the buzz log

Weighty Topic: Obesity Rates Rising

Here's a heavy subject: If obesity trends continue, more than 40% of the U.S. will be obese by 2018. According to a new study, that's not the only number to go up: The health care costs associated with a tubby country will quadruple to $344 billion a year, making up a rotund 21% of all health costs.

That's a lot to swallow. The reason? Health care economists who authored the study say that obesity is connected to other illnesses, like diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. Unhealthy people are costly to the health care system.

Japan has been attempting to rein in weight with a mandated measure on waist size, spurring chubby residents into unhealthy behavior like crash diets to make their numbers. But it's hard to imagine the U.S. doing anything of the kind. Or that it would work.

The solution, say researchers, is to keep the obesity level the same. (You're obese if you're 30 pounds overweight.) The states most at risk to tip the scales are Kentucky, Maryland, and Mississippi. While the slimmest areas are led by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and D.C. But even the least obese state of Colorado estimates its obesity health costs to be over $3 billion.

It's not like Americans aren't trying to lose weight. The quest for the ultimate diet that will magically shed the pounds (preferably painlessly) is an ever-popular quest. Lookups on "400 calorie diet," "bellyfat diet," and "low protein diet," all top the search box.

Scientists are also offering up their solutions, like investing communities and employers in a nationwide weight-loss effort. Paging Richard Simmons.

Filed under: Health

Capitol Hill

In the olden days, when an American citizen was ticked off at those “bureaucrats on Capitol Hill,” he or she would write to their congressperson. These days, some folks are going a step further, sending their representatives pink slips. Over 5 million of them, to be exact.

As many out-of-work Americans are no doubt aware, a pink slip is the traditional symbol that someone has been laid off or fired. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, and Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., have both gone as record as saying that the pink slips are a sign that Congress needs to start listening to the people or risk being voted out of office.

The fury stems from what some people feel is “out-of-control spending” and dismay with health care reform. According to CNN, the slips seem to be coming from conservative voters, and some Republicans in Congress have reacted positively. The campaign has certainly been a hit in the Search box. Over the past 24 hours, lookups on “pink slip congress” surged from nearly nothing into breakout status.

But who exactly is sending the pink slips? Conservative website WorldNetDaily, a supporter of the campaign, is giving breathless updates and offers a unique service to its fed-up readers: The site will send "an individualized notice to every member of Congress in the form of a 'pink slip' with their name on it and your name on it." The cost? $29.95. Outrage can be very lucrative.

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People love it when animals exhibit human-like emotions because it brings us closer to them. A photographer for National Geographic recently had an experience with a leopard seal that proves many traits we think of as “human” are actually far more universal.

In an exclusive interview with his employer, photographer Paul Nicklen described his encounter with a gigantic, deadly, and curiously helpful predator. While shooting photos underwater near Antarctica, Nicklen noticed a staggeringly large seal coming toward him. Nicklen explains that he initially thought he might be in real trouble, but it turned out the seal wanted to help.

Well, kind of. According to Nicklen, the seal thought the photographer (dressed in a wetsuit and carrying a heavy-duty camera) was another predator. The seal, wanting to help a carnivore in need, proceeded to show Nicklen how to kill and eat penguins, the leopard seal’s meal of choice.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Nicklen obviously wasn’t going to eat the penguin, but the seal took that as a sign that the photographer wasn't so much disinterested as he was slow-witted and pathetic. So the seal proceeded to bring over injured penguins that would be easier to eat. Then she brought over dead ones to the photographer. Finally, the seal would offer up partially eaten penguins and attempt to shove them into the photographer's camera. In the end, the seal left, presumably disgusted with what she saw as an extremely weak predator.

The video, which you can watch below, is absolutely worth a look. Even if you can’t imagine ever loving anything that could hurt a penguin...