What is it? Is it real? – There’s an old song that describes “spring fever” as a feeling of befuddlement. Symptoms include daydreaming, falling in love and having the irrepressible urge to stay outside all day. Is this areal problem or just an imaginary malady?

Psychologist Jon Abramowitz says, “It depends on what you mean by ‘real.’ When the weather turns warm, people are definitely tired of being cooped up, and they get excited about the warm weather and getting to do stuff outside.”
read more

UFOs have shown up at a Walmart in North Carolina and also in China, where most of the items FOR SALE in Walmart are manufactured!

An Internet user calling himself Hua Jiuju in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province posted a photo of a UFO flying above his city that he took with his cell phone camera online on April 13. He wrote, “At first, I thought it was a balloon, but there was a strong wind that day, and the thing stayed still for a while. But a short time later, it sped toward the Tengwang Pavilion and was spinning over it for five or six seconds before shining suddenly and disappearing immediately.” The sighting lasted no longer than 10 seconds. We suspect the photo may be a hoax. To judge for yourself, click here.
read more

But we humans can’t smell it – Odors that represent food or indicate danger are capable of altering an animal’s lifespan (and ours too?) by activating a small number of highly specialized sensory neurons in our brains. Does this mean that in order to live a long life, we should surround ourselves with good smells (rather than bad ones?)

Smells can impact a wide range of health-related characteristics including athletic performance, type II diabetes, and aging. Nematode worms and fruit flies that were robbed of their ability to smell or taste, for example, lived substantially longer. However, the specific odors that control this effect on aging are unknown.
read more

In more ways than one – The World Trade Center (WTC) collapse on 911 has caused potentially dangerous heart problems in responders on-site.

Researcher Lori Croft says that her study “showed that responders have impaired diastolic function of both the right and left ventricle, meaning their hearts do not relax normally, which can put them at risk for heart problems such as shortness of breath and heart failure. More than 50% had abnormal relaxation of the left ventricle compared to only 7% of people of a similar age in the general population. Greater than 60% had isolated impaired diastolic function in the right ventricle of the heart, which pumps blood to the lungs.”
read more