Trend Spotting: 12-year-olds love inhalants!

Huffing glue is the new pogs! From CNN:

When their kids turn 12, parents are concerned about peers pressuring them to smoke cigarettes, drink and use drugs, but it turns out 12-year-olds are doing something else: getting high on inhalants.

A new national survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration report finds that they're using inhalants more than marijuana, hallucinogens and cocaine combined.

Some young people are sniffing -- inhaling -- a wide variety of products to get high. Inhalants are legal, cheap and everywhere. They can easily be found in most homes: spray paint, shoe polish, glue, air fresheners, hair spray, nail polish, gasoline, aerosols, computer cleaners, even the refrigerant from air conditioners.

"We continue to face the challenge of increasing experimentation and intentional misuse of common household products among the youngest and most vulnerable segments of our population: 12-year-olds," said Harvey Weiss, executive director of the National Inhalant Prevention Coalition.

"The data are ominous, and their implications are frightening because of the toxic, chemical effects of these legal products on growing minds and bodies."

According to the survey, 6.9 percent of 12-year-olds have "huffed," while 1.4 percent have used pot, 0.7 percent hallucinogens and 0.1 percent cocaine. The report found 5.2 percent smoked cigarettes.

Huffing can be fatal, leading to "sudden sniffing death."

Einstein was right: general relativity confirmed.

I don't care what Einstein thinks - I still believe the universe is one giant stroopwafel. From Space.com:

Score one more for Einstein. A new study has confirmed his theory of general relativity works on extremely large scales.

The study was one of the first rigorous tests of this theory of gravity beyond our solar system. The research found that even over vast scales of galaxies and clusters of galaxies, the equations of general relativity predict the way that mass pulls on other mass in the universe.

The new work also helps rule out a competing theory of gravity that seeks to do away with the need for bizarre concepts like dark matter and dark energy that have irked some scientists. This research indicates those pesky ideas may be here to stay.

Longtime smoking cuts Parkinson's risk in half.

It makes you look cool, too! From CNN:

It's a catchy headline – smoking cuts Parkinson's risk dramatically – and it appears to be true, but researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science don't want you to start smoking.

"Nobody should advocate smoking to prevent Parkinson's disease," said Dr. Honglei Chen, a tenure-track investigator at the Institute. "It’s important to make that very, very clear."

The study, released today in the journal Neurology looked at the lifetime smoking history of more than 300,000 people, and confirmed the inverse relationship between smoking and Parkinson's disease, established in earlier scientific studies. But, researchers say they've found a critical new piece to the puzzle: It appears to be the length of time one has been a smoker – not the number of cigarettes smoked – that has the most effect on disease risk reduction.

"People who smoked more than 40 years had a 46 percent decrease in Parkinson's disease risk," said Chen. "Whereas people who smoked between one and nine years had only an 8 percent decrease in risk."

Chen, the lead study author, and his colleagues cannot yet identify the reasons behind this staggering link, but say when they are able to determine which chemicals in the cigarettes seem to be have a protective effect, they hope to be able to develop a drug that can mimic the effects of smoking, without the harmful risks.

Dead: Corey Haim.

His soul went straight to video. From CNN:

Actor Corey Haim, who appeared in a number of movies during the 1980s, died early Wednesday of a possible drug overdose after being taken to a hospital, Los Angeles police said.

Haim, 38, was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, where he was pronounced dead at about 3:30 a.m. PT Wednesday (6:30 a.m. ET), police Sgt. Frank Albarran said.

The death appears to be accidental, possibly an overdose, Albarran said.

Haim's most famous role was in the 1987 movie "The Lost Boys" in which he appeared with his frequent co-star, Corey Feldman.

In later years, the two friends -- who appeared in eight movies together -- both struggled with drug abuse and went their separate ways. They reunited for a reality show, "The Two Coreys," in 2007, but A&E Network canceled the program after slightly more than a year.

TX man gets 35 years for marijuana possession.

Well, at least they didn't execute him. From Raw Story:

For being caught with just over a quarter pound of pot, 54-year-old Henry Walter Wooten will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars, thanks to a jury in Tyler, Texas.

His prosecutor, Smith County Assistant District Attorney Richard Vance, originally sought a sentence of 99 years over the 4.6 ounces of marijuana police found in Wooten's vehicle, according to published reports.

Wooten was reportedly caught smoking pot within 1,000 feet of a day care center, within the radius of a so-called "drug free zone." Tipped off by the smell, police would later search the man's vehicle, only to discover his cannabis stash and a digital scale, according to The Tyler Morning Telegraph.

Sleeping too little or too much will make you fat.

From New Scientist:

Sleep's effect on fat is becoming clearer. Having too much or too little piles on the worst kind of fat.

Kristen Hairston and colleagues at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, monitored 1100 African and Hispanic Americans for five years. Both groups are at a high risk of obesity-related disorders.

People under 40 gained 1.8 kilograms more on average if they got less than 5 hours of sleep per night than if they slept for 6 or 7 hours. Those regularly sleeping for more than 8 hours gained 0.8 kilograms more than the medium-sleep group (Sleep, vol 33, p 289).

CAT scans revealed increases in visceral fat, which accumulates around the internal organs and is particularly dangerous to health.

Sarah Palin compares herself to God.

I hope she tries walking on water next. From NY Daily News:

Sarah Palin has offered up a new excuse for using her hand to scribble crib notes – God did it, too.

The former Alaskan governor was speaking at an Ohio Right to Life fund-raiser last week when she addressed the palm-writing incident that occurred at a Tea Party convention last month and earned her so much media mockery.

"I didn't [at the time] have a good answer to that criticism because I thought it was so ridiculous," Palin told the nearly 3,000 people at the event.

But now the 46-year-old GOP star has her response:

"If it was good enough for God, scribbling on the palm of his hand, it's good enough for me," Palin said to cheers from the crowd, who laughed along with her.

She cited a line from the Bible as part of her remarks, which she said a supporter had sent her.

The passage, Isaiah 49:16, says, "See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

"I’m in good company," Palin said.

North Korea ready to "blow up" the US.

From FOX News:

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's army said Monday it is ready to "blow up" South Korea and the U.S., hours after the allies kicked off annual military drills that Pyongyang has slammed as a rehearsal for attack.

South Korea and the U.S. — which normally dismiss such threats as rhetoric — began 11 days of drills across South Korea on Monday morning to rehearse how the U.S. would deploy in time of emergency on the Korean peninsula.

The U.S. and South Korea argue the drills — which include live firing by U.S. Marines, aerial attack drills and urban warfare training — are purely defensive. North Korea claims they amount to attack preparations and has demanded they be canceled.

The North's People's Army issued a statement Monday, warning the drills created a tense situation and that its troops are "fully ready" to "blow up" the allies once the order is issued.

The North also put all its soldiers and reservists on high alert to "mercilessly crush the aggressors" should they encroach upon the North's territory even slightly, said the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

Japan Airline uniforms sold to sex industry.

Coming soon to your local Japanese vending machine... From News.com.au:

Japan Airlines flight attendant uniforms are being sold to the local sex industry after becoming highly sought after by fetishists.

While several shops have created credible imitations, uniforms worn by air stewardesses have become worth their weight in gold for customers keen on role-playing fantasies.

Since announcing bankruptcy in January cabin crew face mass layoffs and an increased temptation to sell their outfits for a profit.

The airline expects a flood of uniforms on to the black market.

Yu Teramoto, the owner of a specialist costumier in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, told The Times in the UK real Japan Airlines (JAL) outfits have been virtually impossible for buyers to lay their hands on.

The airline has gone to great lengths to ensure uniforms stay off the black market, including inserting a serial number into each item of clothing, and keeping meticulous records of the exact whereabouts of garments all around the world.

This airline may also follow All Nippon Airways, who were forced to sew computer chips into its stewardess uniforms after suffering a similar problem.