UK Shudders as Venomous Spider Creeps Across Britain

There aren't many things that can bring a quiver to a Briton's stiff upper lip, but a venomous arachnid named the "false widow spider" seems to be giving the entire country a case of the heebie-jeebies.

The BBC reports that an amateur soccer player named Steve Harris has been sidelined indefinitely due to a bite from a false widow. The Daily Mail described in lurid detail how a healthy 31-year-old man collapsed on the floor of a Toys "R" Us in Southampton the day after being bitten 10 times on the neck by one of the notorious crawlers.

Not to be outdone, a headline in the Daily Star trumpets, "False widow spider on rampage in Britain." The article adds the unlikely news that the arachnid "can kill humans with a single bite." But exactly how fearsome is the false widow — and is the British press making a monster out of an ordinary garden bug? [See Photos of the Spookiest Spiders]

A few facts may be in order: The false widow spider (Steatoda nobilis) is a native of Spain's Canary Islands, and is widely believed to have spread to Europe and the British Isles through shipments of bananas. Its name comes from a superficial resemblance to the black widow spider, which has a much more venomous bite. The largest of false widows are no more than a half inch (13 millimeters) across, and both males and females have pale marbled markings on their abdomens that some observers have called a "skull mark."

And while a bite from a false widow can cause pain and swelling — and a handful of people may suffer an allergic reaction — the venom is widely believed by experts to be less harmful than a bee sting. "For almost everyone, the effect of spider bite in this country is an itchy lump for a day or so at worst," said Matthew Chatfield on his blog Naturenet.

"So actually, there's almost no evidence of Steatoda nobilis or any other U.K. spider causing anything more than temporary discomfort to anyone," Chatfield noted, adding, "Steatoda may well be the U.K.'s most dangerous spider, but that position is only slightly more odious than being the U.K.'s most dangerous kitten."

Stuart Hine, an entomologist at London's Natural History Museum, also weighed in on Chatfield's Naturenet blog: "Yes, this story makes its annual appearance, and I fully expect to cover it once a year for the next decade," Hine wrote. "Generally speaking, the effects of bites … are paltry, though shocking for the victim."

One thing that all parties agree on, however, is the spread of the false widow spider throughout Great Britain, largely due to a warming climate. "Interestingly, we never recorded this species as an inquiry pre-1999, and numbers have risen each year since," Hine wrote on Naturenet.

Environmentalist Matt Shardlow of the conservation group Buglife told the Star, "The false widow has long been prevalent across much of the southwest because of the milder temperatures. They come from warm countries and are usually killed off by our cold weather. But climate change may have helped."

Despite the spread of the false widow spiders, most experts are quick to remind people that, despite the creatures' nefarious reputation, spiders are an important part of the natural world, and help to control insect pest populations. "Spiders are of great environmental importance, and are really rather beautiful and very interesting," Hine wrote.

Follow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+. Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/uk-shudders-venomous-spider-creeps-across-britain-231041408.html
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Why walking barefoot is good for your health - SheKnows.com

Or maybe you awoke refreshed from sleeping outside under the stars? Believe it or not, you were helping yourself to a dose of Nature's own healing powers.

Earthing is not a new concept — it's the idea that if you walk around barefoot, especially if you're walking directly on the ground, you'll realize the healing benefits of doing so. Some even call it "yoga for your feet."

Native Americans and other indigenous people instinctively knew for centuries to walk barefoot or in leather shoes and to sleep on the ground. By doing so, they were recharging their body's batteries, says Clinton Ober, founder of The Earthing Institute and co-author of the book Earthing: The most important health discovery ever?

Earthing explained

So, what is Earthing? Earthing is as simple as walking on the beach, laying down on a rock or in other ways connecting directly to the earth's surface with your bare skin. The premise is that the earth's negative ions help balance the positive ions we build up every day through stress, inflammatory foods and exposure to electronic and cellular devices.

An expert in the field of Earthing, Dr. James L. Oschman, describes the exchange in this way: “The most reasonable hypothesis to explain the beneficial effects of Earthing is that a earth connection enables both daily electrical rhythms and free electrons to flow from the earth to the body."

Benefits of Earthing

Regular contact with the natural electrical field of the earth helps restore your body's natural electrical balance. Practitioners of this trend, ranked #3 in the 2013 Spa Finder Wellness report, say that it helps:

• Reduce chronic pain


• Improves sleep


• Lowers stress


• Improves energy


• Lessens hormonal and menstrual symptoms


• Accelerates recovery from extreme athletic activity

"One of the major benefits of Earthing is that it appears to extinguish the negatively-charged electrons from the surface of the earth into the body where they neutralize positively-charged destructive free radicals involved in chronic inflammation," says Dr. Stephen T. Sinatra, co-author of Earthing with Ober. "The potential benefits from the earth's energy on the brain, heart, muscles, immune and nervous systems — and in turn the whole body and the aging process — are massive. Medically, this is a big deal!" he says.

As a youth, Ober enjoyed being barefoot and spending time outdoors in his native Montana. After years as a cable television executive, he had a near brush with death, which was his wake-up call to lead a healthier life. He had often noted that electronic and electrical devices had to have a grounding wire or other mechanism to keep them safe. He wondered what effects that same technology might have on human longevity and health. The results were grounding mats, special sheets, wrist bands and patches, all intended to recreate the grounding effect while working or resting indoors.

Also expect to see more formal "Earthing" at spas, as well as more "nature grounding". Think less background music with nature sounds and more real nature to help combat "Nature Deficit Disorder," the wellness report states.

An alternative to Earthing

If you can't easily go barefoot, an alternative is needed. Traditional plastic or rubber-soled shoes prevent getting this natural energy-enhancement from the earth. However, Peter Coulter of Juil Sandals, says Earthing can be done even while wearing shoes. The company has designed grounded footwear that incorporates copper insets. "If we stay connected by wearing earthing or grounding shoes, these unwanted positive ions are absorbed to neutralize and release the harmful free radicals in our bodies, " he says.

Another believer in Earthing , Dr. Roy Lidke, a Marion, Iowa podiatrist, says that all biological creatures benefit from grounding, which can even help serious conditions. "Damage to cells from oxidative stress causes the inflammatory process, which is related to heart disease, cancer, and the aging process and can eventually lead to cell death. Grounding provides the electrons for the atoms and molecules to alter these free radicals," he says.

Try your own version

• Go barefoot for 20 to 40 minutes at a time in (preferably moist or wet) grass, sand or dirt.


• Wear a wrist band.


• Wear copper-grounded sandals.


• Use a computer floor mat that has also been plugged into the ground outside.


• Sleep in specially grounded sheets.

These are all intended to bring about a better night's sleep, fewer aches and pains and a better quality of life!

More on holistic health

The holistic truth about colds and flu
Holistic lifestyle tips
A holistic approach to healing depression

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Iran's new president takes oath of office

TEHRAN, Iran --?

Hasan Rouhani has taken his oath of office, the final step in his inauguration as Iran's new president.

Rouhani, who replaces Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was sworn in during an open session of parliament on Sunday. State TV broadcast the ceremony live.

Iran's media and officials have treated Rouhani as president since Saturday, when he was endorsed by the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Leaders and other representatives from more than 50 countries, mostly from the region, attended the ceremony.

It was the first time since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution that foreign dignitaries attended the swearing-in ceremony of an Iranian president, underscoring Rouhani's stated commitment to improving the country's foreign ties.

Rouhani won a landslide victory in June 14 presidential elections.

Source: http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2013/08/04/2866620/irans-new-president-takes-oath.html

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Faster Reading with Hypnosis | NLPiste.com

Being able to read fast is one thing. Being able to read fast and actually retain what you have read is another. There are so many benefits to being able to read faster and remember what it is you have read. This can help you to do better in business and have a more enjoyable personal life by being able to read all of those books people talk about, but you don?t have time for.

A recent study was done using hypnotherapy and reading speeds. The student chosen for the study were college students with low test scores and histories of academic failure. Each student in the study was given an hour long hypnotherapy session where they were taught self hypnosis techniques and told you use these techniques before reading.

In the study the students were broken into three groups, not including the control group. The first group was of students who used self hypnosis less than five times. The second group consisted of students who used self hypnosis from five to nine times. The final group was of students who used self hypnosis more than nine times.

The study group on a whole had gains in vocabulary and comprehension test scores. These numbers were much higher than the control group. The study went further to show that the students who used the self hypnosis techniques more often have even greater improvement than the students who only used it a few times. This is just one study that shows how self hypnosis can increase reading performance and comprehension.

Typically an individual can read about 240 words a minute, but this number has been proven to be increased. There are many places where you can find information about speed reading or other forms of fast reading. Some of these programs say they can increase reading speed to 25,000 words per minute. That is quite the jump!

The shift in reading times is done by teaching your brain to use more of itself. We use a very small percentage of our brain to deal with day to day activities. When our brains are fully engaged we are able to do things much faster than the average person could imaging. One great way to tap into this process is with hypnosis.

Hypnosis can help you learn to photograph an entire page of a book, by using the entire brain and not just the right or the left side reading taking on a whole new possibility. Hypnosis can help show your brain how to work together. Hypnosis can get past your talking self and work directly with the subconscious to bring major changes into your life. Whether you want to quit smoking or read faster hypnosis can help your brain to function like you want it to.

Of course, there are other ways and tricks that you can use to read faster. You might be able to increase your reading speed by 30 times if you try some of these simple techniques for faster reading:
Don?t say each word ? You might not realize you do this, but people tend to say each work in their minds while reading. By not saying each word individually you will increase your reading speed.

Let your fingers do the walking ? By using your finger along the lines of the page your eyes will be more focused and you will be able to read quicker.
Snake finger ? Let your finger move in an ?S? shape. By letting your finger speed down the page going from one end of text to the other your eyes will move faster and your brain will pick up the words more easily.

Imagination ? Picture yourself reading the book before you even start. See how quickly you flip through the pages. See how easily you are able to understand the text. See how quickly you are able to finish the book, remembering it.

Take a sneak peek ? Before reading the first work look at the number of pages. Read the back cover. Look at the titles of the chapters. Flip through the book and get a feel for it. This will help you to be more engaged in the story. The more engaged you are the quicker you are likely to read it.

Steve G. Jones is a board certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. He is a member of the National Guild of Hypnotists, American Board of Hypnotherapy, president of the American Alliance of Hypnotists, on the board of directors of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Lung Association, and director of the California state registered Steve G. Jones School of Hypnotherapy. In order to keep up with the very latest in research, he regularly attends training conferences. Learn more by visiting: http://www.hypnotranquility.com/

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Source: http://www.nlpiste.com/faster-reading-with-hypnosis/

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Canada draws up directive on beacons in 787 fire investigation

Sat Aug 3, 2013 3:27pm EDT

(Reuters) - Canada's air transport regulator is drawing up a safety directive concerning the emergency beacons at the center of an investigation into a fire on a parked Boeing 787 Dreamliner last month, it said on Saturday.

The directive - which would list action that airlines or manufacturers must take - will take into account inspections done by manufacturer Honeywell International and its Canadian sub-contractor Instrumar Ltd, Transport Canada said in a statement.

"Transport Canada is developing an airworthiness directive in consultation with the FAA (U.S. Federal Aviation Administration) and EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency)," the statement said.

"The airworthiness directive would be based on the information collected from the equipment inspections mandated by the FAA, information already provided by Honeywell, and the results of (Transport Canada's) inspections of Honeywell and Instrumar."

Emergency Locator Transmitters - designed to help locate an aircraft in the event of a crash - marketed by Honeywell have emerged as a key focus of the investigation into a blaze which caused serious damage to a parked 787 jet owned by Ethiopian Airlines at London's Heathrow airport on July 12.

The FAA has ordered inspections on the beacons in 787s, and Boeing last week expanded the inspections to cover more than 1,000 aircraft of all types that are fitted with the devices.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Canadian directive would expand inspections to cover all types of planes that use the suspect emergency transmitters, including jets from Boeing, Europe's Airbus and Dassault Aviation.

Although the 787 is designed and manufactured in the United States, Transport Canada is the lead safety agency on the beacons, which are manufactured in Newfoundland.

An earlier model of Honeywell beacon faced scrutiny from Canada's regulator in a previous airworthiness directive in 2009.

It called for suspect parts to be modified or replaced after tests found that two units were unable to broadcast the emergency homing signal on the right frequency.

(Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Tim Hepher; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/03/us-boeing-dreamliner-canada-idUSBRE9720AK20130803?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

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The Nutrition Nook ~ How to Keep Your Motivation for Eating Healthy

The Nutrition Nook is a monthly column featuring nutrition information for healthy eating from Renee M. Simpson, RDN. Renee is a registered dietitian who loves good food herself AND she has had her share of battling the bulge. Renee?s corner of the web is located at the Soul Food Therapy blog, which ?provides recipes, articles, and encouragement for anyone who has a love affair with food, and desires to live a healthy lifestyle.? I pray that you are encouraged by what Renee has to share. * Remember to consult your primary care physician or dietitian before beginning a new nutrition regimen.*

Recently I sent out a survey to the readers of Soul Food Therapy, asking for input on how I could be of better service to them. One of the most popular requests was to know how to stay motivated when attempting to change your diet for the better. So, here is the list of my top 5 ways to keep eating healthy long enough to make it a lifestyle.

1. Identify why you are making a dietary change for the better. For me, I know that I am the temple of the Holy Spirit. I know that I live in this temple and I am here to do a particular job. How can I do that job if I neglect to care for my one and only temple/home/form of transportation? Many people say they make changes for the better so that they can take care of their family. However, ultimately, I believe that you must care enough about yourself to make changes last for the long haul.
2. Consider the risks of not making the changes. You don?t have to wait until your blood pressure, or your weight, is sky high to decide that you want to be your healthiest. Just know that the bad habits you replace with good ones will bring you the reward of a healthier outcome. It?s much better to change your diet sooner than later, and certainly much easier to make healthy changes before you?re forced to.
3. Consider the benefits of making healthy changes. Improvements in your diet can reverse diabetes symptoms, relieve constipation, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, clear up eczema, and so on. And let?s not forget that a new and improved diet can lead to feeling better, not just physically but emotionally as well. Haven?t you known someone who lost 20 or more pounds and turned into a different person? (Hopefully they became a better person to be around, but if not, that?s another subject.)
4. Take ownership of the fact that you and only you are responsible for your health. God has placed you in charge of taking care of you. It?s amazing how we as moms take such care for our families, making sure the kids eat their veggies, and that everyone has a good healthy meal. Then we turn around and give ourselves a snack for a meal because we are too busy for ourselves, or worse, we ?don?t feel like cooking for just me?. That has got to stop. If you are doing this you must recognize yourself as one of the team that you take good care of, and love you just like you love them.
5. Remember that every time you eat something healthy, you are telling your body ?thank you? for serving you, for getting you to where you have to go, and for providing you with a comfortable place to live. You are directly influencing the quality of your health with every decision you make concerning what you put in your mouth. That is powerful, isn?t it?

Which of these sources of motivation will you meditate on to keep yourself on the right track?

Renee M. Simpson, RDN

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Source: http://my-faith-and-fitness.com/2013/08/the-nutrition-nook-how-to-keep-your-motivation-for-eating-healthy/

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Moto X and Google - Business Insider

Mobile Insights?is a daily newsletter from?BI Intelligence?delivered first thing every morning exclusively to?BI Intelligence?subscribers.?Sign up for a free trial of BI Intelligence today.

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Steve Kovach/Business Insider

Moto X, And Why Google Bought Motorola Mobility?(Wired)
Motorola's new flagship handset, Moto X, debuted on August 1st. Wired surveys Google's two-year journey from the acquisition of Motorola Mobility to the launch of this smartphone. The Moto X is the pioneering device that Google hopes will enhance its hardware portfolio.?Read >

A Google Play Version Of Moto X Is Coming Soon?(The Verge)
Moto X will be available on 5 U.S. carriers but Google will also be selling its own, unlocked version of the phone. These Google versions will also be free of "bloatware" or pre-loaded apps curated by the carrier. Google also sells unlocked versions of the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4.?Read >

Android Accounted for 79.5% Of Global Smartphone Shipments In Q2 2013 (Strategy Analytics)
A new report from Strategy Analytics shows Android smartphone shipments reached 182.6 million units in the second quarter of 2013. That's good enough for a 79.5% of the global smartphone market. This comes at the expense of Apple ??which saw its share of iOS device shipments dropped to 13.6% ? and "other" platforms, which also lost share. Microsoft solidified its third-place positioning with a 3.9% share.?Read >

Strategy Analytics

BlackBerry Launches BBM For Android Beta (Engadget)?
A beta version of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) for Android was launched Thursday. ?BlackBerry had already promised Android and iOS versions of the popular over-the-top messaging service. With its hardware struggles, BlackBerry may be looking for alternative revenue streams. Read >

Foursquare Is Selling Location Data To A Third-Party Ad Targeting Firm (AdAge)
Foursquare is also seeking for a new revenue source, and is starting by selling its vast collection of user location data to ad tech company Turn. Advertisers can leverage this data to re-target Foursquare users with ads on other websites. Foursquare won't allow individual targeting. Rather, it groups users into demographic categories like, "Business Traveler" or, "Mobile Mass Market Mom." Read >

Firefox OS Devices Will Debut In Latin America (Mozilla)
Mozilla's smartphone platform is growing. Latin American telecommunications company Telefonica announced that the Alcatel One Touch Fire and ZTE One devices are now available in Colombia and Venezuela. This comes shortly after the debut of Firefox OS devices in Spain and Poland. Read >

Apple Acquires Low-Energy Chip Manufacturer (GigaOm)
Apple acquired Passif Semiconductor, which specializes in making small, low-energy chips that are primarily designed for small wearable computing devices. It could be the next step toward Apple's venture into the wearables market. Read >?

Apple's Lucrative Opportunity In China (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
The world's largest carrier, China Mobile, is having trouble converting its customer base to 3G services. Apple has tried multiple times to strike a deal with China Mobile to sell the iPhone, but the carrier has refused. As China Mobile faces stiffer competition in the market, it may lean toward the iPhone as a launching pad device to attract new users to its 3G and soon-to-be 4G services. Read >?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/moto-x-and-google-2013-8

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