When it comes to Top 40 artists, what comes out of their mouths seems to be a lot better than what goes in — at least in terms of celebrity endorsements. Researchers at New York University compared Billboard's "Hot 100" song list against endorsements by the artists listed.
There were 590 endorsements associated with 163 distinct music celebrities. Of that total, there were 107 endorsements for food and beverages. Soft drinks were the most common (Pepsi was most popular), followed by fast food (McDonald's — they're lovin' it).
Popular brands touted included Doritos, Cracker Jack, KFC, Wrigley's gum, Hershey's Pop-Tarts, Twix and Dairy Queen. Three were no endorsements of fruits, vegetables or whole grains.
Music celebrities with the highest number of food and beverage endorsements were Baauer, will.i.am, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5, Pitbull and Jessie J.
Body of Knowledge
In 1985, the most common waist size for men's pants was 32 inches. Now, it's 36.
Get Me That, Stat!
The death rate in the United States is up for the first time in a decade, fueled by rising rates for Alzheimer's disease, suicides and some chronic diseases, such as emphysema. The Centers for Disease Control report the death rate bumped to 729.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2015 from 723.2 in 2014.
Number Cruncher
A single medium-sized banana contains 105 calories, 4 from fat. It has 0.4 grams of total fat or 1 percent of the recommended total fat intake for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.
It contains 0 milligrams of cholesterol; 1 mg of sodium (0 percent); 27 grams of total carbohydrates (9 percent); 3.1 grams of dietary fiber (12 percent); 14.4 g of sugar and 1.3 g of protein.
Counts
23.7: Percentage of teens in study who reported persistent tinnitus (a buzzing or ringing in ears), often caused by overexposure to loud music or sounds.
Source: Tanit Ganz Sanchez, Scientific Reports
Doc Talk
Dyspnea: shortness of breath
Phobia of the Week
Koumpounophobia: fear of buttons
Never Say Diet
The Major League Eating record for birthday cake is 14.5 pounds in 8 minutes, held by Matt "Megatoad" Stonie. Given that we just celebrated the nation's 240th birthday party, if everybody had followed Stonie's example the total would have been 4.69 billion pounds of cake. That's 14.5 pounds multiplied by 323,737,000 Americans, which isn't the actual, current total, but then there are always folks who pass on cake.
Best Medicine
Q: Does an apple a day keep the doctor away?
A: Depends on your aim.
Observation
"Did God who gave us flowers and trees, also provide the allergies?"
American songwriter E.Y. Harburg (1896-1981)
Medical History
This week in 2002, Spike, a 20-year-old Asian elephant at the Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada, had his two tusks fitted with stainless steel dental caps, each 19 inches long by 5 inches in diameter. The dental operation was necessitated by the fact one-third of Spike's left tusk had already broken off and there was a problematic crack in the right tusk.
Med School
True or false: Your thumb is as long as your nose.
Answer: Generally speaking, true. Go ahead and try it.
Curtain Calls
Henry Hall (1661-1755) was a lighthouse keeper who worked on the Eddystone Lighthouse, nine miles southwest of Rame Head in county Cornwall. On Dec. 3, 1755, an errant lamp spark ignited the lighthouse roof. Hall and two companions were unable to douse the flames and retreated to the ground where they stared upward, open-mouthed, as they watch the lighthouse burn to the ground.
At some point, doctors later concluded, molten lead from the lighthouse lamp plummeted from the burning structure, striking Hall's face and open mouth. Some of the lead actually reached Hall's stomach. He died a few days later. The chunk of lead was saved and now resides in the National Museum of Scotland.
To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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