My ankle has eventually healed after a frustrating week of not being able to do any exercise and I am now back to running every day. It is getting easier and I am now looking forward to my daily run, the only problem appears to be fitting it in around the dreadful weather. I also came across some further motivation in the form of this article which suggests running can help halt the ageing process. The article talks predominantly about older people and the fact that elderly joggers are less likely to die prematurely. I'm guessing the same principle applies to younger people who run on a regular basis, so hopefully I will not only get fit but live a bit longer as well, either way the exercise has to be good for me.

A dentist in London has started offering laser fillings which are supposed to be pain free. Preparing the tooth for filling takes about the same time as using conventional treatments but doesn't need pain killing injections or any drilling. Instead the laser heats the water molecules in the tooth leading to a build up of pressure which leads to a micro explosion as the decayed area of the tooth is removed. Because there is no pressure on the tooth there are fewer vibrations but the technique cannot be used on old mercury filling because the laser beam would reflect back off the metal surface towards the dentist. Prices for the treatment are higher starting at £75 compares to £40 for a normal NHS filling. I have been lucky enough never to have needed a filling but this sounds much less painful.

This is funny and well worth a read. It talks about something called the condom game where you pick three items from a shop, one being condoms and see whether you can get a reaction from the cashier. I won't spoil the punch line but it had me in stitches. What items would you pick?

This article suggests that rather than tackling faster prey cavemen often preferred to tackle something a little slower like tortoises. Scientists have found the remains of 526 tortoises in a cave that was occupied by early humans over 2.6 million years suggesting that cavemen were rather partial to eating the creatures. The bones show that the tortoises were roasted whole over fires and then cracked against rocks to remove their shells. Other bones from animals such as lions and hippos were also found in the caves so it appears cavemen did also hunt harder to kill creatures. Were they lazy or simply rather intelligent to target things that were easier to catch?

According to this article this new health drink called skinny water can suppress hunger and fight fat. It costs 99p a bottle and its manufacturers say it is scientifically proven. Nutritionists, however, say that its claims are not supported by clinical trials. The pomegranate flavoured water contains L-Carnitine and chromium which supposedly reduce sugar cravings and improve the body's ability to burn fat. Personally I'm rather skeptical, I still think the only way to lose weight is simply to eat less and exercise.

The recent wet weather seems to have encouraged the frogs in the garden to leave the pond and start hopping around looking for food. Unfortunately this means that in our garden they are almost certain to come into contact with one of the cats. The cats obviously think frogs are lots of fun. You can pounce on them and they jump, let them go and then they jump again. Frogs also scream when they are cornered and stressed. They make a very high pitched screaming noise which doesn't seem to deter the cats. It does, however, alert me to the fact that the cats are playing with another poor frog. So far this morning I have rescued two frogs and returned them unharmed to the safety of the pond. My cat Oliver has also learnt this morning (after picking a frog up in his mouth) that whilst frogs are great fun, they actually don't taste that good. I wonder whether he will remember this when the next frog comes along, my guess is that the urge to pounce on another jumping frog will be stronger than the memory of the bad taste.

A candy ship in Santa Cruz has started selling chocolate covered bacon. The bacon is sprinkled with sea salt and then covered in dark chocolate and according to this article is "a good combination of sweet and salty". I'm not convinced.

When Hector the great dane started drooling and looking unwell, it was obvious there was something wrong with him, so his owner took him to the vet. It was only when, he was given an X-ray, however, that it emerged he had managed to swallow a 63cm stick. The stick was so long that it stretched over two thirds of the dogs body. It was later removed under anaesthetic and Hector appears to be fine despite the sticky situation.

Sainsbury's will launch a new range of chickens that are kept in better conditions meaning that a third of its stock will no longer come from battery farms. It will also start phasing out chickens from battery farms completely so that all of its stock will meet RSPCA standards. Sainsbury's have said that sales of poultry reared in better surroundings were up 60 per cent since January so I wonder whether this move is simply in response to consumer demand for better quality chicken.

This is an interesting idea, its a pair of shoes that are also sandals. As you can see from the picture the top part of the shoe unzips to reveal a sandal inside the sole. They are made by Nat-2 design and cost £59.99. There are currently over 20 different designs available and you can also mix and match the soles with different top part. Currently the only place to buy them in the UK is Wild Goose in Twickenham. They seem like a great idea for the unpredictable UK weather.

I found this flood game the other day. Basically it allows you to make decisions about what flood defences to implement in the UK and how much money to spend over a three year period. You can do things like build a flagship project, plant trees and repair the drainage system. You also need to choose which regions of the country to protect and how much to spend on each project. After you have made your decisions it then shows you exactly how much of the country gets flooded based on your choices. I didn't do badly but I managed to keep flooding Scotland.