The latest news reports claim that falling birth rates show that Japan will not have any kids under 15 by 3011. The results of the stunning study also reveal that the population of Japan could disappear in no less than 1,000 years. In the present the number of children under 14 is 16.6 million but it is decreasing rapidly. Hiroshi Yoshida, an economics professor at Tohoku University,’ told AFP that, “If the rate of decline continues, we will be able to celebrate the Children’s Day public holiday on May 5, 3011 as there will be one child,”. He also added that, “But 100 seconds later there will be no children left,[...]The overall trend is towards extinction, which started in 1975 when Japan’s fertility rate fell below two.”.

According to scientific reports the number of older people increases constantly. Japan struggles with the problem of pensioners and the decreasing number of workers who could support these sums. According to DailyMail.co.uk “Life expectancy – already the highest in the world – is expected to rise from 86.39 years in 2010 to 90.93 years in 2060 for women and from 79.64 years to 84.19 years for men.”.

Image courtesy of DailyMail.co.uk

Just when you thought  nothing more can be invented as far as lingerie goes, designers shock you with their imagination as one of the latest inventions in the domain, signed by renowned label Triumph has been unveiled in Tokio. The brand’s new Super Cool Bra is definitely one of the label’s most bizarre inventions as the bra is designed to help women cool off during the hot summer season.

Apparently the new bra, which is available in two color variations, comes complete with two gel pads which can be removed and introduced into the freezer for up to two hours and then placed back in special pockets of the cup, to provide women with a cool and refreshing sensation during the scorching summer heat.

The design of the bra is as unconventional as the idea behind the new bra as the cups are designed to look like fishbowls with fish and seaweed patterns imprinted on the fabric. If these details didn’t impress you, the label fitted the bra with a miniature bamboo ladle or a fan, you can use to cool down. To bling-up the design a bit more, the bra was also adorned with mint and miniature wind chime to enchant your senses at the same time.

However, the design will not be marketed as it was only designed to encourage Japanese citizens to reduce the use of air conditioning due to the energy problems that followed the Fukushima nuclear power disaster in 2011.

Image courtesy of Triumph Japan

The identity of the notorious serial killer known as ‘Jack The Ripper’ has remained a mystery despite all the efforts deposited into discovering the cruel attacker. Various suspects and numerous theories revolved around Jack The Ripper’s true identity, and now another theory has surfaced, in a book which claims that the notorious killer was actually a woman.

John Morris, 62, is the author of the new book  ‘Jack The Ripper: The Hand Of A Woman’ which claims that it was Lizzie Williams, the wife of royal physician Sir John Williams who was the prime suspect of the horrific killings in other theories, the person responsible for the killings. The book suggests that Lizzie could not have children, reason for which the victims had their wombs removed.

According to the new book, which has caused a stir and which is not very popular among other Jack The Ripper experts, Lizzie Williams killed prostitute Mary Kelly, who was basically mutilated, because she was ‘having an affair with her husband’.

The book also brings into attention the fact that none of the victims had been sexually assaulted, which could yet again indicate that the killer was a woman and the fact that Annie Chapman, the killer’s second victim has her personal items laid at her feet in a very ‘feminine manner’.

This is the first time that a woman has been taken into consideration as a suspect for the 1888 killings, but so far no irrefutable proof has been brought to attribute an identity or gender to the legendary killer, meaning the enigma surrounding Jack The Ripper’s identity has not been unriddled.

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According to the latest international news reports there will be a new cannabis cafe law in The Netherlands. According to a judge tourists should be banned from entering into these ‘coffeeshops’. Authorities are concerned that foreign visitors are in the country only to purchase and sell soft drugs. The new law will be implemented next month in three southern provinces. Till the end of this year the ban will go nationwide.

The response to this new law came pretty quick. According to BBC News, “A group of cafe owners argued at The Hague district court that the ban was discriminatory against foreigners.”. Dutch residents will have the right to enter these cafes to purchase soft drugs but only if they have a valid ID or passport. In The Netherlands there are no less than 700 similar coffee shops. Michael Veling, a spokesman for the Dutch Cannabis Retailers Association is among those who protest against the implementation of the new law. The activist told BBC World Service “It is going to cost me 90% of my turnover,[...]That is a very good reason for anyone to oppose any plan. Second it puts our customers in a very difficult spot, because why do you have to register to buy a substance that is still illegal?”.

Moreover, we find out that even the Mayor of Amsterdam, Eberhard van der Laan is challenging the new law because the majority of tourists who visit the capital want to smoke cannabis and use soft drugs in these coffeeshops. Back in “November the city of Maastricht brought a coffee shop ban for foreign tourists from all countries, except Belgium and Germany, from where the majority of foreign customers come.” (BBC News)

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Traveling by plane has become quite popular and it seems that along with the popularity or airline traveling the popularity of certain seats has risen as well. According to a survey completed on more than 1000 people by Skyscanner website, the results concluded that airline passengers do have a seat preference and that the most sought-after seat is: 6A. Apparently, the seat is preferred because it is positioned close to the disembarking area but not too close to the toilet.

The survey also revealed that most passengers would prefer to sit in the first section of the plane and 60% of the people surveyed revealed that they would prefer a window seat. About 40% prefer a seat next to the aisle and only 1% would opt for a middle seat. Only 7% of the people surveyed said that they would opt for a seat in the back of the plane, so there is a great discrepancy between the number of people who wish to be seated in the front compared to those who prefer sitting on the back of the plane.
Apparently, the most dreaded seat is 31E, which is a middle seat located near the back side of the plane, a location that is about half way from the toilets and exits, so which seat would you prefer?

Photo courtesy of Thinkstock Photos

Animal testing has always been a controversial subject and even more now as 24 year old Jacqueline Traide decided to volunteer to a ‘re-enactment’ of animal testing procedures in a window display of a Lush cosmetic shop store from London. The campaign that has been put together by Lush Cosmetics and the Humane Society hopes to raise awareness of the cruelty behind cosmetic animal testing and stop this cruel treatment as soon as possible.

Ms. Jacqueline Traide, a social sculpture student, appeared in a nude colored overall being dragged to the display window where she endured 10 hours of cruel treatment. The woman was first fitted with a mouth clamp which prevented her from closing her mouth while being force fed. In the hours that went by, thousands of horrified shoppers watched as she was pulled by her ponytail to tilt her head back in order to have certain lotions applied on her cheek which apparently irritated her as she tried to wipe the formula off her face by rubbing her cheek on her shoulder. For the next 10 hours Ms. Traide was given injections, which she tried to fight off, had an area of her head shaved, had an irritant applied on her eyes and more, all procedures that are usually performed during cosmetic product testing on animals.

The entire event was watched in shock by people who filmed the horrific re-enactment of how animal testing is being conducted, and how animals actually feel. The difference between the recreated scene and an actual animal testing scene was the fact that Jacqueline was able to go home after the experiment ended.
According to DailyMail, Lush campaign manager Tamsin Omond said about the re-enactment that:
“The ironic thing is that if it was a beagle in the window and we were doing all these things to it, we’d have the police and RSPCA here in minutes. But somewhere in the world, this kind of thing is happening to an animal every few seconds on average. The difference is, it’s normally hidden. We need to remind people it is still going on. Scientists have long used laboratory animals for medical and drug testing and continue to do so. But although animal testing for cosmetics was banned in the EU three years ago, it is still legal in Britain to sell products animal-tested in other parts of the world, including the USA and Canada. In China, such testing is a legal requirement.”

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The author of Norwegian massacre from July 22, 2011, that resulted in the death of 77 people, Anders Behring Breivik, 32, who admitted to the killings but pleaded not guilty to the crime, has unveiled that he ‘trained’ for the day of the horrific massacre by playing violent video games for up to 17 hours a day. Apparently the shooter spent more that one year training with video games that helped him refine his shooting skills, although he was practicing on fictional, online enemies.

Anders told the court in Oslo that playing Call of Duty and World of Warcraft helped simulate the plan he had carefully put together and enabled him to come up with the best strategies to escape the police. He told the court that:
“I don’t really like those games but it is good if you want to simulate for training purposes. I calculated the likelihood of surviving unharmed at less than five per cent. I trained myself to get out of such a situation. That is what I was simulating.”

To prepare for his attack, Anders Behring Breivik said that decided to move in with his mother in 2006, so he could save money and train. He said that he did not tell his mother what he was up to and that the year before the attack, sleeping and playing were his only activities. He said:

“During that year I played perhaps 16 hours a day. It was a lot. Only playing for an entire year – playing and sleeping, playing and sleeping. It was a dream I had, and I wanted to do this.”

Anders, who labelled his actions as heroic as he considered the victims were traitors, had also named the weapons he chose for the July 22 attack after Norse mythology. He said:

“The rifle I called Gungnir, which is the name of the magical spear of Odin, which returns after you have thrown it. And the Glock I called Mjoelnir…It is the warrior god Thor’s Hammer.”

Photo credit Getty Images

Analia Bouter delivered her baby pre-term in a hospital in Resistencia, Argentina, on April 3rd, 2012, at 26 weeks and to her despair the baby was pronounced stillborn at birth. The medical staff saw no vital signs when the baby was delivered and concluded to pronounce the baby a stillborn. However, after leaving the hospital with nothing but a death certificate the parents decided to return to the hospital only 12 hours later to see their child at the morgue and have the baby’s picture taken for memory. When the morgue worker opened the door to the refrigerated area the baby was placed in, the parents received the shock of their lives as the baby was crying and stretching.

According to Argentina’s Clarin newspaper, the mother declared that she fell to her knees when she saw her baby stretching. She added that:

“My baby was born at 10.24 am and at 11.05 am was already in the drawer. She spent 12 hours in the freezing cold of that morgue. I saw for myself the ice on her body.”

The hospital’s director declared that they have no explanation for what happened as the baby was consulted by three physicians, all of which concluded the baby girl was a stillborn.
Despite the fact that there could be a serious medical error behind the case, which attracted a generous amount of media attention as well as an investigation, the baby’s mother says that she doesn’t know who to blame, but she believes that a miracle has brought her baby girl back to life. She said:

“At first the doctors said that she was born dead, then said she had died shortly after birth because she was too small to survive. I don’t know who is to blame, and I’m not thinking about it at this moment. The joy of knowing she’s alive is covering every other feeling. I’m a Christian, and I believe this was a miracle of God.”

Indonesia in under threat of another disaster after an 8.7 magnitude earthquake was registered about 300 miles from the provincial capital of Aceh, Indonesia, in Banda Aceh, on the island of Sumatra, about 20 miles beneath the ocean floor. Banda Aceh has been struck by disaster in 2004 when a tsunami wave was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake that claimed the lives of 167,000 people and injured many more.

The earthquake registered on April 11, 2012, shook the buildings of the Aceh province for four minutes and the fear of having the 2004 tragedy repeating caused panic on the street as people tried to seek refuge at high ground before a tsunami hits.

According to DailyMail, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is currently meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron, said that there is no imminent threat despite the fact that an international tsunami warning has been issued. He said:

“The situation is under control so far. It is a very different situation from 2004 when Aceh was faced with a deadly tsunami.”

Banda Aceh is not the only area that could be affected in case of a tsunami, as The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii said a tsunami watch has been issued for the exposed areas surrounding the area of the quake, such as Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Maldives and other Indian Ocean islands.

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It seems that a widely prescribed medicine, simvastatin, a cholesterol-lowering drug, could actually help fight early stages of Alzheimer’s. The drug works by improving the function of the blood vessels and could possibly  help improve learning and memory, researchers suggest.

One study performed on mice by researchers at McGill University, Montreal, showed that low-doses of simvastatin improved blood vessel function but not the memory. Another study performed on mice with Alzherimer’s, mice who presented a build-up of amyloid-beta protein in the brain, revealed that no effects emerged after the administration of simvastatin. However in a more recent study, the results of a high dose of  simvastatin treatment given to mice with ages between 6 months and 1 year old, mice suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, on a period of three to six months, revealed that the drug did help improve blood vessel function at brain level and that the young mice showed improvements in learning and memory testing, which could mean that an early treatment with simvastatin could have an impact on early Alzheimer’s stages.

According to DailyMail, Dr Edith Hamel said regarding the study that:
“This study shows that simvastatin can protect against some of the damaging effects of Alzheimer’s disease on nerve cells involved in memory, if administered early in the disease process.”

Dr Ling Li, an expert on Alzheimer’s disease from University of Minnesota said that:
“This joins an increasing number of pre-clinical studies demonstrating that statins, in particular simvastatin – which easily penetrates the brain – can counteract some aspects of Alzheimer’s disease, despite seeing no effects on amyloid-beta protein. The key now is to figure out how to translate these exciting findings from bench to bedside.”

Experts say that the studies suggest that simvastatin administration does not help people who are suffering from dementia, but that they do suggest that the timing of the drug administration could be vital and that the pressure should be placed of early detection of the disease in order for patients to be able to receive treatment from as early as possible.

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