EUREKA: Scientists May Have Discovered The ‘Thin Pill’
INQUIRER: Today’s booming gym business could start to go bust if scientists confirm the initial promise of two performance-enhancing, fat-melting pills that mimic the physiological benefits of exercise without all the sweat. Results published today in the journal Cell show the drugs turn ordinary mice into trim marathon champions. There should be no shortage of volunteers ready see if they do they same in humans. The two drugs, which go by their scientific names AICAR and GW1516, have two different target demographics: Couch potatoes might consider AICAR, which seems to build endurance and encourage fat burning through the same molecular processes that go on during real exercise. GW1516 may be more for athletes, because it boosted endurance even more but only if the mice did about 30 minutes of treadmill running a day. [via PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER]
TIGER BALM: Golden Retriever Adopts Three Tiger Cubs
CANEY, Kan. — A dog at a southeast Kansas zoo has adopted three tiger cubs abandoned by their mother. Safari Zoological Park owner Tom Harvey said the tiger cubs were born Sunday, but the mother had problems with them. A day later, the mother stopped caring for them. Harvey said the cubs were wandering around, trying to find their birth mother, who wouldn’t pay attention to them. That’s when the cubs were put in the care of a golden retriever, Harvey said. Harvey said it’s unusual for dogs to care for tiger cubs, but it does happen. He said he has seen reports of pigs nursing cubs in China, and he actually got the golden retriever after his wife saw television accounts of dogs caring for tiger cubs. [via ASSOCIATED PRESS]
GO, JOHNNY GO: Edwards Goes Out Of His Way To Elude Press Questions
It was only three weeks ago that John Edwards was fielding media questions on his chances of filling the Democratic Party’s vice presidential slot on Barack Obama’s ticket or a potential Cabinet position in an Obama administration. On Wednesday, however, the former U.S. senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee was eager to duck the press when the questions took a tabloid turn. About a dozen reporters and photojournalists attended a speech Edwards gave to an AARP Foundation symposium on poverty and aging in Washington. Afterward, he avoided most of the waiting reporters, at least some of whom wanted to question him about recent reports in the National Enquirer that alleged an inappropriate relationship with a former campaign videographer. On Wednesday, Edwards apparently ducked out a side area used by the kitchen staff in the fourth-floor ballroom of Washington’s historic Hotel Monaco. Edwards emerged from a lower-level handicap ramp near the rear of the hotel with two men. When approached by a Charlotte Observer reporter, Edwards said, “Can’t do it now, I’m sorry” and quickly walked past. Asked what he was doing at the Beverly Hilton last week, Edwards said “sorry” and got into a waiting car with the other men. At a July 23 speech in Houston, Edwards responded to a reporter’s question about the Enquirer story by referring to it as “tabloid trash.” [via NEWS & OBSERVER]
HIGHWAY TO HELL: Man Beheaded On Crowded Cross-Country Bus
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, MANITOBA, CANADA — At about 8:45 p.m. the vehicle was stopped in the eastbound lane following an apparent assault. Garnet Caton, one of 37 passengers on the bus, said he witnessed the attack. “We all heard this scream, this like blood-curdling scream,” Caton told CBC Newsworld. He alleged the suspect [NOT pictured, above] had a “large hunting knife” and repeatedly stabbed the victim “like 50 or 60 times.” “The attacker was calmy over top of the victim continually cutting him. I think the victim was gone at that point,” Caton told the CBC. He said the victim appeared to be sleeping before the attack and the suspect was not acting out of the ordinary. The bus was evacuated, but Caton said he was one of a handful of witnesses who saw the suspect allegedly trying to behead the body. The suspect later appeared at the front of the bus, he said. “He calmly walked up to the front (of the bus) with (the victim’s) head in his hand and the knife and then dropped the head in front of us,” Caton said, adding he believes the suspect later returned to the back of the bus and was seen later “taunting police with the head in his hand out the window.” [via EDMONTON SUN]