Using mobile devices could give you ‘smartphone face’ with sagging complexion

Spending too much time staring at your mobile phone, reading from your “tablet” mobile device, or working on your laptop could cause you to develop “smartphone face,” a condition that some medical experts say is becoming increasingly more prevalent in the digital age…

Wi-Fi radiation from laptops may cause infertility in men

(NaturalNews) Laptops with wi-fi technology have given us the capability to connect to the internet almost anywhere, but now researchers say wi-fi radiation may also be giving us more infertility by decreasing sperm motility and damaging DNA in sperm. Is Your Wi-Fi Laptop Hurting Your Sperm? Published in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility , the study looked at how radiation emitted from wi-fi laptops impacts sperm health. Researchers in Argentina took semen samples from 29 healthy men, and they measured sperm motility after four hours of exposure to wi-fi radiation from a laptop wirelessly connected to the internet. Sperm in the control group was kept at the same temperature for the same amount of time, but was not exposed to wi-fi radiation. Of the sperm exposed to the wi-fi radiation, 25 percent stopped swimming. Only 14 percent of unexposed sperm ceased to swim after four hours. Wi-fi sperm also showed 9 percent DNA fragmentation, or irreversible damage in the genetic code, while sperm in the control group only showed 3 percent. Electromagnetic radiation is a product of wireless communication, and researchers suggest this radiation may be causing sperm damage. “We speculate that keeping a laptop connected wirelessly to the internet on the lap near the testes may result in decreased male fertility,” say the researchers in their report. They also recommend more studies be done to examine the long-term impact of wi-fi radiation on sperm in a real world setting. It’s important to note researchers compared radiation emissions in wi-fi laptops to laptops without wi-fi connection. Emissions from laptops without wi-fi were negligible, while emissions from wi-fi laptops was significantly higher. Previous studies on laptops and fertility have produced similar results. Another legitimate concern is scrotal hyperthermia (elevated testicle temperature), which can easily occur if you sit with a laptop in your lap for hours at a time. Scrotal hyperthermia negatively impacts sperm quality and can cause decreased fertility. The solution? Keep the laptop off your lap. Laptops may have been designed for convenient lap placement, but this is obviously not best for your health. Instead, use your laptop on a desk or get a specially designed laptop tray. Also, use a wired internet connection when possible, as it appears the radiation emitted from wi-fi communications may be particularly harmful to sperm. Sources for this article include: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/29/how-does-laptop-wi-fi-affect-male-fertility/ http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/238455.php http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57332822-10391704/laptops-damage-sperm-what-wi-fi-study-shows/

Don’t Touch my Junk – Here’s why I wrote this song (Health Ranger)

(NaturalNews) Last Wednesday night, I just couldn’t sleep. The story of traveler John Tyner just stuck in my head. “Don’t Touch My Junk” seemed to be a powerful statement from a regular guy standing up to Big Brother. It was the linguistic equivalent of that Chinese student standing in the path of a tank in Tiananmen Square in 1989. And the phrase “Don’t Touch My Junk” kept rolling around inside my head. So instead of trying (and failing) to go to sleep, I got up from my bed and started typing lyrics into my laptop computer. And then the music suddenly struck me — I had recently licensed a song by an amazing composer (Dan Gautreau) that seemed to fit perfectly with this idea, so I began to put the lyrics together with the song. Almost instantly, the chorus line of “Don’t Touch My Junk” was formed. Recording the song in just 9 hours The next day, I started recording this song at about 1 pm. Amazingly, I finished it by 10 pm. Yes — this entire song took no more than nine hours to fully record, mix and produce. I could hardly believe it myself, actually, because usually these things take many days or even weeks to nail down. But this one was just unbelievably rapid because I did all the recording myself, on my laptop, using a high-end microphone and audio input device. The song contains over 440 individual recordings of my voice, singing the lead lines, harmonies, rap lines, etc. The only voice in the song that isn’t mine is the scream. All the harmonies are 100% natural. I don’t use automatic harmonizers. I just sing the harmonies myself and bang them out with eight to twelve layers. As I’ve been recording a lot of songs lately, this process is becoming very efficient, and I can nail the harmonies usually with the first take (practice makes perfect, huh?). But I have to admit that after singing 440+ lines in nine hours, my voice was fairly stressed for the day. That’s a stretch for any recording artist. Where the lyrics came from In terms of the lyrics, my goal was to make this song funny, edgy and even slightly graphic (but not gross). I wanted it to tell the truth about what’s going on in the airports these days, but not to turn people off from getting too detailed about the TSA’s molestation of little kids, for example. That’s just too graphic to put into a song. It’s a delicate balance. It’s hard to make a topic this serious sound funny at the same time. After all, we’re talking about our freedoms here. Frankly, this is no laughing matter, but the “don’t touch my junk” line was just begging for a comedy treatment with a serious message, so I went for it. On projects like these, you never really know what the public will think. No doubt a few people will decide to be offended by the lyrics, but imagine how much more offended they must feel by the TSA agents who actually perform these acts! I think singing as a form of public protest is an important expression that will hopefully raise the kind of awareness that can lead to real changes. After all, it is rather ridiculous that we Americans living here in the “Land of the Free” are being molested by our own government agents in the name of “security.” Origins of some of the lines On another topic, you may notice in the song some lines borrowed from the song “My Humps” by the Black Eyed Peas. That’s where the line “This ain’t your lovely lady lump” comes from. I also borrowed from MC Hammer with the “Don’t Touch This” line that just fit perfectly in the song. The “Lordy Lordy I declare…” line is from an old schoolyard rhyme that today’s youth are probably not that familiar with, but anyone over the age of 40 will instantly recognize it. The rhyme really does mention “London” and “France” which just happens to rhyme with “underpants.” This is not some sleight towards France, by the way. It’s just the way the rhyme goes. If anything, France’s airport security procedures make a lot more sense than America’s these days… The Scottish Kilt idea was borrowed from a journalist named Jeffrey Goldberg who writes for The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/11/tsa-opt-out-day-now-with-a-superfantastic-new-twist/66545/). He wrote about this a few days ago as a form of public protest against the TSA’s unreasonable searches. It was a brilliant idea and I wanted to reflect it in the song. I originally recorded it as “Irish Kilt” but then I realized that kilts, even though they were used by the Irish, are more frequently associated with Scots. A “true Scotsman” was a man who wore a kilt with no undergarments. So I went with the Scottish kilt for the song. In all, this song is really a conglomeration of ideas, sentiments and concerns carried in the minds of millions of Americans right now. It merely reflects what they’re thinking — and perhaps what they want to say — with the benefit of being wrapped inside a comedic musical presentation that’s fully protected by Free Speech (the First Amendment, of course). That’s the thing about the Amendments in the Bill of Rights: Each one helps protect the other one. Without the First Amendment, I couldn’t write this song. And frankly, without the Second Amendment, Big Brother wouldn’t bother paying any attention to the People at all. Each of the first 10 Amendments in the Bill of Rights are hugely important to our freedoms. And the entire point of creating the Bill of Rights was to protect the People from government tyranny . In other words, the Bill of Rights was created precisely to protect us from the kind of thing we’re suffering under today with the TSA — an unreasonable, even criminal invasion of our personal space by overzealous government thugs on some sort of runaway power trip. I hope you enjoy this song and share it with your friends. Spread the word that Americans will not put up with TSA tyranny . Big Brother does not have any rights to the junk in your trunk. Here’s the link to the song page where you can download the free MP3 files and view the videos: http://www.naturalnews.com/Dont_Touch_My_Junk.html The complete lyrics to the song “Don’t Touch My Junk (The TSA Hustle)” I went to the airport To catch my flight The TSA put me in the Naked body scanner line I don’t want radiation So I opted out (opt out!) But when they grabbed my man junk I couldn’t help myself I had to shout, I had to shout, I had to get my message out, I said Don’t touch my junk Don’t touch my junk I’ll have you arrested If you touch my junk Don’t touch my junk This ain’t your lovely lady lump I don’t want to be molested So don’t touch my junk So I went back Wearing a Scottish kilt I popped three Viagra To make sure my stuff would not wilt When it came my turn For that nasty pat down They thought I had a weapon So they made me pull it out Don’t touch my junk Don’t touch my junk I’ll have you arrested If you touch my junk Don’t touch my junk Let go of my hump my hump my hump I don’t want to be molested So don’t touch my junk Now who put these morons with a badge in charge, and gave them the right to molest us in the name of security? Don’t touch my junk (can’t touch this) Don’t touch my junk (can’t touch this) They X-rayed my bags and then They patted down my elephant trunk They went up my shorts They went down my pants This ain’t romance No it’s the TSA hustle They felt me up While they put me down They squeezed my butt In that TSA hustle This is happening in the land of the free? Alex Jones was right! I’m gonna smuggle a copy of the Bill of Rights next to my body, so when they reach down there they get a hand full of Fourth Amendment. Lordy Lordy I declare Big Brother’s in my underwear Fly to London, fly to France Big Sis checkin’ out my underpants They went up my shorts (can’t touch this) They went down my pants (can’t touch this) This ain’t romance No it’s the TSA hustle They felt me up Like they were my personal physician Put your hands in the air In the surrender position This ain’t security And this ain’t sex It’s some other kind of tyranny And now you’re next It’s time to stop these Big Brother Nazi thugs Next time you fly just tell ‘em Don’t touch my junk The Bill of Rights, baby. Song lyrics and vocals (c) 2010 by Michael Adams, all rights reserved. Contact us for usage permissions. Music by Dan Gautreau (www.DanGautreau.com), licensed from www.Shockwave-Sound.com

Using your laptop could cause ‘toasted skin syndrome’

(NaturalNews) Using your laptop computer on your lap for extended periods of time can cause serious, and potentially permanent, skin burns, say Swiss researchers. Published in the journal Pediatrics , the study explains that “toasted skin syndrome” occurs when skin is exposed to heat for long periods of time, and appears as a darkened, sometimes patterned, discoloration on the skin. According to Drs. Andreas Arnold and Peter Itin from University Hospital Basel in Switzerland, authors of the study, the condition can cause permanent skin discoloration and may even lead to skin cancer, depending on the degree of damage. In the old days, people who worked near high heat sources, such as bakers and blacksmiths, often got toasted skin syndrome. But today, many people get it simply from keeping high-powered, heat-generating laptop computers on their laps for hours at a time, day after day. Experts suggest using cooling pads or other heat shields in between laptop computers and skin in order to prevent excessive heat exposure. However, it is important to avoid using a pillow or blanket as a barrier since these can increase temperatures even further, elevating risk of both fire and internal damage to the computer. Laptops aren’t the only devices that can cause toasted skin syndrome, either. According to reports, a boy was admitted to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago for thigh burns caused by using a heating pad to treat a soccer injury. Men who use laptop computers are also at additional risk as the heat the machines generate can negatively effect sperm production. Laptop heat can quickly warm scrotal temperatures to levels that kill sperm and may lead to infertility. You can read more about sperm damage caused by laptop heat in this earlier NaturalNews piece: http://www.naturalnews.com/026509_fertility_health_sperm.html Sources for this story include: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39490660/ns/health-more_health_news/

Ecuador travel survival guide: What to bring on a trip to Vilcabamba, Loja or Quito

(NaturalNews) Traveling in Ecuador can be very rewarding: It’s one of the most beautiful destinations in all the Americas, and there are some truly fascinating things to explore there. I spent most of my time in Southern Ecuador, near Loja and Vilcabamba (the Valley of Longevity), but I also traveled around Quito and Guayaquil, too. In these travels, I learned some important travel tips that I’m sharing here. If you plan to visit Ecuador, take these to heart: They’ll save you all sorts of frustration once you get there. Watch those numbers When you buy items at local shops, it’s not unusual for them to add up the purchase total on a slip of paper. (Ecuadorian merchants are much better at math than North American workers, most of whom have forgotten how to add…) When you see the total, you might be shocked to discover that things seem more expensive than they should. Well, here’s why: Ecuadorians write the number “1″ to look like a “7″. Yep: What looks to you and me like a seven is actually a one in Ecuador. Their sevens have a cross-mark on them to distinguish them from ones. So if you think your grocery bill total came to $75.70, the truth is that it’s probably just $15.10. Carry a flashlight everywhere Ecuador doesn’t have a lot of street lights. At night, it gets dark. Sometimes really dark. So always carry a flashlight with you wherever you go. I always carried a head-worn flashlight. It was the easiest to carry and use. In a pinch, you can buy one of these in Ecuador, but they’re less expensive to buy in the USA first, before you go. (I don’t know the pricing in Canada, Europe or elsewhere, but it’s probably cheaper to buy it first.) I also found it handy to always carry a pocket tool with a simple knife. The best I found is the Skeletool by Leatherman. Here’s a link to it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Leatherman-830850-Skeletool-CX-Multitool/dp/B000XU43IC I’ve also seen these for sale at Target stores in the USA. Learn how merchants describe prices If something costs you two dollars and fifty cents, that’s described to you as, “Dos con cincuenta.” That’s “two with fifty.” They don’t say “two dollars and fifty cents.” They just say “Two with fifty.” Merchants will often not bother with demanding every single cent. If the total is $2.52, and you give them $2.50, that’s usually enough. Likewise they will sometimes give you back slightly less change. If they owe you $1.03 in change, they might just give you a buck. You should be okay with that. It works both ways. Small bills Even in a major Ecuadorian city like Quito, it’s difficult to break a $50 or $100. Outside the cities, it’s impossible. In rural areas, you’ll even have trouble breaking a $20. Or if you do manage to find some merchant who will take your $20, it usually works like this: You ask them if they can break a $20 for your small purchase. They say yes, they can break it. So you hand them your $20. Then they run out of their shop and disappear for ten minutes. What they’re doing is running around the street trying to find someone who has change for your $20. A few minutes later, they finally reappear with your change. So yes, many local merchants can break a $20 for you, but only if you’re willing to wait while they canvass the town looking for change. To avoid this, always carry $5 and $1 bills. That’s the real currency in Ecuador: Small bills! Taxis Taxi drivers are some of the nicest people in Ecuador. I’ve spent many hours chatting with them during various trips. In Vilcabamba, go with the taxis that look like white pickup trucks. Many of those drivers speak some English, too! It’s good to tip taxi drivers a bit. If your ride is $2, give them an extra 50 cents. If you take a longer trip to a different city, and your ride is $25, it doesn’t hurt to give them $28. They really appreciate the tips, and what I learned is that the next time you need a taxi, they show up right away. I generally tip from 10% – 20%. Taxi drivers are usually fairly honest in Ecuador, except beware of taxis in Guayaquil, which is a city that has higher crime rates than anywhere else in the country. Don’t just jump into any taxi you see. You might get taken for a ride there. But in Vilcabamba and Loja, taxis are almost universally safe and polite. Keep your personal belongings safe While most Ecuadorians are honest, hard-working people, there are a small number who make a living lifting valuable objects off foreigners. This is especially prevalent at the airports, where a friendly-looking business man in a suit might offer to help you with your luggage and then covertly walk away with your laptop (it’s true; it happened to a friend of mine). Laptop theft is so common in Ecuador now that I know an attorney in Loja who won’t even carry a laptop bag anymore. He carries his laptop in an old backpack instead. Anything that looks valuable — a laptop bag, camera bag, and so on — should be disguised as something else. And please don’t make the mistake of putting your purse over the back of the chair you’re sitting on in a local restaurant. When you finish your dinner, that purse will be history. Also, here’s another trick: If you get on a bus to travel from city to city, the bus worker loading your bags might place your bag under your seat. You think it’s safe, right? But what you don’t know is that your bag was purposely put under your seat so that the zipper is facing the rear of the bus. Once you fall asleep, the person behind you will quietly unzip your bag and steal anything valuable. You won’t figure it out until you get to your hotel room and wonder, “Where my iPhone?” Ecuador is actually a very safe country to visit. There’s not much violent crime compared to other countries, but there is a fair amount of petty theft. So travel safely and keep your belongings hidden and close to your body. Learn some Spanish! The best thing you can bring to Ecuador is some Spanish language skills! Some people in Ecuador speak English, but by no means is this a common skill. You’ll need some Spanish to get around and enjoy yourself. If you’re an audio learner, I recommend the Pimsleur Spanish courses. If you’re a visual learner, I recommend Rosetta Stone . I’ve used both courses, and they both taught me a lot. Please try not to pronounce your Spanish like a total newbie gringo! It’s better to have a small vocabulary that you pronounce well than a huge vocabulary that nobody else can understand. Remember: If you aren’t rolling your R’s and softening your D’s, you aren’t pronouncing Spanish correctly. In Ecuador, the letter “V” is pronounced almost like a “B.” Enjoy your visit to Ecuador! Learn more about Ecuador Check out my related articles: Loja and Vilcabamba, Ecuador: Destinations for health-conscious people http://www.naturalnews.com/029064_Vilcabamba_Ecuador.html Top ten things to love about Vilcabamba Ecuador, the Valley of Longevity http://www.naturalnews.com/029005_Vilcabamba_Ecuador.html Adventure to Podocarpus National Forest near Vilcabamba, Ecuador http://www.naturalnews.com/028997_Podocarpus_Vilcabamba.html Amazing photos from Podocarpus http://www.naturalnews.com/phototours/podocarpus-vilcabamba-ecuador-tour/index.html Photos of the ranch where I built a food forest http://www.naturalnews.com/Valley-of-Longevity-Property.html Homes and land in Ecuador Vilcabamba Real Estate Company http://www.VREC.org Hacienda San Joaquin – The high-end gated community of homes near Vilcabamba http://www.VilcabambaHomes.com Or email us at vilcaland@gmail.com if you have questions about land or homes. We can help point you in the right direction.