A group of neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, reported they may have come up with a scientific way to read people’s minds.

Led by post-doctoral researcher Brian Pasley, the scientists have developed a method for deciphering the electrical signals in a person’s brain as they listen to words or conversation. Upon figuring out these signals, they were then able to use them to recreate the imagined speech of the same person.

The secret to their method lies in the temporal lobe of the brain, which is used in auditory perception. When a person hears a word or phrase being spoken, the activity that occurs in the temporal lobe also occurs when the person imagines that same word or phrase.

“This is a fundamental principle of the brain,” Robert Knight, a senior author for the study and a neuroscientist at UC Berkley, told FoxNews.com.

“The area that performs a cognitive or behavioral function is also activated when you imagine that function. For example, let’s say you raise your right arm. Then if you imagine raising your right arm, the same areas that were active when you move your arm are working when you imagine it.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/02/01/mind-reading-breakthrough-hailed-by-us-scientists/?intcmp=features#ixzz1l9CJu79N

1. Raw Food Diet

Eating raw is based on trying to get the majority of your calories from unprocessed and uncooked foods. Rawists believe that eating foods above 116°–118° F will destroy enzymes that provide many health benefits. While most dietitians would agree that eating lots of minimally processed fruits, vegetables, and grains is best, we also understand that processing actually boosts the bioavailability of several key nutrients, primarily the phytonutrients, and inactivates some of the unhealthy compounds.

The raw food diet is rich in all plant-based foods including fruits and vegetables; nuts and seeds; and sprouted seeds, grains, and beans. Don’t get me wrong; these ingredients are great―and you can make plenty of meals (here are five delicious ones) using these guidelines. But following this type of diet to a T requires a lot of complicated food preparation―creating pine nut and yeast “cheese,” for example―that makes it impractical for most working women.

I have had plenty of experience with raw foods because I live in Marin County, Calif., where Roxanne Klein, the coauthor of Raw, started Roxanne’s Fine Cuisine, a line of pricey prepared raw food creations available at our Whole Foods and other high-end supermarkets. I’ve tried several of the items but have found them to be extremely expensive and not very tasty―certainly nothing I could follow for more than a day or two at most.

As a “flexitarian” and part-time vegan, I know that eating lower on the food chain can help promote weight loss, but I also know that caloric content is not related to the heated treatment of food. Skip the raw food diet, and eat more healthful whole foods―cooked or raw―to help whittle your waist, not your wallet.

2. hCG Diet

The hCG diet is a very low-calorie plan (500 to 800 calories per day) supplemented with injections of the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Any diet that drops below 1,000 calories is really unsafe for most of us to begin with, and you’re apt to lose a lot of weight even if you’re getting injected with milk shakes. Of course, the golden rule of dieting is that the faster it comes off, the more likely you are to regain it, so this diet would be on my list no matter what…but the hCG shots raise so many red flags I don’t know where to begin. Bottom line: Scientists don’t know if hCG is safe to inject when you’re not producing it naturally, so please don’t be a weight-loss guinea pig.

3. Master Cleanse

In southern California, this is a big trend. Dieters are trying the “cleanse” by drinking a concoction of squeezed lemons, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper several times a day for 10 days, says Karla Campbell, RD, a dietitian in Long Beach, Calif. Then they down an herbal laxative tea at night and a quart of salt water first thing in the morning, supposedly to clean out the GI tract and bowels. Needless to say, there are no studies to suggest that our GI tracts and organs need any help in removing waste or so-called toxins from the body.

The diet is only 650–1,300 calories, and it lacks key nutrients like protein, calcium, iron, and zinc―so no dietitian recommends doing it for more than a day or two. Campbell also adds this warning: “Dieters who try it end up losing lean body mass, and then when they are ‘cleansed’ and go back to their old ways, they gain fat. They end up being a fatter version of their old selves.”

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4. Cabbage Soup Diet (and all of its single-food-diet cousins)

Contrary to rumors, this diet is not recommended by, nor did it originate with, the American Heart Association (AHA); the Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital, in Spokane, Wash.; or any other health organization. In fact, AHA and others have made it known that you should steer clear of this fad diet.

While there are several versions of the diet, all have a seven-day cycle based on all-you-can-eat “fat-burning” cabbage soup (a mix of cabbage, carrots, celery, tomatoes, peppers, and onions).

Since the diet provides plenty of liquids and nutrient-packed veggies, it’s not as bad as many other fad diets. However, if you enjoy food at all or have a life, you won’t be able to stay on any diet that restricts food groups or relies on one or two superfoods for very long. And then you’ll be back where you started right after you go off it.

5. Ear Stapling

This relatively new fad is based on a theory among acupuncturists that an area of the ear regulates your appetite. The procedure is like getting an ear pierced, but the constant pressure of the staple on the “stomach” of your ear is supposed to curtail your eating.

Fat chance. There is no science behind ear stapling for weight loss, but there is plenty of evidence that stapling could lead to serious infections and deformities. If you need help in controlling your appetite, better to try something that really works, like eating more fruits and vegetables and less of everything else.

6. Breatharian Diet

This one takes the cake. (Oh, but only if it did.) It’s a diet that promotes living on air alone, no food or water. Hmm. That is pretty contrary to what I learned in undergraduate and graduate school while studying nutrition. I believe our bodies will only survive a few days without water and a few weeks without food.

The mumbo jumbo on this diet is that you align yourself to the universe and you won’t need water or food. You know what this sounds like to me? Starvation.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/01/17/6-diet-trends-should-never-try/#ixzz1jpRZhubR

Miami Fashion Spotlight is looking back on 2011, another year of fashion adventure!
Fashion shows, interviews, launch parties, charity events and more, brought a special taste of style and glamour to Miami that made us remember and keep them in our memories.
Before we get fashionable crazy in 2012, let’s remember the most fashionable people during 2011 and honor them for keeping fashion alive in our city.

Please see the original article here

Q. Why do you think it’s so hard for people to lose weight and keep it off?
A. It’s not their fault. No one ever taught them how to stay motivated every day, use good eating habits deal with hunger, cravings, and emotional eating, or get back on track immediately after overeating. These skills, however, are all teachable.

Q. How do thin people think, exactly? How is their thinking different from those of us who struggle with weight?
A. Thin people think differently in many ways. For example, they think that hunger is normal and to be expected. They know that hunger isn’t an emergency, that at worst, it’s mildly uncomfortable, that it actually comes and goes, and that food tastes better when they’re hungry. If it’s an hour before a meal and they’re hungry, they just usually wait, without even thinking about it.

Chronic dieters, on the other hand, are usually nervous about feeling hungry, so they overeat at meals and snacks, carry food with them, and plan when they’ll next have access to food. They think that hunger is unnatural, bad, and that it will get worse and worse until they can’t tolerate it any more.

I have people go for several hours without eating (unless they have an interfering medical condition). Every hour on the hour, they rate how uncomfortable their hunger is at the moment and how uncomfortable it was in the previous hour. It’s so liberating! People find out that hunger is easily tolerated, that it lasts for maybe five or 10 minutes tops, and then goes away altogether. It comes back, but again is only mildly uncomfortable and goes away again.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/01/06/train-your-brain-to-think-like-thin-person/#ixzz1ih2GJp9e

Read more: http://www.wsvn.com/decodrive/articles/deco_features/MI93779/#ixzz1fs21TuuH

The four day art extravaganza known as Art Basel came to a close on Sunday even if you weren’t picking up a million dollar painting there was plenty to see and do. “A” list and “B” list celebrities, amazing art and mind blowing exhibitions were the order of the day our Deco camera crew managed to crash a few galleries before being politely asked to leave check it out.

Source: http://www.wsvn.com/decodrive/articles/deco_features/MI93779/

Siga o iG Gente no Twitter e receba as notícias das celebridades em tempo real

E não parou mais. Capas de revistas, convites e desfiles surgiram em sua agenda de compromissos. “Acabei de desenhar uma linha de óculos de sol, quero relacionar moda e arte”, conta ela.

LEIA MAIS: Conheça Adriana de Moura, a nova “Brazilian Bombshell”

Adriana tem 40 anos e uma formação acadêmica artística.

LEIA TAMBÉM: Val Marchiori: “Narcisa ficou com ciúmes da minha sela Hermès”

Filha de pai paulista e mãe goiana, ela nasceu em Goiás, mas foi criada em Campinas. “Procuro mudar a imagem que o as pessoas têm do Brasil por causa de filmes violentos. É só favela, drogas, problemas no Rio de Janeiro. Quero mostrar os artistas brasileiros, a moda, as coisas belas do nosso País”. E beleza é que não falta para essa mulher tão múltipla. “As mulheres brasileiras fazem muito sucesso aqui por causa das top models como Gisele Bündchen, Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio. Eu tenho muito espaço aqui pela sensualidade, beleza, soltura, jeito de ser, que é natural do nosso povo.”

Foto: Getty ImagesAmpliar

A brasileira com o noivo, Frederiq Marq, e o filho, Alexandre

INVEJA DAS OUTRAS HOUSEWIVES

Esses atributos foram os disparadores de brigas com outras “housewives” por ciúmes de seus maridos. “Inveja é uma coisa triste. Sou o que eu sou e não estou atrás de marido de ninguém. Acho que as mulheres que se incomodam comigo deveriam lidar com sua própria insegurança”, diz Adriana. “Algumas no programa viviam querendo me dar rasteira, fazendo com que eu tivesse menos visibilidade na mídia. Mas o plano delas não deu certo.”

Se engana quem acha que ela sempre foi confiante com seu corpo: “Cresci supercomplexada porque era muito magra, tinhas as pernas bem finas. O oposto da ‘gostosa’. De tanta vergonha, ia à praia de calça comprida.”, lembra. “Um dia um namorado me deu um vestido e disse que as minhas pernas eram incríveis. Acreditei e a partir de então, ‘me sentia’ com as minhas pernas. Eu me liberei deste complexo”

No casting da segunda temporada, permanecem Adriana, Marysol Patton e Lea Black. As demais “donas de casa” foram trocadas por mulheres novas. “A Lea é uma grande amiga, nossos filhos são amigos, passamos os fins de semanas juntos. Eu a vejo com mais frequência do que as outras, que são conhecidas, mas não fazem parte do meu círculo de amizade. Há uma relação com educação, mas sem intimidade.”

Nem tudo são flores. Adriana e Christy Rice brigaram feio na reunião em que se discute o que aconteceu no programa. “Ela não fazia nada e só criticava, é uma coitada que vive às custas da fama do ex-marido. Depois da briga, fiquei mal, e até doente.”

O reality, que mostra a rotina de mulheres endinheiradas que têm responsabilidades como mãe e mulher, vai manter o mesmo formato, mas Adriana promete novidades quentes por aí. E o que a brasileira faz enquanto não está gravando? “Meu dia a dia é uma loucura total. Vivo viajando por causa de trabalho. Semana passada eu estava em Aruba para um desfile do (estilista) Marcelo Quadros; na terça-feira em Nova York para um reunião com os agentes de Brad Pitt e Tom Hanks; em uma hora estarei na Bravo TV para conversar sobre a nova temporada e agora, estou no supermercado falando com você.”

Estudou arte na Sorbonne, em Paris, e em Florença, na Itália, viajou o mundo e abriu uma galeria de arte em Miami, onde é apontada como uma respeitada marchand e curadora de arte. Nesse meio tempo, casou-se, teve um filho,Alexandre, 10 anos, se divorciou e agora está noiva de um francês. “Já combinei com a produção do programa que o casamento vai fazer parte do reality show”, anuncia.

Continue Reading: http://gente.ig.com.br/tvenovela/adriana-de-moura-estrela-nos-eua-viviam-querendo-me-dar-rasteira/n1597363992645.html

Adriana is best known for her role on the cast of the hit Bravo TV show, The Real Housewives of Miami. As an Art Dealer, Adriana de Moura was exposed to art at a very young age by her grandmother, a painter. Mesmerized, the Brazil native studied French Art & Civilization at the Sorbonne University in Paris, as well as Italian Art in Florence, Italy. Adriana was made famous for being the Real Housewives of Miami cast’s “Brazilian bombshell,” and has been featured heavily in the press including a cover of New You Magazine, Ocean Drive, Star, The Miami Herald, Us Weekly, TV Guide,  Life&Style, Ok! and more.

Adriana has traveled to more than 40 countries to visit the most renowned museums and galleries in the world. “My profession is a lifestyle. My globetrotting is based on the artists and art institutions I want to know more about, and my professional collaborations with fellow gallery owners.”

Last year, de Moura organized an exhibit in Rome, drawing in 600 guests and extensive press coverage. But the best art is the kind she shares with her son Alexandre, her “pride and joy.” Last year, the two performed a piano duet at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. “My grandmother always said: ‘Remember that the needs of your spirit are greater than the material needs; always choose love over money and peace over greed.’