Design: More of the same

Tracking: better but not best

For the most part, steps taken, calories burned and other daily activities are logged just as they were with previous models. At the same time, I encountered some red flags with the accuracy of the data: I reached my 10,000 step daily goal on a day I barely did much at all. In fact, I was alerted to the feat while sitting down (not moving, like you’d expect), and a few minutes later my count had increased to 10,100 steps (I was still sitting down).

Duolingo

All of the Northern Hemisphere on Saturday will experience the darkest day of the year. Specifically, at 12:11 p.m. ET, we will witness the winter solstice. In the U.S., we'll have just nine hours, 32 minutes of daylight. For many this time of year, that means leaving home and returning from work in darkness.
For those who are not fans of winter, take heart. From here on out, the days will get lighter and lighter. For winter lovers, there's good news also: The coldest temperatures are still to come.

Here are a few facts you may have not have known about the winter solstice.

1. It happens at a specific time

The winter solstice isn't the full day of Dec. 21, but rather occurs at a specific time. At that point, the sun is shining farthest to the south, directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. There's no duration to the event, per se. Paul Stokles, a meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration refers to the winter solstice as a "single event."
Of course, the sun isn't actually moving, the Earth is. At 12:11 p.m. ET, the North Pole is tipped about 23 degrees away from the sun. When summer rolls around, the South Pole is tipped 23 degrees away from the sun. During the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the Earth is not tilted in either direction.

2. It happens at a different time each year

The winter solstice doesn't always occur on Dec. 21. Sometimes it comes on Dec. 22, which will happen again in 2015. The hour of day also fluctuates. Last year, the solstice came at 11:12 a.m. ET. Next year, it occurs at 11:03 p.m.

3. The meteorological winter began three weeks ago

If it feels like winter has already begun, you are correct. Meteorologists consider Dec. 1 the start of the meteorological winter and March 1 the start of the meteorological spring. That's because December, January and February are the three coldest months of the year. By the time the Spring Equinox rolls around on March 20, 2014, average temperatures in most areas will have already started rising. The winter solstice isn't the coldest day of the year, either — that comes later.

4. Last year at this time, some people thought the world was ending

Remember how the Mayan calendar supposedly said the world would end on Dec. 21, 2012? That was based on a reading of the end date of the Mayans' 5,126-year-long Mesoamerica Long Count Calendar, which corresponded to certain astronomical events, including the winter solstice.

5. There's no biblical justification for celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25

Though we picture the Three Wise Men visiting the baby Jesus in a manger in Bethlehem in the dead of winter, that's just a popular interpretation. There's nothing in the Bible that states what time of year that event occurred. Instead, some believe the Christian church chose the date to offset Saturnalia and Natalis Invicti celebrations that revolved around the winter solstice.
The ancient name for Christmas, Yule, may also have been derived from jól, the Scandinavian winter solstice festival that pre-dated Christmas. Christmas has also been celebrated in the past on March 28 and May 20, among other dates.

6. In some regions, the winter solstice is a short day, indeed

Nine and a half hours may seem like a short period of daylight, but consider the winter solstice in Iceland, where it doesn't get light until 10 a.m. and starts getting dark at 4:49 p.m. — that's about seven hours of daylight. Of course, in places further north, like Barrow, Alaska, there is no sunrise. In Nome, Alaska, sunrise comes at noon, and then there's four hours of light until sunset. If you want consistency, move to the equator, when sunrise and sunset are at around 6:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively, all year round.

7. There's no proof that this is the most depressing time of the year

Many scientists believe that the paucity of sunlight during the winter months makes your brain deplete its stores of serotonin by requiring the pineal gland to convert it into melatonin, which makes you sleepy. However, some studies have found there aren't higher instances of winter sadness in countries like Norway vs. the U.S.
Though there's an urban legend that the suicide rates are highest in Scandinavian countries, the actual list shows that — although the sparsely populated Greenland is No. 1 — South Korea, Guyana and China are far ahead of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Denmark, rated the happiest country in the world, also has just seven hours of daylight this time of year.

8. This isn't the day of the earliest sunrise and latest sunset

Most U.S. locations see their earliest sunset a week or so before the solstice and see their latest sunset sometime in January. For instance, in New York City, sunset came at 4:28 p.m. on Dec. 7, and then started occurring later. On Dec. 29, sunrise will come at 7:20 a.m. — the latest of the year. It won't start getting lighter earlier until Jan. 11.

What do the Eiffel Tower, Boulders Beach in South Africa, and the Caves Resort in Jamaica all have in common?
The attention of Pinterest users, for one thing.

Pinterest unveiled its most popular pins of 2013 on Thursday, highlighting the top 20 or so pins from the year in more than 25 separate categories, including "Places and travel" where the beautiful locations from above all fit in. Other categories include "Women's Fashion," "History," and "Rad tattoos."
The pins included on each category board were selected based on the number of re-pins from users throughout the year. They aren't listed in any particular order, according to a spokesperson, but do provide a glimpse into the topics and trends that struck a chord with Pinterest users throughout the year. Many of the posts from the "Technology trends" board, for example, appear to be mobile phone-related.
In the spirit of Pinterest's recent international expansion, the platform also pulled out the top pins by country for Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, and the United Kingdom.
The "Top Pins" also provide a small glimpse into who may be using the site, and for which purposes. Pinterest claims that the difference between the number of females and males who use the platform is minimal, and has top fashion boards for both genders. On the "Health and Fitness" board, however, not a single pin features a photo of a man, lending to the conclusion that men aren't using Pinterest for health and fitness motivation.

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In a push to save money and lives this winter, four U.S. states are dispatching smart snowplows to gather information on road and weather conditions in almost real-time.

A team of engineers has designed a smartphone accessory and app that allows users to monitor their own blood cholesterol levels. Think of it as a sort of cholesterol selfie — or maybe a healthie?

Facebook is the cigarette of 2013, the "bad habit" many are trying to kick. And the doubts seem to be stemming from Facebook's younger users.

We reached out to a few Millennials, in particular, to find out why they left Facebook — and why some returned. While the reasons for cutting the cord ranged from the practical to the existential, many former Facebook users cited the stress of maintaining their online appearances.
While half the users we questioned have returned to the site (albeit with a reduced presence), the other half consistently claim they're happy to be "free" of Facebook. They found that once they got used to it, life without social media wasn't as hard as they imagined.

1. It's Just Too Overwhelming

The most common reason for going Facebook-cold turkey was the overwhelming nature of the site. To many, it just seems like noise. Among the mess of targeted ads, Instagram pictures and shared articles,

there's very little room for real socializing between friends on the Facebook Timeline

there's very little room for real socializing between friends on the Facebook Timeline. At least, that's the reason 23-year-old Facebook user Tom Barefoot, a graduate student at the University of Akron, cites: "I see Facebook and I just think, 'The only people I really care about are, like, 10 of my friends. Why do I need all this other social media?'"
Duquesne University graduate student Jordan Moore, 24, agrees. He's quit Facebook in the past but kept his account to stay in touch with a few close friends.
"A lot of the people I am connected with I no longer talk to," he says, calling Facebook a "soapbox" and "diary" for people to promote their opinions and frustrations, rather than to actually communicate.
With users amassing hundreds of friends and acquaintances, some they only met once or knew years ago, Jordan's sentiment is a common concern. Abandoning Facebook cuts out the obligation to keep track of your friend from grade school, and instead focus on real-life interactions with those you care most about.

2. To Hide Incriminating Evidence From Employers

We've all heard the warnings: Watch what you put on Facebook, because your future employers will go through your account with a fine-toothed comb to find that one picture of you holding a red Solo cup from 2004. And you will not be hired as a consequence.
It's part of the reason Facebook has introduced many privacy tools, but some users, like software engineer Albert Tackie, 26, aren't taking any chances.
"I left years ago, primarily so I couldn't have Facebook working against me as I was job hunting. My friends made my Wall far too incriminating, and it made me nervous," he says, "Now I just won't go back because I'm already free."
Image: Flickr, SethMacEntee This desire to hide evidence from potential employers is causing many Facebookers to fly the coop, especially considering a recent Facebook privacy settings change has ensured no user can hide from search anymore. The fear is legitimate, as employers try harder and harder to gauge potential employees by their social media presences, some even going so far as to ask for candidates' Facebook passwords.
For some, removing one's presence entirely could mean the difference between getting or losing a job.

3. To Hide From a Breakup

It's hard to get over an ex when you see her constant status updates or his weekend party pictures. Some members of the Broken Hearts Club find it's easier to avoid the social network entirely during their recovery periods.
Laekyn Sanders, 21-year-old undergraduate student at Seton Hill University, says she quit Facebook to avoid the distraction of her breakup. "I was going through a really bad breakup, and was tired of people asking me via Facebook why things ended with the guy I was dating," she says. "It got distracting enough to the point that I would find myself wanting to talk about it to those people, and it took me away from focusing on studying, which made my grades drop really quickly."
Katie Stopa, a 27-year-old New York University graduate student, says quitting Facebook meant she didn't feel forced to maintain relationships she no longer felt benefited her.
"I also think

Facebook encourages keeping some relationships open that should naturally be closed

Facebook encourages keeping some relationships open that should naturally be closed," she says. "That could include a relationship with an ex-boyfriend, or an ex-friend, or just a former acquaintance or schoolmate that you haven't seen in the better part of a decade. Facebook keeps them open." Facebook makes dating (both the beginnings and ends) difficult. In a digital environment where every comment, relationship status update or photograph posted is relatively public knowledge, it's hard to avoid scrolling back through old romantic messages, cute Wall posts and photographs from happier days. And while some praise Facebook for its ability to maintain would-be lost ties, in a relationship gone bad, daily reminders that the other party still exists can be jarring.

4. To Avoid Anxieties

Even if you avoid posting sensitive information online, social networks like Facebook make it challenging to confront the setbacks in one's life, for example, the loss of a job or that extra year at college. Many users feel they have to either acknowledge the problem to their entire network or pretend everything is fine. Either takes a psychological toll.
Image: Flickr, opensourceway A recent study from the Department of Behavioral Science at the University of Utah seems to confirm this. Over 400 students were questioned on their Facebook usage and lifestyle perceptions in relation to others. Of the students questioned, "those who have used Facebook longer agreed more that others were happier, and agreed less that life is fair, and those spending more time on Facebook each week agreed more that others were happier and had better lives."
Anna, 24 (last name withheld), a journalist, agrees. When she had Facebook, "I would compare myself and my own somewhat 'nerdy' (but absolutely lovable) friend group to others in my college, who seemed to have tons of fun being out and about, kept posting inside jokes and affectionate posts. You know, the usual stuff, pretty normal at hindsight, but I guess it bothered me somewhat that my friends never did that."
Looking back, Anna always had fun with her friends, but constantly comparing her group to her social networks made her anxious what she may have been missing elsewhere.
Seeing your friends' lives, curated to include only the most flattering tidbits, makes any perceived failure even more detrimental to your own well-being, a reason many Millennials are opting out of interacting online at all.

5. You're Having an Existential Crisis

Some people can't really put their finger on why they feel so iffy about Facebook. At least, that's what writer and University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown undergrad student Max Zell, 23, says about his ex-girlfriend's several attempts to quit Facebook, most of which lasted only a month or two.
He insists that each of her refusals to participate on the social media site stemmed from a different problem with Facebook, for instance, its effect on society: "Sometimes it's tied into an angsty statement about the futility of social media. Sometimes it's a statement idealizing hermitage. I think sometimes it's just a straight up panic of 'IS THIS A DIGITAL REPRESENTATION OF ME?! THIS ISNT ME. I'M ME. THERE CAN'T BE MORE THAN ONE ME. I MUST DESTROY THIS.'"
Many of us have at one time admitted we are "addicted" to Facebook. The mindless scrolling, the joy of getting several "likes" on your status and the simplicity that comes with Facebook birthdays. The experience makes Facebook seem a lot like the Hotel California: You can sign out any time you'd like, but you're never really going to leave.
Eagles paraphrasing aside, Facebook has become so ingrained for millions of users that it's hard to imagine giving it up, but that's exactly what some twenty-somethings are trying to do.
What are your thoughts? Have you quit, or do you know someone who has? Let us know in the comments section below.

World's Smallest Pacemaker Can Be Implanted Without Surgery

Pacemaker surgery typically requires a doctor to make an incision above a patient’s heart, dig a cavity into which they can implant the heartbeat-regulating device, and then connect the pulse generator to wires delivered through a vein near the collarbone. Such surgery could soon be completely unnecessary. Instead, doctors could employ miniaturized wireless pacemakers that can be delivered into the heart through a major vein in the thigh.
On Monday, doctors in Austria implanted one such device into a patient — the first participant in a human trial of what device-manufacturer Medtronic says is the smallest pacemaker in the world. The device is 24 millimeters long and 0.75 cubic centimeters in volume — a tenth the size of a conventional pacemaker. Earlier this year, another device manufacturer, St. Jude Medical, bought a startup called Nanostim that makes another tiny pacemaker, and St. Jude is offering it to patients in Europe. This device is 41 millimeters long and one cubic centimeter in volume.

Doctors can implant such pacemakers into the heart through blood vessels, via an incision in the thigh. They use steerable, flexible tubes called catheters to push the pacemakers through a large vein.
The two new devices are the latest effort to make heart surgery less traumatic. Doctors began to widely use less invasive heart treatments in the late 1990s, when artery-unclogging balloons delivered by catheters started to replace bypass surgeries. Other cardiac technologies like stents, which prop open weak or narrow arteries, can also be delivered through blood vessels. More recently, researchers have developed artificial valves for patients whose natural valves have become damaged; these devices can also be delivered by catheters snaking through large blood vessels.
Brian Lindman, a cardiovascular specialist at Washington University School of Medicine, and colleagues have found that less invasive catheter-based procedures for valve repair can be safer for high-risk elderly patients and can enable doctors to treat patients who are too frail to undergo surgery. More recently, Lindman published a study suggesting that the transcatheter method may improve the odds of survival for diabetic patients as well. However, for some cardiac treatments such as valve repair, a more invasive surgery enables longer-lasting repairs, and so may be the better option for patients strong enough for surgery. “Surgery or transcatheter is not always better,” says Lindman. “It depends on the cardiac problem and on the nuances of each procedure.”
Both tiny pacemakers are now being tested in human trials, and St. Jude’s has been approved for use in patients in Europe. The device manufacturers say the batteries in the tiny pacemakers will last up to eight or 10 years when running at full-stimulating capacity. The new pacemakers are also “leadless” — that is, they don’t require long electrodes winding their way into heart. Instead, they sit inside the heart and deliver electric pulses through small prongs that touch the heart.

This new design reduces the amount of power required by the device and eliminates a major source of device failure.

This new design reduces the amount of power required by the device and eliminates a major source of device failure.
Medtronic has also developed a miniaturized cardiac monitor for patients with arrhythmias or undiagnosed heart problems. Cardiac monitors continuously track heart activity; patients undergoing testing may have to wear a portable device around their neck, which hooks up to wires from several electrodes stuck to the chest, perhaps for days at a time. Doctors can implant Medtronic’s new monitor using a syringe-like system that inserts the device into a small incision above the heart that is just eight millimeters deep. The monitor can then wirelessly transmit heartbeat data to a bedside monitor or potentially even to a smart phone, says Mark Phelps, an engineer leading Medtronic’s miniaturization efforts.

The Evolution of Lingerie Through the Ages

The holiday season puts everyone in a festive mood, which is likely why Victoria's Secret holds its annual fashion show right before Christmas.
Sure, it's a valuable marketing opportunity for the retailer ahead of a busy shopping season, but it's also a time to celebrate the history of women's lingerie. The models on stage certainly are young, but the garments they were wearing have a lineage that traces back thousands of years.

Ancient Greece

Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images The earliest form of undergarments specific to woman comes from ancient Greece, where women would wear a band of cloth to support their breasts. Minoan art depicting women living in ancient Crete more than 4,000 years ago shows women wearing such clothes.
Called an "apodesmos," the typically wool undergarment bore a basic resemblance to modern bra designs, in that these pieces were made of cloth that wrapped around the front of the chest and were secured with pins in the back.

Ancient Rome

Patrik Tschudin In ancient Rome, custom dictated that women with larger breasts were considered unattractive, so women wore tight support garments, known as a "mamillare" or a "fascia," that would constrain and reduce the appearance of the size of their busts.
The primary purpose of the undergarments were functional, as opposed to aesthetic. As shown in this mosaic, from the Villa Romana del Casale and made in the 4th century, women would wear a mamillare for upper body support during athletic and dance events.

The Chemise

Hulton Archive/Getty Images First developed during the Roman era and growing in popularity during the Middle Ages, the chemise was a loose undergarment worn to protect outwear from sweat and body oils. Chemises were worn by both women and men alike.

Du Dou

China Photos/Getty Images While not the oldest form of lingerie, the Chinese du dou may be among the most enduring.
First fashionable among the upper classes during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the du dou is shaped almost like a bib with straps that tie around the neck and back. Like the undergarments of ancient Rome, it was designed to minimize the appearance of the size of the bust.
These garments are still available today and often worn not underneath clothes but as outerwear.

The Corset

Hulton Archive/Getty Images Unlike during ancient Rome, larger busts weren't quite as unpopular in the late Middle Ages and onward, as evidenced by the popularity of corset, which aimed to give women the appearance of having large busts and narrow waistlines.
Emerging in its earliest form some 4,000 years ago, the corset, a term coined in the 14th century, is the first undergarment designed primarily for aesthetic rather than practical purposes. Rather than being a garment that fits the shape of the user, a corset is designed to create a shape out of the woman.
Over the centuries, corset designs would incorporate different materials, from wood to metal rods to animal bones, and different designs, incorporating hooks, clips, straps and even pulleys.

The Modern Bra

Vecchio/Three Lions/Getty Images Corsets reached the height of their popularity during the Victorian era, worn by both men and women, only to be displaced in the 20th century by the mass production of a different kind of support garment and a world war.
Although the brassiere has its origins in the ancient world, it wasn't until 1914 that a design created and patented by Mary Phelps Jacob would gain widespread usage and acceptance. Lightweight and comfortable, Jacob's "Backless Brassiere" separated each breast rather than pushing them together as with a corset. In the 1920s, individual cup sizes would follow, allowing for a more comfortable garment.
World War I wasn't just fought on the battlefield every day. It was also a struggle in the underwear drawers of women across America. The U.S. War Department asked women to stop buying corsets, in order to use those materials for the war effort. The campaign proved successful, saving enough steel to build two battleships.

Push-Up

Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Swarovsk Invented in 1947 by Frederick Mellinger, the push-up bra gave women what they had been missing since the decline of the corset: a little aesthetic edge. In the 1980s, Mellinger would make another form of lingerie, the thong, famous by mass-marketing the garments in his stores, Frederick's of Hollywood.

Back to Basics

John Sciulli/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret Although bras were originally designed as support garments to help women with physical activity, remarkably it wasn't until 1977 that the first sports bra, known as the Jogbra, was created by a female duo who created their original design using two jock straps.
That same year, the first Victoria's Secret opened its doors in San Francisco, Calif.

The Future Is Here

Spencer Platt/Newsmakers No longer are undergarments made from wool and whale bones. Now women can have the support of cloths, foams, gels, pads, straps, air pockets and more.
And with Victoria's Secret introducing a new fantasy bra every show, they can also have a multi-millionaire lingerie set covered in precious gemstones. At $15 million, the Red Hot Fantasy Bra worn by supermodel Gisele Bundchen in 2000 is the most expensive lingerie in the world.