health

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Speedy flip in Earth's magnetic field could cause trillions in damage, scientists warn
A new study of previous reversals of Earth's magnetic field has found a rapid shift occurred within two centuries — a discovery that has prompted researchers to warn of a potential dire scenario.

According to a team of international scientists, including from the Australian National University (ANU), such an event in the future would increase our planet's exposure to the Sun's radiation, and could cause trillions of dollars in damage by decimating power and communications systems across the globe.

The Earth has a magnetic field that scientists believe is generated by motion in the planet's core. It's what gives us our north and south poles and powers compasses.

We've known for more than a century that our planet's magnetic field has been weakening at a rate of about five per cent a century, prompting concerns that the Earth's magnetic poles could soon flip - an event that could have potentially disastrous results for life on Earth.

From the electrical grids that power our computers to the satellites that let us watch TV, many facets of our lives depend on the Earth's magnetic field. It also acts like an invisible force field protecting Earth from solar winds and harmful cosmic radiation.

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Image courtesy New Zealand Herald

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10 of Benjamin Franklin’s Lesser-Known Feats of Awesomeness
4. HE WAS NO DEBTOR.
Franklin was terrified of debt and viewed it as similar to slavery because he believed that, through the acquisition of debt, man essentially sold his own freedom. He was so anti-debt that he often spoke (seriously) about forming an international organization called The Society of the Free and Easy for virtuous individuals who, among other things, were free of debt and, therefore, easy in spirit.

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Image courtesy pearlsofprofundity.wordpress.com

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HOUSTON: a new study finds that consuming full-fat dairy products - including cheese, yogurt, and butter - likely won’t play a role in sending you to the grave any sooner.
Researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston say that not only are dairy fats not linked to the development of heart disease or stroke, it turns out they may actually help prevent people from suffering a severe stroke.

"Our findings not only support, but also significantly strengthen, the growing body of evidence which suggests that dairy fat, contrary to popular belief, does not increase risk of heart disease or overall mortality in older adults," says Marcia Otto, the study’s first author and an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences at the university, in a media release.

"In addition to not contributing to death, the results suggest that one fatty acid present in dairy may lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, particularly from stroke," says Otto. That fatty acid, known as heptadecanoic acid, led the researchers to conclude that people who show higher fatty acids levels - particularly from full-fat dairy products - had a 42 percent lower chance of death due to a stroke.

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Photo courtesy Iron Man Magazine

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Simon Cowell confessed he switched off for the sake of his mental health
In an astonishing confession, the television mogul revealed he had become so distracted and irritated by his phone that he made himself uncontactable for the sake of his mental health and happiness.

He told The Mail on Sunday: 'I literally have not been on my phone for ten months.

'The difference it made was that I became more aware of the people around me and way more focused.

'The thing I get irritated with is when you have a meeting everyone's on their phone - and I was probably in that place too. You can't concentrate.

'It has been so good for my mental health. It's a very strange experience but it really is good for you and it has absolutely made me happier.'

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Photo courtesy REX / Shutterstock

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A Louisiana second-grader's homework assignment is going viral and making parents across the nation question if they spend too much time on their cell phones.
Teacher Jen Adams Beason wrote in a since-deleted Facebook post that she assigned her students to write about an invention they wish had never been created.
She posted an essay in which one of her students picked the cell phone.
"I don't like the phone because my [parents] are on their phone every day ... I hate my mom's phone and I wish she never had one," the student wrote.

Texas boy, 10, pens hilarious thank you note to Fulshear officer who pulled mom over: 'She deserved it'
Police officers in Texas were so tickled by a 10-year-old boy's handwritten thank you letter that they decided to share it on social media.
"We received the letter last Friday from a young man who attends Huggins Elementary School in Fulshear," Captain Mike McCoy with the Fulshear Police Department told Fox News. "During National Police Week, students from this school write us many letters of support. This one, obviously, stood out."

The boy's letter to a "Fulshear Police Officer" expressed gratitude for his mother getting stopped.
"Thank you for pulling my mom over because she deserved it because she took my phone away and I did not like it and how she always brags about how good of a driver she is," the student said. "And it just annoys me."

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