Is your kid gifted?

Is your kid really gifted? Probably not. We all get excited when we hear "your child is going into the gifted program" at school, but estimates find only two to five percent of kids are really gifted. Of those only one in 100 is highly gifted and one in a million a prodigy. And if you think getting an early start will make your child gifted, think again. Most educators believe kids don't benefit from academically oriented preschools.
So if you want to help your child, just let them experiement, express creativity and work through feelings through play. Read more about it here.

Dogs and cats save lives

Your dog is your best friend, but he also could be your lifesaver. Canines have a keen sense of smell and intuition that can help them detect people's diseases. In one instance, a dog in Rhode Island, detected her owner's bad leg and kept jumping at the owner until she noticed it was red from the knee to the foot. Turns out she had sepsis and was hospitalized for a week. Cats too are life savers. A gray cat in South Dakota regularly wakes up her elderly owner when her blood sugar dips too low and she needs insulin. Read more about it here. And I get excited when my cat plays fetch and my dog listens. Go figure.

Mutts get new status

Move over pedigreed pooches, mutts are getting respect. There's a new Mutt-i-gree Club for owners and their mixed breeds to raise awareness and respect. Three million dogs get euthanized in shelters each year, most of them mixed breeds. Hopefully with the new-found respect, more mutts will be adopted. Read more about it here.

We're all a bit touched

We all know we live in a crazy messed up world. Now researchers say in order to survive, we are all crazy and messed up too. And we can blame natural selection for our mental health issues. Read more about it here.

Small packages trick dieters

Beware of cookies, candies and chips in small packages. They are not diet food. Research has found many chronic dieters look at those 100 calorie packs and see them as diet food alternatives and eat more of them, instead of less. And food makers package less food and charge more. Big profits, big waistlines. Yikes. Details here.

Ask a cow for directions

The next time you're lost, you might want to ask a cow for directions, or just look at which way the bovine is pointing. Researchers have found grazzing cattle and sleeping deer align their bodies to the Earth's magnetic field, because they have an innate magnetic compass. They tend to point to North or South. Researchers also believe humans and whales have an innate magnetic compass too. We all have animal magnetism! Details here.

Cafeteria trays retiring

Your college kids may have to learn how to juggle plates like a waitress or learn to eat less. Many higher institutions are doing away with cafeteria trays in an effort to go green and save money. Read more about it here.