WEIRD NEWS

Men Are Faster...but So Tired

A new study from the University of British Columbia says sure, guys might be stronger and faster than women, but the ladies will outlast them every time! UBC researcher Brian Dalton said, "We've known for some time that women are less fatigable than men during isometric muscle tests - static exercises where joints don't move, such as holding a weight - but we wanted to find out if that's true during more dynamic and practical everyday movements." The answer is apparently pretty definitive: women can outlast men by a wide margin. In tests, the men were both faster and more powerful, but they also became more fatigued "much faster" than the women. Dalton notes that in ultra-trail running, men tend to be faster, but women tend to be far less tired. He adds, "If ever an ultra-ultra-marathon is developed, women may likely dominate." (Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism)

A Dollar Makes Many Smokers Quit

Want to get people to stop smoking? Jack up the price! According to new research, one in five people give up cigarettes every time the price of a pack jumps by $1. Researchers report in the journal Epidemiology that cigarette taxes may be a particularly effective lever for behavior change. Researchers note that only 7% of people who smoke heavily (more than half a pack a day) quit when the price jumped, but they did smoke 35% fewer cigarettes each day. Smoking bans didn't have the same effect, probably because people can just smoke in another place. Meanwhile another new study by the World Health Organization and National Cancer Institute finds that smoking costs the global economy $1 trillion a year, well over the $296 billion collected in tobacco taxes. (Epidemiology)

Girl Scouts Vs. Boy Scouts?

The president of the Girl Scouts of the USA is accusing the Boy Scouts of trying to covertly recruit girls into their programs while disparaging the Girl Scouts' operations. In a letter to Boy Scouts of America President Randall Stephenson, GSUSA President Kathy Hopinkah Hannan wrote: "I formally request that your organization stay focused on serving the 90% of American boys not currently participating in Boy Scouts ... and not consider expanding to recruit girls." Top leaders of the two youth organizations, both struggling to stem membership declines, conferred this month about possibilities for coordination. But Hopinkah Hannan, in her letter, said she came away from that discussion feeling the Boy Scouts had already committed to an expansion of coed programs that would damage the Girl Scouts. The tough tone of her letter dismayed Boy Scout leaders, said BSA spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos. "We are disheartened to see the Girl Scouts pull away from the possibility of cooperation to help address the needs of today's busy families." She said the BSA - in response to requests from families - "has been exploring the benefits of bringing Scouting to every member of the family - boys and girls," though no final decision has been made on expanding coed programs. (Newser)

Popularity, Like Money, Can't Buy You Happiness

Good news, nerds: Popularity in high school has nothing to do with your long-term happiness, at least according to a study published this week in Child Development. The study followed 169 high-school students for a decade starting when they were 15 years old. Researchers found high-schoolers with a few good, close friends were ultimately happier at 25 than those that were widely popular. "Youth with higher levels of attachment to their best friends appear to have better psychological health, psychosocial adjustment, and even a more adaptive stress response during adolescence," according to the study's authors. In other words, your teens will be better off if they have a few tight BFFs instead of the adoration of half the student body. The differences in happiness don't manifest until after high school, but the study found that by 25, youths who had a few close friendships as teens had better self-worth and fewer symptoms of depression, while youths who were widely popular in high school were more likely to have social anxiety. Co-author Joseph Allen said, "Being well-liked by a large group of people cannot take the place of forging deep, supportive friendships." He says it's an important lesson as social media becomes more and more central to teens' lives. Close friendships were defined as ones with psychological attachment and intimate exchanges. (Child Development)

Lottery Perspective

Guess you heard somebody just won the largest solo lottery jackpot in history ($759 million). But what are your chances of actually winning the lottery? Well, it's about 1 in 45 million. Now let's put that in context. Your chance of being hit by a falling meteorite is about 1 in 700,000! Yep, you're far more likely to be hit by a red-hot rock falling from space than hitting the jackpot. For that matter, you have a much better chance of going into space yourself. The odds of becoming an astronaut are 1 in 12 million. Meanwhile, the chances of the average person winning an Olympic gold medal in their lifetime are 1 in 662,000. So there it is. You're more likely to visit space, become an Olympian or be squashed by a meteorite than win the lottery. But don't let that discourage you from buying a ticket. Somebody has to win. And good luck! (Metro)

Thank You Beloit College

This is always fun. Beloit College has released their annual Mindset List for the Class of 2021. The list aims to show how times have changed over the years by giving some interesting cultural perspective to each graduating class. So, if you're graduating from college in 2021:

• Their classmates could include Eddie Murphy's Zola and Mel Gibson's Tommy, or Jackie Evancho singing down the hall. 
• They are the last class to be born in the 1900s, the last of the Millennials -- enter next year, on cue, Generation Z! 
• They are the first generation for whom a "phone" has been primarily a video game, direction finder, electronic telegraph, and research library. 
• Electronic signatures have always been as legally binding as the pen-on-paper kind. 
• In college, they will often think of themselves as consumers, who've borrowed a lot of money to be there. 
• eHarmony has always offered an algorithm for happiness. 
• Peanuts comic strips have always been repeats. 
• They have largely grown up in a floppy-less world. 
• They have never found Mutual Broadcasting or Westinghouse Group W on the radio dial, but XM has always offered radio programming for a fee. 
• There have always been emojis to cheer us up. 
• The Panama Canal has always belonged to Panama and Macau has been part of China. 
• It is doubtful that they have ever used or heard the high-pitched whine of a dial-up modem. 
• They were never able to use a Montgomery Ward catalogue as a booster seat. 
• Donald Trump has always been a political figure, as a Democrat, an Independent, and a Republican. 
• Zappos has always meant shoes on the Internet. 
• They are the first generation to grow up with Watson outperforming Sherlock. 
• Amazon has always invited consumers to follow the arrow from A to Z. 
• Their folks have always been able to get reward points by paying their taxes to the IRS on plastic. 
• In their lifetimes, Blackberry has gone from being a wild fruit to being a communications device to becoming a wild fruit again. 
• They have always been searching for Pokemon. 
• They may choose to submit a listicle in lieu of an admissions essay. 
• Dora the Explorer and her pet monkey Boots helped to set them on the course of discovery. 
• The seat of Germany's government has always been back in Berlin. 
• Jet Blue has always been a favorite travel option but the Concorde has been permanently grounded. 
• By the time they entered school, laptops were outselling desktops. 
• There has never been a Coliseum in New York, but there has always been a London Eye on the Thames. 
• Once on campus, they will find that college syllabi, replete with policies about disability, non-discrimination, and learning goals, might be longer than some of their reading assignments. 
• As toddlers they may have dined on some of that canned food hoarded in case of Y2K. 
• An ophthalmologist named Bashar al-Assad has always provided vision for the Syrian military. 
• Whatever the subject, there's always been a blog for it. 
• U.S. Supreme Court decisions have always been available at its website. 
• Globalization has always been both a powerful fact of life and a source of incessant protest. 
• One out of four major league baseball players has always been born outside the United States. 
• Carl Sagan has always had his own crater on Mars. 
• A movie scene longer than two minutes has always seemed like an eternity. 
• The Latin music industry has always had its own Grammy Awards. 
• Ketchup has always come in green. 
• They have only seen a Checker Cab in a museum. 
• Men have always shared a romantic smooch on television. 
• They never got to see Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Stein co-host a quiz show or Dennis Miller provide commentary for the NFL. 
• As toddlers, they may have taught their grandparents how to Skype. 
• The image of Sacagawea has always adorned the dollar coin, if you can find one. 
• Having another child has always been a way to secure matching tissue to heal an older sibling. 
• There have always been Latino players on the ice in the NHL. 
• Napster has always been evolving. 
• Nolan Ryan has always worn his Texas Rangers cap in Cooperstown, while Steve Young and Dan Marino have always been watching football from the sidelines. 
• The BBC has always had a network in the U.S. where they speak American. 
• There has never been a sanctioned Texas A&M bonfire. 
• There has always been a Monster in their corner when looking for a job. 
• Wikipedia has steadily gained acceptance by their teachers. 
• Justin Timberlake has always been a solo act. 
• U.S. professional baseball teams have always played in Cuba. 
• Barbie and American Girl have always been sisters at Mattel. 
• Family Guy is the successor to the Father Knows Best they never knew. 
• Motorola and Nokia have always been incredibly shrinking giants. 
• Melissa has always been too nice a name to be attached to a computer macro virus. 
• The Mars Polar Lander has always been lost. 
• Women have always scaled both sides of Everest and rowed across the Atlantic. 
• Bill Clinton has always been Hillary Clinton's aging husband. 
• Paleontologists have always imagined dinosaurs with colorful plumage. 

(Global News)

What the What?

An expecting couple in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania saw more than they expected during their baby's sonogram. Yes it seems soon-to-be new parents Alicia Zeek and Zac Smith fully believe they saw Jesus' face staring back at them during their baby girl's ultrasound. ahead of the birth of their baby girl in Chambersburg. Smith said the image brought tears to his eyes, while his fiance, Zeek, stood in disbelief. Smith says the image is a sign from heaven and calls it a "blessing." The couple also put the image up on Facebook to see what others think. Not to be all judging but do you really think that Jesus would choose a couple that has had sex out of wedlock to reveal himself. The bible says that's a big no-no! Makes me wonder. Could it really be... say... Satan?! (FOX 43)