Why are we fat ??? - Part 2

Continuing the assault on obesity [and not obese people :)] , is the following article...

For long corpulence has been blamed on too much of eating and too little of exercise. Caloric intake is much more than what could be burnt off by the body. Modern easy-going city lifestyle,lack of physical effort and sports and fat-rich junk food are blamed. Accordingly most of the efforts to reduce obesity have concentrated on addressing the above issues. Eating healthy and staying fit are modern day mantras.



But looks like the obesity researchers are not buying this argument. Insisting that "something" else must have changed in our environment to necessitate such changes, 20 "obesity experts" have come out with 10 most plausible explanations (International Journal of Obesity, DOI: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803326) for this epidemic. (Obesity has indeed achieved epidemic status in many parts of the world)


Some of the reasons suggested by the experts are:

1. Lack of Sleep.

2. Climate control.

3. Less smoking ( Smoking reduces appetite ! ).

4. Pre natal effects.

5. Heavier people have more children.

6. Demographics ( Some people are fatter than others! )

7. Increased use of drugs.

8. Pollution (looks like you can blame it for everything!).

9. Older parents ( later you conceive, fatter the progeny).

and finally ....

10. Fat people marry fat :)

Hope that now it does not come as a surprise that many of us are fat!

Why are we fat ???

Looks like someone got the answer to the perennial query!

A new study conducted by researchers at Oregon National Primate Research Center, US indicates that in obesity the brain is unaware of body fat!

In both humans and mice, fat cells throughout the body release a hormone called leptin. This hormone controls sensations like appetite and thirst on reaching the brain.



In theory, when fat increases in the body so do levels of leptin, causing a decrease in appetite. But scientists have found that administering leptin does not reliably work to treat obesity. It is because the high fat diet makes the brain insensitive to leptin and hence oblivious of presence of fats.

The experiment conducted on mice surely works up sympathy for those fat human beings out there!

Indian Idol in America?

Sanjaya Malakar, the American Idol contestant has in the last few weeks, stemmed up a lot of controversy. His insipid singing, absolute lack of talent, his "faux hawk" hair, his booming smile ... you can love him, you can hate him ..but you cant ignore him!





Sanjaya, despite "slaughtering" a song every week ,has hung on to the contest because of "public support" while others have been voted out. His tremendous success ( which perhaps is magnified by his mediocrity) which defies any logic could perhaps be explained by a campaign to "vote for the worst". Simon Cowell, one of the judges at the Idol has already threatened to quit if Sanjaya wins.

He has already inspired rage all over with a critic embarking on a 16-day hunger strike to get him off the show. The website vote for the worst has already had Sanjaya tie up with two other contestants for Longest running VFTW American Idol holder and he could be the all-time leader if he gets through next week!




With people all around getting cynical his "popularity" is rising enough to keep him in the contest. MTV has even compiled a list of 10 reasons why Sanjaya is still on the show. Indian call centres, always a butt of jokes for the American media, have also come to fore in the debate with Jay Leno suggesting that Sanjaya had survived yet another expulsion from the show because his father was from India, "where they have all the call centres".



Howard Stern, the American shock jock has also been campaigning for Sanjaya - by asking his fans to vote in jest for this season's underdog. Howard, who was also responsible for "Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf" winning the People magazine's annual beauty poll in 1998 beating Leonardo Di Caprio, George Clooney and others, says
he hopes to turn the Talent show into a farce and destroy its popularity.

"We’re corrupting the entire thing," Mr. Stern said on his pay show Thursday, the day after Sanjaya secured a place in the top nine. "All of us are routing American Idol. It’s so great. The No. 1 show in television and it’s getting ruined."

Interestingly Sanjaya has not found much of support in his parent's homeland India where the mainstream media (except perhaps TOI and a few bloggers) has ignored him completely. However the coming days might see a change with the competition tightening up to the last eight. It will be interesting to see how much support does he get if he manages to win the show. That would be quite a coup!

Top Fictional 15

Forbes is well known for bringing out many lists on a variety of topics mostly concentrating on companies and individuals. Lists like List of Billionaires, Best small companies, Best large companies, Fastest growing tech... (one could keep on going!) have made it popular among business leaders all over the world. No wonder it describes itself as the "HOME PAGE FOR THE WORLD'S BUSINESS LEADERS".

Breaking away from its image as a Buisness Magazine, it also produces lists under Education, Food & Drink, Health & Style, Personal Finance, Places, Real Estate, Sports, Technology, Vehicles and Travel!



I came across a rather interesting list - The Forbes Fictional 15. This list gives the fiction world's wealthiest characters. Interestingly these fictional characters are worth much more than their real-life counterparts with their aggregate net worth being $111 billion!



Jogging my childhood memories, the stingy cartoon character Scrooge Mcduck was there and so was Mario, the unforgettable moustached character from the video gaming world.



Also registering their presence in the Top 15 were Lara Croft, Richie Rich, Willy Wonka & Lucius Malfoy. However out went Santa Claus, for the very first time in Fictional 15's history!

Profiles, giving a snapshot of lives of all the characters, have been created on the site. Surely interesting stuff!

Latest Tech News..

I have not been around for some days now....

So here are some latest tech news..

---> You Tube faces ban in Turkey over a clip insulting Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who was instrumental in shaping modern Turkey. This led to a "virtual war" between Turks and Greeks, with each side berating the other by posting videos on the website. Similarly Jack Straw, leader of Commons also supported plans to impose "control" on You Tube.

And ... similar to Anna Nicole's death it led to Wikipedia temporarily suspending editing of an article on Ataturk.

---> In a challenge to Yahoo! and Google, the founder of Wikipedia plans a search engine. "The idea that Google has some edge because they've got super-duper rocket scientists may be a little antiquated now," he said. The new search engine plans to take as much as 5 % of the search market.


----> To add to the "blocking" rage around the world, Wikipedia was banned in China.Founder Jimmy Wales accused Yahoo! and Google of aiding censorship in China saying "This is something I would never do. I think access to information is a fundamental human right."
In response to the block, the main page of the Chinese Wikipedia has added a message at the top directing any mainland China user who succeeds in getting through to a special status page.

More later...