Received with cries of being inhumane, a US company that has developed an electronic backpack that fits onto a cockroach allowing its movements to be controlled by a mobile phone app has defended itself against cruelty claims. The Backyard Brains company says that the device called Roboroach is intended to get children to be interested in neuroscience.

Here's the cruel part. For the electronic backpack to work, the cockroaches have to be placed in icy water to subdue them before sandpaper is used to remove the waxy coating on the shell of the insect's head. An electrode connector and electrodes are then glued on to the insect's body and a needle is used to poke a hole in their thorax in order to insert a wire. Their antennae are then cut and electrodes are inserted. A circuit is attached to their backs, and signals are received through a mobile phone app allowing users to control the cockroaches' movements to the left and to the right.

Does this differ from a classroom of children using magnifying glasses to burn ants and then look at their tissue, or cutting up a frog?  I would hope the creatures were killed humanely before such practices, whereas Roboroach is alive. An animal behavior scientist has been quoted on US scientific websites as saying that the insects are harmed in the process. Some say use of the device will encourage children to think of living organisms as mere machines or tools.

The lifespan of a cockroach depends greatly on the species, with some living a matter of months and others surviving for years. New research suggests that, just like humans, they share their recommendations of the best food source. Cockroaches can eat just about anything, and can survive without food for long periods of time, which makes them scavengers.

The Natural History Museum tells us there are about 4,600 species of cockroach and fewer than 30 of these are considered pests. (There are about 5,400 species of mammals). The world's smallest cockroach is only 0.3mm long and lives in ant nests. The heaviest cockroach is the huge Australian Rhinoceros Cockroach at 8cm in length.

Cockroach farming is booming in China as the country looks for new, cheaper medicines for its rapidly ageing population.  Apart from being a food delicacy in China and Thiland, farmers are using cockroaches in Asian medicine and in cosmetics. When dried, the product goes for as much as $20 a pound. China has about 100 cockroach farms, and new ones are opening almost as fast as the prolific critters breed. But even among Chinese, the industry was little known until August, when a million cockroaches got out of a farm in neighboring Jiangsu province. The Great Escape made headlines around China and beyond, evoking biblical images of swarming locusts.

The miracle drug can cure a number of ailments and they work faster than other medicine. Some Chinese hospitals use a cream made from powdered cockroaches as a treatment for burns and in Korea they use it for cosmetic facial masks. A syrup invented by a pharmaceutical company in Sichuan promises to cure gastroenteritis, duodenal ulcers and pulmonary tuberculosis.

Whichever way you look at it, humans are using cockroaches for their own ends.

Men see themselves as the prefect weight, even when they are carrying too many pounds. On the other hand, women are unhappy with a bloated body image. The World Health Organization says sixty eight per cent of men in their early 40s are either overweight or obese, compared to half of women in the same age group.

For some reason, carrying excess weight is far more socially acceptable for men than for women. Personally, I dislike the look of a fat person—man or woman. That is my fatal flaw. I'll deal with it. I know it's hard to cut down on eating. At the age of 71 years, I don't need to eat as much as I did when fit and active. I've cut back drastically, while still eating nutritious food. My arms and legs are slim, and yet I can't shift a rounded stomach.
But back to the figures.

A study, carried out by the University of London, measured the body mass index of almost 10,000 people in their early forties. But 30 per cent of obese men believed they were ‘about the right weight’, while only nine per cent of women were happy with their size.

Although those in early middle age face a much higher chance of health problems connected to their weight, men will not respond to health messages about weight and obesity if they do not recognize that they are overweight.

The researchers also found that men and women born in 1970 are more likely to be obese at 42 than those born in 1958 were at the same age because of the rise of high-calorie ready meals, frozen foods and takeaways.

At the same time, nearly a third of women and a quarter of men do no vigorous exercise in a typical week. The fact that men exercise more than women in their normal daily lives suggests that poor diet is a key factor affecting men’s weight in particular.

One of the main morphological differences between men and women is the greater amount of fat that women carry, which softens the outline of the muscles and rounds out the surfaces while creating characteristic folds and grooves.

Fat in normal women represents between 18% and 20% of body weight, whereas in men it represents only 10% to 15%. The reason for this difference is that women, at some point in their lives, may nourish a fetus and then a baby from their own reserves, so women have to stock energy in the form of fat in anticipation of future pregnancies.

It looks as if fast, convenient food causes obesity. Most people know this, and yet those with busy lives and tired minds can't work up the energy to cook proper meals. Jamie Oliver, a London chef who has toured America, has shown how to cook a meal in 15 minutes on numerous television programs. Taking inspiration from around the world, Jamie produces delicious, nutritious, super-fast food that's perfect for busy people.
See link here.

Amongst a tidal wave of desperate people leaving their homes around the world, many more are due to arrive in the UK in a few months. It's often said that the tiny island of Britain is sinking under the number of people clamoring to its shores. A study by the European Commission last month revealed the number of EU migrants without a job living in Britain already had risen to more than 600,000. Can the economy support more people?

From January 2014, residents of Romania and Bulgaria—two of Europe’s poorest countries and European Union citizens—will be entitled to travel to the UK and claim the same benefits and health care. These include maternity allowance, child benefit, child tax credit, working tax credit, and housing benefit. An agency spokesman said many Roma families will come to the UK with seven or eight children and claim £3,000 a month.

Job agencies are being bombarded with requests from many who want to know how they can claim these benefits in Britain. Some overseas agencies were offering to help Romanians claim advantages in return for a slice of the money. And a London-based company is claiming to offer ‘assistance for getting benefits in the UK’. When questioned, a Bulgarian woman said, ‘Just because I wasn’t born in England, what does that mean? That’s prejudiced'.

The way I see it, benefits are set up by a country to safeguard their residents in times of need. Citizens pay into the scheme their whole working lives as a form of insurance against when they might need help. I advocate helping others, but can the system work if outsiders claim part of the contribution? I arrived from Australia 25 years ago and worked hard for 20 years, paying my taxes like everyone else. Now retired, my pension consists of the recorded sum and a pension payment from Australia, topped up to meet UK living standards.

The UK is locked into the European Union Treaty, which requires a fundamental right of citizens to travel freely between member states. But it is not the lack of jobs in Romania that has caused the exodus—the employment rate is better than that in the UK. It is how much people get paid. So while some in the UK fret about the implications of thousands of unskilled workers pouring into Britain, the Romanian government is concerned about a drain of its brightest talent. The skill-levels and types of jobs vary significantly and include agricultural or building work, medicine, and the professions.

Unfortunately, some of the stories are true. A small number of people do arrive in Britain to beg or steal and they have no plans work. These are influencing public opinion away from the majority of Romanian immigrants who really want to work legally and make a future in the country.

I watched a film last night, 2012. In the end, the wealthy people who had bought seats on a spacecraft ready to escape a global catastrophe allowed the clamoring multitude at the gates aboard, thereby endangering the whole flight. A consensus amongst them decided if the future of mankind was based on selfishness, it wasn't worth preserving. After the hordes rushed aboard, the spacecraft didn't meet the take-off deadline and remained on Earth, acting like Noah's Ark. I like this concept. Insurance against a time of need is worthless if we don't share our benefits. However, the whole world's population must work together.
It starts with the first step.

A US team of researchers report that sleep cleans the brain. Brain cells shrink during sleep to open up the gaps between neurons and allow fluid to wash the brain clean. They also suggest that failing to clear away some toxic proteins may play a role in brain disorders, which makes it a vital function for staying alive.

The findings build on last year's discovery of the brain's own network of plumbing pipes - known as the glymphatic system, which carry waste material out of the brain. In tests on mice, the glymphatic system became 10-times more active when they were asleep.

I didn't realize the brain needed cleaning. I don't know how toxins build up there either. Probably on a 'need to know' basis.

One big question for sleep researchers is why do animals sleep at all when it leaves them vulnerable to predators? Apparently, the brain can't do the housework and function at the same time—it has to choose.  But some people don't sleep well, for so many reasons.

My husband remains awake for most of the night, getting up, flinging himself back into bed only to experience bad dreams. I have no idea why he is so restless, whereas I sleep peacefully. Maybe we were born that way. I must assure you that his sleeplessness doesn't affect his behavior during the day. He's active and bright—much better than me.

And what about all the homeless people in the world? Apart from being excluded from the rest of society, they can't sleep well. They must be cold and uncomfortable as well as in danger and vulnerable. I couldn't imagine what it must be like to live a lonely life without a proper home.

This brings up the inhuman punishment of solitary confinement. Some prisoners spend years without human contact. Recently, the murder conviction of a prisoner who has spent 41 years in solitary confinement has been overturned by a judge in the US state of Louisiana. What a cruel way to reprimand a human being.

Loneliness is on the increase for a variety of reasons, mostly because of the changing nature of society with families becoming split up as children move away. Nearly half of adults in the UK experience loneliness. That's a shocking figure, and seems to have increased dramatically in the last 10 years. Those particularly targeted are the elderly, with most reporting television as their best friend. Maybe sleep gives them comfort.

I leave you with a few words from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.

' To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil ...'

Barriers designed to protect the Italian city of Venice from flooding during high tides have been successfully tested for the first time. Four large floodgates rose out of the water creating a temporary sea barrier.

Not before time. With the seas rising, many coastal areas around the globe are likely to be flooded. In the future, the water is not expected to recede with the annual tide as it does now.

Once completed, 78 mobile flood barriers in Venice will be raised from the seabed to shut off the lagoon in the event of rising sea levels and winter storms. The city suffers flooding on a yearly basis. In 1966, 80% of the city was flooded by high tides.

Construction on the barriers began 10 years ago but has been hampered by delays in funding due to Italy's economic crisis. The Moses project has already cost more than $7bn (£5bn) and is not expected to be completed for another two years. Once finished, the floodgates will extend more than a mile, blocking the three inlets to the lagoon. The project us due to be completed in 1916.

The city of Venice is sited on one of a group of 118 small islands in northeastern Italy separated by canals and linked by bridges. I've seen historical paintings and sketches of the place, often displayed in English grand homes, but never realized Venice was on such a small island.

In times gone by, wealthy men, and very few women, took The Grand Tour for a year or more, to serve as an educational rite of passage. Mainly upper-class European young men of means took the traditional trip of Europe. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. Though primarily associated with the British nobility and wealthy landed gentry, similar trips were made by wealthy young men of Protestant Northern European nations on the Continent, and from the second half of the 18th century some South American, US, and other overseas youth joined in.

I've got a sinking feeling.

Twenty five years ago, I lived on the Gold Coast of Queensland in Australia. Wealthy people live either side of canals separating the strip of coastal land. Back then, my family discussed the possibility of the entire area being covered by sea in some possible future.

The Thames Barrier prevents tidal surges from reaching London. The marshlands along the coast soak up excess water too. I live in one of the highest parts, north-east of the city, one hill away from Arkley View. In World War II, the large house, a "Y" station on the outskirts of Barnet, acted as a data collection centre at which traffic was collated and passed to Bletchley Park during air raids.

The peril facing the world is different now.

What choice do people living in threatened coastal areas have? They can't leave their home because of a possibility. If everyone decided to sell, their land would lose value. People with youngsters should think of the future. On the other hand, maybe it's best not to be prudent. Enjoy whatever life offers. As for me, I'd wait. But I've lived a full life.

What would you do?

Sniffing a teaspoon of PEANUT BUTTER can help detect the early stages of Alzheimer's. University of Florida researchers used the sandwich spread in a sniff test to determine patients’ loss of smell in one nostril compared to the other.

Those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease lose their sense of smell in the left nostril more quickly than in the right and peanut butter is the perfect substance with which to detect the problem. That’s thanks to its status as a ‘pure odorant,’ meaning its smell is detected exclusively by our olfactory nerve. Most smells are also detected with our trigeminal nerve, which is responsible for sensation in the face. But it’s the olfactory nerve that’s important in Alzheimer’s research. Degradation in the olfactory center of the brain is one of the first signs of the disease.

A researcher at UF McKnight Brain Institute Center for Smell and Taste conducted the experiment by holding a ruler to the noses of patients with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia and gradually moving the peanut butter closer. On average, patients could smell the peanut butter at about 20 centimeters from their right nostril versus 10 centimeters from their left.

The findings could translate into a fast and easy way to detect the initial stages of Alzheimer’s, so that it can be slowed with drugs as early as possible. Read more here.

Although the peanut has a long history, having been found in Peruvian mummy tombs, peanut butter is a relatively young food. In 1890, an enterprising physician, Dr. John Kellogg (of corn flakes fame), created peanut butter as a healthy protein substitute that was easy to digest for patients with no teeth.

 Many people dispute the spread's overall healthy effect, although peanut butter contains many beneficial nutrients. One of the main drawbacks is that some of it enters into the bloodstream. The more disturbing news is that some people find peanut butter addictive.

When I was young and physically fit, I indulged in an occasional peanut butter and banana sandwich. Maybe I'd even add honey. I rarely eat the spread nowadays, although sometimes I slip a teaspoon into a bowl of plain Greek-style yogurt and banana for lunch. I guess I haven't lost the memory of a past pleasure.

I think I'll try the sniffing test. How about you?

The world is full of economic inequality. The income gap between the richest 1% of Americans and the other 99% widened to a record margin in 2012, according to an analysis of tax filings.

In the UK, JK Rowling's MS clinic will be officially opened at UK's Edinburgh University by the Princess Royal. The centre will look at finding treatments to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

The Anne Rowling Clinic was established with a £10m donation from Harry Potter author JK Rowling. Named after the author's mother, who died of multiple sclerosis aged 45, the centre will look at conditions such as multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease, as well as autism and early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

How wonderful that the author has used some of the profits from her novels and films to benefit others. Everyone has a right to earn money if they sell a good product. The Harry Patter stories delight millions of youngsters. But, like other pop stars and movie stars, she has chosen to share her wealth. There are so many needy people in the world.

While the US and UK struggle to emerge from prolonged recessions and European nations such as Greece and Spain experience mass unemployment, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank say countries such as Ghana, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Mozambique are experiencing a boom.

The Nigeria-based Ventures financial magazine has announced that Africa has 55 billionaires, far more than previously thought. Twenty are Nigerian, nine are South African and eight are Egyptian. They include three women: the mother of Kenya's president, a daughter of Angola's president and a Nigerian oil tycoon and fashion designer.

The list is likely to reignite debate about inequality between rich and poor people in Africa. In April, the World Bank said the number of people living in extreme poverty in Africa had risen in the past three decades from 205 million to 414 million. A report earlier this month by research group Afrobarometer suggested that economic growth in Africa was primarily benefiting a small section of the elite.

Inequality continues to be one of the most contentious issues amongst the population of every country in the world.

It seems to me that if the very rich shared what they owned, it would go a long way toward leveling out the differences.

Outside our local supermarkets, people collect money for charities, relying on shoppers giving spare cash. But, for most people, this is an increasing difficulty. Money is tight and must be juggled to meet higher costs. Pensioners are some of the hardest hit. Some of us have to go without the food we like to make the money last from one pension payment to the next.

What do you think about inequality?

As well as benefiting every part of the body and mind, a study has found exercise can be as good a medicine as pills for people with conditions such as heart disease.

The work in the British Medical Journal looked at hundreds of trials involving nearly 340,000 patients to assess the merits of exercise and drugs in preventing death.

Physical activity rivaled some heart drugs and outperformed stroke medicine. The findings suggest exercise should be added to prescriptions, say the researchers. Experts stressed that patients should not ditch their drugs for exercise - rather, they should use both in tandem.

Too few adults currently get enough exercise. Only a third of people in England do the recommended 2.5 hours or more of moderate-intensity activity, such as cycling or fast walking, every week.

Source: NHS Choices: Doing exercise regularly:

    Can reduce your risk of major illnesses, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer by up to 50%

    Can lower your risk of early death by up to 30%

    Can boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy as well as keep weight off

    Moderate activity, such as cycling or fast walking, gives your heart and lungs a work-out

I take a daily walk along the footpath outside my home, only declining if I'm in too much pain. During a second hip replacement, my femur shattered. It's been screwed together, but the leg was always crooked. Now, over ten years later, I find it hard to walk unaided, so I use a rollator for my 15 minute walk up and down a steep incline. I can feel my heart pumping and the brush of wind on my cheeks and lifting my hair. I look around at the way the seasons are changing and I know I'm alive and well.

How about you?

There is no single law that defines the age of a child across the UK. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by the UK government in 1991, states that a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier (Article 1, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989).

Now, child psychologists are being given a new directive which is that the age range they work with is increasing from 18 to 25 years. Read more here.

There are three stages of adolescence—early adolescence from 12-14 years, middle adolescence from 15-17 years and late adolescence from 18 years and over. Neuroscience has shown that a young person's cognitive development continues into this later stage and that their emotional maturity, self-image and judgment will be affected until the prefrontal cortex of the brain has fully developed.

Some young people may want to stay longer with their families. Perhaps they need more support during these formative years. All young people don't develop at the same pace.

The solution to not having 25 and even 30-year-olds living at home is making them do their own washing, pay their own way, pay towards the rent, pay towards the bills, to take responsibility for cleaning up their bedroom and not waiting on them hand and foot.

My brother-in-law and his wife have taken their son back into their home after he left to live with his girlfriend. They were struggling, so the solution was for them both to move back to his large home. Both families are living together comfortably with the retired parents gaining extra help and companionship, while the younger people are working and gaining free lodgings.

I left home at 18 to marry my first love. By the time I was 23, I had three children. If I could re-live my time, I wouldn't have been so headstrong. And yet, my family circumstances weren't ideal so perhaps my choices were limited. My sisters both married well and are prosperous.

What are your experiences as a young person? When did you feel ready to be independent?

Three young people were killed when a car crashed into a hairdressers' studio on Monday—the driver and two passengers. One, a nineteen year old girl, had recently been given the all clear following a cancer diagnosis. Her mother described her as a happy go-lucky person and had a lovely outgoing personality that meant she embraced life to its fullest.

What springs to mind is the old saying: If the bullet has your name on it ...

Do we all have a time to die? Maybe it's useless to fight against the sure and certain eventuality.

One of the things the seer Edgar Cayce revealed gives pause for thought. We are spiritual beings residing in one of the many levels of Heaven. Sometimes, we elect to come to Earth to learn a lesson. Before we are born, we chose three points when we could die. Each one can be avoided if we are not ready. Once we've arrived, most of us forget our former home. There have been examples of children and people who remember a former life. In one case, an English woman took a research team to a place where she claimed to have lived. They found evidence which backed her statement.

I was sure I'd die at the age of sixteen. A sort of a fateful thing. Yet, I wasn't ready because I lived on. I could have died twice since then. Next time might be my moment. I'm ready to leave this earthly body behind and I anticipate the next stage with joy. I hope I've learned the lesson I chose.

What do you think about a specific time to die?