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.

Pot-bellied pig up for adoption

A family who lost their home to foreclosure had to give up their beloved pot-bellied pig and now Moogy is up for adoption. The three year old black Vietnamese porker is house-broken! The SPCA Wildlife Care Center in Ft. Lauderdale says adoption fee is just 50 bucks. Details here.

List of Top Colleges

Harvard University is tops. The U.S. News and World Report is out with its list of top colleges according to SAT scores, peer reputation, selectivity and alumni giving. Top five are Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT and Stanford. Harvard is quick to note that students should still choose the school that fits their needs and not by ranking. Details here.

Riskiest sport for your daughter

So what is the riskiest sport for your daughter at school? Not gymnastics, although that comes in second. Not basketball or baseball. No. It's Cheerleading. Cheerleading accounts for 65 percent of all catastrophic injuries in high school girls' athletics and 67 percent in colleges. Researchers say part of the huge amount of injuries is the increasing number of girls wanting to be cheerleaders, the other part is cheerleading is becoming more acrobatic. Read more about it here.

Don't get angry at work

If you get angry at work, don't show it. Study finds anger in the office hurts women more. Women who show anger are seen as less competent, men aren't. Experts say don't get angry, be direct and assertive about whatever is angering you, whether it's a broken computer or copier, and then blow off steam later when no one is within hearing distance. Could explain why you see people yelling in cars as they drive all by themselves. Read more about it here.

Cutest Pet Contest

We all know we have the cutest pet at home. Now we can prove it. The Florida State Chapter of Dog & Cat Lovers of America and the CutestPetContest.com partnering up for this year's competition to find the cutest pet. Winners get their photos on the cover of a new book "America's Top Pets," and $1,000.00 cash. All the details are here. Good luck.

Women career blame

Is your head hitting the glass ceiling at work? Experts say career women are to blame. Sure we didn't create the glass ceiling, but some believe career women help maintain it. In that we don't do enough to break it. We think hard work alone will help us get promoted to the top, but it's more than that. It's networking and more.
Read more about it here.

Help kids grades

You want to help your kids do better at school. Research finds the answer is easy: Get them moving. Exercising their bodies helps burn off energy and exercise their brains. Read more about it here.

Nine lives, four ears

We all know cats have nine lives, but I've never heard of a cat with four ears. You have to check out this photo. The cat lives a relatively normal life in Chicago, but his owners fearing for his safety keep him indoors. Someone might want to cat-nap him because he is so unusual.

A place for dogs

Move over "Facebook" and "Myspace." There's now "Doggyspace." A place for your dog. A website for owners to show off their puppy love. It's adorable. Check out the puppy and duck who are fast friends. Click here.

Want smarts? Exercise!

People who exercise regularly have better bodies and apparently better brains too. A review of studies found exercisers learn faster, remember more, think clearer and bounce back after injury more easily. So Beijing must be a very smart city, at least for the two weeks.. you know the Olympics. Read more about it here.

An alarming trend about fat

If Americans keep eating the way they do, we'll all be fat by 2048. Researchers based their projections on how many of us became overweight in the last 30 years, and projected what will happen in the next 40 years. The good news is we'll finally see pudgy models and celebrities. The bad news healthcare costs will soar with medical problems associated with obesity. Read more here.

Super-mom shine dims

Super-mom. Many of us are struggling to do it all: Work full-time, take care of the house and the kids. But studies find our family life is suffering as a result. In fact, ten years ago, studies found that most thought that having a "Super-Mom" wouldn't affect family life. But now, studies find most believe family life is suffering. But in many cases, families cannot afford to have only one wage earner.
Read more about it here.

Need sleep? Read this.

If you always feel like you need a nap, you're not alone. Many of us do. But studies find many of us are our own worst enemy. We do things to cause our lack of shut eye, from drinking too much coffee and alcohol, to eating spicy food and taking medication that interferes with our sleep. One thing I read says as we age, we need less sleep. Let me know when that is, because I still always feel like I need nap.
You can read more about sleep here.