FALSE SECURITY: Bulletproof backpacks just aren’t practical, argues Salon political writer Alex Seitz-Wald. One company that makes them saw sales triple after last year’s Newtown school killings, he says. Costing anywhere between $250 and $600, they’re expensive, he says, and since it’s been proven that reacting to a sudden event is especially hard for kids, the money would be better spent on a school psychologist or police officer.RICK WILKING/Reuters
Welcome to Talking Points, a daily roundup of digital miscellany
WATERED BEER
College students, rejoice. Scientists in Australia are working on a special project just for you: hangover-proof beer. Experts are testing different brewing possibilities to develop one that keeps drinkers hydrated, since dehydration is one of the major causes of hangovers. So far, they've come up with salt-enhanced beer, which is good for curbing the need to pee, and one-third more effective at hydrating than traditional beers. It's estimated that hangovers cost the U.S. economy $160-billion a year in ruined workplace productivity. The Australian scientists admit that more work needs to be done, but they seem to be off to a good start. Cheers to some more, er, productive nights, guys.
BIGOREXIA
There's a new term for the condition that makes people obsessively bulk up. The opposite of anorexia, "bigorexia" affects men at a disproportionate rate, starting as early as in their teens. Like anorexia, it's dangerous. There has been a recent trend in men believing they need to be "bigger," experts say. To do that quickly, many take steroids, which can cause long-term problems including depression, liver damage and aggression. Experts say bigorexia becomes a problem when people won't admit they have it, but work harder and faster to achieve their ideal. The media have been blamed for showing men with veins popping out of their solid biceps as though that is maximum achievement. "Everybody's concerned about how you look," bodybuilder Mike Lipari told ABC News. Treatment for the disorder includes therapy and social support.
QUOTED
I'm mortified, but I can vouch that my one bite of burger was amazing.
NICOLA PETE
The 25-year-old British social media manager tweeted that she dislocated her jaw while eating a hamburger – a three-patty-pretzels-and-candied- bacon burger, that is. She went to hospital, had her jaw reset, and says she would try the burger again. All in a day's work.