The surface of fat cells contains many small pockets called caveolae (because they look like caves in an electron microscope). Although their role is not clear, Paul F. Pilch and colleagues review current knowledge about caveolae and conclude that one of their major functions is to regulate the movement and production of fats in fat cells. Caveolae may also help the hormone insulin bind to fat cells, but this is controversial. Insulin binds to protein receptors on the surface of a fat cell, which activates proteins inside the cell that help lower the amount of sugar in the blood and store fats.

If you found yourself on a run-away train, would you want to switch on the brakes? Scientists have found a way to turn on the brakes of a cell, and thus halt abnormal blood-cell growth in a range of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders and blood cancers.

Researchers report that fasting or eating half as much as usual every other day may shrink your fat cells and boost mechanisms that break down fats. Consuming less calories and increasing physical activity is usually what people do to lose weight and stay healthy. But some people prefer to adopt a diet which consists of eating as much as they want one day while fasting the next. On each fasting day, these people consume energy-free beverages, tea, coffee, and sugar-free gum and they drink as much water as they need.

Scientists have shown that when either lean or obese individuals exercise after eating a high fat meal, their fats are broken down and oxidized in skeletal muscle, making them healthier. These results show for the first time how a high fat diet and exercise stimulate the breakdown of fats and may help design ways to reduce excessive fat in the body. Fat is broken down inside fat cells to generate energy by a process called lipolysis. The resulting fatty acids are released into the bloodstream and carried to tissues that require energy.

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Microsoft, never content with just monopolizing one segment of the market, has decided to dip its big, scary toes into the Slingbox-ish world of anywhere-TV with a new piece of software for its Media Center PCs. Using the newly acquired (but not new) WebGuide component -- created by a gentleman named Doug Berrett -- you can now tune into your Media Center content from any place you have web access. The software actually goes beyond what Slingbox is capable of, giving you full control over your system remotely, allowing you to set record times, change schedules, and generally go buck-wild, even from a mobile phone or WiFi equipped PDA. Ballmer and Co. also added an ITV function to MC PCs, though apparently all it does is offer C-rate "internet" content for MCE users. Clearly, what's exciting here is WebGuide -- the software is free, and presuming you already have your system up and running, you could be "slinging" video around before you know it.

[Via Cedia]

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