wug7a Contrary to popular myth, Dr. Robert Atkins—creator of the low-carbohydrate Atkins Diet—did not die of a heart attack. What killed him was a patch of ice. Atkins, 72 years old, fell on his way to work and died nine days later from an epidural hematoma, or bleeding between the brain and skull. Nine years later, … Read more
Chances are most people know what pink ribbons mean. Advocates for breast cancer research, spearheaded by groups like Susan G. Komen for the Cure, have stamped the symbol into Americans’ consciousness as they combat the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in women. But what about prostate cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in men? The incidence, or annual … Read more
Newsboy spreads the word
If Scott Norwood had been born later, the former Buffalo Bills kicker would have had a better chance of being remembered as a hero who won Super Bowl XXV in 1991, rather than the kicker who blew it. That’s because the odds of kicking a successful field goal in the NFL have improved over time. … Read more
Pitching is so important in baseball that as the position players arrive at their Florida and Arizona stadiums this week for spring training, they’ll find the pitchers and catchers already there, limbered up and ready to go. For pitchers, mental toughness is just as important as talent and physical conditioning, and they need all the … Read more
In 1928, Emilio Fernández Romo, a former Huertista rebel who’d been exiled to Los Angeles, was asked for an odd favor. Could he pose for a sketch, in the nude, holding a sword? Fernández—half Mexican, half Kickapoo Indian, and nicknamed “El Indio”—worked as an extra in Hollywood. He was, perhaps understandably, noncommittal. But his friend, … Read more
From Americana to emo, chamber pop to punkgrass, there seem to be as many subgenres of music in our culturally fragmented 21st century as there are bands. But take a step back, put your ear to the ground, and you can still hear those time-honored beats: a big chunk of America’s love affair with music … Read more
Roughly 1 in 1.72 (58%) American adults own a credit card, but an additional $620 billion in cold, hard currency is in circulation. That’s a lot of money—more than $2,000 per American in fact—but most of it actually does not circulate in the United States. Instead, a report from the United States Treasury Department (PDF) estimates that roughly 370 … Read more
Food porn: no, that doesn’t refer to provisions in promiscuous poses. Decadent, almost sinful, descriptions and visuals of food have been permeating television and the Internet in recent years as our obsession with food grows. The cable television channel Food Network is available in 90 million households and is a staple in many of those, … Read more
When my mother died in 2005, neither my siblings nor I thought my dad would last for long. To our surprise, he slowly reorganized his daily habits and moved forward with a steady, slow-paced life. Eight months after the funeral his furnace spat black smoke throughout every room in his house, destroying most of the … Read more