Previous studies have linked consumption of red meat to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer.  Adam M. Bernstein, from Harvard School of Public Health (Massachusetts, USA), and colleagues studied data collected on 84,136 women, ages30 to 55 years, enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study.  The team examined the medical history and lifestyles of these women, including dietary habits, and tracked the incidence of non-fatal heart attack and fatal coronary heart disease, for a 26-year follow-up period.  The researchers found that women who consumed two servings per day of red meat, as compared to those who had a half a serving per day, were at a 30% higher risk of developing coronary heart disease.  The data also showed that eating more servings of poultry, fish and nuts was significantly associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease. Compared to one serving each day of red meat, women who substituted other protein-rich foods experienced significantly lower risk of coronary heart disease:
• 30% lower risk with one serving each day of nuts
• 24% lower risk with one serving each day of fish
• 19% lower risk with one serving each day of poultry
• 13% lower risk with one serving each day of low-fat dairy products
Urging that substitutions for in the diet results with important health benefits, the team concludes that: “These data suggest that high red meat intake increases risk of [coronary heart disease] and that [coronary heart disease] risk may be reduced importantly by shifting sources of protein in the US diet.”

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Sharon Osbourne has donated a signed copy of her book, Revenge, to a charity shop in South London.

Streatham Books and Music raises money for the British Heart Foundation, and will give the autographed book to the 100th person who donates a book to the shop on August 28.

The donation is part of the British Heart Foundation’s Big Donation campaign, which has also seen author Jacqueline Wilson donate a signed copy of Little Darlings to a charity shop in Surbiton.

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Most of us will agree with the age-old saying that “patience is a virtue.” How many of you, however, would actually hang on for two years and a half to bring a piece of art into existence? Dalton Ghetti, 49, a Bridgeport artist, has spent 25 good years working with a razor blade, a sewing needle and a sculpting knife for carving his unique art on the graphite of pencil.

The artist says:

I don’t make money from it but I would love a gallery owner in England to fly me over and put on a show.

The inclination to fashion something new did not surface all of a sudden. Rather, a childhood hobby evolved into remarkable art with time. You could see, in below images, how he utilizes the leftovers of used graphite pencils to create tiny sculptures. His projects include a line of 26 alphabets, a handsaw, a single rice-grain-sized teardrop for every victim of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and much more…

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Q: I have rosacea, so I can’t use retinoids or exfoliators on my face. How can I keep my skin looking youthful?

A: You’re right to avoid using a prescription retinoid (the potentially irritating vitamin A derivative that diminishes fine lines and helps regenerate collagen); most people with rosacea have sensitive skin, says Diane Berson, MD, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College. As an alternative, you might try over-the-counter products containing retinol, a milder retinoid. Also look for cleansers and moisturizers containing salicylic acid, which helps unclog pores and exfoliates. Every three to four weeks, you could get a salicylic acid peel (cost: around $200), which has the immediate effect of smoothing and tightening, and the long-term effect of improving skin tone and texture and reducing pigmentation and fine lines.

Keep in mind: Don’t forget to apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen daily—it’s especially important if you have sensitive skin.

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Cars make you fat. That’s more or less the message noted researcher John Pucher has tirelessly delivered, making the case for cycling and walking – “active transportation” – as a way for cities to deal with creeping obesity rates and climbing health costs. Now, in a new analysis of U.S., European, and Australian cities, Pucher and his colleagues press the point home even a little further by showing that cities with the highest percentage of trips by foot and by bike have the lowest levels of obese (and even diabetic) adults.

“Among the 14 countries in our international comparison, those with higher levels of walking and cycling tended to have lower levels of adult obesity, whether self reported or clinically measured.” – John Pucher, PhD, Ralph Buehler, PhD, David R. Bassett, PhD, and Andrew L. Dannenberg, MD, MPH

The same relationship held true in the U.S.

In our comparison of all 50 US states and 47 of the largest 50 US cities, we found that higher rates of walking and cycling to work were associated with a higher percentage of adults who achieved recommended levels of physical activity, a lower percentage of adults with obesity, and a lower percentage of adults with diabetes.

Pucher and his colleagues note that the results of their study are not enough to prove active transportation can cause improved health, but should be viewed along with theother evidence piling up that show the health benefits of active travel.

This may all seem somewhat self evident, and yet, the bicycle is not viewed by the majority of Americans as a transportation tool. This is due to decades of considering the cycling as a pastime or a sport, and not as the handy (and healthier) city transportation device it can truly be.

Pucher et al do say that encouraging both walking and cycling will require a bigger build out of the bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure than has thus far occurred in the U.S., as well as further restrictions on car use and other traffic calming measures.

While that is already happening in some cities, most notably New York, there are still giant hurdles, including the fact that transportation planners depend on federal money which is still skewed towards car-based infrastructure projects, and inexpensive but vital bike and ped projects are unable to be financed from federal pots.

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Whenever her friend made her wait, Michelle Burford got angrier by the second—until she realized that when it comes to being happy, there’s no time like the present.

While there are many things I adore about my old friend Dana—her brilliance with a joke, her fierce determination, her red satin Chanel clutch—she does have one flaw I’ve never gotten over: She’s congenitally incapable of showing up anywhere on time. Whether we schedule dinner weeks in advance or decide on a last-minute bike ride through the park, she inevitably comes whisking around the corner 23 minutes late, muttering excuses and pretending not to notice how thoroughly miffed I am.

Try as I might—and, oh, did I try—I could not make Dana embrace punctuality. Then it dawned on me that instead of attempting to change her behavior, I’d be better off focusing on my own. Thus was born a whole new strategy: calculated delay. Whenever I met up with Dana, I began arriving 20 minutes late myself. That made her just about on time, and spared me hours of seething.

For months, my plan worked beautifully—until the morning Dana hit an all-time low: We were scheduled to meet for a kayaking class on the Hudson River, but she woke up late and dashed off a slew of cyberexcuses from her BlackBerry…52 minutes after I and all of my classmates had left the dock.

Paddling down a river for three hours gives a person a chance to think, and by the time I came ashore that afternoon, I’d sloshed my way to an epiphany. For ten years I’d been putting a piece of my happiness in the hands of a chronic procrastinator—letting her tardiness chip away at my good mood with every tick of the clock. That afternoon, as the waters of the Hudson lapped against my kayak, I realized I was so consumed with Dana’s timing that I wasn’t even experiencing the ride. The breeze, the sun, the currents, the glory of Manhattan rising from the river—all of it was erased by my anger.

Almost as surely as I’ll be a chatterbox for the rest of my days, Dana will be late. Period. And depending on the circumstances, I’ll be somewhere between prickly and enraged when she arrives. Yet as that initial visceral reaction subsides, I have a choice. I can continue to stew in my own pissiness or I can drop it and enjoy what’s right in front of me. I now choose the latter—dashing off a text that says “I’m leaving,” mounting my bike, and riding away—and that has made all the difference.

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An eerie netherworld, which is often touted as the world’s largest underwater sculpture park under construction, will be sited somewhere in the northern part of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo in late 2010 or early 2011. Dubbed as the National Marine Park of Isla Mujeres, the undersea museum will contain more than 400 sculptures when constructed as part of The Silent Evolution project.

You could see these sculptures showing stone people typing on a keyboard, lying asleep or riding a bike. Made from a special PH neutral and anti-corrosive concrete, the sculptures will eventually form artificial corals to support marine life. Accessible to snorkelers and scuba divers, the museum will attract tourists for sure.

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Windy City Wind Turbine Greenway Parking Garage’s wind turbine system, viewed from below. via Fast Company

Chicago was nicknamed the Windy City because of its blowhard politicians, not the powerful gusts off Lake Michigan. But a new parking garage took the name to heart regardless and installed this amazing helix-shaped wind turbine system inside the building, making urban turbines not only cool, but functional.

This summer, 12 turbines started spinning at Greenway Self-Park, which bills itself, somewhat oxymoronically, as Chicago’s first Earth-friendly parking garage.

Open-screen walls on the 11-story garage provide ventilation and reveal the cars inside, but also let passersby marvel at the turbines. The garage also has a cistern rain-collection system, sustainable building materials, a recycling program and an electric car charging station.

Lobbies on each floor include information about how to live more sustainably, and the garage has energy-efficient lighting. The garage is pursuing pursuing LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. It even has a reversible meter that can measure and return power to Chicago’s grid throughout the year.

Architect Todd Halamka, director of design at the Chicago office of HOK, tells Fast Company he wanted to celebrate the building’s function, not hide it.

One wonders how green a parking garage can really be, but it’s not like cars are going away anytime soon, so garages might as well aim to ameliorate their impact.

And at the very least, it adds to the architecturally interesting experience of parking in downtown Chicago — you can go underneath trains, curl up through Marina City, and now this.

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, accompanied by special Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell, on Friday, Aug. 20, 2010, talks to the media about peace talks between leaders of Palestine and Israel in Washington in September. Photo: AP

After months of stalling, the Middle East peace process received a shot in the arm this week when the United States announced that it would be hosting talks between the leaders of Palestine and Israel in Washington in September.

In a statement Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “After proximity talks and consultations with both sides, on behalf of the U.S. government, I have invited Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Abbas to meet on 02 September in Washington, D.C., to re-launch direct negotiations to resolve all final status issues, which we believe can be completed within one year.”

Prospects for peace ground to a halt in March this year when, even as Vice-President Joe Biden was in the region to facilitate direct talks, Israel’s Interior Ministry announced that permission had been granted for 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem. At the time, a war of words ensued between Israel and the U.S., with Mr. Biden saying, “I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem.”

Optimistic over negotiations

However, expressing optimism regarding next month’s negotiations, Ms. Clinton said that President Barack Obama and she were encouraged by the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas and shared their commitment to a two-state solution.

Secretary Clinton also emphasised that President Obama had invited President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan to attend the talks in Washington, given their critical role in this effort. She said that Mr. Obama would hold bilateral meetings with the four leaders followed by a dinner with them on 01 September.

Blair to join dinner

Further, Ms. Clinton said, Quartet Representative Tony Blair had also been invited to the dinner in view of his important work in helping Palestinians build the institutions of their future state, “an effort which must continue during the negotiations”.

Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Abbas are then scheduled to join Ms. Clinton at the State Department on 02 September for a trilateral meeting to re-launch direct negotiations. On that effort, Ms. Clinton noted that there had been difficulties in the past and there would be difficulties ahead and, “without a doubt, we will hit more obstacles”.

Yet, she pleaded, “I ask the parties to persevere, to keep moving forward even through difficult times, and to continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region.” These negotiations should take place without preconditions and be characterised by good faith, she said.

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August 19, 2010 – Researchers at Edinburgh Napier University have patented a process to produce biobutanol, a fuel that can be used in existing gasoline engines without any modifications, from whiskey by-products. In utilizing waste products, the process eliminates the need to use arable land and food crops to produce a more sustainable fuel.

The team at Napier Biofuel Research Center focused their efforts on pot ale, the liquid left over in copper stills after whisky fermentation, and draff, the spent barley left over from the malting process, as whisky production, the largest biological process in the UK, produces large quantities of these waste products.

Scotland’s malt whisky industry produces 1600 million liters/year of pot ale and 187,000 tons/year of draff. Samples of the two substances were provided by Diageo’s Glenkinchie Distillery.

“While some energy companies are growing crops specifically to generate biofuel, we are investigating excess materials such as whisky by-products to develop them. This is a more environmentally sustainable option and potentially offers new revenue on the back of one of Scotland’s biggest industries. We’ve worked with some of the country’s leading whisky producers to develop the process,” says Martin Tangney, director of the Biofuel Research Center.

The process has currently only been tested in 5 liter vessels, but the researchers’ next step will be to scale the process up to vessels of 100 l. The university is planning to set up a spin-out company to commercialize the process.

To read more about the process used to produce the biofuel from whiskey production waste, visit tcetoday.com

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