APA: Artificial sweeteners linked to weight gain

In an article in the February edition of the American Psychological Assocation's "Behavioral Neuroscience", Psychologists at Purdue University reported on a study in which they tested rats eating yogurt with either glucose or a saccharin based sweetener to see how they reacted in regards to weight gain. They reported that "rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn’t make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance.

"Authors Susan Swithers, PhD, and Terry Davidson, PhD, surmised that by breaking the connection between a sweet sensation and high-calorie food, the use of saccharin changes the body’s ability to regulate intake." (Press Release)

The production of some bio-fuels causes enough emissions to offset benefits of using the fuel

Another interesting report in Chemistry World this month shows that some types of biofuels, or some methods of producing and transporting various bio-fuels may very well cause close the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as standard energy sources. The article goes into how one particular process in creating a certain bio-fuel lets off high amounts of Nitrous Oxide, which is another greenhouse gas more than 300 times more potent than Carbon Dioxide, which is the general greenhouse gas that most countries are trying to prevent.

What does this mean? While it is still a great movement for various countries and companies to try to "go green", if not done right, it could end up not helping anything at all. Though that does not mean they should give up, but just make sure they're not making more pollution in producing fuels that would produce less pollution.

Indian physicists trap light in a fluid, releasing it at their will

According to the Royal Society of Chemistry and Chemistry World, researchers in India have found a fluid that, when bombarded with a specific magnetic field, is able to hold light until the magnetic field is released, when a burst of protons can be seen escaping all at once.

Though they weren't trying to capture light in the fluid that they created, researchers are hoping that this will greatly improve light-based computing in the near future.

Obama wins 4, looking at another in Maine.

Over the weekend, Democratic candidate and US Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) has made a dent in Hillary Clinton's already narrow lead. Obama won contests in Louisiana, Washington State, Nebraska, and in the US Virgin Islands. Before results began pouring in on Sunday, Hillary Clinton had demoted her campaign manager, according to some reports, while other reports stated that her campaign manager resigned due to the sacrifices required by running a national campaign such as this, which is becoming one of the lengthiest primary races in US history.

As of 6:30pm on Sunday, Barack Obama was showing a 57% to 42% lead over Clinton in the state of Maine, the only state voting today, and only for the Democratic nominee. Republicans in Maine voted on February 2nd, giving a victory to Mitt Romney, who has since dropped out of the race for Republican Nominee for President of the United States.

Romney's retraction of his bid for President leaves only McCain and Huckabee, and though Huckabee has a far inferior number of delegates thus far, he continues to win states across the country.

Obama and Clinton will match up again on Tuesday in the "Potomac States" of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C., where polls show Obama with a substantial lead. According to reports, Clinton is hoping for major victories in the large states that vote at the beginning of March, but if Obama picks up any more momentum, that might prove unlikely as well. She was already expected to win Maine, and though only 59% of the precincts in Maine have reported results, it is likely that Obama's lead in the caucuses will not diminish much when the final tally is in.