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Turn Off The TV During Family Meals

September and October mark the start of television’s new fall season as the premieres of new shows and old favorites hit the airwaves. But, University of Minnesota researchers found that watching television while eating family meals may have a negative impact on children’s diets.

School of Public Health Project EAT researchers found that children in families who watched TV while eating meals together had a lower-quality diet than the children of families who ate together, but turned the TV off. Boys watching TV while eating family meals consumed fewer vegetables and grains, and more soft drinks, than those who did not watch TV; girls watching TV ate significantly fewer dark vegetables and more fried food.

Bush's approval rating to another record low

The number of Americans who believe the country is on the wrong track jumped four points to 66

job approval rating fell to 24 percent

conversation at the President's "ranch" in Crawford, Texas, between Bush and Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar

month before the President launched his invasion of Iraq

at the edge of an invasion, and eerily "at peace with himself."

Maine Middle School to Issue Birth Control Pills

School officials in Portland, Maine, voted to make birth control pills available to students at one of the city's middle schools.

The contraceptives would be available to girls in the seventh and eighth grades, with their parents' permission.

Motorcyclists could ride without a helmet if they buy an annual state permit

Granholm may veto

pay a $100 annual state permit fee to allow them to opt out of wearing a helmet.

Cancer-Killing Virus Modified to Deliver a One-Two Punch

Scientists hacking a smallpox-like virus into doing battle with cancer have given a new weapon to their microscopic warrior.

Gene therapy has generated much hype but little clinical success.

The 6 Most Terrifying Foods in the World

Mexico.

Escamoles are the eggs of the giant black Liometopum ant, which makes its home in the root systems of maguey and agave plants.

Organic food rule change warning

Food flown into the UK will be stripped of its organic status unless it meets new stricter ethical standards, the Soil Association has warned.

he association, which certifies 70% of the UK's £1.9bn organic food sector, says firms must show trade brings real benefit to developing world farmers.

Nanotechnology storage breakthrough proclaimed

Arizona State University's Center for Applied Nanoionics (CANi) has announced a major breakthrough in the creation of nanotechnology-based memory

increased memory performance, battery capacity, and reduced power draw, and would serve as a suitable basis for practically all digital storage needs.

richest Americans' share of national income has hit a postwar record

19% in 2004

wealthiest 1% of Americans earned 21.2% of all income in 2005

Swiss Study Finds Marijuana Use Alone May Benefit Some Teens, U.S. Doctor Disagrees

Teens that use cannabis may function better than teen tobacco-users, and appear to be more socially driven and have fewer psychosocial problems than those who do not use either substance, according to a Swiss survey.

Researchers at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland surveyed 5,263 students, including 455 who smoke marijuana only, 1,703 who smoke marijuana and tobacco and 3,105 who smoked neither one.

highlight the importance of the tropics in maintaining the entire planet's biodiversity.

a problem nagging at all research

So many variables correlate with latitude" - temperature, environmental stability and many other features of the ocean

AT&T gave feds access to all Web, phone traffic, ex-tech says

he stumbled upon documents that, he said, show the agency gained access to massive amounts of e-mail, Web search and other Internet records of more than a dozen global and regional telecom providers.

AT&T allowed the agency to hook into its network and, according to Klein, many of the other telecom companies probably knew nothing about it.

Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything

An impoverished surfer has drawn up a new theory of the universe, seen by some as the Holy Grail of physics, which has received rave reviews from scientists.

Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder

Pasta theology: Scholars mull Spaghetti Monster

When some of the world's leading religious scholars gather in San Diego this weekend, pasta will be on the intellectual menu. They'll be talking about a satirical pseudo-deity called the Flying Spaghetti Monster, whose growing pop culture fame gets laughs but also raises serious questions about the essence of religion.

Flying Spaghetti Monster

Santa Claus banned from Ho Ho Ho

SANTAS working in shopping centres across Australia have been banned from bellowing "ho ho ho" because it might frighten children.

Westaff national operations manager Glen Jansz said the company's Santas had been urged to tone down their use of the "ho, ho, ho" phrase.

In addition to facing the wrath of content owners around the world, The Pirate Bay's administrators have recently been facing a much more local threat: camera-toting investigators following them around in cars marked with Danish plates.

He has declared himself out to "reclaim the Internet," and The Pirate Bay is at the top of his list (fan sites appear to be on the list as well).

Peter Sunde, a Pirate bay admin, tells Ars that the Purple One's legal team has already started leaning on some advertisers to drop support for the site. "We're not even worried, since the Internet is too big for morally upset people to get it their way," Sunde said in an e-mail. "I'm just sad that Prince—whose music I really like—can't understand that he's the new Metallica versus Napster. And we all know who lost that..."

Creator of hurricane intensity scale dies at 90

Herbert Saffir, co-creator of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, has died in Miami. He was 90 years old and a structural engineer by profession.

died of a heart attack on Wednesday night at South Miami Hospital.

Strike set to silence talk shows

Late-night TV chat shows seem likely to be the first victims of a strike by the US screenwriters' union, which has been called over royalty payments.

The Writers Guild of America has asked its 12,000 members to stop working and set up picket lines from Monday. It wants more cash for work which goes on "new" media such as DVDs or online. Shows hosted by stars such as Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jon Stewart are expected to stop almost immediately as they rely on a supply of topical jokes.

An Australian man who kidnapped and raped a woman blamed his actions on a spider

pleaded guilty to the kidnap and rape

viral illness which led to his actions.