Babies use logic and reasoning

A study conducted by scientists in the United States has discovered that infants are capable of arriving at logical conclusions through pure reasoning.

The scientists showed 12-month-old infants videos with physically possible, impossible or unlikely scenes. The babies watched the physically impossible and unlikely scenes for longer, according to the researchers findings, which have been published in the journal Science.

The report's authors conclude that the longer a child watched a video, the more surprised it was at its contents. Institute of Technology says true intelligence is the ability to use past experience to reach abstract conclusions from new situations.

The researchers are planning to repeat the study using other physical principles that babies are apparently capable of understanding, such as gravity and friction.

Weights pose no risk to women

Weight training gives your body muscle tone and makes it shapelier - as long as it's done properly.

"Unfortunately many women use light weights and lots of repetitive movements because they're afraid of getting large muscles," says professor Martina Herget from Germany's High School of Prevention and Health Management in Saarbruecken. But women need not share this concern as the prerequisite hormonal make-up for large muscles is missing in females.

Herget's advice is to follow an exercise regime of "maximum strength training". Experience and research studies show that women in particular can benefit from training with heavy weights and low rates of repetitive movement.

A routine like that will firm up muscles and give body shape "without muscles getting much bigger". The result can be a thinner looking body while wearing clothes and a shapely figure when in a bikini.

Combining weights with interval training, where periods of intense exercise are separated by phases of rest, can also help keep you in shape. But Herget says you must eat healthily to maximize benefits.

Together with a diet of the right types of fat, you can switch your metabolism to reducing body weight, Herget says.

Hidden costs of male obesity

Overweight men are susceptible to testosterone deficiency and erectile dysfunction, and they are often unaware that excessive body fat is to blame for their sexual problems.

"The testes don't work as well when you're overweight," says Michael Zitzmann, an endocrinologist at Muenster University Hospital's Institute of Reproductive Medicine in Germany.

Zitzmann says a major role was played by waist size since too much belly fat was harmful and contributed to lower testosterone levels. A deficiency of the male hormone can also lead to depression, he points out.

In addition to a comprehensive program targeting diet, exercise and behavior, Zitzmann says he recommends testosterone therapy for his overweight male patients because a deficiency of the hormone was also deleterious to organs, such as the liver.

Also, correcting the deficiency fosters fat loss and muscle gain, he says.

Men generally take obesity less seriously than do women, Zitzmann says, one reason being that the advertising industry presented slimness as a beauty ideal much more often to women. On men, however, a big belly can still be considered a status symbol and its bearer is regarded as a "he-man", Zitzmann says.

Among the best-known potential complications of excessive body fat are cardiovascular disorders, type 2 diabetes and emotional problems. Others include cancer and sleep apnea, a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.

AFP-DPA