WEIRD STUFF

Research says popcorn lowers risk of dementia

A new study suggests that including popcorn in your diet lowers the risk of dementia.

The research found that people who ate more whole grains -- such as oats and quinoa -- were 8.5 years cognitively younger than those who consumed reduced amounts.

Study author Dr Xiaoran Liu of Rush University in Chicago, said in a statement: "With Alzheimer's disease and dementia affecting millions of Americans, finding ways to prevent the disease is a high public health priority.

"It's exciting to see that people could potentially lower their risk of dementia by increasing their diet of whole grains by a couple of servings a day."

It was also found that whole grains were linked to lowering cholesterol, insulin levels and blood pressure.

Overweight snakes worry researcher

Obesity is on the rise in pet snakes. Some reptiles only eat one big meal per year in the wild, but those in captivity are often fed on a weekly basis by ill-informed owners.

This leads to significant weight gain and a shorter lifespan as pet snakes are a lot less active than those slithering free.

Mark O'Shea, professor of herpetology at the University of Wolverhampton, explained that snakes are "feast or famine" animals that regularly go long periods of time between meals.

He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "Obesity is a problem in a lot of organisms. The owners may not recognise that they're feeding their animal too much, it's less obvious in snakes because people think a fat snake is a healthy snake.

"That's not necessarily true, of course. They feed when the opportunity presents itself, and then there's a very prolonged period of resting because they don't need to feed again for a long time."

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Wild hog fear grips USA

Fears are growing in the United States about an invasion of "super pigs" from Canada.

The population of the feral hogs -- which have been described as "the most invasive animal on the planet" by expert Professor Ryan Brook -- has soared in the US since 2019 and they are proving extremely difficult to eradicate in northern states.

The swine are capable of spreading disease as well as devastating crops and wildlife.

Researcher Ruth Aschim said: "Wild pigs are ecological train wrecks. They are prolific breeders, making them an extremely successful invasive species.

"Wild pigs can cause soil erosion, degrade water quality, destroy crops, and prey on smaller mammals, amphibians and birds."

States such as Minnesota and Montana are attempting to stop the invasion, but Professor Brook warned that hunting the hogs doesn't help the situation, as it makes the animals nocturnal -- which means they are harder to track down.

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Funerals not important to many Brits

Less than half of the population in Britain want a funeral when they die.

A new study by the religious think tank, Theos, has found that only 47 per cent of people are certain that they want a funeral service after they pass away.

Some 2,500 people were asked if they wanted their life to be commemorated with a service, and over half said that they did not or were not sure-- with 24 per cent saying no entirely, and 28 per cent stating they did not know.

Theos found that both financial pressures and declining religious belief have caused "growing numbers of Britons [to] disperse with funeral rites altogether" -- much to the shock of Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

Welby said: "People around us are increasingly sheltered from the physical reality of death, they know less and less about how they will die and how to cope with loss.

"It is shocking to discover that death may be seen as expensive, time-consuming and irrelevant."