7 best things about being a married woman

1. A companion for life time
Marriage certainly eliminates loneliness from your life. It is very tough for a single woman to live an unmarried life. With all your friends and close family living a busy life, being unmarried might make you experience a sense of loneliness. Marriage brings in a sense of companionship throughout your life.

 

2. Brings in financial advantage
Marriage is financially rewarding. Not only can the married couple get better tax benefits than any single individual, but they can get better investment opportunities specially designed for them. Financial advantage also comes through better sharing and planning. Married couples generally have good understanding about how to share and generate savings, in order to live a better life.

 

3. Social advantage
Marriage brings for you a distinct social advantage over your unmarried peers (yes, we know sometimes you feel like being single again, but that’s only temporary) People will not pester you with questions like- When are you getting married? Are you dating someone? or other sticky questions.

 

4. License to do licentious things
This is still partially true in case of Indian society. Men and women who believe in the institution of arranged marriage or being celibate before marriage look forward to their wedding night with great anticipation. At the same time, being married brings added liberty for the girls who can party till late in the night with their husbands.

 

5. Gives you a new role in life
Much before being a mother, a woman plays new roles of a wife, daughter-in law and sister-in-law which add new dimensions to her personality. It is not that you cannot have kids without getting married, but having a child by matrimony gives a legal status to the new born and much better acceptance in the society.
 
6. Emotional and physical security
Every woman desires a secured life. First it is the parents, and then it is the spouse who provides the much needed security. A married woman knows that there is someone who wants to take care of her, and who is ready to absorb her emotional as well as financial burdens. You will feel much more safer living in this world.
 
7. Enriches the quality of life
One does not feel like cooking, eating, shopping all by self every time. When you have a lovey-dovey partner to shower endless love and attention, life is simply wonderful. It is good to know that you are center of somebody’s world and vice versa. Caring for your loved one and his family will bring happiness and a sense of contentment.

5 shocking things we eat every day

While reading food labels is helpful for identifying what ingredients have gone into your food, there are some things you won’t see listed on packages but which most of us eat every day. Check out these five shocking things we unknowingly eat.

1. Arsenic
Many of us view rice as a pretty safe, healthy food; however, studies have suggested that it may also contain unsafe levels of the toxic substance arsenic. One study has suggested that one in five packs of American long-grain rice contain potentially harmful levels of the toxic substance, while others have reported concern for the levels of arsenic in rice milk and baby rice. In fact, according to tests by Consumer Reports, those who ate rice had 44 per cent greater levels of arsenic in their bodies than those who had not. While there is relatively little risk of the odd bowl of rice causing any long lasting harm, the popular grain may be best enjoyed in moderation if reports are to be believed. 

 

2. Insects
Most of us wouldn’t class insects as a component of our diets; however, you may be eating more of them than you think, as well as your fair share of rodent hair over the years. Surprisingly, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows for “natural defects” in food by permitting a certain amount of bugs and rodent hair to be present in food products. For example, chocolate products may contain an average of 60 insect fragments and one rodent hair per 100g, while citrus fruit juice can contain one maggot per 250ml. 

 

3. Lead
Ladies, how often have you applied your lipstick in the morning only to find your glossy pout has faded within a matter of hours? While some of your makeup will inevitably smear off on objects throughout the day, apparently the average woman also eats a whopping four to nine pounds of lipstick in her lifetime! As a 2004 study revealed that up to 28 per cent of lipsticks contain chemicals that can cause cancer and a 2007 study by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found that more than 50 per cent of lipstick brands contained lead, this may be bad news for our health. To cut down your consumption of lead and look after your health, try switching to natural, organic brands of lipstick. 

 

4. Wood
From cooking utensils to tables and chairs, wood is an essential ingredient of many of our must-have items. However, did you know it is also a component of a large amount of the foods we eat? Cellulose (wood pulp) is increasingly added to processed foods to thicken foods, add texture and replace more expensive ingredients like flour and oil. While there are no reported health problems associated with consuming cellulose, it may come as a surprise to many that they are regularly splashing their cash on food products bulked out with wood. 

 

5. 48 teaspoons of sugar
While many of us make a conscious effort to limit the amount of sugar in our diets, research has shown that even if you steer clear of obvious sources of sugar such as desserts and chocolate, you may still be eating well over the recommended maximum sugar intake. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, food companies have been increasing the sugar content of processed foods to make them more appetising, meaning that many are unaware of just how much they are eating. The study showed that some of us are unknowingly eating up to 46 teaspoons a day, increasing risk of health conditions including heart disease. 

Golden Globes Favorites's First Appearances

Keira Knightley, who has won previous Golden Globes and stars in the Best Cinematography-nominated film “Anna Karenina,” is a fashion favorite and the face of Chanel. But one of her first red carpets for “Pirates of the Caribbean” was a world away from her current style. Instead of a gown, the actress wore a micro crop top with low-rise jeans. Her jewelry included a belly button ring.

 

Before nominee Jennifer Lawrence had fashion houses vying to dress her, she hit the 2007 Movieguide Faith and Values Awards in a dress and shoes that would have served her well at a prom.Anne Hathaway probably no longer owns this outfit from the 1999 Billboard Music Awards. Heidi Klum would one day become a regular on the Golden Globes red carpet. Luckily for her, models don't have awkward stages. If anyone can make a belly shirt work, it is Klum. Even with hardly any styling and makeup, Golden Globe nominee Taylor Swift is girl-next-door adorable at one of her first events -- the 2006 CMT Music Awards. One of Julia Roberts's early red carpet appearances was in 1990 at the Golden Globes. Her quirky look included lots of hair and fabric. Golden Globe winner Catherine Zeta-Jones usually goes for heels and elegant gowns now. In 1997, she paired lace-up boots with a schoolgirl-style suit for one of her first red carpet appearances. Reese Witherspoon, another Golden Globe winner, didn't have a stylist when she first hit the red carpet circa 1996. The cute blond actress has come a long way since then! Whatever she wore, Golden Globe winner Natalie Portman drew attention on the red carpet as a young actress. Golden Globe nominee Beyoncé Knowles was working some twinsie style with Destiny's Child at the Billboard Awards in 2000. Golden Globe favorite Jennifer Aniston was weighed down with a little too much fabric as she walked the 1996 Globes red carpet with "Friends" co-star Lisa Kudrow. Nominee Jessica Chastain, who wore this white lace creation to a 2006 "Wilde Salome " opening night party, will have more glamorous options for this year's ceremony. Golden Globe winner Michelle Williams is a fashion favorite who never seems to make a wrong move. True to form, she held her own at a 2002 celebration for "Dawson's Creek." "Black Swan" Golden Globe nominee Mila Kunis was still finding her red carpet style back in 2000, when she attended the Teen Choice Awards.

Strange But True: Astronauts Get Taller in Space

Astronauts in space can grow up to 3 percent taller during the time spent living in microgravity, NASA scientists say. That means that a 6-foot-tall (1.8 meters) person could gain as many as 2 inches (5 centimeters) while in orbit.

While scientists have known for some time that astronauts experience a slight height boost during a months-long stay on the International Space Station, NASA is only now starting to use ultrasound technology to see exactly what happens to astronauts' spines in microgravity as it occurs.

"Today there is a new ultrasound device on the station that allows more precise musculoskeletal imaging required for assessment of the complex anatomy and the spine," the study's principal investigator Scott Dulchavsky said in a statement. "The crew will be able to perform these complex evaluations in the next year due to a newly developed Just-In-Time training guide for spinal ultrasound, combined with refinements in crew training and remote guidance procedures."

A better understanding of the spine’s elongation in microgravity could help physicians develop more effective rehabilitation techniques to aid astronauts in their return to Earth’s gravity following space station missions. [Quiz: The Reality of Life in Space]

Past studies have shown that when the spine is not exposed to the pull of Earth's gravity, the vertebra can expand and relax, allowing astronauts to actually grow taller. That small gain is short lived, however. Once the astronauts return to Earth, their height returns to normal after a few months. But still, scientists haven't been able to examine the astronaut's spinal columns when experiencing the effects of microgravity until now.

This month, astronauts will begin using the ultrasound device to scan each other's backs to see exactly what their spines look like after 30, 90 and 150 days in microgravity. Researchers will see the medical results in real time as the astronaut take turns scanning their spines of their crewmates.

Astronauts typically visit the space station in six-month increments, allowing for long-term studies of how the human body changes over time in microgravity.

"Ultrasound also allows us to evaluate physiology in motion, such as the movement of muscles, blood in vessels, and function in other systems in the body," Dulchavsky said. "Physiological parameters derived from ultrasound and Doppler give instantaneous observations about the body non-invasively without radiation."

Astronauts typically visit the space station in six-month increments, allowing for long-term studies of how the human body changes over time in microgravity.

Monster Black Hole Burp Surprises Scientists

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Astronomers have discovered what appears to be colossal belch from a massive black hole at the heart of a distant galaxy. The outburst was 10 times as bright as the biggest star explosion, scientists say.

The potential super-sized black hole burp find came as astronomers studied the galaxy NGC 660, which is located 44 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces.

"The discovery was entirely serendipitous. Our observations were spread over a few years, and when we looked at them, we found that one galaxy had changed over that time from being placid and quiescent to undergone a hugely energetic outburst at the end," study researcher Robert Minchin of Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico said in a statement.

To determine whether the outburst was from a supernova — the explosive end of a star —  or the galaxy's core, the researchers used the High Sensitivity Array, a global network of telescopes that includes the Very Long Baseline Array, the Arecibo Telescope, the NSF's 100-meter Green Bank Telescope, and the 100-meter Effelsberg Radio Telescope in Germany.

Instead of an expanding ring of material suggesting a supernova event, the researchers found five locations with bright radio emissions clustered around the galaxy's core.

"The most likely explanation is that there are jets coming from the core, but they are precessing, or wobbling, and the hot spots we see are where the jets slammed into the material near the galaxy's nucleus," said Chris Salter, also of the Arecibo Observatory.

 Those jets, the researchers said, would mean the outburst likely came from a supermassive black hole at the heart of galaxy NGC 660. As the black hole devours dust and mass, it pulls a whirling disk of matter into its heart that spews jets of particles as it is consumed.

Supermassive black holes are colossal structures at the cores of galaxies that are between millions and billions of times as massive as the sun. They are much larger than stellar-mass black holes, which are created from the deaths of giant stars and can contain the mass of about 10 suns.