Grow your muscle, grow your brain. For decades it’s getting clearer – physical activity leads to more brain cells. But how? And why? A recent paper in Cell Metabolism, ably reported by Gretchen Reynolds, shows the advantages of cross-species research. Work with mice, monkeys and humans demonstrated something jocks sensed long ago – your legs talk […]
You May Never Get Out of Bed Again
If 85% of Americans die in bed, you might think people would regularly want to get out of them. Beds are wonderfully designed for sleep and sex. But do you want to use them (much) for anything else? The commercial answer is yes! World industry is moving heaven and earth to create devices that will make it possible […]
The Top Three Percent? How We’re Not Getting Healthy
Are Americans Healthy? We hear that Americans are doing better – at least in terms of health. Childhood obesity is not increasing. Adults and children are living longer. But what about the future? A recent study out of Mayo Clinic Proceedings is more disturbing. It looked at ten year old data (it takes a while to research […]
The Creative Body (5/26/14)
Creativity In a knowledge economy, creativity is key. For employees it may represent the difference between rising at work or losing a job; for entrepreneurs the gap between building – or losing – a company. So how to increase it? One quick answer – use your body physically. In simple terms, take a hike. Moving […]
Why Diets Don’t Work (2/18/14)
The Short Answer: Because we don’t understand enough of how the body works. That includes why we weigh what we do. Throwing more money at the problem (diets are a $66 billion dollar industry in the US; food vastly larger) has so far led to a bigger population. For every success, there are many […]