Fruit and veg: For a longer life eat 10-a-day.

Eating loads of fruit and vegetables - 10 portions a day - may give us longer lives, say researchers. The study, by Imperial College London, calculated such eating habits could prevent 7.8 million premature deaths each year. The team also identified specific fruit and veg that reduced the risk of cancer and heart disease.The analysis showed even small amounts had a health boon, but more is even better. A portion counts as 80g (3oz) of fruit or veg - the equivalent of a small banana, a pear or three heaped tablespoons of spinach or peas.The conclusions were made by pooling data on 95 separate studies, involving two million people's eating habits. Lower risks of cancer were linked to eating: 1) green veg (eg spinach).2) yellow veg (eg peppers) 3) cruciferous vegetables (eg cauliflower). Lower risks of heart disease and strokes were linked to eating...more

Fasting diet 'regenerates diabetic pancreas'.

Fasting diet 'regenerates diabetic pancreas' The pancreas can be triggered to regenerate itself through a type of fasting diet, say US researchers. Restoring the function of the organ - which helps control blood sugar levels reversed symptoms of diabetes in animal experiments. The study, published in the journal Cell, says the diet reboots the body. Experts said the findings were "potentially very exciting" as they could become a new treatment for the disease. People are advised not to try this without medical advice. In the experiments, mice were put on a modified form of the "fasting-mimicking diet". It is like the human form of the diet when people spend five days on a low calorie, low protein, low carbohydrate but high unsaturated-fat diet. It resembles a vegan diet with nuts and soups, but with around 800 to 1,100 calories a day. Then they have 25 days eating what they want - so overall it mimics periods of feast and famine.Previous research has suggested it can slow the pace of ageing. But animal experiments showed the diet regenerated a special type of cell in the pancreas called a beta cell. These are the cells that detect sugar in the blood and release the hormone insulin if it gets too high. Dr Valter Longo, from the University of Southern California, said: "Our conclusion is that by pushing the mice into an extreme state and then bringing them back - by starving them and then feeding them again - the cells in the pancreas are triggered to use some kind of developmental reprogramming that rebuilds the part of the organ that's no longer functioning." There were benefits in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in the mouse experiments. Type 1 is caused by the immune system destroying beta cells and type 2 is largely caused by lifestyle and the body no longer responding to insulin. Further tests on tissue samples from people with type 1 diabetes produced similar effects. Dr Longo said: "Medically, these findings have the potential to be very important because we've shown - at least in mouse models - that you can use diet to reverse the symptoms of diabetes.more

Wired cages in poultry farms killing hens in India.

A new survey has revealed that Wired cages in poultry farms are killing hens in India. Small-wired cages being used in poultry farms are killing hens in India, according to a five-month-long survey conducted by Pune-based NGO Animal Equality. Taking note of the survey, the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) plans to issue show-cause notices to poultry farms using such cages, known as battery cages..Each cage has a 67-sq inch space, which is less than a single sheet of paper measuring 94 sq inches. A survey of 20 poultry farms on the outskirts of Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Haryana by between August and December 2016 revealed confining hens in such cages not only leads to a number of deaths, but also leaves them bleeding, with sores, cracked and deformed feet owing to the wired floor of the cages. Some of them were also found to be missing feathers and suffering from abrasions and skin irritations. continue

Marvel Games declares war on homogeneity.

Marvel Games' creative director Bill Rosemann used his DICE keynote to urge games companies to focus on inclusiveness and diversity. Like Jeff Kaplan's Overwatch keynote yesterday, Rosemann chose to use the DICE 2017 theme of "world building" as an opportunity to celebrate inclusivity. Taking Marvel's history of creating great superheroes as his central narrative, he called on developers to step up. "We can create worlds that affect others," he said. "When you go back to your studios and your teams and it's time to make decisions about the worlds you build, be like Spider-Man and realize the power we have and use it wisely. Be like Captain America and do the right thing." more

This drum-like keyboard lets you type in virtual reality.

This drum-like keyboard lets you type in virtual reality like a boss. Independent VR developer Jonathan Ravasz has built a nifty keyboard functionality for virtual reality experiences that lets you type without having to let go of the controllers. The PunchKeyboard is fundamentally a visual input interface that lets you use the joysticks to type in VR. While visually it resembles a typewriter, the app has been enhanced with autocomplete and next-word prediction functionalities to further simplify the typing process. The predictive feature currently sources data from Reddit conversations, but Ravasz assures it can be easily filled up with custom dictionaries too. Here’s a little video demo that will give you a better idea how the PunchKeyboard works: more

LlamaZOO to Unveil World’s First Virtual Reality Canine Dissection .

LlamaZOO to Unveil World’s First Virtual Reality Canine Dissection at 2017 Western Veterinary Conference, Las Vegas. LlamaZOO Interactive Inc. (LlamaZOO), developers of world-leading 3D veterinary anatomy software EasyAnatomy, will for the first time ever be enabling users to explore the intricacies of canine anatomy in virtual reality (VR). LlamaZOO has chosen the 2017 Western Veterinary Conference, one of the largest annual veterinary conferences in the world, as the venue to unveil this breakthrough in veterinary medicine. “We’ve made tremendous leaps in EasyAnatomy’s development this year, adding the complete nervous and circulatory systems along with animated pathologies” said LlamaZOO co-founder and CEO Charles Lavigne. “It’s all lined up to make WVC the ideal place for us to demonstrate our medically accurate 3D canine in VR for the first time.” EasyAnatomy is currently available on tablet, laptop, and desktop devices, and since its preliminary launch last summer has been adopted by veterinary practitioners, students, and educators all over the world. LlamaZOO’s aim is to help veterinarians have more engaged, informed, and effective conversations with clients about their pet’s health, and the recent addition of animated pathologies to EasyAnatomy makes this even easier.more

NIRSAL to launch $300m agribusiness loan project for young farmers.

Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), an arm of the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to launch a $300 million agribusiness loan project for young farmers across the country. According to the Executive Director of NIRSAL, Babajide Arowosafe, the project known as ‘Youth Enable’ is to be financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and would begin within the next few weeks with the aim of creating a successive farmers generation to replace the ageing ones. continue