Spoonful of Baking Soda does speed you up
Scientists have proven what athletes have been claiming for years - that Granny's old cure-all, bicarbonate of soda, can enhance performance.'Soda-doping', as it is known amongst professional sportsmen, can have a significant effect on endurance and speed. Baking soda appears to work best to enhance speed. A study at Loughborough University found that of nine swimmers who took baking soda before an event, eight reduced their times. Jonathan Folland, who led the study, said: 'Essentially, sodium bicarbonate is an alkali substance that increases the pH of the blood. 'This seems to reduce and offset the acidity produced in the muscles during intense, anaerobic exercise that produces lactic acid most quickly, such as fast running or swimming. 'Sodium bicarbonate, as anyone whose taken it for indigestion knows, reduces acids, helping the body to deal with the acidic waste products produced during exercise, that tire us more quickly. But the substance isn't a miracle-worker - shaving seconds, not minutes, off performance time - so that only the most proficient athletes will notice a difference. The swimmers in the Loughborough study cut 1.5 seconds from their 200m time which is hardly significant for most of us who take a leisurely few laps up and down the pool. A study at the American College of Sports Medicine found that runners could also improve performance with baking soda. But the substance - used before modern times as a household cleaning agent - can cause upset stomachs, and tastes foul. 'It is not dangerous, but it tastes appalling,' warns Dr Folland. He says that only those who are very serious about sports should try the white powder, which may cause diarrhoea.
Teen crowned fastest
text messager in Sweden
Michael Phelps, swim your heart out. When it comes to text messaging, no one can beat My Svensson - at least in her native Sweden.
The 17-year-old student needed only 61 seconds to write a 141-character SMS message rich in crisp words and snappy punctuation to claim the Swedish text messaging championship, sponsored by a Swedish telecoms operator. “I was very tense in the finals when I realised how much money I could win,” said My, who plans to use her $3,900 prize for a holiday in France, the Dagens Nyheter newspaper reported on Saturday. My - who out-thumbed her nearest rival by seven seconds - nevertheless failed to surpass her personal best of 50 seconds, achieved during the semi-finals.
102-year-old
granny on
Facebook
British great granny has become the oldest person on Facebook. 102-year-old Ivy Bean decided it was time to get herself some online action when she heard about the site through staff at the care home where she lives. Her carers helped Ivy setup a profile and the former mill worker, from West Yorkshire, now uses it to keep in touch with friends and family. Ivy said, “I heard about Facebook and wanted to know what it was about. I love being online and it beats writing with a pen. More and more people are on Facebook now. But at 102 I have a lot to put on about myself,” she said. “I've only got nine friends on the net at the moment but I'm hoping for lots more. I'm going to put some of my photos on my page.” Ivy lives at Hillside Manor in Bradford. Boss Pat Wright said: “Ivy loves going on Facebook. We're trying to keep all our residents independent by letting them use the computer.” The great granny also plans to try out a Nintendo Wii.
Pyramid revamp fences out hawkers
Egypt's famous Giza Pyramids are being given a £14m ($27m) makeover, starting with a state-of-the art security fence to stop hawkers harassing tourists.
Visitors to the World Heritage site have for years had to fend off persistent peddlers, offering camel rides and trinkets. Now a 12-mile (20-km) fence, complete with infra-red sensors, security cameras and alarms has been erected. It is the first phase of the project to modernise the 5,000-year-old site. Egyptian authorities say once the revamp is complete, it will make visiting the Wonder of the World a friendlier experience.
"It was a zoo," said Egypt's chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, recalling the free rein given to traders until now. "Now we are protecting both the tourists and the ancient monuments," he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. The chain-link fence with its motion sensors, which reaches a height of 13ft at some points, will set off alarms and alert the security control room if anyone gets too close. Watched by CCTV, visitors will now enter through a security building and pass through gates with metal detectors and X-ray machines. The site where the three Giza Pyramids stand - located on the outskirts of the capital, Cairo - used to be completely open and tourists faced a gauntlet of peddlers selling everything from souvenir statues to photographs.
But some traders now fear they will be unable to make a living if they cannot freely approach visitors.
Forgotten spectacles lead
to $3 million jackpot
A man's forgotten spectacles lead to a $3 million lottery jackpot. Bobby Guffey usually plays the same combination of numbers representing the birthdays of his five children. But he left his glasses at home when he bought the winning ticket, accidentally entering the last number as 48 instead of 46.
The Hoosier Lotto ticket ended up being worth $3 million.
“My wife says it pays to be blind,” Guffey said after he accepted his winnings at the Indiana State Fair in Indianapolis.
Guffey, who's from the north-eastern Indiana town of Roanoke, said he didn't realize he'd used the wrong number combination until he had left the Huntington service station where he bought it.
He went back inside to buy a ticket with his usual numbers and that ticket won him $1,000 to go along with the jackpot.
Guffey said he has been playing the Hoosier Lotto since it started in 1989. He said he's won about $5,000 on various tickets over the years. His wife, Janell, said they are going to pay off their house, take a cruise to Hawaii next year and set up a trust fund for their five children and 10 grandchildren. “Christmas will be a lot nicer,” she said.
