When d'ya need water?

If drinking eight glasses of water a day has you wearing a path to the bathroom, set down your cup and relax. Drinking water can be a good substitute for high-calorie beverages. But there's no proof we all need to drink those eight glasses of water each day, according to physiologist Heinz Valtin.

"Proponents of the 'eight glasses theory' say that every one of us, including couch potatoes, should drink that much," says Valtin. "And it's just not true." We have a finely tuned system for regulating water flow, including an antidiuretic hormone that tells the kidneys when to keep water in the body, and thirst, which normally kicks in well before we dehydrate. Juice works as well as water, and caffeinated drinks count too. Nearly one-half of the body's water needs are derived from food. Some people do need more water, including patients with kidney stones, people who exercise hard, and those in hot climates. For most, drinking more won't hurt, but trust your body. "If you drink when you're thirsty," says Valtin, "you should be safe." » Continue reading

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Slate fillet & amber sauce

Looks appetizing enough? Take a bite, and you might howl. Not that the cooking is bad, Hsu Chun-I's 'feast' of 52 dishes is assembled from stones and minerals. The stones are not carved or dyed. Hsu selects only those that bear an extreme resemblance to the dishes. The most expensive exhibit is 'Pig's Trotters and Eggs Stewed in Dark Soya Souce', valued at $85,000. » Continue reading

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Messy swig

How would you feel if someone told you that for five months you have been drinking treated sewage water meant for watering lawns?

Vinay Jain in Cary, North Carolina found this truth when workers shut off a treated-water pipe in their area. His neighbors had tap water but their sprinklers were dry; it was the opposite for the Jains. So much for speeches on lack of potable water in developing countries. » Continue reading

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Feet Cold? Wear a Hat

Although your head and neck take up only 10% of your body surface, you can lose more than 30% of your body heat through your head (kids lose up to 60%). Unlike other blood vessels, the arteries in your head and neck don't constrict in the cold air (they need to get blood to your brain). As warm blood rushes through, heat easily escapes. Bundling up keeps the heat in, where it can be transfered to other parts of the body -- like your frozen toes. » Continue reading

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Get a Little Cheesy Culture

Ever Wonder how cheese is made? By talented cows? Milk-loving ladies and gentlemen? Find out on a cheese factory tour. "Cheesemaking is as much an art as it is a science," says Jed Davis of Cabot Creamery, in Vermont, USA, which hosts over 30,000 tourists a year.

You can discover which bacteria, moulds and enzymes transform milk into a smelly Gorgonzola or creamy Brie, and learn how professional tasters determine how long a cheddar should age. Tours typically end with a tasting, making them a particularly nutritious outing: Cheese contains bone-building calcium (associated with the regulation of blood pressure, reduced risk of colon cancer and even weight loss), protein (builds muscle) and phosphorous (strengthens bones). For information on cheese and cheese recipes, log on to www.ilovecheese.com. » Continue reading

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Holy Toy

Toys have started going to church, or so it seems. Wal-Mart is set to market faith-based toys modelled on Biblical characters. They are aimed at religious parents who would prefer Samson to Spiderman. Though the manufacturers, One2believe, plan to cash in on the post-9/11 market for religious objects, here, too, it is the action figures who score. While action-figures of warriors Samson and Goliath retail at about $20 each, a talking Jesus Christ doll sells at $15. » Continue reading

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Technology blues

What happens when technology gets ahead of infrastructure? Residents of villages surrounding Belur in the state of Karnataka in India, have mobile phone and mobile connections. What they didn't have was power supply. For more than a week, no electricity-based device was working in Alehalli Hoblli.

But what stung them most was that mobile phones could not be charged. So they came all the way to Belur town to charge their mobiles. Shopkeepers in Belur were cashing in: they were demanding Rs.10 for charging a phone. » Continue reading

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