XIAM007

Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Thursday 8 August 2013

Woman sells chicken diapers in wake of salmonella outbreak -

Woman sells chicken diapers in wake of salmonella outbreak - 



A salmonella outbreak has prompted one Colorado woman to launch a very interesting business.
She is selling chicken diapers in the wake of the health scare, hoping the product will keep consumers healthy.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating two large multistate outbreaks of salmonella, which the agency believes are connected to backyard flocks of chickens.  One strain has infected 271 people in 37 states, killing one person.
Health officials have issued a warning to farmers keeping chickens as pets, saying that chicks, ducklings and other live poultry can have salmonella germs in their droppings. According to CDC investigators, some chicken owners have been known to cuddle with the animals and even let them sit in their laps.
Mary, the Denver-based diaper seller who did not want to reveal her last name, owns two chickens herself, Henny and Penny.
"I've never had a problem, and I don't think most people would,” Mary told My Fox Philadelphia.
Salmonella germs can cause diarrheal illness that can range from mild to life-threatening symptoms.  Those most likely to develop severe illness include, infants, elderly adults and people with weakened immune systems.


Read more: -

Dogs Yawn in Response to Owners' Yawns... -

Dogs Yawn in Response to Owners' Yawns... - 

Dog yawm

Dogs yawn when they see their owners yawning, a new study found.
We have all experienced that moment when one person yawns and everybody in the group starts yawning. Experts say that group yawning is empathetic and might help increase vigilance of the entire group.
Now a new study, conducted by Teresa Romero and colleagues at University of Tokyo, has shown that even dogs begin yawning after seeing their masters yawn.

In the study dogs watched their owners or strangers yawn or make facial expressions that mimic yawning. Researchers found that dogs were more likely to yawn when their masters yawned when compared to strangers.
Also, the dogs would yawn only when the owners yawns were real, showing that the animals could pick up cues from their human companions.
Other research has shown that dogs yawn along with their owners, but it wasn't clear if this behaviour was to reduce stress or if the dogs were really emphatic with humans. The study showed that the heartbeat of the dogs didn't change when they yawned in response to their owners' yawns, which shows it wasn't a distress response.
"Our study suggests that contagious yawning in dogs is emotionally connected in a way similar to humans. Although our study cannot determine the exact underlying mechanism operative in dogs, the subjects' physiological measures taken during the study allowed us to counter the alternative hypothesis of yawning as a distress response," said Romero in a news release.

Read more - 

New app will let you swap leftovers with strangers -

New app will let you swap leftovers with strangers - 



Can't finish that massive burger?  Well, now you won't have to let your half eaten dinner go to waste.  
Coming soon is  a smartphone app to help you barter or give away your leftovers.
Launching at the end of August, the app lets you take a photo of what's left of your meal, post it, and then wait for someone nearby to claim the food -- or even trade you their leftovers for yours. 
The brains behind the app are Bryan Summersett and Dan Newman who said they came up with the idea three years ago while roommates at the University of Michigan.
"LeftoverSwappers don't feel the need to eat an enormous restaurant portion, and instead pass it on to a hungrier neighbor, in turn learning their name and avoiding excess calories," explains the website.
The San Francisco-based site claims that the app will help solve the problems of food waste, obesity and malnutrition. However, it remains to be seen if people are willing to diving into a stranger’s soggy half sandwich.


Read more: -