SciTechBits – Interesting Bits of Science & Technoglogy Served For You!

Researchers have found that, people with Alzheimer’s are least likely to develop cancer and people with cancer are least likely to develop Alzheimer’s. Though the reason is unknown, this finding coupled with an earlier research focused on cancer and Parkinson’s disease, shows a clear trend – cancer is linked to neurodegeneration.


A group of researchers recruited 3,020 people aged 65 and older, of which 164 people (5.4%) already had Alzheimer’s disease and 522 people (17.3%) already had a cancer diagnosis. All of them followed up for an average of 5 years to see whether they developed dementia and an average of 8 years to see whether they developed cancer. During the study, 478 people developed dementia and 376 people developed invasive cancer. Surprisingly, for people who had Alzheimer’s disease at the start of the study, the risk of future cancer hospitalization was reduced by 69% compared to those who did not have Alzheimer’s disease when the study started. For Caucasian people who had cancer when the study started, their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease was reduced by 43% compared to people who did not have cancer at the start of the study.

The premise that hunger makes food look more appealing is a widely held belief – just ask those who cruise grocery store aisles on an empty stomach, only to go home with a full basket and an empty wallet.


Prior research studies have suggested that the so-called hunger hormone ghrelin, which the body produces when it’s hungry, might act on the brain to trigger this behavior. New research in mice by UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists suggest that ghrelin might also work in the brain to make some people keep eating “pleasurable” foods when they’re already full.

“What we show is that there may be situations where we are driven to seek out and eat very rewarding foods, even if we’re full, for no other reason than our brain tells us to,” said Dr. Jeffrey Zigman, assistant professor of internal medicine and psychiatry at UT Southwestern and co-senior author of the study appearing online and in a future edition of Biological Psychiatry.

We are not sure if this is true or a joke, however this video clip shows an ex-employee from Microsoft claiming that he was fired for not pronouncing “Bing” in a way Stevel Ballmer likes. True or not, it’s funny as hell!

Yes, you are not confused, he is indeed looking good. A recent study has proved that, more athletic a person is; the more attractive is their face.


It is a very common observation by many that; athletes tend to be attractive. This observation lead scientists to the question, “Are more athletic individuals in fact perceived to be more attractive when only their faces are rated?” Scientists believe that, this facial attraction stands as an external cue for the society to easily identify the fit men.

Most team sports have players at different roles or positions and some of those positions require the most degree of athleticism. For example in soccer, the goalkeeper requires the highest level of athleticism. Based on this approach, in an earlier research, females were asked to rate the facial photos of the players in various positions in soccer and ice hockey. The results indicated that, players in the most demanding positions got the highest facial attractiveness rating. Even though these results confirmed the assumptions, this could not be concrete evidence, as the perception of the strongest position required for the games are not objective.

Parody videos involving the popular scene from “The Downfall” is nothing new to the online world. Here we present, a wonderful parody, showing how a researcher reacts on knowing that his research paper was not accepted by a journal.

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