Glass 'sky pool' coming to London

(Photo: Ballymore Group)

If you're scared of heights, this might not be the pool for you.

A new luxury apartment development in London is planning on adding a “sky pool” to the list of amenities the upscale building will feature.

The all-glass pool will act as a bridge between two apartment buildings in Embassy Gardens, a 2,000-home complex in London’s Nine Elms neighborhood.It will allow residents to access the opposite side of the building by swimming laps ten stories above the ground.

Designed by Arup Associates with Eckersley O’Callaghan, the pool is 90 feet long and nine feet deep with a water depth of four feet, according to a statement from Ballymore Group, the organization responsible for the development of the complex.

The pool is expected to give swimmers the feeling of “floating through the air in central London,” according to the statement.

The all-glass pool will act as a bridge between two apartment buildings in Embassy Gardens, a 2,000-home complex in London’s Nine Elms neighborhood. It will allow residents to access the opposite side of the building by swimming laps ten stories above the ground.

The luxurious development is located next to the new U.S. Embassy, and from the deck residents will have views of the London Eye and House of Parliament.

With units costing around $940,000, the pool is out of reach for many. In the past year, housing prices have risen 10% in the city. 

On Twitter, the response to the pool has been somewhat mixed. One person tweeted, "a sky pool, so the millionaires in their Nine Elms penthouses can literally look down on you." Another posted, "as gimmicks go, this one is pretty cool."

so coooool.....

U.S. military exercises with Seoul halted amid North's threats of war

South Korea returned fire after it was attacked by North Korea. No damage was reported, though hundreds were evacuated from the area. Video provided by Newsy Newslook

(Photo: AP)

The U.S. halted annual joint military exercises with South Korea on Friday amid threats of war from North Korea.

U.S. defense officials, speaking on background to the Associated Press, said they were monitoring the situation, but no further military steps had been taken.

It was unclear if the exercises — which were stopped one week early — would resume. Reuters quoted an unidentified U.S. official as calling the halt a "pre-scheduled pause."

The latest development came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's declared Friday that his front-line troops are in a "quasi-state of war" and ordered them to prepare for battle against South Korea in response to an exchange of artillery fire along the border Thursday.

The young North Korean leader also chaired an emergency meeting of the North's powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

The Ulchi Freed Guardian Exercises 2015, scheduled to run from Aug. 17 to 28, involve 30,000 U.S. and 50,000 South Korean troops and also include forces from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, according to the U.S. Forces Korea web site.The UFK notes that the exercise is "planned months in advance and it is not connected to any current world events."

In response to the latest saber-rattling, South Korea’s defense minister, Han Minkoo warned North Korea it will face “searing” consequences if it launches fresh provocation.

"This time, we’ll cut off a vicious circle of North Korean provocation,” he said, according to the Associated Press

China said it was "deeply concerned" about the situation and called for the parties involved to cease any actions escalating tensions and maintain calm and restraint, spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on the ministry's website.

The North's CMC endorsed Kim's ultimatum that South Korea turn off loudspeakers that the North says are broadcasting provocative propaganda across the Demilitarized Zone between the two countries.

The North has given the South until 5 p.m. North Korean time (4:30 a.m. ET) Saturday to stop the broadcasts and remove banks of loudspeakers or suffer what it says will be severe military consequences.

The broadcasts began after South Korea accused the North of planting land mines that maimed two South Korean soldiers earlier this month. North Korea denies that allegation.

"The Korean People's Army (KPA) front-line large combined units entered into a wartime state all at once, fully armed to launch surprise operations, and wound up their preparedness for action," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch, according to the South Korean Yonhap news agency.

The report also said that North Korean soldiers are waiting for "an order of attack" to destroy its enemy, warning the loudspeakers are "within the sight of the KPA's multiple rocket launchers and tactical and strategic rocket forces."

In an unusual move, a senior North Korean military officer also held a rare "emergency situation briefing" for diplomats and military attaches in Pyongyang to deliver its side of the crisis, AP reported from its bureau in the North Korean capital.

Kim Yong Chol, director of the general reconnaissance bureau of the North Korean army, said all front line units are on full war readiness and citizens are now in a "quasi-state of war."

The escalating war rhetoric from the secretive, nuclear-armed state comes a day after what some military analysts described as the most serious confrontation between the rival Koreas in years but others said simply reflected a periodic ratcheting up in tensions between the neighboring countries.

On Thursday, South Korea fired dozens of artillery rounds at North Korea in response to what it said were North Korean artillery strikes directed at Seoul. Pyongyang said it did not fire the shells. No one was injured in the incidents.

On Friday, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency nevertheless said that Kim Jong Un ordered his military to be ready for potential action later in the day.

“Military commanders were urgently dispatched for operations to attack South Korean psychological warfare facilities if the South doesn’t stop operating them,” the report said, according to AP.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Friday that Seoul's intelligence agencies detected the movement of vehicles carrying short-range Scud and medium-range Rodong missiles in possible preparation for launches.

The report cited anonymous government officials. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it could not confirm the report, according to the AP.

South Korea is accustomed to discounting North Korea’s repeated threats and the seriousness of this latest clash remains unclear.

"The fact that both sides' shells didn't damage anything means they did not want to spread an armed clash. There is always a chance for war but that chance is very, very low," Yang Moo-jin, a professor in North Korean studies in Seoul, told Reuters.

Korea was a unified nation until the end of the Korean War in 1953. Tensions between the two sides have escalated in recent years amid Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

Sex addiction experts: Recovery won't be easy for Fogle

Jared Fogle's lawyer says the former Subway spokesman will accept a plea deal for having sex with underage girls and possessing child pornography. Jeremy Margolis says his client is seeking treatment and amends. VPC

(Photo: Matt Detrich / The Star)

INDIANAPOLIS — Bill Cosby. Josh Duggar. Dennis Hastert. And now Jared Fogle.

In the past few months, allegations surrounding these men and sexual activity with minors, male and female, have surfaced in headline after headline. In the latest, Indiana’s own Fogle just agreed to plead guilty to charges that include having sex with teenagers and distributing pornography involving children as young as 6 years old.

Fogle’s attorney, Jeremy Margolis, said Wednesday his client would undergo examination by a world-renowned expert in sexual conditions “in order to chart a course to recovery.” His lawyer continued to say that Fogle intends to become healthy again.

That might not be so easy.

Carol Juergensen Sheets, the only certified sexual addictions therapist in the Indianapolis area, says Fogle could have multiple problems, including pedophilia, sexual addiction and obsessive compulsive disorder — a condition she said might have made it easier for him to eat the same meal every day on his Subway diet.

USA TODAY

At the 'Jared Subway,' it's business as usual

Further, she said the fact that Fogle continued to seek sex with minors even after his colleague in both legal and illegal matters, Russell Taylor, was arrested on child pornography charges suggests that he had lost the ability to control himself.

“The high that he wanted from being with young girls overshadowed his reasoning and his logic,” Sheets said.

Not all pedophiles are sex addicts, and not all sex addicts are pedophiles, experts note.

There also is one significant difference between sexual addiction and pedophilia. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of the American Psychiatric Association, lists pedophilia as a medical diagnosis. Sexual addiction is not listed.

USA TODAY

Fogle’s access to children restricted until plea hearing

Still, there are numerous places one can turn for help. Clinics to treat sexual addiction exist all across the country. In the Indianapolis area, Sheets said, more than 50 sex addiction support 12-step meetings exist to help those with the condition.

As to why people develop pedophilic or sex addiction tendencies, experts have no one-size-fits-all answer. In some cases, child abusers might have been abused themselves as a child. In others, they might see a sexual image, and it sticks in the brain, Sheets said.

Researchers delving into the personality characteristics of those who engage in online deviate behavior, of which child pornography is one type, know that you can rarely predict offenders.

USA TODAY

Jared Fogle sought out teen sex, child porn

“There is no one type of person that engages in child pornography, no one profile,” said Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar, an assistant professor in the department of computer and information technology at Purdue University who studies this area. “It’s because the behavior itself is very dynamic and complex.”

Some people will download child pornography but never try to contact a minor for a sexual encounter, she said. Others might network, share information and reach out to children. Now researchers have noted another category — those who contact minors online but have no intention of ever meeting them in person.

Some think that child sex abuse, fueled by the Internet, is on the rise.

One-third of girls will be molested by the time they are 18, as will 1 in 5 boys, said Laura Landgraf, a child sexual abuse activist and author who lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Some of the increase might stem from awareness and the fact that people are more likely to be whistleblowers than in previous generations. In addition, forensic interviewers have specialized training on ascertaining how a child has been abused.

USA TODAY

Voices: Jared Fogle — the monster next door

Others note that the overall rates might not be changing, just our awareness of it.

“Just because there’s a focus on it doesn’t mean that more people are doing it,” Seigfried-Spellar said. “Child sex abuse has been around since the beginning of time. It’s not like the Internet changed this.”

Identifying those with pedophilic or sex addiction is not always easy, experts agree. Signs can include noticing a person looking at Internet pornography, receiving secret texts or spending money on solo trips. Sheets has an extended survey on her website to help individuals identify whether they might have a sexual addiction problem.

It can be equally challenging to notice that a child has been a victim of an abuser, Landgraf said. For smaller children, nightmares, sexualized play or regressive behaviors can be a clue. Older children might become self-destructive, cutting or using drugs and alcohol. They might go missing for long periods of time and show up with expensive gifts bestowed upon them by their abuser.

Adults who suspect a child is a victim should call local child protective services. If the child confesses to an adult, it’s important to stay calm and steady and tell them it’s not their fault and tell them you love them, Landgraf said. Most of all, don’t question them.

“Believe them,” she said. “False disclosures are really rare.”

Their abusers might never be fully cured, experts say. Although people who do jail time for viewing child pornography have low recidivism rates, the same is not true for those who contact their victims, Seigfried-Spellar said.

In Fogle’s case, he likely will go to a treatment center for at least 30 to 45 days, Sheets said. Then he’ll spend the rest of his life addressing this.

“You cannot be cured of this,” she said. “It is like any other addiction. You can learn how to manage it ... but you have to work on this every day of your life when you have this compulsion.”

Woman on $10 will launch currency overhaul

WASHINGTON — It was a question that launched a million hashtags.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew asked Americans in June which historical woman he should put on the front of the $10 bill.

Now, he wants people to think about the back — and not just of the $10 bill, but of the $5 and $20 bills.

"A lot of the debate has focused on one square inch of one bill, and that's not where we intended the focus to be," Lew said.  "It’s bigger than this one thing that's going to happen to this one note."

The next generation of bills will be the most complete overhaul of U.S. currency in almost a century. In addition to featuring a woman for the first time, new bills will contain new anti-counterfeiting measures — some of them secret — tactile features for the blind, fewer buildings and monuments and, possibly, fewer dead presidents. Each bill could have more than one figurehead, or there could be different series of the same denomination, each with different designs.

The process, too, is unlike anything undertaken by the Treasury Department before. Unlike previous changes in the look of money, which were dictated by a small number of bankers and Treasury officials, the look of future bills will be a national decision.

"It’s a big moment for sure," said Ellen Feingold, curator of the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian Institution. "It's so much a part of our national identity, but it's really being discussed in public for the first time now."

The decision to put a woman on the $10 bill — for the first time since Martha Washington appeared briefly in the 19th century — has generated 1.5 million comments to the Treasury Department in two months.

USA TODAY

Senators back Harriet Tubman for $10 bill

Many of those comments objected to the perceived demotion of Alexander Hamilton, who now adorns the $10, and want President Andrew Jackson replaced on the $20 instead. Treasury officials said that debate was coming mostly from the media and from Hamilton's home state of New York, and that Jackson, too, had strong supporters.

Regardless, Lew said Hamilton — who, after all, was his predecessor as Treasury secretary — will remain on U.S. currency.

U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios acknowledged that "Hamilton-versus-Jackson rhetoric" had driven much of the early debate on the $10 redesign. But when talking to everyday Americans, she said, people are focused on the women.

Lew says he's still considering public input. But the main contenders, based on public polling and discussions with historians, seem to be abolitionist Harriet Tubman and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, with some support for civil rights leader Rosa Parks. But there are also social media campaigns promoting the favorite daughters of specific regions, organizations and causes. The Helen Keller Foundation wants recognition for the blind and deaf woman from Alabama who became a global celebrity and advocate for the disabled. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker has nominated Elizabeth Peratrovich, a pioneer for the rights of Alaska natives. A group of students at the University of California, Davis, has launched a "Put a Scientist on the $10" campaign, pushing alumna and Nobel laureate Barbara McClintock.

And in perhaps the best-organized campaign, the Girl Scouts of the United States of America are pushing founder Juliette Gordon Low.

Girl Scouts, some shown here in June meeting at the White House, have been pushing for their founder to be on the $10 bill.

"When we get behind something, we can organize," said Girl Scouts CEO Anna Maria Chávez. "And of course we’re a grass-roots organization. So we started by communicating to our membership and we’re really active on social media. It’s already a great win and an opportunity for us as an organization to talk about her legacy."

Rios, the Treasury official whose signature appears beside Lew's on all new U.S. currency, made a personal visit to the Girl Scouts headquarters in New York and has publicly mentioned Low as a contender. But she's also quick to say it's not about who gets the most votes.

If that were the case, the top contenders would be the pop culture icons whose faces have been cropped onto $10 bills and shared on social media: Marilyn Monroe, Oprah Winfrey, Bo Derek. "Beyoncé is another one who might surface, although she is thankfully still alive," Rios said. (Federal law prohibits the image of a living person from appearing on currency.)

"It's not a popularity contest," Lew told USA TODAY in an interview this week. "I don't think it should be. But that doesn’t mean there won't be points in the decision process that reflect some broad popular opinion."

MONITORING SOCIAL MEDIA

The Treasury Department has been monitoring social media sites and has set up a special Treasury web site, TheNew10.treasury.gov, to collect feedback. "I look at that obsessively," Rios said. "Anyone who gets an e-mail from me at 2 o'clock in the morning knows I'm on that site all the time."

The week after the announcement, the Treasury Department published a formal noticethat it would track the personal information of people submitting names via social media or the web site, which will become official Treasury records.

Treasury officials have also consulted a wide range of experts and interest groups. Noted feminist Gloria Steinem and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin have been invited for coffee with top Treasury officials. The department has convened panels and conference calls consisting of currency experts and collectors, history professors, an anthropologist and women's advocacy groups, including top Planned Parenthood lobbyist Dana Singiser, a former White House aide.

USA TODAY

Move over, Hamilton! Treasury to put woman on $10 bill

Lew and Rios have even dropped in on Washington tourists who happened to be visiting the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

The new $10 bill will be the most significant redesign of U.S. currency in nearly a century. In 1928, Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon announced a series of changes meant to replace a hodgepodge of silver certificates, gold notes and other bills with a recognizable, standardized system of notes.

It was that redesign that gave us the now-familiar roster of faces for each denomination. The original plan was to use dead presidents exclusively and put Thomas Jefferson on the $10 and Ulysses Grant on the $20, but Mellon promptly overruled that proposal, putting Hamilton on the $10 and Jackson on the $20.

But to most Americans, the most radical change in 1928 was the size. The new bills were one-third smaller, costing $2 million less to produce each year and fitting more easily into wallets. Mellon's redesign also ushered in an era of sameness to paper currency that collectors still lament today.

New iPhone camera wishlist

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. - a replacement iPhone is returning in Sept, following the vi and vi and, that were the popular iPhones ever.

So however will Apple prime it?

The normal wish-list of things are declined by Apple for years--removable battery, a slot for further memory, a screen that won’t crack.

So it comes right down to the usual--more power, quicker operation, and--drumroll please--an improved camera.

The iPhone camera is that the world’s hottest, utilized by additional shutterbugs than the other camera to require billions and billions of photos.

Considering the dimensions of the image sensing element and lens, it produces exceptional results--hence, the “Shot on associate iPhone vi,” billboards you see everywhere city, with Apple touting photos and videos shot by actual customers.

But the camera definitely may be improved. Here’s what I’d wish to see:

--Let’s begin with additional megapixels. The iPhone iSight camera has been stuck at eight megapixels for quite it slow. the newest Galaxy from rival Samsung, the S6, has double the megapixels, at 16, as will the LG G4. The HTC One M9, a phone few individuals have in all probability detected of, incorporates a large twenty megapixel sensing element.

We photographers need additional megapixels, because it gives a sharper image, and one we can more easily crop.

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. - a replacement iPhone is returning in Sep, following the half dozen and half dozen and, that were the popular iPhones ever.

So however will Apple prime it?

The normal wish-list of things are declined by Apple for years--removable battery, a slot for additional memory, a screen that won’t crack.

So it comes all the way down to the usual--more power, quicker operation, and--drumroll please--an improved camera.

The iPhone camera is that the world’s most well liked, utilized by additional shutterbugs than the other camera to require billions and billions of photos.

Considering the dimensions of the image detector and lens, it produces exceptional results--hence, the “Shot on Associate in Nursing iPhone half dozen,” billboards you see everywhere city, with Apple touting photos and videos shot by actual customers.

But the camera definitely may be improved. Here’s what I’d wish to see:

--Let’s begin with additional megapixels. The iPhone iSight camera has been stuck at eight megapixels for quite it slow. the most recent Galaxy from rival Samsung, the S6, has double the megapixels, at 16, as will the LG G4. The HTC One M9, a phone few individuals have in all probability detected of, encompasses a large twenty megapixel detector.

We photographers need additional megapixels, as a result of it offers a deceiver image, and one we will additional simply crop.

No. a pair of --Optical Zoom. the rationale I sometimes suggest to travelers to shop for a honest to goodness ancient camera, is for megapixel and zoom. Sure, you'll use your feet to urge nearer to the topic, however again and again that simply won’t work. suppose shooting sports, mountain scenery and a proof at the highest of a building. (The current zoom feature is "digital" zoom, that is not zoom the least bit, however simply a cropping feature. Use it, and lose an honest portion of the sharpness of your picture.)

I’ve worked with such a lot of accent lenses that clip onto the iPhone--but wouldn’t or not it's nice if Apple discovered some way to bring zoom to the device? that will begin a stampede to interrupt a contract and find the new phone, for sure.

No. three --4K video. There ar rumors that Apple would possibly supply simply that, higher definition video that may wow the eyes on the tissue layer screen. It definitely isn’t a stretch.

I use Associate in Nursing app, Filmic Pro, that bumps the video resolution on the iPhone up to 2K, and therefore the Sony Xperia X3 phone presently shoots in 4K currently. just about all image sensors for smartphones ar created by Sony, thus Apple--here you go. You’re set. I will simply see the new ad--”Shot on Associate in Nursing iPhone 6S--in 4K.”

Now, the reality is most customers aren’t progressing to trouble with 4K. They in all probability don’t have a 4K TV, and very simply need to place their video clips on Facebook or YouTube, wherever you’ll ne'er see the upper res distinction on a movable screen.

But still, it’d be nice to possess, and nice for bragging rights.

What new features do you want to see in the new iPhone camera?
Let’s chat about it on Twitter, where I’m @jeffersongraham. If you’re in LA, don’t forget to RSVP for our Talking Tech Live podcast party. It’s on August 20th, and for the first time, we’ll have a studio audience, and would love to see you there. Reserve seats at http://tickets.usatoday.com

Alibaba earnings: What to expect

Alibaba will report first-quarter earnings before the markets open Wednesday

Alibaba can report first-quarter earnings before the markets open Wednesday, in a very potential take a look at of whether or not the e-commerce large will weather sluggish growth within the Chinese economy.

Analysts estimate Alibaba can report earnings of fifty eight cents a share off $3.4 billion in revenue for the quarter. issues over economic turmoil in China still linger. On Tuesday, China’s yuan softened nearly two following information that shows trade was growing weaker.

"People square measure extremely curious regarding the potential and actual impact on Alibaba’s money results," says S&P Capital intelligence quotient analyst Scott Kessler.

As Alibaba approaches a full year since the launch of its initial public giving last Gregorian calendar month, the stock has tumbled. when reaching a high of $119.15 in November, Alibaba shares plunged below $80.

However, Alibaba’s business remains “very healthy,” says Kessler. “They’ll still build substantial investments.”

Recent moves by Alibaba counsel the corporate is creating a giant push toward international enlargement. They employed anarchist Sachs govt archangel Evans as president, wherever he can facilitate develop Alibaba’s international plans.

Last month, the corporate proclaimed it'll invest $1 billion into its cloud computing business, citing the expansion of fellow school large Amazon. Earlier this year, Alibaba's cloud-computing service Aliyun opened a knowledge center within the U.S., and a lot of square measure planned for the center East, Singapore, Japan and Europe.

“Amazon has been ready to grow a hugely victorious cloud business by realizing they need such a lot capability in their own information centers, that they may lease a number of that capability out and do therefore at a really high margin," says Wedbush analyst Gil Luria. "Alibaba saw however victorious Amazon was and determined to leap into the fray.”

Luria says Alibaba can seemingly report another robust quarter, and doesn't expect the e-commerce large to notice struggles within the Chinese economy.

“They’ve reported  2 terribly robust quarters as a public company,” he says.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter:@brettmolina23.

Study: Most teens start school too early in morning to get enough sleep

Most teens start school too early in the morning, which deprives them of the sleep they need to learn and stay healthy, a new study says.

Most teens begin college too early within the morning, that deprives them of the sleep they have to be told and keep healthy, a brand new study says.

The yank Academy of pediatric medicine last year urged middle colleges and high colleges to start out no prior to 8:30 a.m. so as to permit teens — WHO square measure biologically programmed to remain up later in the dead of night than adults — to induce the counseled eight.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep every night.

But eighty three of faculties do begin before 8:30 a.m., in line with a study discharged weekday by the Centers for unwellness management and interference. the common begin time for thirty-nine,700 public middle colleges, high colleges and combined colleges was 8:03 a.m., supported information from the 2011-2012 academic year.

School systems have debated whether or not to delay college begin times for years. several folks have asked colleges to start out later, difference that their teens have bother awakening early enough to induce to highschool by 7:30 a.m., plus learn.

"It makes fully no sense," same medical practitioner M. Safwan Badr,  a past president of the yank Academy of Sleep medication. "You're asking children to be told science at a time their brains don't seem to be even awake."

But several college officers have argued that beginning category later would create it tougher to schedule outside sporting events, which regularly need groups to require buses to alternative elements of their districts.

"It's a supply nightmare," same Daniel Domenech, decision maker of AASA, the varsity Superintendents Association., WHO same that college districts got to contemplate the value of college buses, still as traffic and outside activity schedules.

Allowing high schoolers to sleep in might mean causing elementary children to highschool within the dark throughout the winter, as they'd got to take the first schedule. that would cause a security dangers to the youngest children as they walk to highschool or wait at bus stops, Domenech same.

Starting highschool later additionally would mean beginning sports practices later and create it tougher for teens to induce to outside jobs, Domenech same.

He notes that early college begin times square measure nothing new.

"This has been occurring forever, and children are graduating from college and occurring to school," Domenech same. "It actually does not appear to possess hurt all of them these years."

Yet studies show that today's teens square measure inveterately sleep disadvantaged, same Judith Owens, director of sleep medication at Beantown Children's Hospital and lead author of the medical specialty academy report.

Two-thirds of {high college|highschool} students nowadays fail to induce even eight hours of sleep on school nights, in line with the government agency report. Adolescents WHO do not get enough sleep square measure at higher risk for being overweight, depressed and victimisation tobacco, alcohol or bootleg medicine, however less possible to induce enough exercise, in line with the government agency. Over time, folks that do not get enough sleep square measure a lot of possible to develop cardiovascular disease and kind two polygenic disorder, Owens said.

"This may be a major public health issue," same Badr, noting that oldsters ought to contemplate sleep to be as vital for a child's health as nutrition and exercise. He encourages folks to be firm with children, setting bed times and telling teens to shut off their electronic devices.

Sleep deprivation can also cause drowsy driving and automotive accidents, Owens said.

Studies on driving simulators show that "not obtaining enough sleep in the dead of night is that the equivalent of intense 3 or four beers and being moderately intoxicated," Owens same. "So teens have gotten behind the wheel as impaired as if that they had consumed a good quantity of alcohol."

Owens notes that students WHO end college within the early afternoon pay longer unattended, giving them longer to induce into bother before their folks arrive home from work.

While some adults assume that sleepy-eyed teens square measure lazy, Badr same that adolescents' natural sleep cycles square measure terribly totally different than adults'.

While the common adult's body tells her to sleep from concerning eleven p.m. to 6:30 a.m., the standard adolescent body desires to sleep from concerning twelve a.m. or 1 a.m. until 8 a.m. or 9 a.m., Badr said. once college starts too early, "they're awakening at a time once their brain does not need them to be awake."

Kids forced to awaken too early additionally miss out on sleep, that is vital for consolidating reminiscences and serving to individuals to recollect what they learned that day, Owens said. sleep tends to be targeted within the last third of the night, or between six a.m. and 9 a.m. for a typical adolescent, Badr said.

"It's like telling you that you simply got to rise at three o'clock within the morning and performance at full capability," Owens same.

Badr notes that oldsters have to be compelled to set firm rules concerning sleep, as well. folks ought to set bed times for teens, still as rules concerning not victimisation electronic devices before bed.

Some colleges have created changes aimed toward up adolescent sleep.

Owens has worked with the general public establishment in Fairfax County, Va., wherever highschool wont to begin at 7:20 a.m., and therefore the initial buses began choosing children up as early as 5:45 a.m. This fall, highschool can begin at 8:10 a.m. Researchers square measure aggregation information to check if the later begin time results in any changes in take a look at scores or health, as well as the quantity of children WHO report being depressed or WHO square measure gashed taking part in sports, Owens said.

Coca-Cola Funds Scientists Who Shift Blame for Obesity Away From Bad Diets

An image from a video by the Coca-Cola Foundation. In November 2012, the foundation  announced a $3 million grant to Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance. The grant was intended to establish a wellness program.

Coca-Cola, the world’s largest producer of sugar-coated beverages, is backing a replacement “science-based” answer to the avoirdupois crisis: to keep up a healthy weight, get a lot of exercise and worry less regarding cutting calories.The drinkable large has teamed up with cogent scientists United Nations agency square measure advancing this message in medical journals, at conferences and thru social media. to assist the scientists get the word out, Coke has provided monetary and supply support to a replacement noncommercial organization referred to as the world Energy Balance Network, that promotes the argument that weight-conscious Americans square measure excessively fixated on what quantity they eat and drink whereas not paying enough attention to exercise.

“Most of the main focus within the common media and within the scientific press is, ‘Oh they’re ingestion an excessive amount of, ingestion an excessive amount of, ingestion too much’ — blaming alimentation, blaming sugar-coated drinks and then on,” the group’s vp, Steven N. Blair, associate degree exercise man of science, says in an exceedingly recent video saying the new organization. “And there’s extremely just about no compelling proof that that, in fact, is that the cause.”

Health specialists say this message is dishonorable and a part of a shot by Coke to deflect criticism regarding the role sugar-coated drinks have compete within the unfold of avoirdupois and sort a pair of polygenic disorder. They contend that the corporate is victimization the new cluster to win over the general public that physical activity will offset a nasty diet despite proof that exercise has solely stripped-down impact on weight compared with what individuals consume.

This clash over the science of avoirdupois comes in an exceedingly amount of rising efforts to tax sugar-coated drinks, take away them from faculties and stop corporations from selling them to kids. within the last 20 years, consumption of full-calorie sodas by the typical yank has born by twenty five %.

“Coca-Cola’s sales square measure slippy, and there’s this Brobdingnagian political and public backlash against soda, with each major town attempting to try to to one thing to curb consumption,” same Michele Simon, a public health professional. “This may be a direct response to the ways in which the corporate is losing. They’re desirous to stop the hemorrhage.”

Coke has created a considerable investment within the new noncommercial. In response to requests supported state open-records laws, 2 universities that use leaders of the world Energy Balance Network disclosed that Coke had given $1.5 million last year to begin the organization.

Since 2008, the corporate has additionally provided near $4 million in funding for varied comes to 2 of the organization’s origination members: Dr. Blair, a prof at the University of South Carolina whose analysis over the past twenty five years has fashioned abundant of the premise of federal tips on physical activity, and Gregory A. Hand, dean of the American state University college of Public Health.

Records show that the network’s web site, gebn.org, is registered to Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta, and therefore the company is additionally listed because the site’s administrator. The group’s president, James O. Hill, a prof at the University of Colorado college of drugs, same Coke had registered the web site as a result of the network’s members didn't skills.

“They’re not running the show,” he said. “We’re running the show.”

Coca-Cola’s packaging department repeatedly declined requests for associate degree interview with its chief scientific officer, Rhona Applebaum, United Nations agency has referred to as attention to the new cluster on Twitter. in an exceedingly statement, the corporate same it had an extended history of supporting research associated with its beverages and topics like energy balance.

“We partner with a number of the foremost specialists within the fields of nutrition and physical activity,” the statement same. “It’s necessary to U.S.A. that the researchers we have a tendency to work with share their own views and scientific findings, in spite of the end result, and square measure clear and open regarding our funding.”

Dr. Blair and alternative scientists connected with the cluster same that Coke had no management over its work or message which they saw no drawback with the company’s support as a result of they'd been clear regarding it.

But as of last week, the group’s Twitter and Facebook pages, that promote physical activity as an answer to chronic sickness and avoirdupois whereas remaining for the most part silent on the role of food and nutrition, created no mention of Coca-Cola’s funding. So far, the social media campaign has did not gain abundant traction: As of Fri, the cluster had fewer than one,000 followers on Twitter.

The group’s web site additionally omitted mention of Coke’s backing till Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, associate degree avoirdupois knowledgeable at the University of Ottawa, wrote to the organization to inquire regarding its funding. Dr. Blair same this was associate degree oversight that had been quickly corrected.

“As presently as we have a tendency to discovered that we have a tendency to didn’t haven't solely Coca-Cola however alternative funding sources on the web site, we have a tendency to place it on there,” Dr. Blair said. “Does that build U.S.A. completely corrupt in everything we have a tendency to do?”

Coke’s involvement within the new organization isn't the sole example of corporate-funded analysis and support to come back under attack of late. The yank Society for Nutrition and therefore the Academy of Nutrition and bioscience are criticized by public health advocates for forming partnerships with corporations like wrapping paper Foods, McDonald’s, PepsiCo and Hershey’s. Dietitians have additionally featured criticism for taking payments from Coke to gift the company’s soda as a healthy snack.

Critics say Coke has long forged the avoirdupois epidemic as primarily associate degree exercise drawback. “The message is that avoirdupois isn't regarding the foods or beverages you’re overwhelming, it’s that you’re not leveling those foods with exercise,” Dr. Freedhoff of the University of Ottawa same.

Now, public health advocates say, Coca-Cola goes a step more, recruiting honorable scientists to create the case for them.

Dr. Hill, the nonprofit’s president, may be a co-founder of the National Weight management written record, a long study of individuals United Nations agency have lost weight, and has served on committees for the planet Health Organization and therefore the National Institutes of Health. The yank Society for Nutrition refers to him as “a leader within the fight against the world avoirdupois epidemic.”

Barry M. Popkin, a prof of world nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, same Coke’s support of outstanding health researchers was paying homage to ways employed by the industry, that noncommissioned specialists to become “merchants of doubt” regarding the health hazards of smoking.

Marion Nestle, the author of the book “Soda Politics” and a prof of nutrition, food studies and public health at ny University, was particularly blunt: “The international Energy Balance Network is nothing however a front cluster for Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola’s agenda here is incredibly clear: Get these researchers to confuse the science and deflect attention from dietary intake.”

Funding from the food trade isn't uncommon in research. however studies counsel that the funds tend to bias findings. A recent analysis of drinkable studies, revealed within the journal PLOS medication, found that those funded by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, the yank drinkable Association and therefore the sugar trade were 5 times a lot of probably to search out no link between sugar-coated drinks and weight gain than studies whose authors reported  no monetary conflicts.

On its web site, the new noncommercial guarantees to be “the voice of science” in discussions regarding healthy lifestyles and contends that the idea of energy balance provides “a new science-based framework” for achieving a stable weight.

The cluster says there's “strong evidence” that the key to preventing weight gain isn't reducing food intake — as several public health specialists suggest — “but maintaining an energetic life style and ingestion a lot of calories.” To make a copy this competition, the cluster provides links to 2 analysis papers, every of that contains this footnote: “The publication of this text was supported by The Coca-Cola Company.”

In March, Dr. Hill, Dr. Blair, and Dr. Hand declared the creation of the organization in an article within the British Journal of medicine. They argued that the general public and plenty of scientists for the most part unnoticed physical inactivity as a reason for avoirdupois. They same they were making the world Energy Balance Network to lift awareness “about each side of the energy balance equation.”

The editorial contained a revelation that the cluster had received associate degree “unrestricted education gift” from Coca-Cola.

In response to letter of invitation created underneath the state Freedom of data Act, the University of South Carolina disclosed that Dr. Blair had received over $3.5 million in funding from Coke for analysis comes since 2008.

The university additionally disclosed that Coca-Cola had provided vital funding to Dr. Hand, United Nations agency left the University of South Carolina last year for American state. the corporate gave him $806,500 for associate degree “energy flux” study in 2011 and $507,000 last year to determine the world Energy Balance Network/It is unclear what quantity of the money, if any, finished up as income for the professors.

“As long as everyone is revealing their potential conflicts and they’re being managed suitably, that’s the most effective that you simply will do,” Dr. Hand said. “It makes excellent sense that corporations would wish the most effective science that they will get.”

The group’s president, Dr. Hill, additionally has monetary ties to Coca-Cola. the corporate last year gave associate degree “unrestricted financial gift” of $1 million to the University of Colorado Foundation. In response to letter of invitation created underneath the Colorado Open Records Act, the university same that Coca-Cola had provided the money “for the needs of funding” the world Energy Balance Network.

Dr. Hill same he had sought-after cash from Coke to begin the noncommercial as a result of there was no funding offered from his university. The group’s web site says it's additionally supported by some universities and ShareWIK Media cluster, a producer of videos regarding health. Dr. Hill same that he had additionally received a commitment of facilitate from General Mills, still as guarantees of support from alternative businesses, that had not formally confirmed their offers.

He same he believed public health authorities might a lot of simply modification the means individuals eat by operating with the food trade rather than against it.

On its web site, the cluster recommends combining bigger exercise and food intake as a result of, Dr. Hill said, “ ‘Eat less’ has ne'er been a message that’s been effective. The message ought to be ‘Move a lot of and eat smarter.’ ”

He emphasised that weight loss concerned a mixture of advanced factors which his group’s goal wasn't to accentuate the role of diet or to portray avoirdupois as only a haul of inadequate exercise.

“If we have a tendency to square measure out there spoken communication it’s all regarding physical activity and it’s not regarding food, then we have a tendency to be criticism,” he said. “But i believe we have a tendency to haven’t done that.”

But in news releases and on its web site, the cluster has smitten a distinct tone.