Eating for two: Scientists disprove myth of women over eating during pregnancy

The myth that women need to eat significantly more during pregnancy has been disproved by scientists.
Experts tested fruit flies and found pregnancy triggers hormone-driven growth of the intestines that allows the body to extract more energy from exactly the same amount of food.
This change happens straight after mating and the same “juvenile hormone” also stimulates fat storage, the Medical Research Council in London found.
Dr Joe McNamara, of the MRC, said: “This research points to a scientific explanation why eating for two during
pregnancy is not necessary, and may even be harmful. Growing evidence indicates that a mother’s diet can impact a child’s propensity to be obese in later life.
“The important next step will be to reproduce these findings in humans.”
The study, in journal eLife, may also help explain why some women struggle to lose weight after giving birth. Experts found if hormone levels fail to normalise after birth, a­ mother’s enlarged intestine might continue to absorb more calories.
The researchers believe the same ­metabolic responses seen in the fruit flies should also happen in humans.
Dr David Richmond, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, added: “It is only in the last 12 weeks that women need an extra 200 calories a day.”

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Falling Angel: Chinese artists create a realistic fallen Angel

Last week in Beijing, artists Sun Yuan and Pen Yu unveiled their latest work they call “Angel”

The work is frighteningly realistic, and photos of the work are being shared across all social networks. The piece has been installed in China’s capital, reports the Daily Mail.

The sculpture is of a disturbingly lifelike old woman whose body is tangled due to her ‘fall from grace.’ The sculpture was created using fiberglass, stainless steel, silica gel and woven mesh. No matter how close to the sculpture you get, it appears unbelievably real from the gray hair and facial wrinkles to the fleshy wings. The sculpture looks as though it could rise from the ground at any moment.

Some of the artists other sculptures, though not as visually extreme, contain more extreme things including human fat tissue, live animals and even baby cadavers. The artist’s goals are to “challenge our perceptions of the human condition as well as death.”

According to the artists, their latest work “Angel” is intended to “highlight the tension and transition between the supernatural and the mundane. The angel, a transcendent being, has become powerless, unable to carry out God’s will, or to help those who believe in its existence.”

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