Our inner emotions are very powerful, and it is becoming more widely accepted by science that they can have profound and measurable physiological effects.
Stress is known to have negative effects on the body, but what about more positive emotions, such as happiness, joy and awe?
Can feeling deeply moving sentiments change our bodies, our minds, maybe even our souls?
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It is well-documented that, due to their high sugar content, regular consumption of soft drinks has been linked to the development of various health problems including diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
A new study has suggested that their negative physiological effects may be even more far-reaching, however, concluding that even consuming just one soda per day can cause premature aging.
The study identified that sodas affect telomeres, the protective caps found on the ends of our chromosomes, by increasing the rate at which they decrease in size. This happens naturally as we get older, but drinking sugary sodas hastens the process significantly.
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The sun’s solar flare activity appears to be hotting up: a massive X-Class solar flare erupted early on Sunday (Oct. 19) from a huge sunspot, and astronomers fear that this could just be the beginning of a spate of sizeable flares.
Solar flares are explosions of energetic radiation that can have potentially devastating effects on our communication systems, causing radio blackouts and affecting satellite measurements. Flares are categorised into three types, with grade C being the least powerful, grade M a medium-level flare, and grade X being the most powerful of all. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft captured images of the latest huge flare which was classified as a formidable X1.1.
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A poll led by the Pew Global Attitudes Project has canvassed more than 48,000 people from all different cultures, religions and nationalities to discover what they believe to be the greatest current threats facing humanity in the 21st century.
People from 44 different countries were given a list of potential threats and asked to name which of these constituted their greatest fears for the human race, answering the question:
"Which one of these poses the greatest threat to the world?"
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