Friday, January 18, 2008

Surprising things that give you headaches

You've been staring at the computer for hours. You've worked late all week and have in-laws coming this weekend. You have a raging case of PMS. Eyestrain, stress, and hormonal shifts are fairly common causes of headaches, which afflict 45 million Americans (most of them women). But sometimes the usual suspects don't explain that pain in your head. That's because some triggers are just plain weird -- like perfume, storms, earrings -- or even orgasms. Here's how to identify the source of your headache so you can send it packing.
Perfume "Strong scents bother me instantly," says Bethany Hegedus, 35, a writer and receptionist from Brooklyn, New York. She can get a headache from a whiff of Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker or a stroll past a Yankee Candle. Her sense of smell is so acute that she can sniff out whether a co-worker has changed laundry detergents or hand lotions, a degree of sensitivity common among scent-driven headache sufferers. The headaches can be fleeting if exposure is brief -- or they can last all day... CNN

Quit suffering from 'dirty' pain

Think of a problem that has plagued you for a long time -- your weight, a loved one's bad habits, fear of terrorism, whatever. No doubt you've tried valiantly to control this issue, but are your efforts working? The answer has to be no; otherwise you would have solved the problem long ago. What if your real trouble isn't the issue you brood about so compulsively, but the brooding itself? Psychologists who subscribe to acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) call "clean" pain what we feel when something hurtful happens to us. "Dirty" pain is the result of our thoughts about how wrong this is, how it proves we - and life - are bad. The two kinds of suffering occupy different sections of the brain: One part simply registers events, while another creates a continuous stream of thoughts about those events. The vast majority of our unhappiness comes from this secondary response - not from painful reality, but from painful thoughts about reality. Western psychology is just accepting something saints and mystics have taught for centuries: that this suffering ends only when we learn to detach from the thinking mind. Get happy! Continue this exercise in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).Learning to detach starts with simply noticing our own judgmental thoughts. When we find ourselves using words like should or ought, we're courting dirty pain. Obsessing about what should be rather than accepting what is, we may try to control other people in useless, dysfunctional ways. We may impotently rage against nature itself, even - perhaps especially - when that nature is our own... CNN

Cashing in on old gadgets

We think a lot about getting new gadgets, but not so much about getting rid of old ones. The result: old cell phones, defunct laser printers and Pentium III computers gathering dust.A couple companies want to help us clear out those old gadgets, while feeding our upgrade habit, helping the environment and making a buck for themselves. Instead of being hit up for an extended warranty next time you buy a gadget, you may find yourself hearing a pitch from TechForward Inc., a Los Angeles-based company selling a "guaranteed" buyback plan for electronics... CNN

Comedian is living in an Ikea store

When Mark Malkoff thought about where he could stay while his New York City apartment was being fumigated for cockroaches, he quickly ruled out friends' places (too small) and hotels (too expensive). Instead, the comedian and filmmaker decided to move into an Ikea store in suburban New Jersey, where on Monday he unloaded two suitcases into a spacious bedroom at the store. At night when the store is closed, he says he'll play laser tag with security guards and even plans to host a housewarming party. "The fact that Ikea is letting me do this is mind-boggling," said Malkoff, lounging on a bed in his new room. "There's no way I'm going back. I love this way too much." Malkoff, who works for Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" as a ticket handler, is allowed to stay until Ikea closes at about midnight on Saturday; the store, famous for its low-cost do-it-yourself furniture, is closed on Sundays... CNN

Muslim high school track star disqualified for outfit

A high school track star has been disqualified from a meet because officials said the custom-made outfit she wears to conform to her Muslim faith violated competition rules. Juashaunna Kelly, here in October, has competed in the same outfit for three straight seasons. Juashaunna Kelly, a senior at the District of Columbia's Theodore Roosevelt High School, has the fastest mile and 2-mile times of any girl runner in the city this winter. She was disqualified from Saturday's Montgomery Invitational indoor track and field meet. Kelly was wearing the same uniform she has worn for three seasons while running for Theodore Roosevelt's cross-country and track teams. The custom-made, one-piece blue and orange unitard covers her head, arms, torso and legs. Over the unitard, she wears the same orange and blue T-shirt and shorts as her teammates. The outfit allows her to compete while adhering to her Muslim faith, which forbids displaying any skin other than her face and hands. "It's not special," Kelly said. "It doesn't make me perform better." CNN

Antarctic lake may hold life clue

Edinburgh University researcher Neil Ross is part of a four-man team camped on an Antarctic ice sheet. The group, which also includes members of the British Antarctic Survey, are to explore an ancient subglacial lake about the size of Loch Katrine. Lake Ellsworth, in West Antarctica, is buried under 3.2kms of ice. About 150 lakes have been discovered beneath the Antarctica's vast ice sheet and so far little is known about them Professor Martin SiegertEdinburgh University The scientists believe the 10km-long lake could give scientists vital insights into climate change, future rises in sea-levels and the origins of life on earth. It is one of more than 150 lakes locked beneath Antarctica's vast ice sheets that have been discovered using radar and satellite technologies. Professor Martin Siegert, principal investigator on the International Polar Year project that is investigating the lake and head of Edinburgh University's School of GeoSciences, said the lake could show signs of ancient life. He said: "We are particularly interested in Lake Ellsworth because it is likely to have been isolated from the surface for hundreds of thousands of years. "Radar measurements made previously from aircraft surveys suggest that the lake is connected to others that could drain ice from the West Antarctic Ice sheet to the ocean and contribute to sea level rise... BBC

Biofuels are not a magic bullet

Biofuels may play a role in curbing climate change, says Britain's Royal Society, but may create environmental problems unless implemented with care. In a new report, the Society suggests current EU and UK policies are not guaranteed to reduce emissions. It advocates more research into all aspects of biofuel production and use. The report says the British government should use financial incentives to ensure companies adopt cutting-edge and carbon-efficient technologies. "Biofuels could play an important role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions from transport, both in Britain and globally," said Professor John Pickett from Rothamsted Research, who chaired the Royal Society's study. Nature has provided countless potential solutions in organisms as diverse as cows and microbes Dianna Bowles, York University "But it would be disastrous if biofuel production made further inroads into biological diversity and natural ecosystems. "We must not create new environmental or social problems in our efforts to deal with climate change." ... BBC

Hubble peers into dark matter

Astronomers have revealed the effects of unseen dark matter as it tugs on galaxies in a crowded supercluster. Dark matter acts as invisible cosmic "scaffolding" upon which visible stars and galaxies are assembled. The dark matter in this instance has pooled into four dense clumps, in which hundreds of old galaxies are embedded. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, a team of scientists mapped the dark matter at a better resolution than has ever been achieved before. Co-author Catherine Heymans, of the University of British Columbia in Canada, said the survey covered one of the largest patches of sky to be observed by Hubble.Dark matter does not reflect or emit detectable light, yet it accounts for most of the mass in the Universe. The researchers were able to detect it indirectly using a technique called weak gravitational lensing... BBC

Cancer's ethnic divide?

New research suggests that black women tend to develop breast cancer earlier than their white counterparts, and that the tumours in question may even be biologically different from those of white women. It is a small study, but if the findings were confirmed, it could have all sorts of implications for both screening and treatment. It may seem extraordinary, but this is one of the first UK studies to gather a sample of black people with cancer and compare them with white ones. "It's just not something we've done in this country, and as a result, there is a real dearth of information as to how cancer may affect people of different ethnic groups differently," says Dr Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK. "Until we find out, it's very difficult to make sure that people are being offered the best possible service." ... BBC

Why are clowns scary?

Children are frightened by clown-themed decor in hospitals, a survey suggests. How did the smiley circus entertainers become a horror staple? Anyone who has read Stephen King's It would probably never choose to decorate a children's ward with clowns. And it probably comes as no surprise to horror fans that a University of Sheffield study of 250 children for a report on hospital design suggests the children find clown motifs "frightening and unknowable". It is the fear of the mask, the fact that it doesn't change and is relentlessly comical Ramsey Campbell Clown images 'too scary' One might suspect that popular culture is to blame. In It, made into a television movie in 1990, Stephen King created a child-murdering monster that appeared as a demonic clown. King's It has sparked a slew of schlocky movies over the past 20 years, known as the killer clown or evil clown genre... BBC

Misery creep

Owning too much stuff drives us into a spiral of sadness, says a new book. Or is the real problem "misery-creep", where everyday unhappiness is being rebranded as depression? We all know the old saying: "Riches won't make you happy." But is it possible that riches - or even aspiring to be rich and wanting to live a Footballers' Wife-style life of luxury - might make us mentally ill?Clinical psychologist Oliver James claims in his new book The Selfish Capitalist: Origins of Affluenza, that "selfish capitalism" (the kind of capitalism we have in Britain) is making us sick. Literally. He says the emergence of selfish capitalism, first under Margaret Thatcher and later Tony Blair, has led to a "startling increase in the incidence of mental illness". We might live more comfortable and stuff-filled lives than our forebears did, but James believes the rise of materialism has come with a high price tag attached - widespread anxiety and depression... BBC

Wii warm-up good for surgeons

Playing computer games such as the Nintendo Wii can improve a surgeon's performance in the operating theatre, a US study shows. Only certain games are effective - those requiring delicate movements. The fine hand control required to play these games acts as a warm up and hones scalpel skills the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Centre team claim. Now they are designing Wii software that will accurately simulate surgical procedures, New Scientist reports. They asked eight trainee surgeons to spend an hour playing the games on a console before performing "virtual reality" surgery on a computer system... BBC