London, Jan 3 (ANI): Watching a four-minute erotic or aggressive video increases testosterone levels in rugby players and lead to improved strength and physical performance levels in training sessions that follow, according to a new study.

The finding is based on experiments involving 12 professional rugby players carried out by UK Sport, which is helping the British Olympic squad with scientific advice, the Daily Mail reported.

It is believed that the findings will be able to help coaches boost the effectiveness of training sessions.

In the study, the players were shown clips from five different categories of video.

A clip of U.S. sitcom ‘The Big Bang Theory’ was used to convey ‘humour’, images of malnourished African children was used for ‘sadness’, exotic dancing conveyed ‘eroticism’, footage of training sessions by UFC star Brock Lesnar were classified as ‘motivational’, while images of rugby tackles were used for ‘aggression’. READ MORE HERE

 

    

Men find brunettes more attractive and intelligent than blondes

By FIONA MACRAE SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT 

Last updated at 2:38 PM on 2nd January 2012

They say gentlemen prefer blondes – but it seems that only holds true when they are out on the town.

For, while they are more likely to chat up a fair-haired lady on a night out, men actually find brunettes more attractive, a study has shown.

University of Westminster researchers sent a woman to three London nightclubs with her hair dyed brunette, blonde and then red, and watched how many men approached her. READ MORE HERE

 

 

 

 

Facebook Flirting Causes One-in-Three Divorces

1/03/2012 @ 1:41PM

Facebook flirting and comments contribute to an increasing number of divorces, underscoring how social media is affecting privacy and family interactions.

One-third of 2011 divorce cases in England implicated Facebook as a cause, according to a survey conducted by a U.K.-based divorce website. The 5,000 people polled cited three reasons for listing Facebook in divorce petitions, including sending inappropriate messages to the opposite sex, posting negative comments about exes on the social network, and friends disclosing a spouse’s behavior.

The survey highlights how burgeoning social media use blurs the line between public and private. The nature of Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media outlets encourages free-spirited commenting, posting and sharing of information.

However, what’s posted on social networking sites may not be as private as users think. READ MORE HERE

  

Atlas Van Lines Announces 2011 Migration Trends

Number of relocations continues to rise

EVANSVILLE, Ind., Jan 03, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- According to one of North America's leading moving companies, Atlas Van Lines, the number of household moves across state lines continues to rise. The 2011 Atlas Van Lines Migration Patterns study found Southwestern and Mid-Atlantic coastal states to be popular destinations. Atlas first conducted the study in 1993 to track the nation's interstate moving patterns.

For the first time in six years, Michigan went from a perennially outbound state to a balanced state. Michigan now joins South Dakota and Iowa as the only Midwest states to remain balanced in 2011, as the rest of the Midwest continued to lose residents.

Five states that were balanced in 2010 are now outbound states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, West Virginia, Louisiana and Utah. Wyoming and Mississippi, which were outbound in 2010, are now balanced. Previously inbound states Kentucky and New Hampshire became balanced in 2011. READ MORE HERE

 

 

Starbucks raises prices in Northeast and Sunbelt

By Lisa Baertlein

Tue Jan 3, 2012 10:58am EST

(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) raised prices by an average of about 1 percent in the Northeast and Sunbelt regions on Tuesday, a move affecting cities such as New York, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Dallas and Albuquerque.

Shares of Starbucks, which boosted prices in some other U.S. markets in November, climbed 2.2 percent to a new high of $47.04 in early morning Nasdaq trading.

Starbucks expects high costs for things like coffee, milk and fuel to cut into profits this year and -- along with restaurant operators ranging from Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N) to McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) -- is raising prices to help offset some of that cost pressure.

In New York City, prices for 12-ounce "tall" brewed coffees and latte drinks will go up 10 cents. Prices on about half a dozen other beverages also will increase, Starbucks spokesman Jim Olson told Reuters.

The world's biggest coffee chain raised prices on some drinks in California and South Florida in November. Those regions are not affected by the Tuesday pricing action. READ MORE HERE

 

Word of the Day: Maladroit

maladroit (adjective) /mal uh droyt/ - lacking skill, cleverness, or resourcefulness in handling situations or challenges.

--Example:  Jeff is such a maladroit employee.  Every time we're on a tight deadline he pitches two horrible ideas, then runs into the kitchen and eats pie.  I keep telling him "Pie won't get this work done," but he just won't listen.  Man, does he love pie.

 

 

PepsiCo granted more time to plead in mouse in Mountain Dew case

12/28/2011 4:45 PM By Christina Stueve

Madison County Circuit Judge Dennis Ruth on Dec. 14 continued a case management conference until PepsiCo's motion to dismiss is heard in a lawsuit claiming a mouse was found in a can of Mountain Dew.

The defendant is granted 28 days or until Jan. 11 to answer or otherwise plead the plaintiff's second amended complaint.

A trial had been set to begin Nov. 28, but was vacated in an order signed by Ruth on Nov. 10.

A second amended complaint was filed Nov. 21.

Plaintiff Ronald Ball claims that after opening and beginning to drink soda he purchased from a vending machine at work, he tasted something foul. He claims he spat out the soda to reveal a dead mouse.

The case was filed in 2009.

Earlier this year, Ruth had ordered parties to complete taking depositions before the start of September.

Ball claims he sent the mouse to Pepsi, which destroyed the mouse body. READ MORE HERE

 

 

Chicago Man Busted after Removing Clothes, Exposing Self To Audience At "Chipmunks" Movie

Meet Edward Brown.

Thirty minutes into a showing last Thursday of the movie “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked,” the Chicago man allegedly stripped off his clothes and stood up from his seat in the front row of a theater in the North Riverside Park Mall.

Brown, pictured in the above mug shot, then turned to face 96 other moviegoers (of the kid and parent variety) and gave the Chipmunk fans a clear view of his exposed genitalia, according to a police press release. He then returned to his seat to enjoy the rest of the 4 PM showing of the G-rated film.

The 34-year-old Brown, however, was soon arrested by North Riverside cops who were patrolling in the Cook County mall. He was charged with a variety of criminal counts, including sexual exploitation of children and disorderly conduct. Brown is being held in the Cook County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. READ MORE HERE

 

 

 

Criminal serving his sentence with monks pleads to be sent back to prison... because monastery life is too hard

By NICK PISA

Last updated at 4:40 PM on 3rd January 2012

A convicted criminal who was serving out his sentence in a monastery has escaped for the second time and asked to be sent back to prison because life was too tough.

Thief David Catalano, 31, was sent to a Santa Maria degli Angeli community run by Capuchin monks in Sicily last November.

But he found their austere lifetstyle too tough to handle and soon escaped. After a short while on the run he was caught by police and sent back.

On Monday he fled for the second time in six weeks, only to swiftly turn himself in at a police station and beg officers to send him back to jail in the nearby town of Nicosia.

He told the stunned policemen: 'Prison is better than being at that hostel run by monks.'

A police spokesman said: 'Catalano arrived out of the blue and said there was no way he could stay on with the monks. READ MORE HERE