Men married to smart women live longer

Swedish scientists have discovered that long life and good health have nothing to do with a man’s education and everything to do with his wife’s

There is a lingering suspicion among girls (as the unpopularity of science subjects demonstrates) that boys don’t value cleverness as an essential quality in a life partner. Given a choice between gorgeous or brainy, there is no guarantee they’ll do the right thing, because men think they’re clever enough for two. Well, it turns out they’re wrong. Swedish scientists have discovered that long life and good health have nothing to do with a man’s education and everything to do with his wife’s. Men married to smart women live longer — simple.

Read the rest of the article at Times Online...

Postal Service Drops Santa Letters Program

Thousands of starry-eyed children all over the world are writing letters to the jolly man at the North Pole this holiday season, but they will not likely get a response from Santa Claus or his helpers.

The U.S. Postal Service is dropping a popular effort begun in 1954 in the small Alaska town of North Pole, where volunteers open and respond to thousands of letters addressed to Santa each year. Replies come with North Pole postmarks.

Postal Service officials said they are tightening rules in such programs nationwide after a postal worker in Maryland recognized a volunteer in the agency's Operation Santa program as a registered sex offender. The postal worker interceded before the individual could answer a child's letter, but the Postal Service viewed the episode as a big enough scare to make changes to the program.

People in North Pole are incensed by the change, likening the Postal Service to the Grinch trying to steal Christmas. The letter program is a revered holiday tradition in North Pole, where light posts are curved and striped like candy canes and streets have names such as Kris Kringle Drive and Santa Claus Lane. Volunteers in the letter program even sign the response letters as Santa's elves and helpers.

Read more at FOX...

The Nicest Leopard Seal In The Whole Entire Ocean

National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen recently traveled to Antarctica to take underwater photographs of leopard seals. When he arrived, he and his guide were greeted by the largest leopard seal either of them had ever seen. Upon entering the water the vicious sea beast immediately took Paul's camera and entire head into her mouth, but then something changed. All we'll say is that it involves penguins. Watch the video to find out.

Oxford Word of the Year 2009: Unfriend

Every year the New Oxford American Dictionary prepares for the holidays by making its biggest announcement of the year.  This announcement is usually applauded by some and derided by others and the ongoing conversation it sparks is always a lot of fun, so I encourage you to let us know what you think in the comments.

Without further ado, the 2009 Word of the Year is: unfriend.

unfriend – verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.

As in, “I decided to unfriend my roommate on Facebook after we had a fight.”

Cardboard Sculptures by Chris Gilmour

Chris Gilmour is an English artist specialising in the creation of life-sized sculptures made of recycled cardboard and glue, using both plain packaging cardboard and recycled packaging material. His works replicate in painstaking detail many objects and machines out of our ordinary lives including objects from daily life, such as bicycles, motorbikes, cars, cafetieres and chairs. Samples are below but you can se a lot more at Chris Gilmour's website.