The Body Mass Index is the public health agencies’ standard for assessing obesity. It measures weight relative to height, but it doesn’t accurately calculate body fat. A study published in the journal Pediatrics suggested that neck measurement could supplement the BMI. Researchers examined 1,102 children, recording their height, weight and neck circumference. They found that a 6-year-old boy with a neck measurement bigger than 11.2 inches was 3.6 times likelier to be overweight or obese. For being first to calculate neck measurements that predict higher risk for children being overweight or obese, the researchers “stuck their Kamagra own necks out”.

It was Japanese researchers who developed the authentication system for the biometric ATM machine. An infrared light passes through a finger to detect the unique pattern of micro-veins beneath the skin’s surface. Then the pattern is matched with a pre-registered profile for verification. “Finger-vein” technology is much more reliable than using fingerprints. Tests indicate a one in a million false acceptance rate, which is as accurate as iris scanning. Although biometric ATM machines are used in many parts of the world, as of 2010 none are used in the U.S. You can “bank on” cost being one reason.

China’s growing middle class is the reason it is a prime market for companies wanting global growth. Disney has a theme park in Hong Kong and another under construction in Shanghai. Now Disney is opening English language schools in China. Presently there are 11 in Shanghai and Beijing, which will earn $100 million in pretax profits from 2010 to 2015; and 150 more schools are planned. The schools accept children as young as age 1 and cost $2,200 a year for 2 hours of instruction a week. Although the curriculum is heavy in Disney characters, it’s obviously no “Mickey Mouse” operation.

However, a Netherlands-based architecture firm has a fantasyland plan to build a 10,000-square-kilometer, sustainable island in the Pacific Ocean between San Francisco and Hawaii. The building material is to be 97 million pounds of floating plastic presently polluting the Pacific. The modern Venice setting for “Recycled Island” is to be powered by wave and solar energy and the 500,000 inhabitants will have seaweed for biofuel and fertilizer. The firm hopes to have a prototype for the hollow, plastic, building block by 2011. Whether the architects can surmount all the other problems that are involved will determine whether they are innovators or “blockheads”.

Author Bio: Knight Pierce Hirst takes a second look at what makes life interesting and it takes only second at http://knightwatch.typepad.com

Category: Culture and Society
Keywords: Body Mass Index, ATM, biometrics, Disney, island, plastic