Watch This Guy Speak 9 Languages Like A Native

Matthew Youlden speaks nine languages fluently and understands more than a dozen more. He’s what is known as a polyglot, a member of the multilingual elite who speaks six or more languages fluently. He’s also a sociolinguist who studies the revitalization of minority languages. But to see him in action on a daily basis – deftly and comfortably talking to native-speakers in their own languages – suggests that he’s more than a polyglot. Matthew, who is originally from Manchester, England, is a language chameleon: Germans think he’s German, Spaniards think he’s Spanish, Brazilians think he’s Portuguese (he proudly speaks the good-old European variety).
By his own account, Matthew has mastered a staggering number of languages by utilizing abilities that we all possess: persistence, enthusiasm and open-mindedness. If your classic polyglot is an über-nerd who studies languages full-time, then Matthew is something different. His version of multilingualism doesn’t isolate him in an ivory tower; it connects him to people all over the world. According to Matthew, the more languages you speak, the more points of view you have:
“I think each language has a certain way of seeing the world. If you speak one language then you have a different way of analyzing and interpreting the world than the speaker of another language does. Even if they’re really closely-related languages such as Spanish and Portuguese, which are to a certain extent mutually intelligible, they are at the same time two different worlds – two different mindsets.
“Therefore, having learned other languages and been surrounded by other languages, I couldn’t possibly choose only one language because it would mean really renouncing the possibility to be able to see the world in a different way. Not in one way, but in many different ways. So the monolingual lifestyle, for me, is the saddest, the loneliest, the most boring way of seeing the world. There are so many advantages of learning a language; I really can’t think of any reason not to.”
Watch the video above to see him flex his skills in Irish, French, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Italian, Hebrew and German.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=z-tTFKra3Ik
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Why This Alligator Lived in a Los Angeles Family's Backyard for 37 Years

A Los Angeles family says they are heartbroken that a “beloved” 8-foot-long alligator they have raised for 37 years since it was a baby was taken away by L.A. City Animal Services.

The investigation into the illegal pet started late last year when Animal Services received a complaint, the agency said. They weren’t able to find the alligator at the time and believed it was relocated, so they decided to do a surprise visit at a later time, Commander Mark Salazar told ABC News today.

The surprise happened Monday after the agency received a new tip from a neighbor reporting an alligator in the backyard of a house in Van Nuys. 

 he homeowners told ABC News that they refused to let the officers come in because they said they wanted to protect their pet. However, after obtaining a search warrant, officers discovered Jaxson, an 8-foot-long alligator in a box under leaves.

She was bought from a pet store in 1977 and considered a pet and family member, owner Laura Mattson told ABC News.

But there was another surprise.

"What was disturbing was that there were two small animal carcasses that appeared to be cats in the box,” Salazar said. 

Mattson said she has cats of her own and even takes care of feral cats, but she has never fed Jaxson cats.

“I don’t like the fact people are insinuating Jaxson ate cats in the neighborhood,” Mattson told us. “She was perfectly docile.”

Her brother, Ron Gorecki, who also lived in the house with Jaxson, said they only fed Jaxson meat from the groceries.

“We fed her chicken legs, hot dogs, turkey,” he told ABC News. “No live food. No kittens. No cats.”

The siblings said that they believe that feral cats are being poisoned and that two must have wandered into Jaxson’s box and died in there sick from poison.

Salazar said he remains skeptical. He is asking anyone who has lost small pets over the past few decades in the area to come to them with information for the ongoing investigation.

Jaxson has since been captured with the help of reptile experts from the Los Angeles Zoo. The 37-year-old alligator is currently in the quarantine area of the zoo, a spokeswoman said.

The owners are facing citations for maintaining a wild animal without proper care and maintenance, and without proper permits. They could face further criminal charges as well, Salazar said.

It is illegal to keep wildlife without permits in Los Angeles.

Gorecki said that he and his sister want to work with the zoo to make sure Jaxson gets the perfect home.

“We’re going to keep calling and visiting the L.A. Zoo to make sure we still see her and stay in contact with her because we love her. We’ll always love her.”

Have you got a pet? Would you like to have one? Write 200 words about it

Should tourists be banned from Antarctica?

This season around 37,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctica - home to about 20 million pairs of breeding penguins. But is it ethically acceptable to go on holiday to such a pristine environment?

Enfolded in two glacial arms the bay before us sparkles ultramarine, the water flecked with ice-lilies and dotted with bits of floating icebergs.
A sheer cliff towers dark above us, flanked by snow slopes as pure white as the glistening fronts of the little Adelie penguins whose spectacled eyes peer curiously around as they waddle and toboggan about their business just a few feet away.
This is Brown Bluff on the Antarctic Peninsula and togged up in layer upon layer of fleece, topped with vivid red wetskins I am all too aware that this is not my habitat.
Which begs the question: Should I be here? Am I, just by setting foot on this extraordinary continent, disturbing a pristine environment and polluting the last great wilderness on earth?
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30709924
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In search of a personalised diet

Forget the latest weight-loss fad - science may already have worked out what diet is best for you. Experts say a personalised approach could transform the way people lose weight.

January is a month when many go on a post-Christmas purge and start dieting. It's also the month when many fail and go back to their bad eating habits.
Scientists say this isn't just down to a lack of willpower. It is due to a person's individual make-up - their genes, hormones and psychology.
The latest weight-loss theory is that instead of reaching for a one-size-fits-all diet, people should follow one that is tailored to their individual needs.
For the first time leading obesity experts and BBC Science have put this theory to the test nationally. Over three months, 75 dieters were put through a series of tests and monitored at home. The study was overseen by scientists from Oxford and Cambridge and their research teams.
 The study looked at three types of overeaters. Feasters who find it hard to stop eating once they start, constant cravers who feel hungry all of the time and emotional eaters who turn to food when they get stressed or anxious.
The study looked at three types of overeaters. Feasters who find it hard to stop eating once they start, constant cravers who feel hungry all of the time and emotional eaters who turn to food when they get stressed or anxious.
If you want to read the whole article:  http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30709297
What do you think of diets? Write more than 200 words on it.