A new pocket-sized breath test could be the answer!

Reasearchers at Tel Aviv University have come up with the perfect solution – a pocket-sized breath test that turns blue if you need to brush or stays clear if you’re ok to smooch. The test itself checks to see if malodorous bacteria are brewing your mouth, which are believe to be responsible for bad breath.

The new test, branded as the OkayToKiss kit, is small (about the size of a pack of gum) and easy to use. You simply pull it out of your pocket or purse, dab a little bit of saliva onto the small window, and results appear instantly.

While the new test sounds appealing, I have to wonder how popular it will be. It’s so easy to just pop a breath mint any time you’re about to move in, even though breath mints just disguise the odor most of times rather than actually eliminating it. The biggest downside I see to the OkayToKiss test? It’s a little inconveient to pause “in the moment” to test your breath. You could test before you get to that stage, but then you’d have to carry a toothbrush as well. Still, if you’re going to get hot-n-heavy, this test is a lot more reliable than popping a mint.

So, the next time you’re hoping to lean in for a smooch, pull out your trusting breath test first! Oh, and a little chapstick never either!

(Credit: Image courtesy of American Friends of Tel Aviv University)

After 10 years of marriage, Chip and Cindy Altemos decided to divorce. During this five year period, it became apparent that Chip would, who sufferred from juvenille diabetes, would need a kidney transplant. Cindy, long-suspecting that a transplant would be necessary, agreed to be a donor when they married. Even with a divorce looming, Cindy followed through becuase “it was the right thing to do”.

“There was no way I could walk around with two kidneys and he had none,” she said. “It was the right thing to do.”

The transplant, which took place Feb. 21, re-united the couple and put all talks of divorce to rest. This October, the couple will be married 17 years and plan on many more.

Read more at MSNBC.

MSNBC reports that an Italian researcher set out to measure the effects that your relationships have on your health. To study the effects, he measured “attachment security”, defined as your ability to trust and depend on others, your comfort level with emotional intimacy, and your security level in romantic relationships. Your particular “attachment style” both affects and is shaped by your romantic relationships with bad relationships causing “attachment insecurity”.

After studying a random sample of women, the researchers found that those who had “attachment insecurity” had lower immune systems, were more susceptible to disease, and had higher instances of skin diseases such as psoriasis. Of course you can’t say that bad relationships alone make you more likely to get sick, but for those that already have problems, bad relationships could worsen your health.

This isn’t the first study on the correlation between your health and your relationships though. Psychiatrist Redford Williams and historian Virginia Williams “emphasize that good relationships have physical as well as emotional benefits, lowering stress and increasing resistance to disease”. The pair have written a book, Lifeskills, which is based on a program designed to improve your relationships that they run at Duke University Medical Center. Using Lifeskills, you learn to understand yourself, recognize problems in your relationships, communicate to solve problems, and emphasize the positive in your interactions.

If you’re currently in a bad relationship, it’s time to act. You deserve a successful, happy, and emotionally satisfying relationship — and your health depends on it.

Researchers set out to discover the physiological reasons behind the feelings that we feel when we fall in love. To explain these feelings, they took brain MRI’s of individuals while showing them photos of their new love.

The results were surprising. The researchers discovered that the caudate and ventral tegmental areas of the brain lit up on the scans. What’s the significance of these areas? Well, the caudate area is involved in cravings and urges and the ventral tegmental releases dopamine, which is a powerful neurotransmitter that affects pleasure and motivation.

When you fall in love, your ventral tegmental floods your caudate area with dopamine and then your caudate area keeps signaling for more dopamine, effectively giving you the feeling of a high. In fact, the brains of those in love looked similar to those with cocaine addictions.

This isn’t surprising to those that experienced the feeling of new love. I clearly remember the strong desire to talk to my husband daily — for hours at a time — when we were dating. Butterflies in the stomach, shivers up your spine, and fluttering in your heart — who wouldn’t want to be addicted to that?

Today, in Rome, this proved true as archaeologists uncovered the remains of two skeletons, a young male and female, embraced in a hug. This couple, buried some 5,000-6,000 years ago, is especially unique as it’s supposedly unheard of for people to be buried together during the Neolithic period. According to the Associated Press, these young lovers were probably buried at the same time, which indicates a possible sudden and tragic death.

Do this prehistoric Romeo and Juliet prove that true love never really dies?

Why is this date so lucky? I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase ‘lucky number seven‘. The number itself is often considered lucky, but if you visit a casino, it’s even luckier. On many slot machines, a line of three seven’s means you won the jackpot. Those that wed on 7/7/07 are hoping for a jackpot in love. And why not? After all, every couple could use a little extra luck.

The popularity of this date stems not only from luck, but for others, the number 7 is considered holy and sacred. The religious significance of this number to Christians comes from the Bible, which says that God rested on the 7th day after creating the Earth.

Of course, there are other added benefits as well: an easy to remember anniversary date and the date’s close proximity to July 4th, making it easier for out of town guests already getting time off.

For those newly engaged or those yet to book their date, if 7/7/07 sounds appealing, you better move fast. According to wedding vendors, it’s the most popular wedding date they’ve ever seen.

For those that aren’t lucky enough to wed on 7/7/07, they could try 6/7/08, another cool date that wedding planners are already hedging their bets on.

After failing to raise the necessary funds, the groom-to-be decided to take a different approach: sponsorship. His proposal, if aired, will now feature product placements to cover the cost of the commercial. In addition, he signed up his future fiance to appear on several talk shows the next day. Let’s hope she says yes!

Should he go to such extremes? Do the sponsorships take away from the romance of the proposal? Are they in it for the hype?

Some skeptics doubt the surprise factor in this “public declaration of love”. How can one guy meet with Fortune 500 companies, television producers, and publicists to create a proposal without his girlfriend suspecting. Perhaps she actually is in on the plan and it’s all a big sham. Being the romantic that I am though, I’m hoping to see this get guy down on one knee on February 4th.

Now if only he could pass some of his creativity on to other men.