s own spin to street signs, or “finishing” road paint jobs that could use an update is a public service. Culture jamming is fun for the whole family.

Who knew “do not enter” signs had such potential for awesomeness? Some people saw it, as these signs are covered with excellent graffiti.

| DailyMail #end.

These 13 parties are some of the craziest in the world with millions coming together to indulge in strange culinary delights, engage in exhibitionism and forget about real life for a while.

Rio Carnival

Louisiana Mudfest

(images via: LouisianaMudfest.com)

La Tomatina Tomato-Throwing Party

(images via: WebEcoist)

Burning Man Festival

(images via: Declan McCullagh)

Holi Festival

(images via: Newshopper)

Flash Mob Pillow Fights

(images via: Piccadilly Wilson)

The Love Parade

(images via: Berlin-life.com, Wayfaring.info)

Hadaka Matsuri

(images via: WeirdAsianNews)

Bugfest

(image via: Raleigh2)

Cheese Rolling Festival

(images via: BBC News)

Kanamara (Big Metal Phallus) Festival

(images via: NowPublic)

Spamarama

(images via: Photolulu)

Eye Gazing Parties

(images via EyeGazingParties.com)

| Weburbanist #end.

If you are better about scheduling in your spin classes than your nookie sessions, you might want to rethink your calendar this month. While most of us see sex as "fun time" (and it should be that, too!) and something we get to do when all our other obligations are satisfied, the evidence is mounting of several benefits of sex.

You might be justified in moving it from "when I can get to it" to "legit priority": here's how even a quickie can benefit our bodies and minds, as well as our relationships:

1. Less Stress,
Better Blood Pressure

Having sex could lower your stress and your blood pressure.

That finding comes from a Scottish study of 24 women and 22 men who kept records of their sexual activity. The researchers put them in stressful situations -- such as speaking in public and doing math out loud -- and checked their blood pressure.

People who'd had sex responded better to stress than those who engaged in other sexual behaviors or abstained.

Another study found that diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number of your blood pressure) tends to be lower in people who live together and have sex often.

2. Sex Boosts
Immunity

Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A, or IgA, which can protect you from getting colds and other infections.

A Wilkes University study had 112 college students keep records of how often they had sex and also provide saliva samples for the study. Those who had sex once or twice a week had higher levels of IgA than other students.

3. Sex Burns
Calories

Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up: Forty-two half-hour sessions will burn 3,570 calories, more than enough to lose a pound. Doubling up, you could drop that pound in 21 hour-long sessions.

"Sex is a great mode of exercise," Los Angeles sexologist Patti Britton says. It takes both physical and psychological work, though, to do it well, she says.

4. Sex Improves
Heart Health

A 20-year-long British study shows that men who had sex two or more times a week were half as likely to have a fatal heart attack than men who had sex less than once a month.

And although some older folks may worry that sex could cause a stroke, the study found no link between how often men had sex and how likely they were to have a stroke.

5. Better
Self-Esteem

University of Texas researchers found that boosting self-esteem was one of 237 reasons people have sex.

That finding makes sense to sex, marriage, and family therapist Gina Ogden. She also says that those who already have self-esteem say they sometimes have sex to feel even better.

"One of the reasons people say they have sex is to feel good about themselves," she says. "Great sex begins with self-esteem. If the sex is loving, connected, and what you want, it raises it."

Of course, you don't have to have lots of sex to feel good about yourself. Your self-esteem is all about you -- not someone else. But if you're already feeling good about yourself, a great sex life may help you feel even better.

6. Deeper
Intimacy

Having sex and orgasms boosts levels of the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which helps people bond and build trust.

In a study of 59 women, researchers checked their oxytocin levels before and after the women hugged their partners. The women had higher oxytocin levels if they had more of that physical contact with their partner.

Higher oxytocin levels have also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So snuggle up -- it might help you feel more generous toward your partner.

7. Sex May
Turn Down Pain

Oxytocin also boosts your body's painkillers, called endorphins. Headache, arthritis pain, or PMS symptoms may improve after sex.

In one study, 48 people inhaled oxytocin vapor and then had their fingers pricked. The oxytocin increased their pain threshold by more than half, meaning they sensed pain at a higher threshold or were more tolerant of pain.

8. More Ejaculations
May Make Prostate Cancer Less Likely

Research shows that frequent ejaculations, especially in 20-something men, may lower the risk of getting prostate cancer later in life.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that men who had 21 or more ejaculations a month were less likely to get prostate cancer than those who had four to seven ejaculations per month.

The study doesn't prove that ejaculations were the only factor that mattered. Many things affect a person's odds of developing cancer. But when the researchers took that into consideration, the findings still held.

9. Stronger Pelvic
Floor Muscles

For women, doing pelvic floor muscle exercises called Kegels may mean more pleasure -- and, as a perk, less chance of incontinence later in life.

To do a basic Kegel exercise, tighten the muscles of your pelvic floor as if you're trying to stop the flow of urine. Count to three, then release.

10. Better
Sleep

The oxytocin released during orgasm also helps sleep, research shows.

Getting enough sleep has also been linked with a host of other health benefits, such as a healthy weight and better blood pressure. That's something to think about, especially if you've been wondering why your guy can be active one minute and snoring the next. | WebMD #end.

Guys' eyes are more sensitive to small details and moving objects, while women are more perceptive to color changes, according to a new vision study that suggests men and women actually do see things differently.

"As with other senses, such as hearing and the olfactory system, there are marked sex differences in vision between men and women," researcher Israel Abramov, of the City University of New York (CUNY), said in a statement. Research has shown women have more sensitive ears and sniffers than men.

"[A] recent, large review of the literature concluded that, in most cases females had better sensitivity, and discriminated and categorized odors better than males," Abramov and colleagues write Tuesday (Sept. 4) in the journal Biology of Sex Differences.

Abramov and his team from CUNY's Brooklyn and Hunter Colleges compared the vision of males and females over age 16 who had normal color vision and 20/20 sight — or at least 20/20 vision with glasses or contacts.

In one part of the study, the researchers asked the volunteers to describe different colors shown to them. They found that the guys required a slightly longer wavelength of a color to experience the same shade as women and the men were less able to tell the difference between hues. [Your Color Red Really Could Be My Blue]

The researchers also showed the participants images made up of light and dark bars that varied in width and alternated in color so that they appeared to flicker, a measure of participants' sensitivity to contrast. Compared with the women, the male volunteers were better able to identify the more rapidly changing images made up of thinner bars, the researchers said.

Abramov explained in a statement these elements of vision are linked to specific sets of thalamic neurons in the brain's primary visual cortex. The development of these neurons is controlled by male sex hormones called androgens when the embryo is developing into a fetus.

"We suggest that, since these neurons are guided by the cortex during embryogenesis, that testosterone plays a major role, somehow leading to different connectivity between males and females," Abramov said. "The evolutionary driving force between these differences is less clear."

Previous research found that men and women also focus differently. In experiments at the University of Southern California, researchers found that men are likely to fixate on the mouth of a person in conversation and also are more likely to be distracted by movement behind that person. Meanwhile, women tend to shift their gaze between a speaker's eyes and body, and they are more likely to be distracted by other people, the researchers found.

| LiveScience /Foto: Michael Zhang#end.

What do actress Andie MacDowell, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and comedian Jay Leno all have in common? They all once worked at fast-food chain McDonald's.

Despite the punch lines surrounding so-called dead-end jobs at fast-food restaurants, working at McDonald's has been the launching point for many a successful career.

McDonald's employees learn a lot more than how to flip burgers and work the deep fryer, said Cody Teets, a 32-year McDonald's veteran and author of the new book, "Golden Opportunity: Remarkable Careers that Began at McDonald's" (Cider Mill Press, 2012). Teets started working at McDonald's when she was 16 and today is responsible for 800 McDonald's restaurants as vice president and general manager of the company's Rocky Mountain region. Teets said there are plenty of opportunities for learning life lessons while working in the shadow of the golden arches.

In the book, Teets said that, since the chain's founding in 1955, more than 20 million Americans have earned their first paychecks as McDonald's employees. Every year, that number grows by another 400,000, Teets said.

"I was one of those when I started my career at McDonald’s three decades ago. I stayed with the company, but was always curious about the majority of young people who stay a year or less and go on to careers in other fields," she said.

For her book, Teets interviewed 43 other McDonald's veterans and asked them to identify the lessons they learned while working at McDonald's. Five major lessons emerged:

1. No task is beneath you. All honest work is noble, Teets said. "In a well-run restaurant, every member of the crew has to take responsibility for his or her job, to pitch in without being asked when someone else needs help or a task needs doing, even if it’s scrubbing the toilets," she said. "McDonald's founder Ray Kroc was famous for dropping in on a restaurant, driving [up in] his Cadillac, dressed in his business suit and gold watch, and then asking for a mop so he could clean up some spilled mustard," Teets said.

She went on to describe how L.A. Dodgers' second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. said his experience on a McDonald's crew taught him the value of teamwork. Hairston told Teets he felt pressure not to slack off because the other crew members relied on him.

2.Challenge yourself to master new skills. No matter how basic the task, you should take pride in what you do, Teets said. "When Andie MacDowell worked in a restaurant in Gaffney, S.C., she discovered she was good at running the register and counting change. She became so conscientious about getting it right every time that she found herself anxiously counting change in her dreams, Teets said.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos recalled how proud he was that he could crack 300 eggs into a bowl with one hand. As Teets said, every job can teach you something about yourself, even if it’s just to learn what you don't like.

"More often, people discover new strengths," Teets said. She cites McDonald's U.S. CEO Jan Fields, who overcame shyness when she had to work the front register, discovering she had a gift for making people feel comfortable.

3.Roll with the punches. Working at McDonald's or any fast-paced business teaches employees to stay focused under pressure, Teets said.

"Mike Grice is a decorated Marine Corps lieutenant colonel whose first real job off the family ranch was at a McDonald's in Colorado,” she said. “During lunch and dinner rushes, the crew had to work together to keep things moving and customers happy. There were no timeouts. When there were glitches, the crew couldn't just close the doors and fix the problems. What Grice learned about being an effective decision-maker under stress served him well during his multiple tours of duty in the Middle East.” In any enterprise, there will always be a crisis, Teets said. Successful leaders tend to be individuals who can solve problems without panicking and creating new ones.

4.Learn from the successes of others. Teets interviewed a number of immigrants and minorities who eventually opened McDonald’s franchises of their own.

"All of them did it by following the examples of their supervisors, managers and restaurant owners," said Teets. "NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao remembers being impressed by how well organized everything was and how the restaurant seemed to work like a well-oiled machine," Teets said. She added that Chiao appreciated those lessons after becoming an engineer and a pilot.

Drew Nieporent, a successful New York restaurateur who owns Tribeca Grill with actor Robert DeNiro, still uses the lessons he learned while working at McDonald's, even as he’s moved on to gourmet restaurants, Teets discovered.

"As a current restaurant owner," he said, "seeing McDonald's on the resumes of applicants would be a huge plus."

5.How to deal with people. Being a good leader means knowing what makes each person tick, Teets said. It means “learning that each person has his or her own strengths and weaknesses and the way to get the most from others is to play to their strengths," she said. Teets added that former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, who worked his way through college at a McDonald's, said a big part of his job was finding different ways to help each employee succeed.
| BusinessNewsDaily #end.

Daycare center does not require store receipt to pick up their child. People are so clever! My husband said, we have to wait till after our generation all die first, then we can talk about quality (of people). Ay ~ daughter, it is up your guys now! IKEA, I am really impressed by your tolerance!

Ikea in Beijing

| ChinaHush #end.

搬砖 (ban1 zhuan1) – “to move bricks”, describes the kind of jobs that working class and lower class people tend to do

This year, the phrase 吊丝 (diao4 si1) has come to be used as a self-deprecating term for the average poor young person in contrast to the “tall, rich, and handsome”高富帅 (gao1 fu4 shuai4). Young Chinese netizens are quite conscious of class distinction online, and with people like Guo Meimei and members of the “rich second generation” 富二代 (fu4 er4 dai4) flaunting their wealth, 吊丝 apparently think their position means that they fight harder to get through life. Because many migrant worker and blue collar workers do labor intensive jobs like construction, the term 搬砖 has come to represent the work conditions of the average 吊丝. Also, 搬砖 has been used as slang for playing mah jong, since mah jong games begin with shuffling the tiles around.

不能我一个人瞎! (bu4 neng2 wo3 yi1 ge4 ren2 xia1) “I can’t go blind by myself!” – indicates excitement that you want to share with others

When internet users find something so amazing they can’t keep it to just themselves, they might share it using this phrase, like when a user found an old video of a classic drama and shared in on Tianya, saying, “不能我一个人瞎！！！“

打开方式不对 (da3 kai1 fang1 shi4 bu4 dui4) “The way I opened it wasn’t right” – the results are disappointingly not what was expected

When someone tried to watch a video that wouldn’t load on Internet Explorer, they said 一定是我 打开方式不对，meaning, “It must be (definitely is) the way I opened it that wasn’t right.” Since then the phrase has caught on to express a shocking disappointment at anything something thinks is wrong. When Wuhan’s air quality was listed as fourth worst in the country for the day of January 23, a popular Weibo message read, “I definitely opened it wrong. Today Wuhan’s air pollution index is the fourth worst in the country, severe pollution.” (“一定是我打开的方式不对，武汉今天的空气污染指数全国排名第四，属重度污染。“)

梗 (geng4) – indicates a funny expression

梗 is a variant of 哏, which indicates something humorous or interesting. For example, you can say, “這相聲多哏兒啊,”to say, “This crosstalk is very funny.”

毁三观 (hui3 san1 guan1) – describes something that topples your expectations

毁三观 means “to topple three viewpoints.” Those three viewpoints or ideologies refer to a worldview (世界观), system of values (价值观), and life viewpoint (人生观). One person on Weibo, upon seeing a mural of Lei Feng, said, “雷人的雷锋，雷锋在我印象中不是这样子的，毁三观啊，有木有？” (“Shocking Lei Feng. My impression of Lei Feng was not like this. 毁三观啊， yes, or no?”)

觉累不爱 (jue2 lei4 bu4 ai4) – “I’m too tired to love!”

This phrase originated when a 13-year-old girl posted, “很累，感觉自己不会再爱了.”(“I’m very tired, I don’t think I can love again.”) Netizens thought it was funny because a 13-year-old girl is too young to love, not too tired, and 13-year-olds have very easy lives compared to their brothers and sisters who are working and leading their own lives.

快到碗里来 (kuai4 dao4 wan3 li3 lai2) – “Get in the bowl quickly.”

In an M&M’s commercial, a girl tells her boyfriend she wants to eat chocolate, so the boy gets a bowl and opens the cabinet. Inside the cabinet, two of the M&M characters start throwing food at the boy. The boy tells them “Get in the bowl quickly,” (“快到碗里来”), but the M&M’s respond, “You get in the bowl.” (“你才到碗里去！“)

绳命 (sheng2 ming4) – an alternative way to say 生命

When a Buddhist master from Hebei was interviewed with monkeys climbing all over him, he spoke in a thick Hebei accent, making 生命 (sheng1 ming4) sound like 绳命. While he said, “Life is so splendid,” (“生命，是多么的辉煌，“）netizens thought he got his tones wrong and thought he sounded like he was saying,, “绳命，是剁么的回晃,”which is a bunch of gibberish.. Now netizens can simply say 绳命 where you want to say 生命, just like they sometimes replace 木 for 没 in phrases like 有木有.

十动然拒 (shi2 dong4 ran2 ju4) – “You really move me, but I must reject you.”

When a man made a very special gesture toward a girl he liked asking for her love, although she was very moved, she rejected him. The phrase “十分感动，然后拒绝了他” (Very moved, but then rejected him) has since become used to describe situations where a boy does something moving for a girl but nonetheless gets rejected.
| ChinaHush #end.

Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FD&C) Act, cosmetics and their ingredients are not required to undergo approval before they are sold to the public. … This means that manufacturers may use any ingredient or raw material, except for color additives and a few prohibited substances, to market a product without a government review or approval.

Yikes. Well, there are those few prohibited substances. Thank goodness they saw to banning (a meager) 10 ingredients–as compared to 1,100 ingredients banned in cosmetics by the European Union. And while it’s good to know that the FDA is protecting us from mercury compounds and chloroform–what about the long list of other problem ingredients that are prohibited elsewhere but allowed in American beauty products?

When Natural Solutions magazine was considering products for their Beauty with a Conscience Awards 2008–highlighting the safest, greenest beauty products in the marketplace–they came up with a list of the top ingredients to avoid in personal care products. They worked closely with Whole Foods Market, whose personal care team has been developing the Whole Foods Premium Bodycare Quality Standards has listed 250 unacceptable ingredients for Premium Body Care. You know it’s a topsy-turvy world when retailers are having to do the work that the FDA isn’t interested in.

Here are the winners, or perhaps we should call them the losers, of their research–The Formidable 15: Toxic Ingredients to Avoid in Skincare.

1. SYNTHETIC FRAGRANCES often contain phthalates (pronounced THAY-lates), synthetic chemicals commonly used to stabilize fragrances and make plastic more pliable. These endocrine disrupters mimic hormones and may alter genital development. Avoid products that list fragrance as an ingredient unless the label states that it’s derived from essentials oils, or look for a phthalate-free label on the packaging.

2. PARABENS, ubiquitous in skincare, preserve other ingredients and extend a product’s shelf life–but these antimicrobial chemicals also have hormone-disrupting effects.

3. UREAS, formally known as diazolidinyl urea, imidazolidinyl urea, or DMDM hydantoin and sodium hydroxymethylglycinate, are preservatives that have the potential to release formaldehyde in very small amounts and are a primary cause of contact dermatitis.

4. 1,4-DIOXANE, a chemical carcinogen, is created when ingredients are processed with petroleum-derived ethylene oxide. Common ethoxylated compounds include sodium laureth sulfate and polyethylene glycol (often listed as PEG). To avoid it, skip any product with the following ingredients: myreth, oleth, laureth, ceteareth (or any other -eth), PEG, polyethylene, polyethylene glycol, polyoxyethylene, or oxynol.

5. PETROCHEMICALS are derived from crude oil. Petroleum-based ingredients such as petrolatum, mineral oil, and paraffin (derived from nonrenewable sources) form a barrier when applied to the skin that does not allow it to breathe and can clog pores.

6. MEA/DEA/TEA are “amines” (ammonia compounds) and can form harmful nitrosamines when they come in contact with nitrates. Used as foaming agents, synthetic stabilizers, and to adjust the pH of cosmetics, they can cause allergic reactions, eye irritation, and dryness of the hair and skin.

7. SULFATES, such as sodium lauryl and sodium laureth, are harsh detergents that give cleansers, soaps, and shampoos their latherability. Often derived from petroleum, sulfates can also come from coconut and other vegetable oils that can be contaminated with pesticides. Sulfates can cause eye irritation and skin rashes.

8. CHEMICAL SUNSCREENS, such as oxybenzone and octylmethoxycinnamate, have been shown to disrupt endocrine activity. Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are safer alternatives.

9. QUATS, such as benzalkonium chloride, steardimonium chloride, cetrimonium bromide, and cetrimonium chloride, give a positive charge to conditioners in order to prevent static. They are necessary for conditioners, but we have allowed only the mildest quats in our Beauty With a Conscience standard: guar hydroxypropyltrimonium chloride, hydroxypropyltrimonium oligosaccharide, and SugaQuats.

10. ANTIBACTERIAL COMPOUNDS, such as triclosan and chlorphenesin, do not break down in the environment and may contribute to bacterial resistance.

11. SYNTHETIC POLYMERS, such as sodium polyacrylate and carbomer, come from petroleum and give viscosity to skincare products. They are highly processed and their manufacture creates toxic by-products.

12. SYNTHETIC COLORS are made from coal tar. They contain heavy metal salts that may deposit toxins onto the skin, causing skin sensitivity and irritation. Animal studies have shown almost all of them to be carcinogenic. They will be labeled as FD&C or D&C, followed by a color and a number.

13. CHELATORS, such as disodium EDTA and tetrasodium EDTA, are used in personal care products to remove impurities from low-quality raw materials. They do not readily biodegrade in the environment.

14. NANOS are a new technology with inconclusive but potentially hazardous study results. Research suggests that when tiny nano particles penetrate the skin, they may cause cell damage.

15. ANIMAL TESTING: A grim history of cruelty to animals lies behind many cosmetic ingredients. But scientists are developing new technologies to test cosmetics before a European Union ban on animal testing begins in March 2009.
| CARE2.com #end.

A movie blogger irate about the use of cell phones during a Toronto International Film Festival screening called 911 to report the offense. At a midnight screening yesterday, FirstShowing.net blogger Alex Billington became increasingly annoyed by constant texting and emailing at a screening for press and film industry members. After first complaining to theater managers, Billington took the extreme step of dialing the police.

He said the emergency dispatcher laughed at his complaint—and he's taken some heat for not taking first responders' time seriously—but Billington took to Twitter to vent his anger. He claimed to be concerned that the movie, the horror film The Sacrament, was being pirated, and that "drastic measures" were called for in restoring moviegoing etiquette. "I'm just trying to fight the good fight," wrote Billington, "even if others don't agree with my methods." | Variety #end.

I was trawling the Internet recently searching for a way to remove a grease spot from a favorite shirt of mine. How it got there, well, I blame a faulty fork and not my clumsy mouth. Anyway, time and again sites would reference a can of Coca-Cola as a way to remove the grease spot. I tried it, cynical but hopeful, and it worked. Not 100 percent, but it was way better than before. It did leave me wondering: are there other uses for Coca-Cola? It turns out there are a lot more.

1. Remove grease stains from clothing and fabric (I had to start there).
2. Remove rust; methods include using fabric dipped in Coke, a sponge or even aluminum foil.
3. Remove blood stains from clothing and fabric.
4. Make gooey Coke funnel cakes.
5. Clean oil stains from a garage floor; let the stain soak, hose off.
6. Loosen a rusty bolt; pour on some Coke and wait for the magic to happen.
7. Kill slugs and snails; a small bowl of Coke will attract them, and the acid will kill them.
8. Help a lawn become lush and green .
9. Prevent an asthma attack! Apparently, the caffeine in two 12-oz. cans can prevent the onset of an attack.
10. Defrost a frozen windshield. Apply liberally and wait (I'll see if this works in Winter).
11. Clean burnt pans; let the pan soak in the Coke, then rinse.
12. Descale a kettle using the same method in 11.
13. Neutralize a jellyfish sting.
14. Clean car battery terminals by pouring a small amount of Coke over each one.
15. Cure nausea; let a can of Coke go flat, then take a teaspoon of Coke every hour.
16. Also, flat coke can help relieve an upset stomach (aka "the runs").
17. *Make a Mentos & Coke exploding fountain. This one takes a two-liter bottle of Coke.
18. Get rid of hiccups; gargle with a big mouthful of ice-cold Coke.
19. Shake up a can and pour it over your windshield to remove bugs and other crud.
20. Use the method in 19 for your car bumpers, too.
21. Clean your engine; Coke distributors have been using this technique for decades.
22. Relieve congestion; boil a can of Coke and drink while hot to clear you up.
23. Make a sweet BBQ sauce. Mix a can of Coke with ketchup and brush over ribs or chicken.
24. Baste a ham roast with Coke as it cooks. The sugars will caramelize; the ham will be moist.
25. Add a can of coke to your pot roast to tenderize it and add extra flavor. (Thanks, Linsey.)
26. Make pretty pennies; soaking old pennies in Coke will remove the tarnish.
27. Make your hair curly; pour flat Coke onto long hair, leave for a few minutes, then rinse.
28. Age documents and photos; for that antique look, apply Coke, pat with paper, leave to dry.
29. Clean tile grout; pour onto kitchen floor, leave for a few minutes, wipe up.
30. Mix a can of Coke with a packet of Italian seasoning; cook a tough steak in it.
31. Make better compost; Coke increases the acidity, adds sugars, and feeds microorganisms.
32. Dissolve a tooth in it; use a sealed container, because this takes ages. Why would you want to, though, unless you're Hannibal Lecter?
33. Remove gum from hair; dip into a small bowl of Coke, leave a few minutes. Gum will wipe off.
34. Get silky skin; mix a spoonful of Coke with regular lotion and apply liberally.
35. Make low-fat brownies.
36. Pour a little in a cup and set it out an hour before a picnic, away from your site; it will attract wasps and bees so they're not bugging you and your grub.
37. Remove stains from vitreous china. More info on vitreous materials here.
38. Got a dirty pool? Add two two-liter bottles of Coke to clear up the water (it acts as rust remover).
39. Add Coke to your laundry to remove bad smells, especially fish.
40. Remove (or fade) dye from hair by pouring Diet Coke over it.
41. Mop a floor with Coke to make it sticky. It's a movie industry trick to stop actors' slipping.
42. Remove marker stains from carpet. Apply Coke, scrub, then clean with soapy water.
43. Clean a toilet; pour around bowl, leave for a while, flush clean.
44. Apply to skin for a deep tan (although this seems like a recipe for skin cancer to me).
45. Supposedly, drinking an 8-oz. can of Coke every day can prevent kidney stones.
46. Add it to a Sloppy Joe mix.
47. Perk up your azaleas or gardenias.
48. Coke and aluminum foil will bring chrome to a high shine.
49. Strip paint off metal furniture; soak a towel in Coke, sit it on the surface for days. Make sure you keep adding Coke to keep the towel wet. (Seems like a hassle; I'd rather buy paint stripper.)
50. Add it to vodka, rum, or bourbon.
51. Drink it straight from the can, if you can (too sweet for me).

| Business Insider#end.

Some take on a cultural currency of their own, even when they're completely false. Is there anyone who doesn't "know" that Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola killed Life cereal's Little Mikey, for instance?

Some companies spend major sums attempting to retain their image via ad campaigns, PR outreach and lawsuits.

Some companies have created websites solely to debunk myths, like this one from Coca-Cola that debunks dozens of myths. A lot of the myths are obvious fiction, but some have actually become "truth" in pop culture.

1. Mountain Dew
reduces sperm count.

Truth: There is no evidence Yellow 5, the key ingredient in question, actually causes decreased sperm count.

2.If you reverse the Coca-Cola logo,
 it reads 'no Mohammad, no Mecca' in Arabic.

Truth: As you can see in the video below, you actually have to change the mark to read Coca-Cota for this to even remotely come close. Furthermore, Coca-Cola claims numerous clerics and commissions have studied this only to find nothing. The company acknowledges, there was little knowledge of Arabic in 1886 Atlanta—when the logo was designed

3.The Dell Dude was replaced
because he was arrested for marijuana.

Truth: Benjamin Curtis, best known for his line, "dude, you're getting a Dell"—was indeed arrested for marijuana possession. However, as noted by Snopes, the commercials were being replaced before he got in trouble. The Dell dude was replaced because it was time for a new campaign.

4.Vans shoes feature the Star of David
on its soles so that you can step on it.

Truth: While the six-pointed star definitely appears on the bottom of the shoes, the Anti-Defamation League concluded numerous times it wasn't related to religion. The design is just a design.

5.The kid in the Life commercials died
from consuming Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola

Truth: John Gilchrist, the actor who played Little Mikey in the Life commercials, did not die from consuming Coca-Cola and Pop Rocks at the same time. The rumor suggested that the Pop Rocks would expand in your stomach causing you to explode. General Mills, the parent of Life, was forced to take out a national campaign to explain the actor had not died. It even inspired the Green Day song, "Pop Rocks and Coke."

6.Proctor & Gamble' former logo shows its company's ties to the Church of Satan. The 13 stars represent a verse from Revelations, and '666,' the number of the beast, appears in the man's beard.

Truth: Proctor & Gamble said the logo depicted a man overlooking 13 stars to represent the original thirteen American colonies. It unsuccessfully sued Amway for spreading the rumors and then successfully sued Amway's distributors. It also changed its logo.

7.Liz Claiborne told Oprah
she didn't design clothes for black women.

Truth: Spike Lee repeated this rumor to Esquire but Claiborne never appeared on Oprah in the late 1980s or the early 1990s. Oprah's staff confirms the fashion designer was not on the show and did not make those claims.

8.Snapple supported numerous racist groups,
including the Ku Klux Klan.

Truth: Snapple didn't support these groups. In fact, the company was founded by three Jews—unlikely to be supporters of the KKK. Rumors claimed the "K" on the company's old bottle design signified the KKK but it was actually a reference to the drink being kosher. Snapple opted to change th bottle designs and bought ads denying the rumor.

9.Adidas is actually an acronym for
'all day I dream about sex'

Truth: Adidas was formed after the Dassler brothers split up after World War II. Adolf "Adi" Dassler founded Adidas (hence the name) while his brother Rudolf started the company that would become Puma.

10.Disney goes to lengths to ensure that
no one is ever declared dead on its property.

Truth: While some have claimed the company policy is to not have anyone declared dead at Disney, people have in fact been pronounced dead on Disney property.

11.A Japanese town changed its name to 'Usa'
after World War II so it could label its products 'MADE IN USA.'

Truth: Usa is a place in Japan but its origins are go back to the 8th century. Furthermore, products have to display the country of origin, not the city, so this scam would never have made it past U.S. Customs.

12.Heinz really does
have 57 varieties.

Truth: Company founder Henry Heinz admitted he just made it up after seeing another advertisement. There was some basis—five was his lucky number and seven was his wife's, but it had nothing to do with the amount of products the company made.

13.Tommy Hilfiger told Oprah
he didn't want blacks or Asians to wear his clothes.

Truth: Like the Liz Claiborne-Oprah rumor, it was also false. Oprah denied it and even began the first part of Hilfiger's debut appearance on the show, years later, by debunking the rumor.
| Business Insider #end.

Women have bound their breasts since antiquity, for modesty’s sake or to conform to an aesthetic ideal. Exposing the breast for human survival in breastfeeding is supposed to be kept politely minimal, even with the known multiple benefits of breastfeeding.

In the Western world, women avoid the free-swinging breast, a point of view encouraged by the multi-billion dollar brassiere industry. That began to change in the 1960s, when the Women’s Liberation movement proclaimed brassieres to be as oppressive as the corsets our grandmothers wore. Still, the majority of today’s women continue wearing the bra, conforming to societal norms and to fashion. Recent research conducted in France may influence women to change their minds again.

Professor Jean-Denis Rouillon, professor at the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon, recentlt concluded, after a 15-year study of 330 women, that supporting breasts in a bra helps not at all, neither “medically, physiologically nor anatomically.”

Rouillon argues that chest muscle and ligaments that support the breasts atrophy over time if the breasts’ natural motion is restrained by a bra. He claims that the women under study actually developed stronger supportive muscle while going bra-less. (Breast ligaments, which give the breast elasticity, do not regain tone as muscle does; like rubber bands, once they stretch out, they remain limp.) Rouillon proved his claim by the research participant’s nipples lifting 7mm towards the shoulder in one year. According to Rouillon, the women’s breasts became firmer and stretch marks faded.

Apart from wishing to improve the silhouette, women should be asking questions about bras versus female health. Some defenders of the no-bra cause claim that bras restrict the drainage of the axillary (armpit) lymph nodes. Lymph nodes help move bacteria, dead viruses and other blood toxins out of circulation. The implication is that these toxins simply stay in the armpit and breast area when a bra is worn, degrading health.

Others say that bras retain the heat naturally generated by the breast during movement, thereby increasing the chance of inflammation of the breast tissue and subsequently, cancer. With breast cancer rates rising almost visibly, it may be worth investigating that idea.

Although these issues are valid and deserve more research, there are no definite answers to anti-bra arguments based on health concerns. Respected institutions like the American Cancer Society invalidate the theory that bra-wearing increases chances of getting breast cancer. Proponents retort that as parallels between lung cancer and smoking were vigorously denied for decades by bodies with big financial interests in tobacco, so does the brassiere industry have interests in squashing that theory.

In the meantime, Rouillon is reluctant to advise all women to take their bras off. He said that the research participants didn’t represent the population at large – his study was conducted on women between the ages of 18-35. Further, he says that older women who have worn bras since early adolescence would gain nothing from removing their bras.

Presumably, Professor Rouillon means that if it’s too late to rebuild breast-supporting muscle, a woman might as well look good in her clothes and wear a bra.

 | Miriam Kresh, GreenProphet / Photo:  lingerie briefs. #end.