My filling's playing up and I have to go back to the dentist who says 'tuth' instead of 'tooth' – fingers (and everything else) crossed he doesn't read this column
When I wrote about my new dentist – the one who says "tuth" instead of "tooth" – two…
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--Leary was far from crazy in claiming psychedelics have healing powers. Hopefully the sale of his papers will help us learn more
What was Timothy Leary really up to? We may soon know more now that the New York public library is buying 335 boxes of…
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--A year after she ousted previous Labor leader Kevin Rudd, only one in four Australians say they would vote for her
One year after Australian prime minister Julia Gillard ousted Kevin Rudd to become the country's first female leader, she's in serious…
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--The Casablanca-based writer and film-maker visits Marrakech where tourists are staying away and there are bargains to be had
Morocco is a kingdom very different from its neighbours. There's no deranged dictator or marshal law and, most of the time,…
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--Unless you're a Luddite, you're bound to know of ".com," the Internet's most common address suffix.
You've also probably heard of ".gov," for U.S. government sites, and ".edu," for educational institutions.
Did you know Antarctica has its own suffix, too? It's ".aq."
The aviation industry has ".aero" and porn sites have ".xxx." There's ".asia" for the continent, plus suffixes for individual countries such as Thailand (".th") and South Korea (".kr"). Thailand and Korea also have addresses in Thai and Korean.
There are currently 310 domain name suffixes — the ".com" part of Web and email addresses. Now, the organization that oversees the system is poised to accept hundreds or thousands more. Possibilities include ".invest" and ".Canon."
In the early days of the Internet, each computer network simply had its own name. A hierarchical naming structure called the Domain Name System was created in the mid-1980s as the Internet grew. With such a system, Columbia University could have "Columbia.edu" and Columbia Sportsware Co. could have "Columbia.com." The Columbia Foundation could have "Columbia.org."
The system began with scores of country-specific domains and a handful of generic ones, including ".com," ".gov" and ".mil." International organizations got ".int" a few years later, in 1988.
That was largely the system in place until 2000. That was when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, formed just two years earlier to oversee the address system, approved the creation of seven names, including ".info," ".aero" and ".museum." ICANN opened bidding again in 2004; seven have been added to the system from that round, including ".xxx."
Meanwhile, ICANN approved ".ps" for the Palestinian territories (in 2000) and ".eu" for the European Union (in 2005). That's because those two were on a country-code list kept by the International Organization for Standards, which in turn takes information from the United Nations. More recently, ICANN approved country names in languages other than English — so India has ones for Hindi, Urdu and five others.
There's nothing new about the fact that women live longer than men — and nothing uniquely human about it either. The same is true in many other mammals. Japanese scientists may have new insights into why.
Manabu Kawahara at Saga University and Tomohiro Kono, based in Tokyo, compared mice that were engineered from two female genomes — so they had no genetic father — with normal female mice. The bimaternal mice lived an average of 186 days longer, a life-span boost of 30%.
The longevity dividend seems linked to something in the female genome, and though it's not clear what that critical variable is, size of the animal may play a role. The bimaternal mice were much smaller than the other females. In the natural world, males grow bigger, perhaps to improve their chance of breeding, but that investment in growth may affect metabolism and limit longevity. Eliminate the male genome, and you appear to eliminate the penalty. The mice with two moms also had higher levels of eosinophil, a type of white blood cell — which hints at improved immune function.
Doctors have been advising us for years to "use it or lose it": that is, to stay as intellectually active as possible into our waning years in order to avoid dementia. But the latest research shows that brain training comes at a price.
In a study of 1,157 men and women age 65 or older, researchers led by Dr. Robert Wilson at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that people who remained intellectually stimulated — by playing cards or other games, reading or visiting museums — were diagnosed with dementia later than those who were not as cognitively active. But once dementia set in, the group who participated in mentally stimulating activities experienced a much more rapid cognitive decline. Over the 12-year study, for each additional point they gained on a measure of cognitive activity, the intellectually stimulated group experienced a 52% greater decline in cognitive impairment, after being diagnosed with dementia.
"Brain activity is not stopping the underlying neurobiology of dementia, but for a while, it seems to be effective in delaying the additional appearance of symptoms," says Wilson. "But the benefit of delaying the initial symptoms comes at the cost of more rapid progression of dementia once it makes its appearance."
While brain exercises can help the brain continue to function despite the accumulating biological changes underlying dementia and Alzheimer's, at some point, says Wilson, the scales tip — that activity can no longer compensate for the growing volume of deteriorating alterations in the brain. "At that point, the patient is pretty much at the mercy of the pathology," he says. And that's why, once the symptoms of dementia become obvious, those who were able to push off their diagnosis are likely to be at a more advanced stage of disease.
The findings, published Wednesday in Neurology, should not discourage people from remaining cognitively active, says Dr. William Thies, chief medical officer of the Alzheimer's Association, and in fact raises interesting questions about how we as a society should approach age-related brain changes. Surveys consistently show that most of us would prefer to remain as functionally intact as possible and experience a short period of physical or mental disability before death. Gradual cognitive decline, which is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, is challenging for patients, their caregivers and society, as the health costs of chronic care continue to climb. But the current study suggests that more people may be able to telescope their mental decline into a shorter and more concentrated time period. "I think the results suggested by this paper are something that people would regard as positive," he says. "And this is the sort of study we really need if we are ever going to understand how to manage all aspects of dementia as a society."
When explorer and longevity investigator Dan Buettner guided me into the Costa Rican rain forest last year in preparation for an Oprah show on longevity, each of the centenarians I met there greeted me with the customary "Pura vida" — variously translated as "Pure life," "Full of life" or even "This is living!" Those are all fair ways of describing these remarkably vibrant people, who are indeed living the pure life. We'd all do well to learn their secrets. (Special Report: How to Live 100 Years.)While we're certainly born with genes that help determine everything from our height to our eye color to our risk of heart disease, we're making a monumental mistake if we assume we can't influence those genes — especially when it comes to aging. Science is rapidly uncovering miraculous biological processes that control how and why we age the way we do, piling up evidence that even our unwanted genes can work in our favor — or at least do us less harm.
Indeed, there's no reason we can't live to 100 — and do so with energy and good health. Here's why: longevity is not really about preventing disease. After all, getting rid of heart disease and cancer gains us, on average, less than a decade of life. And if we lived those extra years still struggling with the frailty that can make a long life less desirable, what would we have gained? No, the real goal isn't to avoid inevitable illness or breakdown. The goal is to recover from them faster and better. (See how genes, gender and diet may be life extenders.)
Identifying optimal solutions will require decades, in part because it takes 30 years of research to determine whether taking a pill for 20 years will add a decade of life. So here are some reasonable steps I've offered my own family, culled from what I've learned studying long-living populations around the world and cutting-edge scientific research.
Daily rigorous physical activity not only helps strengthen bones and the heart, but it also teaches balance, critical in preventing the falls that have become a leading cause of death as we age. For all the medical tests we have in our modern arsenal, the ability to exercise remains the single most powerful predictor of longevity. If you can't walk a quarter-mile in 5 minutes, your chance of dying within three years is 30% greater than that of faster walkers. (See pictures of longevity around the world.)
Humans are designed to be physically active throughout their lives, so don't take it easy on yourself. Shoot for at least three 30-minute workouts weekly — and break a sweat. You should also add a half hour per week of weight lifting and another half hour of stretching. I complete a simple daily 7-minute morning routine that I recommend. You can find it at doctoroz.com.
Get 15 minutes of sun every day (or take 1,000 IU of vitamin D), and take 1,000 mg of calcium. Supplement the calcium with 500 mg of magnesium to avoid constipation. All of this will help promote bone strength as you exercise. Costa Ricans get these benefits naturally: they're exposed to lots of sun between bursts of rain, which keeps their vitamin D levels high, and they drink hard, mineral-rich water and eat a traditional diet with dairy and legumes that is rich in calcium. (See portraits of centenarians.)
In the U.S. we're not so lucky. Insufficient vitamin D is our most important vitamin deficiency and is possibly a factor in our high levels of cancer, autoimmune ailments and heart disease. If you live north of a line between Atlanta and Los Angeles, the winter sun is probably too weak to give you the dose of light you require, so you'll need supplements. And while hard water occurs naturally in some parts of the country, it's by no means found in all of them.
Choose foods that look the same when you eat them as when they come out of the ground. The powerful phytochemicals and micronutrients in whole foods (ones without food labels) support the natural rejuvenating processes of the body. (See TIME's photo-essay "The Landscape of Cancer Treatment.")
Obese people, in whom such processes become compromised, tend to die younger in part because of systemic inflammation that occurs as a result of their weight. That leads to elevated blood sugar, lousy LDL-cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. These damage the thin lining of our arteries. The fat also wreaks metabolic disarray that increases cancer rates and leads to joint pain that limits physical activity. Automate your meal choices to create routines that make it easy to eat the right foods. Snacking on healthy foods every few hours helps you avoid hunger and the associated overeating.
Sleep more than seven hours a day. Sleep increases your levels of growth hormone, a critical vitality booster. Half of mature Americans have difficulty sleeping, and all of them may pay a longevity penalty. Try some simple sleep hygiene like dimming the lights 15 minutes before bedtime to stimulate melatonin.
Finally, have a purpose — your family, your work, your community. There may be no better longevity booster than simply wanting to be here. You have one life; it makes sense to love living it.
Mehmet Oz is the vice chairman and a professor of surgery at Columbia University, a best-selling author and the host of the nationally syndicated television talk show The Dr. Oz Show
You never get over the moment you realize that you're definitely going to die. You're usually a small child when the insight hits, and you usually have a vague idea of what death is, but the first-person epiphany — the "Wait, that's going to happen to me?" experience — changes everything. Your sense of time and its fleeting passage can never go back to what it was before you discovered that you too are on the clock. (Special Report: How to Live 100 Years.)
It's no wonder we spend our whole lives after that trying to add as many rollover minutes as we can, and in the developed world, at least, we've done a pretty good job of it. In 1900, U.S. life expectancy was just 47.3 years. Now — thanks to better medicine, cleaner food and a whole host of health and safety regulations — it's up to 78.1. That's not the best in the world — other healthy, wealthy countries like Japan and Iceland crack the 80-year mark — but it's not bad.
John Apollos is losing weight the old-fashioned way — by eating less. A whole lot less. As a volunteer in the two-year Comprehensive Assessment of Long-Term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) study at Tufts University in Boston, Apollos has lowered his daily caloric intake 25% over the past eight months. The fat, not surprisingly, has melted away; the 52-year-old physical trainer has lost more than 25 lb. (11 kg) since the study began and is down to his high school weight.
I am often teased for my stubborn habit of traveling by foot. I often walk the 3 mi. home from work rather than take the subway. When I visit less pedestrian-friendly cities, kindhearted motorists regularly pull over and offer me a ride, assuming that my car has broken down or I'm in need of some help.
But for me, walking is a good opportunity to process the day and let my mind wander without the oppression of the endless to-do list that awaits me at home. Plus, it helps my back recover from a day spent bent in front of a computer screen. Health-wise, I have always assumed I'd have the last laugh, and now there's even more evidence on my side. (More on Time.com: TIME's Health Checkup tells you how to live 100 years).
A study published in Neurology has found that the simple act of walking may improve memory in old age. As we age, our brains shrink and the shrinkage is associated with dementia and loss of cognitive functions such as memory. To test whether physical activity could mitigate some of these degenerative effects, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh tracked the physical activity of 299 healthy men and women with an average age of 78. The participants' activity ranged anywhere from walking 0 blocks to 300 blocks (up to 30 miles) per week.
Nine years later, the walkers underwent brain scans, which revealed that those who had walked more had greater brain volume than those who walked less. Four years after that, the volunteers were tested again — this time for dementia. Among the group, 116 people showed signs of memory loss or dementia. Those who had walked the most — at least 72 city blocks (or about 7 mi.) each week — were half as likely to have cognitive problems as those who walked the least. (More on Time.com: Learn more about brain shrinkage and dementia in Alice Park's TIME cover story this week)
The findings are in line with past studies linking physical activity with brain function, but dementia experts say there's not enough data yet to prescribe exercise to prevent memory loss. It's also too soon to say whether exercise may prevent dementia or simply delay it in people who would eventually develop it anyway. But when it comes to Alzheimer's, even a short delay could mean great gains in quality of life. MSNBC reports:
"Even if we are delaying [Alzheimer's disease] by several months or years, that's a significant improvement in what we know already, and a change in costs for treating health care," [study author Kirk] Erickson said. Delaying the condition could also ease the emotional burden and problems that come along with it, for both patients and their families, he said.
So, thanks, motorists. But I'll stick to hoofing it.
Magic Mushrooms' Can Improve Psychological Health Long Term
By Maia Szalavitz Thursday, June 16, 2011The psychedelic drug in magic mushrooms may have lasting medical and spiritual benefits, according to new research from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
The mushroom-derived hallucinogen, called psilocybin, is known to trigger transformative spiritual states, but at high doses it can also result in "bad trips" marked by terror and panic. The trick is to get the dose just right, which the Johns Hopkins researchers report having accomplished.
In their study, the Hopkins scientists were able to reliably induce transcendental experiences in volunteers, which offered long-lasting psychological growth and helped people find peace in their lives — without the negative effects.
(PHOTOS: Inside Colorado's Marijuana Industry)
"The important point here is that we found the sweet spot where we can optimize the positive persistent effects and avoid some of the fear and anxiety that can occur and can be quite disruptive," says lead author Roland Griffiths, professor of behavioral biology at Hopkins.
Giffiths' study involved 18 healthy adults, average age 46, who participated in five eight-hour drug sessions with either psilocybin — at varying doses — or placebo. Nearly all the volunteers were college graduates and 78% participated regularly in religious activities; all were interested in spiritual experience.
Fourteen months after participating in the study, 94% of those who received the drug said the experiment was one of the top five most meaningful experiences of their lives; 39% said it was the single most meaningful experience.
Critically, however, the participants themselves were not the only ones who saw the benefit from the insights they gained: their friends, family member and colleagues also reported that the psilocybin experience had made the participants calmer, happier and kinder.
Ultimately, Griffiths and his colleagues want to see if the same kind of psychedelic experience could help ease anxiety and fear over the long term in cancer patients or others facing death. And following up on tantalizing clues from early research on hallucinogenic drugs like LSD, mescaline and psilocybin in the 1960s (which are all now illegal), researchers are also studying whether transcendental experiences could help spur recovery from addiction and treat other psychological problems like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
For Griffiths' current experiment, participants were housed in a living room-like setting designed to be calm, comfortable and attractive. While under the influence, they listened to classical music on headphones, wore eyeshades and were instructed to "direct their attention inward."
Each participant was accompanied by two other research-team members: a "monitor" and an "assistant monitor," who both had previous experience with people on psychedelic drugs and were empathetic and supportive. Before the drug sessions, the volunteers became acquainted enough with their team so that they felt familiar and safe. Although the experiments took place in the Hopkins hospital complex in order to ensure prompt medical attention in the event that it was needed, it never was.
As described by early advocates of the use of psychedelics — from ancient shamans to Timothy Leary and the Grateful Dead — the psilocybin experience typically involves a sense of oneness with the universe and with others, a feeling of transcending time, space and other limitations, coupled with a sense of holiness and sacredness. Overwhelmingly, these experiences are difficult to put into words, but many of Griffiths' participants said they were left with the sense that they understood themselves and others better and therefore had greater compassion and patience.
(MORE: A Mystery Partly Solved: How the 'Club Drug' Ketamine Lifts Depression So Quickly)
"I feel that I relate better in my marriage. There is more empathy — a greater understanding of people and understanding their difficulties and less judgment," said one participant. "Less judging of myself, too."
Another said: "I have better interaction with close friends and family and with acquaintances and strangers. ... My alcohol use has diminished dramatically."
To zero in on the "sweet spot" of dosing, Griffiths started half the volunteers on a low dose and gradually increased their doses over time (with placebo sessions randomly interspersed); the other half started on a high dose and worked their way down.
Those who started on a low dose found that their experiences tended to get better as the dose increased, probably because they learned what to expect and how to handle it. But people who started with high doses were more likely to experience anxiety and fear (though these feeling didn't last long and sometimes resolved into euphoria or a sense of transcendence).
"If we back the dose down a little, we have just as much of the same positive effects. The properties of the mystical experience remain the same, but there's a fivefold drop in anxiety and fearfulness," Griffiths says.
Some past experiments with psychedelics in the '60s used initial high doses of the drugs — the "blast people away with a high dose" model, says Griffiths — to try to treat addiction. "Some of the early work in addictions was done with the idea of, 'O.K., let's model the 'bottoming-out' crisis and make use of the dark side of [psychedelic] compounds. That didn't work," Griffiths says.
It may even have backfired: other research on addictions shows that coercion, humiliation and other attempts to produce a sense of "powerlessness," tend to increase relapse and treatment dropout, not recovery. (And the notorious naked LSD encounter sessions conducted with psychopaths made them worse, too.)
Griffiths is currently seeking patients with terminal cancer to participate in his next set of experiments (for more information on these studies, click here); because psychedelics often produce a feeling of going beyond life and death, they are thought to be especially likely to help those facing the end of life. Griffiths is also studying whether psilocybin can help smokers quit.
Griffiths and other researchers like him are hoping to bring the study of psychedelics into the future. They want to build on the promise that some of the early research showed, while avoiding the bad rep and exaggerated claims — for example, that LSD was harmless and could usher in world peace — that became associated with the drugs when people started using them recreationally in the 1960s. The resulting negative publicity helped shut down the burgeoning research.
This time around, caution may be paying off. Dr. Jerome Jaffe, America's first drug czar, who was not involved with the research, said in a statement, "The Hopkins psilocybin studies clearly demonstrate that this route to the mystical is not to be walked alone. But they have also demonstrated significant and lasting benefits. That raises two questions: could psilocybin-occasioned experiences prove therapeutically useful, for example in dealing with the psychological distress experienced by some terminal patients?
"And should properly-informed citizens, not in distress, be allowed to receive psilocybin for its possible spiritual benefits, as we now allow them to pursue other possibly risky activities such as cosmetic surgery and mountain-climbing?"
The study was published in the journal Psychopharmacology.
The legislature's decision to tighten regulations developed on the suspicion that there was more to the state's marijuana industry than medicating the terminally ill. At the beginning of this year, Colorado health-department records show, only 2% of registered patients had cancer and 1% had HIV/AIDS, while 92% suffered "severe pain" — a catchall condition that can be entirely subjective and difficult for a doctor to measure or verify. About 3 out of every 4 patients are men under 40. Brian Vicente, the executive director of the pro-pot group Sensible Colorado, dismisses these numbers. Young men are more likely to work the kind of jobs that result in chronic pain, he says. "All this really shows is that pain is more prevalent in society than AIDS and cancer."
A Mystery Partly Solved: How the 'Club Drug' Ketamine Lifts Depression So Quickly
By Maia Szalavitz Wednesday, June 15, 2011A new study sheds light on why the anesthetic and "club drug" ketamine can relieve depression rapidly — in hours, instead of weeks or months. The findings may help provide new targets for developing antidepressants and increase researchers' understanding of the devastating disorder.
The study, published in the journal Nature, offer support for wider use of ketamine in depression and suggests new leads for scientists aiming to create fast-acting drugs with fewer side effects. A drug that could relieve depression quickly has long been sought by pharmaceutical companies and patients: for the 20 million Americans suffering from depression, the early weeks of treatment are a high-risk time for suicide, which kills nearly 35,000 people each year.
The new research involved numerous experiments in mice aimed at teasing out what happens to both brain and behavior when ketamine takes effect. In one such test, mice were forced to swim in a water-filled tube that they cannot escape. Previous research has shown that mice given antidepressants swim longer before giving up: a sign that the drugs are working.
The new study found that just one dose of ketamine produced the same effect in a half an hour — compared with the weeks or months this can take with standard antidepressants, in mice as well as in humans. Further, the new study found that the antidepressant effect of a single dose of ketamine lasted for a week.
(More on TIME.com: How a Study of a Failed Antidepressant Shows That Antidepressants Really Work)
"It's a nice, elegant experiment," says Carlos Zarate, chief of experimental therapeutics of the mood and anxiety disorders program at the National Institute of Mental Health and author of an early randomized trial of ketamine for depression. He was not associated with the study. "It's very good work," he adds.
WikiLeaks is offering eight people the chance to dine with Julian Assange at "one of London's finest restaurants," The Troxy, as a fundraiser for the secretive website.
The seven-day bidding on eBay started Monday at $568 a head and had topped $800 by Wednesday, the AP reports.
The whistle-blower site says guests will dine for 3 hours with WikiLeaks founder Assange and and Slovenian Marxist philosopher Slavoj Zizek at the East London restaurant on July 2.
Assange is on bail in Britain as he fights extradition to Sweden on allegations of sexual misconduct against two women, which he denies.
The lunch would be followed by an event where Assange and Zizek would discuss "the impact of WikiLeaks on the world and what it means for the future," PTI reports.
U.S. authorities are investigating whether WikiLeaks broke the law by releasing thousands of secret government documents sent to the U.S. from the American embassies in different countries.
Last week, an eBay auction for lunch with Warren Buffett ended with a winning bid of $2.34 million, PTI reports.
Julian Assange, founder of the secretive site WikiLeaks, says his house arrest is hampering the work of the state secret sharing site.
Assange, 39, and his supporters also claim in a new video, titled "House Arrest," that three cameras have been erected to watch who enters and leaves his temporary home — an 18th-century manor owned by entrepreneurial former journalist Vaughan Smith in Norfolk, England.
The video, published today on Telegraph.co.uk, marks his six months on bail in the U.K. after filing an appeal against a court ruling that he be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual molestation.
The Australian computer expert, who infuriated the U.S. government by publishing thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables, is free under strict bail conditions.
Assange must adhere to an overnight curfew, wear an electronic tag and report to police daily. His supporters, in turn, accuse Britain of treating him "like a caged animal" and subjecting him to "excessive and dehumanizing" treatment.
Smith, who owns the 600-acre property where Assange is staying, referred to a "pretty intrusive regime" and said three cameras had appeared near the property since Assange began his house arrest there.
British prosecutors, however, say the conditions are warranted because the claims against Assange are serious and he is a flight risk.
The Associated Press quotes barrister and legal commentator Carl Gardner as saying that although Assange’s freedom of movement is constrained, "he can move around, he can make public appearances. He is at liberty in the most basic sense of the phrase."
Assange told the AP that he had become "a fixed target" for the U.S. government — which is investigating whether Assange and WikiLeaks violated American laws by releasing tens of thousands of secret government documents, — to surveil him:
“It is easy to conduct surveillance against me and anyone I talk to,” Assange said. “We take steps against this, but it is costly and time-consuming.”
He said his house arrest had been "the single largest impediment to our work, with the possible exception of the illegal blockade being conducted by the major U.S. financial institutions against us."
Some U.S.-based banks and financial services have refused to handle payments to WikiLeaks.
For almost all major politicians, life is never private. Silvio Berlusconi is a fine example. Even if one wanted to, it would be hard not to know the latest about his family life, indeed his various dalliances. Politicians across the western world usually just have to deal with life in a fishbowl. Except for one: Berlusconi's old friend and vacation mate, Vladimir Putin, who has managed to impose an information blockade around his private life that most statesmen can only dream about.
Although Putin has ruled Russia for more than a decade, the Russian public does not even know what his adult daughters look like. There are many conflicting reports as to whether they are married and in what country they reside, and an Internet search of their names - Maria Putina, born 1985, and Yekaterina Putina, born 1986 - yields no confirmed photographs of them in adulthood, let alone interviews. What it does yield is a bewildering assortment of theories and gossip about Putin's family life, but nothing journalistically solid. Russia's mass media have been taught that such matters are out of bounds. (See Vladimir Putin as TIME's 2007 Person of the Year.)
The clearest object lesson came in 2008 with the demise of a Russian daily called Moskovsky Korrespondent. In April of that year, the paper ran a story claiming Putin had left his wife Lyudmila to marry a 24-year-old Olympic gymnast named Alina Kabayeva, a member of parliament for Putin's political party. It cited a source close to the wedding planner, who claimed Putin had officially divorced his wife two months before. Asked to respond to the claims at a press conference, Putin denied them all, and then laid down some ground rules in one of his trademark rants. "I am of course aware of the hackneyed phrase and stamp that politicians live in a glass house," he said. "But even in these cases there must be some limits... I always thought badly of those who go around with their erotic fantasies sticking their snot-ridden noses into another person's life."
Berlusconi, who was standing beside Putin at that press conference in Sardinia, Italy, then put his hands together in the shape of a machine gun and jokingly pretended to shoot the Russian journalist who had asked the question. (Considering that journalists are regularly killed or beaten in Russia for their work, the Italian press did not find the joke very funny.) Putin grinned and nodded at the gesture, and that same day Moskovsky Korrespondent was shut down by its publisher, who claimed it had been "loss-making." And thus a taboo was born. The issue of Putin's alleged relationship with Kabayeva, as well as most of his private affairs, have since been relegated mostly to the Russian blogosphere. (See pictures of Putin and Medvedev skiing.)
But there has been a downside to that for Putin. Although the Russian state has tried, it has not yet learned to censor the country's army of iconoclastic bloggers, and in the information vacuum surrounding Putin's private life, their claims go viral fast. Last year, a blogger named Pavel Pritula claimed in a two-sentence post that Putin had sent his wife to live in a monastery in the region of Pskov, perhaps owing something to the stories of what Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great had once done with inconvenient women in their lives. The Russian Orthodox Church denied the claim as "nonsense," and Putin's office declined to comment. But once this rumor began to snowball, it didn't even seem to matter to many readers that the blogger's only source had been his own mother. Through hyperlinks, word of mouth and stories in the online press, the rumor became part of Putin folklore.
On a recent trip to Pskov, few of the locals TIME spoke to were willing to dismiss the idea that Putin's wife now lives in the Elizarova monastery. The only exceptions, key ones, were the two security guards who escorted TIME off the monastery grounds. It was suspicious, several of the locals said, that such an isolated place would get a multi-million dollar renovation. "I'm telling you 100%. She lives there," says Vasily Dvornichenko, a local union leader. And how did he know? "Well, I didn't hover over the building in a helicopter. But I know. Everyone here knows."
Even local officials seemed tempted to believe. Raisa Shumkina, the head of the district that includes Elizarova and the surrounding villages, says she "was not sure one way or the other" whether Putin's wife lived there or not, while Valery Nikitin, a district councilman who lives across the road from the monastery, says he has asked regional officials about the matter but received no response. "I don't understand it," he says. "Why do we have to rely on whispers in the grocery line to get our information? Why can't they just tell us what's going on?" (See why Russian needs Putin.)
It is a reasonable question, but still a fairly novel one for Russians to ask. The western principle that the people have a right to know has not been broadly embraced in Russia, and there is nothing like the U.S. Freedom of Information Act to press the government for answers. Instead there are strict laws against libel, state control of most mass media, and a prevailing sense left over from Soviet and Tsarist times that a strong leader - or vozhd - should remain aloof from the masses if not totally inscrutable. As Konstantin Kosachyov, a senior lawmaker in Putin's party, put it to TIME: "Real leadership, political leadership...is not supposed to obey public opinion but form it."
But while such values may have been easy to uphold in Russia's totalitarian past, they face a major challenge in the Internet age, where the whispers in the grocery line often turn into the news of the day. Even Putin has sometimes been forced to react. In February, he finally volunteered a few details about his daughters, saying both "lead ordinary, regular lives... And this makes me very happy." In October, he also made an apparent attempt to deflate rumors of his divorce by sitting for a televised census count alongside his wife, who told the census taker, "I am his wife." But she was not wearing a wedding ring.
So this did little to slow the online rumor mill, which has continued to fill in Putin's family tree with unconfirmed reports. A court case now underway in Moscow features a powerful and handsome young Dutchman as the victim of road rage, and Russia's online press have consistently called him Putin's son-in-law, citing anonymous sources. The Russian government denies the relationship. In October, a South Korean daily reported that Putin's daughter was marrying a Korean admiral's son. The government denies that, too. Eventually it may become easier to satisfy the public's curiosity than to plug all these alleged leaks. But until then, Putin's secrets will likely endure.
Your grandmother was right, after all. An apple a day really can keep the doctor away — but only if you don’t peel it first.
Researchers have discovered that ursolic acid, the chemical behind the apple skin’s waxy shine, offers a wealth of unexpected benefits, from boosting muscle growth to keeping cholesterol and blood sugar under control.
And apples aren’t the only fruit and veg with potent peel. Bin the skin and you’re not only wasting time and money, you are also missing out on ways to improve your skin or even shine your shoes.
Here, we investigate the nutritional value of peel and also look at some of its more wacky uses.
PEACHES
Whether you eat the skin for a burst of nutrients or scrub your face for a glowing complexion, peaches are an often overlooked super fruit.
High in potassium and vitamin A, which help to revitalise and hydrate the skin, eating the peel can boost the immune system, remove toxins from the body, maintain healthy skin, protect the eyes from developing cataracts and lower the risk of developing cancer, heart disease and arthritis.
You can also use the skin as a facial pick-me-up. Put a little sugar on the pulpy side of peach skins and use as a gentle face scrub.
LEMONS AND LIMES
Both of these contain citric acid, so their rind is great for polishing brass, copper and other non-ferrous metals.
Sprinkle on a little baking soda to get an even better result. Or pop a few slices of rind in a bottle of vodka to create a fantastic and flavoursome infusion.
Adding citrus peels to olive oil will not only flavour it, but will help to reinvigorate oil that’s getting old.
To rid your microwave of nasty smells, put lemon peel and any remaining lemon juice with the same amount of water in an uncovered bowl and boil gently for up to ten minutes.
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BANANAS
Use the inside of the peel to shine the leaves on your houseplants.
Not only will it make them sparkle, but the skin acts as a natural pesticide and fertiliser.
Shoes looking scruffy?
Polish with a banana skin, then rub down with a soft, clean cloth for a professional-looking shine.
Banana skin contains potassium and antioxidants that keep the skin soft and supple and aid a faster recovery. Pop a skin on a bruise and it should heal faster.
And if you’ve been bitten by a mosquito, rubbing with banana peel can help soothe the itch.
You can even eat the skin — provided you boil or juice first.
Researchers in Taiwan have discovered that banana peel extract can ease depression, as it is rich in serotonin, the mood-balancing chemical.
The skin was also found to be good for eyes, as it contains the antioxidant lutein, which protects eye cells from exposure to ultraviolet light — a leading cause of cataracts.
Boil the peel for ten minutes, then drink the cooled water or put it through a juicer and drink the juice.
PAPAYA
Need a quick summer pedicure? Rub papaya skins and pulp on the soles of your feet to soften skin and soothe cracked heels.
Papayas are rich in Vitamin A and papain, which breaks down inactive proteins and removes dead skin cells.
You can also use the peel as an exfoliating face mask.
Rub the skin over your face and leave for five minutes before washing off.
Be careful not to apply for too long, as the powerful juices in the peel can cause dryness.
KIWIS
The hairy skin of the kiwi fruit may taste tart, but it’s too good to waste.
It contains three times the antioxidants of the pulp, giving it anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti allergenic properties.
It also fights off bugs, such as Staphylococcus and E-coli, which are responsible for food poisoning. If you can’t bear to eat it raw, use the skin with other fruits, such as banana in a smoothie.
Numerous uses: Pomegranate can make a potpourri as well as a tasty snack
Numerous uses: Pomegranate can make a potpourri as well as a tasty snack
POMEGRANATES
Use the rind to make potpourri. Slice, then dry on a rack in the airing cupboard or somewhere equally warm until all the moisture has gone.
Leave natural or sprinkle a little liquid potpourri (available at craft stores) or the dregs of a perfume bottle.
You can mix with apple peel or citrus rind for variety. Pomegranates can also help ease tummy troubles, such as diarrhoea. Boil a small pomegranate skin in water with a cinnamon stick and drink it down once it’s cooled.
Repeat up to three times a day or until symptoms go.
ORANGES
The rind is bursting with powerful antioxidants called super-flavonoids, which can significantly reduce levels of cholesterol.
The antioxidants obtained from the peel are 20 times more powerful than those from the juice, according to a U.S. study.
Add grated citrus peel to cauliflower cheese or cakes and muffins for a zesty health kick — or throw the whole, unpeeled fruit into a juicer so you get all the benefits.
POTATO
The skin is a real nutritional powerhouse. Just one fist-sized potato skin provides half your daily recommended intake of soluble fibre, potassium, iron, phosphorus zinc and vitamin C.
Bake whole in their jackets, boil and mash with the skin on or slice into large chunks, toss in a little olive oil and bake for potato wedges.
Potatoes are also good for hair — getting rid of those greys the natural way.
Boil potato peels in water for 30 minutes and cool. Use this water as an after-shampoo rinse and it will gradually darken grey hair, without the need for harsh chemicals.
PEARS
Throw away the skin and you are throwing away the best bits. Pear skin isn’t just packed full of fibre, it also contains a higher concentration of vitamins and nutrients than the flesh itself.
These include chlorogenic acid, a potent anti-oxidant and the flavonoid phloretin, which has been shown in laboratory tests to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.
AVOCADOS
The skin may be inedible, but its oil makes a fantastic skin serum, because it’s able to penetrate right down into deep tissue, where it softens and moisturises.
Avocado oil is also high in sterolins, which can help reduce age spots and repair sun damaged skin.
A study by American food engineering experts discovered that using avocado oil significantly increases the amount of collagen in the skin, which reduces naturally with age and can, therefore, fight wrinkles.
Gently stroke the inside layer of the avocado skin along your face.
Leave for 15 to 20 minutes before rinsing off.
A Filipino teenager has sparked outrage after pegging his puppy out on a clothes line and posting pictures of the helpless animal on Facebook.
Jerzon Senador, from Calamba, Laguna, is likely to face animal cruelty charges after deciding to carry out the stunt because he was bored.
The teenager suspended the struggling puppy from the skin on its back as he took photographs from different angles.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2003786/Teenager-Jerzon-Senador-sparks-outrage-Facebook-photo-puppy-clothesline.html#ixzz1PMzXXd9Y
