The first "Global Matrix" using
nine indicators
of children's physical activity has ranked video game-obsessed Scots among the least active in the world.

For several decades, there has been speculation about the formation of the enigmatic, vegetation-free circles frequently found in certain African grassland regions.

Now researchers have tested different prevailing hypotheses as to their respective plausibility. For the first time they have carried out a detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of these fairy circles – and discovered a remarkably regular and spatially comprehensive homogenous distribution pattern.

This may best be explained by way of reference to local resource-competition for water among plants and vegetation, the team now reports in the scientific journal Ecography.

Using artificial intelligence, computational geometry and geo/ultrasound techniques, a project begun in 2009 at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (CINVESTAV) have a success to report - a device to help people with low vision or blindness to navigate more easily.

The new navigation device consists of glasses with stereo sound sensors, GPS technology and a tablet, which guides the blind person to a specific point and avoids hitting static or moving obstacles - but it also recognizes currency of various denominations and the color of clothing. No more crazy plaids and stripes, no chance of getting cheated in a store.

Is life great or what?

We have all kinds of wonderful choices available to us. Yankees or Mets (better still, neither), Frosted Flakes or Cap'n Crunch, Homeland or The Walking Dead. Awesome. 

And now we get to choose between an old artificial sweetener that was perfectly safe and a new one that is perfectly safer. 

For more than 30 years, aspartame (aka NutraSweet), has been the target of conspiracy crazies and those who profit from the crazies. Speaking of whom, supplement mogul Crazy Joe Mercola calls aspartame "By far the most dangerous substance added to most foods today." 

The laws of physics are absolute - in theory.  And with an exception. So absolute doesn't always mean what we think it means.

How heat and temperature related to energy, the laws of thermodynamics, seem to violate the laws of physics theoretically. But now they theoretically don't.

A paper recently published in EPJ B discussed a theoretical model of the environment's influence on a particle does not violate the third law of thermodynamics, despite appearances to the contrary. These findings are relevant for systems at the micro or nanometer scale that are difficult to decouple from the heat or the quantum effects exerted by their environment.

She will tell you it doesn't matter. But it does, men. It does.

Up to a third of all men have had premature ejaculation - it's all good for them, but a University of Zurich sex researcher says curtailed sexual intercourse without climaxing can be more frustrating for women. Or less. It depends. Women are complicated that way..

Premature ejaculation in men can causes increased psychological strain and stress in women, according to the survey conducted by Andrea Burri, a clinical psychologist at the University of Zurich,  but if men are focused too heavily on controlling ejaculation, they ignore the sexual needs of women and are unable to cater to their individual desires, which can seriously jeopardize the relationship.  See? Complicated.

Some Sun-like stars are 'earth-eaters.' During their development they ingest large amounts of the rocky material from which 'terrestrial' planets like Earth, Mars and Venus are made.

Trey Mack, a graduate student in astronomy at Vanderbilt University, has developed a model that estimates the effect that such a diet has on a star's chemical composition and has used it to analyze a pair of twin stars which both have their own planets.

People attempting to quit smoking without professional help are approximately 60% more likely to report succeeding if they use e-cigarettes than if they use willpower alone or over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapies such as patches or gum, according to a large survey of smokers in England.

The results were adjusted for a wide range of factors that might influence success at quitting, including age, nicotine dependence, previous quit attempts, and whether quitting was gradual or abrupt.

Friends of the Earth, most famous for being against nuclear energy and every other bit of modern science and technology, now thinks most scientists are unethical - unless they are hand-picked by Friends Of The Earth.

You may remember, a while back I talked about Joe Carroll's ingenious idea to do our first ever true experiment in a gravity tether during a routine Soyuz crew transfer to the ISS, His idea is to use the third stage -which goes into orbit anyway, as the counterweight. Remarkably, the whole thing, even including the spin up to create artificial gravity, uses almost no extra fuel over a normal mission to the ISS. This could help with numerous health issues of zero g.