Avatars might encourage women to lose weight
Virtual reality avatars can help encourage women to lose weight, according to a study published in theJournal of Diabetes Science and Technology. Researchers asked 128 women about their interest in using avatars — virtual representations of themselves — as tools to help them lose weight. According to the findings, nearly 90 per cent of women asked expressed an interest in the technology. The researchers then selected eight women to take part in the four-week avatar study. WTOP.com spoke to George Washington University’s Melissa Napolitano, who served as lead author on the study.
Napolitano explained that the participants checked in once per week at a clinic. While there, each woman watched a 15-minute DVD that featured an avatar that looked like her. Watching their avatar engage in positive activities apparently inspired the participants to lose weight in the real world. During the study, the participants lost an average of 3.5 pounds, according to the findings. That is on par with the average weight loss for a person on a diet. The hope is that by bonding with their avatar, people will be encouraged to make longer-term life changes. (Yahoo News)
Now get talking cigarette packs
Smokers are used to written warnings about smoking on the sides of their cigarette packs. But what about a pack that talksIJ A group of researchers from University of Stirling’s Centre for Tobacco Control Research in Scotland are working on cigarette packs that attempt to dissuade would-be smokers from lighting up, The Scotsman reports. The group is currently testing the talking packs on young women. When the smoker opens the pack, a recorded message plays. One message states that smoking reduces fertility. Another message includes a phone number where smokers can get assistance in kicking the habit.
Researchers told The Scotsman that the verbal warnings got positive reactions from the volunteers participating in the study. Volunteers, particularly 16- and 17-year-old females, did say the messages would make them think about stopping, according to The Scotsman. (Yahoo News)
Israeli who murdered parents used tips he found online
An Israeli who stabbed his mother and father to death was convicted of murder. And it has come to light that he searched online for tips including “how to kill your parents and get away with it”. Daniel Maoz, 29, wanted money from his inheritance in order to pay heavy gambling debts, the Jerusalem District Court found. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2011 murders. In its decision, the court cited other physical evidence and an examination of the defendant’s computer to refute that. The incriminating Internet searches also included “can soap clean DNA from a knifeIJ” and “murder for inheritance”, a transcript of the ruling showed. Maoz said he made the searches out of “academic curiosity”. (Reuters)
Masked cancer patient mistaken for bank robber
A masked man mistaken for a robber at a California bank said he is actually a cancer patient who had recently undergone chemotherapy. Joe Jaramillo said he was wearing a surgical mask one recent day when he walked into the Wells Fargo bank in Montebello because he had undergone chemotherapy treatment the previous day and needed to keep germs out of his system, CBSlA.com reported.
However, police mistook him for the “Surgical Mask” bandit, an unknown person believed to be behind at least two bank robberies in Orange County. “The next thing I know, I have six Montebello police officers around me, standing there saying, ‘Can you stand up, can you put your hands above your head’IJ’ What did I doIJ ‘Can you please stand up, sirIJ’ I go, ‘ReallyIJ’ This is so embarrassing, you have all these people at the bank (watching),” Jaramillo said.
Jaramillo said police let him go with an apology after he was interviewed and his car was searched. He said he blames the bank for the incident because he explained the need for the surgical mask to a teller before police arrived. (UPI)
Hitler’s food taster feared death with every morsel
Margot Woelk spent the last few years of World War II eating lavish meals and fearing that every mouthful could mean death. The former food taster for Adolf Hitler was served a plate of food and forced to eat it between 11 and 12 every morning for most of the last two-and-a-half years of the Nazi leader’s life. If she did not fall ill, the food was packed into boxes and taken to Hitler at the Wolf’s lair, a military headquarters located deep in woodland, in what is today northeastern Poland. “Hitler was a vegetarian so it was all vegetarian fare - it was very good food like white asparagus, wonderful fruits, peppers and cauliflower,” the 96-year-old Berliner said.
Along with 14 other girls in their 20s, Woelk lived in fear that every meal she ate would be her last. (Reuters)