Category: life

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New Research Finds That Running Might Actually Be Good for Your Knees

Contrary to popular wisdom, running might not be so bad for your knees after all. In fact, it may actually improve your knee health.

One reason that running is assumed to be bad for your knees is the existence of “runner’s knee,” or patellofemoral pain syndrome. It’s fairly common for runners to experience knee pain, especially those who are new to the sport. That pain is often due to muscle weakness, overextending yourself, or running with old shoes.

But studies have shown that running is not associated with knee arthritis or other types of degenerative joint disease. In fact, it may be good for your knee joints, helping to protect the knee and keep it working smoothly.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

In one 2016 study, male and female runners either ran on a treadmill for 30 minutes or sat quietly for 30 minutes. Then they did the opposite activity on the next day. Before and after each session, the researchers drew blood from their arms and synovial fluid from their knees. They measured it for cells linked to inflammation and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), the substance that marks arthritis.

After 30 minutes on the treadmill, participants had lower levels of inflammation and lower levels of COMP. Sitting for 30 minutes increased those same levels. The study’s author Robert Hyldahl concluded that moderate runs are “not likely to harm healthy knees and probably offer protection,” per the New York Times.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

So you definitely shouldn’t let the fear of bad knees keep you from running.

Still, it’s important to practice good etiquette to avoid messing up your knees — wear proper running shoes, and don’t push yourself too far too soon.

Happy trails!

The post New Research Finds That Running Might Actually Be Good for Your Knees appeared first on UberFacts.

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The Famous ‘Lovers of Modena’ Skeletons Turned out to Be Men

This is a very interesting story.

The “Lovers of Modena” are a pair of ancient skeletons that were buried holding hands thousands of years ago. Recently, archaeologists discovered that both of the skeletons were actually male, leading them to conclude that they couldn’t possibly be lovers — because homosexuality isn’t a thing, right? Right.

Study author Federico Lugli said that the pair could be “siblings, cousins or soldiers who died together in battle,” the BBC reports.

“There are currently no other examples of this type,” Federico added. “Many tombs have been found in the past with couples holding hands, but in all cases there was a man and a woman. What might have been the bond between the two individuals in the burial in Modena remains a mystery.”

A mystery indeed.

But people on Twitter have some, uh, theories.

You know, just wild guesses.

Because it’s not totally obvious or anything.

Nobody has ever been gay in the history of mankind!

To be fair, these skeletons were buried between the 4th and 6th century AD in northern Italy. Homosexuality was illegal there at that time, and these two received a proper burial.

Still, it’s quite possible that this couple had some loved ones who secretly honored their relationship despite the cultural taboo.

Technically, we’ll never know whether the Lovers of Modena were really lovers or not. Either way, though, they’re basically icons of gay culture now.

The post The Famous ‘Lovers of Modena’ Skeletons Turned out to Be Men appeared first on UberFacts.

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Researchers Discovered the Worst Time to Be Alive in All of Human History

We have issues currently but let’s be honest, we have it pretty good as humans in 2019. If this is not the actual best time to be alive, the 2010s make a good argument for being in contention.

When, do you suppose, was life quite the opposite?

The question seems to have been answered on accident by researchers attempting to figure out how the European monetary system changed after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

An article published in Antiquity states that while looking for evidence of pollution from silver processing in ice cores, they found all kind of insights into natural disasters and climate change going back centuries.

And it turns out the 100 years following the year 536 C.E. were literally as bad as it gets, says study author Michael McCormick.

“It was the beginning of one of the worst periods to be alive, if not the worst year.”

A number of extreme weather events that year led to widespread and sustained famine, probably due to a volcanic eruption large enough to obscure the sun.

The effects of the unknown eruption proliferated all across the continent, into China, and as far away as Peru. It was basically a small Ice Age, causing crop failure and famine across the globe.

Social problems followed, bringing down empires (the collapse of the Sasanian Empire, the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire), inciting political upheaval, and dragging bloody turmoil all across the map.

Bottom line? People were starving, they were dying, they were killing each other and probably migrating in the hopes that they would find somewhere less crappy to live. Times were uncertain, bloody, cold, and bare…none of which makes much of a recipe for happiness.

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One more picture of impressive Bourscheid Castle in Luxembourg – this time in morning mist. Read about this beautiful hilltop castle in one of my previous posts?????? Photo by @marcmarchal ?????? . Еще одно фото замка Буршайд в Люксембурге – на этот раз замок окутан утренним туманом. Об истории этой средневековой крепости читайте в одном из предыдущих постов в ленте ?????? . burgbourscheid #bourscheid #bourscheidcastle #буршайд #chateaudebourscheid #luxembourg?? #luxemburgo #instacastles #instacastle #люксембург #medievaltimes #medievalcastle #medievaleurope #medievalarchitecture #middleages #замкимира #замкиевропы #europeancastles #castlesofeurope #средниевека #средневековье #средневековыйзамок #castlesofinstagram #castlearchitecture #luxembourgcastle #castlesofluxembourg #luxembourgcastles #gothiccastle #dronepicture #renaissancecastle

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Looking at things through that lens kind of makes you appreciate our issues right now, doesn’t it?

At least for now.

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10 Weird Facts That Might Surprise You

These facts are very solid and they might just throw you for a major loop.

But that’s a good thing. It’s important to keep working out that brain of yours! Let’s get started!

1. Good advice for all of us.

Photo Credit: did you know?

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2. Stop doing that!

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Source

3. I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t *meow*.

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4. No need to put it out there.

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5. Some parents might disagree…

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6. Matt the male stripper.

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Source

7. That makes sense.

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8. I knew I liked him for some reason.

Photo Credit: did you know?

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9. Get all the sleep you can.

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Source

10. What kind do you get?

Photo Credit: did you know?

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Surprised? Impressed? I know I sure am…

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A Man Died When He Dove Underwater to Propose to His Girlfriend

In a terribly tragic accident, a man dove into an underwater room to carry out what should have been a romantic proposal — but he never made it out.

Steven Weber and girlfriend Kenesha Antoine were on vacation together in Tanzania. They stayed at the luxury Manta Resort, famous for its floating accommodations and underwater rooms, BuzzFeed reports.

Kenesha was in the underwater room when Steven decided to pop the question. Already underwater, he tapped on the glass to get Kenesha’s attention, then showed her a message written on paper along with a ring.

“I can’t hold my breath long enough to tell you everything I love about you. But… Everything I love about you I love more every day,” the message said. “Will you please be my wife. Marry me???”

“I can’t hold my breath long enough to tell you everything I love about you. But… Everything I love about you I love more every day.”

Posted by Kenesha Antoine on Friday, September 20, 2019

Kenesha says he didn’t make it out of the water, so he never got to hear her answer: “Yes! Yes! A million times, yes, I will marry you!!”

“We never got to embrace and celebrate the beginning of the rest of our lives together, as the best day of our lives turned into the worst, in the cruelest twist of fate imaginable,” she wrote on Facebook.

“I will try to take solace in the fact that we enjoyed the most amazing bucket list experiences these past few days, and that we both were so happy and absolutely giddy with excitement in our final moments together.”

Posted by Kenesha Antoine on Friday, September 20, 2019

The Louisiana couple had booked four nights at the resort. The Manta Resort told the BBC that Steven “tragically drowned while free diving alone outside the underwater room.” CEO Matthew Saus said that his staff responded to a “problem in the water” but when they arrived “absolutely nothing could be done.”

“I will find you and marry you in the next lifetime, and the next, and the next, and the next… I love you so much, and I always will,” Kenesha wrote.

How absolutely devastating. Our thoughts are with you.

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Starving Before Bed? Try These 7 Nutritionist-Approved Snacks.

There is a laundry list of dos and don’ts for losing weight. There’s always a flavor of the month or fad diet, and you would be forgiven for being confused. A lot of diets even contradict each other.

Take Atkins: eat fats and protein but no carbs.

But straight eating clean: get in those complex carbs, veggies, and protein.

And don’t get me started on keto.

Sure, depending on your body type, blood type, etc, more than one or all of these diets could work. But the one thing these all have in common? Don’t eat before bed! Gasp!

But I’m hungry!

Me too. So what’s the deal? Do you chug a glass full of water to fill your stomach and suffer through a Netflix program until you fall asleep? Or do you have a snack?

Buzzfeed may have the answer. They recently checked in with “registered dietician Abby Langer and Despina Hyde, a diabetes expert at NYU Langone Weight Management Program, to find out.”

Apparently, it is okay to eat before bed! Whew…what a relief. It’s just what you eat that counts. Having a bucket of KFC is probably not a good idea. But fruit, crackers, or avocado toast (yum) could get you the nutrients you need PLUS settle that roaring stomach.

“Sure, your metabolic rate slows down a bit, but it doesn’t stop, says Langer. Yes, when it comes to weight management, it’s better to eat your biggest meals around the time of day you’re most active, but in general, your total calories matter more than the timing. And a reasonable snack that satisfies your hunger before bed isn’t enough to derail your healthy eating efforts.”

But I’m hungry every night before bed

If this is a consistent issue, chances are you’re not eating enough calories during the day. Also, check out your protein intake. If you’re eating a ton of carbs and fatty foods, this can cause your body to burn off energy too quickly, leaving nothing in your reserve while converting those calories to fat. Yuck. 

“Avoid a too-big meal, since your body will have to work harder to digest, which might actually keep you awake. But if your schedule leaves you with no choice but to eat dinner close to bedtime, Hyde suggests something that’s about 40% veggies, 40% carbs, and 20% protein.”

So what types of snacks are good to eat at night?

High fiber Cereal

Who doesn’t love Babybel?

 

Avocado or hard-boiled egg toast

 

Bananas with peanut butter

 

Greek yogurt with granola or fruit (or both!)

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special k granola, strawberry activia, and almonds

A post shared by carter ? (@sugarcoatedcarter) on

 

A simple cup of cottage cheese with fruit, nuts, or crackers

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Snack break #cottagecheese #triscuits

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Fruit and nuts are perfect for a sweet craving

 

So no matter the diet, remember: it is important to space out meals, get the proper caloric intake, and eat (healthily) when hungry at night!

After all, no one likes a cranky Netflix partner.

The post Starving Before Bed? Try These 7 Nutritionist-Approved Snacks. appeared first on UberFacts.

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This Is How You Can Deal with Excessive Sweating

I sweat a lot. Probably too much, but what can I do about it?

Turns out there actually are some steps I can take to try to prevent over sweating. That’ll teach me to give up!

One easy thing you can try is to put on an antiperspirant before you go to bed at night. You should also try to avoid certain foods and drinks during your daily routine—for instance too much coffee can have an effect on your central nervous system and cause you to sweat more than usual. Drinking hot coffee might even make it worse because the heat of the drink increases your body temperature, which might make you sweat even more.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Other foods you might want to avoid: spicy foods. This one is tough for me because I love Indian food, Mexican food, and Vietnamese food, but if this is the price of less sweat, I suppose I can manage.

As Scientific American explains:

“Spicy foods excite the receptors in the skin that normally respond to heat. Those receptors are pain fibers, technically known as polymodal nociceptors… The central nervous system can be confused or fooled when these pain fibers are stimulated by a chemical, like that in chili peppers, which triggers an ambiguous neural response. The central nervous system reacts to whatever the sensory system tells it is going on. Therefore, the pattern of activity from pain and warm nerve fibers triggers both the sensations and the physical reactions of heat, including vasodilation, sweating and flushing”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

If your excessive sweat results in body odor, there are other things you can do to try to keep that under control. Besides using deodorant, you should avoid foods that cause people to stink, like cabbage, broccoli, onions, garlic, and cauliflower. Alcohol also smells when you sweat it out, so you might want to cut down on the booze (that’s really not a bad idea for any person).

If you’ve tried everything, but you still sweat all the time, you can wear certain colors to hide your sweat (it’s not idea, we know). Very dark clothes and very light clothes hide sweat pretty well, so you can wear black, dark blue, and even white. You should avoid grays and bright colors if you’re gonna be out in the sun or somewhere you know you’ll be sweating because those colors practically highlight sweat stains. You could also consider wearing more athleisure, as it tends to be made from sweat-wicking textiles.

Try these tips out and see if they do the trick for you. If all else fails, go see your doctor. There are some genuine medical issues associated with excess sweating, although they are rare.

Good luck out there and stay cool!

The post This Is How You Can Deal with Excessive Sweating appeared first on UberFacts.

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Here’s Some Solid Humor for Anyone Who Spends All Day in an Office

There are a lot of benefits to holding down an office job, but as anyone who has ever done it (or is still doing it) can tell you, it’s also rife with opportunities to drive you completely bonkers.

You’ve got to do something to alleviate the stress, right? And making your coworkers chuckle seems to be one of the best and safest ways to go about it.

So if you’re sitting in your office trying not to pull your hair out right this second, don’t worry! These 13 clever funnies have got you covered.

13. Someone’s shade game is on point.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

12. We may never know the answer, because even though walls talk, doors don’t.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

11. Everyone’s a comedian.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

10. An insult to lemonade stands everywhere.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

9. Friend-zoned by food. Ouch.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

8. You might want to learn how to count!

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

7. It’s like working with your siblings around there.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

6. Someone’s staff might have too much time on their hands.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

5. Deep thoughts if you want them – or if you don’t.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

4. If you get this joke, you’re definitely my kind of people.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

3. Coffeemakers are one thing that really does need to be hot.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

2. I, too, would like some further explanation.

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

1. Wow. That thief is just flaunting it!

Posted by Zafar Sadique Choudhury on Sunday, January 6, 2019

I’m laughing a little bit too much!

Did you love these? What’s your favorite – or least favorite – thing about working in an office? Tell us in the comments!

The post Here’s Some Solid Humor for Anyone Who Spends All Day in an Office appeared first on UberFacts.

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The Guy from the ‘Blinking White Guy’ Meme Is Using His Stardom to Fight Multiple Sclerosis

Some people these days are instantly recognizable because they’ve become the subject of memes that blow up worldwide.

Like the “blinking white guy meme.”

You’ve seen this meme a million times, and you’ve seen it used in a million different ways.

You know the one:

Here’s another one.

Well, as with every meme that hits the big time, there’s a real person behind the magic, and this one’s name is Drew Scanlon. And he’s using his meme stardom to fight for a good cause.

Scanlon is asking for donations to help fund multiple sclerosis research. He’s raising money by participating in a national bicycle ride called Bike MS. And since he has a slightly wider than normal reach, he put out this call:

Scanlon wrote on his Bike MS page, “I’m not usually one to toot my own meme horn but in this case I’ll make an exception. You see, two close friends of mine and members of their families suffer from MS, a debilitating disease of the central nervous system that interrupts communication between the brain and the body. If a fraction of those who have seen my goofy face donated to MS research, I have a feeling we could kick this thing in no time!”

He even provided his Twitter followers with some videos from the road during his big bicycle adventure.

Scanlon’s bicycle ride ended on September 22, but he will be accepting donations until November.  As of this writing, he has raised more than $32,000 for his cause. Click HERE to make a donation and help end MS once and for all!

The post The Guy from the ‘Blinking White Guy’ Meme Is Using His Stardom to Fight Multiple Sclerosis appeared first on UberFacts.

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Ireland Plans on Planting 440 Million Trees to Help Fight Climate Change

Climate change is altering the world. Some of these changes we can anticipate, but others we are learning about in real time. And even though everyone who’s examined the evidence knows that climate change is occurring and that it is bad, some nations are sitting idly by and acting like their hands are tied.

Others are fighting for the future.

That is exactly what the country of Ireland is trying to do. Over the next 22 years, Ireland has committed to planting 22 million trees each year, totaling to 440 million trees by the year 2040.

Many believe that “revegetating” the natural environment can help to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The tree-planting initiative is part of the Irish government’s overall plan to combat climate change, which involves getting to carbon neutral by 2050.

The plan calls for farmers to plant trees, and they will be incentivized for doing so. It’s a bit tricky: some argue that farmers should not be required to plant trees on their own land because it will take away property from their economic crops and cattle. Others have suggested that farmers let land revegetate on its own, so forests can develop naturally.

While there would be greater species diversity if a forest naturally revegetated, it would also take longer for trees to mature that way.

It’s estimated that there are about 3 trillion trees on Earth and that roughly 15 billion are cut down every year by humans.

The action plan from the Irish government says:

“Taking decisive action to confront climate disruption will be a major challenge to every dimension of our society, but the benefits are huge – warmer homes, cleaner air, a sustainable use of the world’s scarce resources, more connected communities, authentic values, and quality jobs in enterprises which can compete in a decarbonised world. This is everyone’s journey. From Government to businesses, communities to householders, climate action is collective action. The Climate Action Plan sets out the Government agenda; see what you can do to play your part.”

If Ireland can do it, it seems like the United States could manage the same, don’t you think?

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