Lift weights to become smarter

In Weightlifting your way to a bigger brain Sarah Berry writes that recent studies have suggested that resistance based exercise may be good for the brain.

Lift weights to make your muscles and your brain stronger. This is true to the extent that even those with mild cognitive impairment experience improved brain function when they weightlift, according to a new study by the University of Sydney.

Healthy muscles are key to strength, weight control, and a defence against type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, but, until now, the link to brain function was not causal.

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Resistance training is something most of us can do more of. One study from earlier this year found that nine out of 10 Australians do not meet the guidelines of twice weekly strength training. Strength training can include lifting weights (barbells, dumbbells or kettlebells), using resistance bands or body weight (push-ups, sit-ups, squats).

Spinach gnocchi recipe

Neil Perry's Spinach gnocchi recipe with peas, zucchini, goat's curd and tarragon recipe.

Muffin recipes

Goodfood has a collection of sweet muffin recipes.

Trump's campaign tactics and Russian propaganda

In Donald Trump campaign's 'firehose of falsehoods' has parallels with Russian propaganda Chris Zappone highlights how the rapid fire false claims and pronouncements by the Trump campaign are very similar to the propaganda coming out from Russia. In both cases they seek to overwhelm traditional media and fact checking, using social media to amplify their lies and falsehoods.

In other words, simply adhering to and amplifying the truth – as was the counter-strategy during the Cold War – is no longer enough.

This point will be no surprise to people working in online media – where the advent of social media has made it much easier for incorrect reporting to take on a life of its own.

One of the reasons is that the volume and pace of information in this propaganda method helps trick the minds of the audience into accepting incorrect facts.

This happens because questionable sources are forgotten even as the information is "remembered as true", the RAND report states.

The world's first political-consulting firm

Jill Lepore in The Lie Factory documents the rise of Campaigns, Inc - the world's first political-consulting firm. She also documents the firms efforts in blocking single payer health care in America.