When my newest roommate moved into the house, it didn’t take me long to notice that she is a remarkably bright lady. She’s not that nerd who’s only book smart, either. She is well versed in just about…everything…and incredibly articulate. However, I never thought that her smarts had anything to do with the fact that she’s Finnish until recently.

According to new studies, Finnish teenagers are some of the smartest teenagers in the world, and yet, these kids aren’t nerds who do nothing but study. They seem to waste about the same amount of time surfing the web and obsessing over music as we in America do. They don’t seem to take anything any more seriously than anyone else. Yet somehow, they are far ahead in subjects like math, science, and reading by the time they’re fifteen years old. Read More »

Bad news New Years Resolutionites: looks like all that work you are doing at the gym isn’t quite as impressive as you have been lead to believe. Nor will it lead to the extreme or quick results you have been counting on. A recent article in the New York Times is claiming that the calorie counters on your favorite machines – especially the cherished, Elliptical – are wrong. Sometimes way wrong.

This news isn’t a total shock to most people - I mean, unless you are slightly delusional or in denial, you should be able to tell that a 30 minute stint on the cross-trainer could not possibly burn 500 calories – but it is still a little disconcerting. What is the point of having calorie counters on machines if they are so off? And how many calories am I burning during my workout? Read More »