Lifestyle

When a basement floods, who's at fault? According to one man in Omaha, Nebraska, it's the city's responsibility in his case. Charles (whose last name has not been reported for confidentiality reasons), says that, in the 60 years he had lived in the area of 24th and Maple, he had never experienced flooding. "There’s never been a flood in this area since I've been living," he said in an interview with KETV. Earlier this year, Omaha started water main work and sewer separation in the neighborhood. The Environmental Protection Agency's federal guidelines required that the crews working on the pipes have a stormwater pollution prevention plan in place. Why does the EPA regulate stormwater in the first place? Throughout the nation, stormwater is actually one of the main sources of water po...

The Eastern practice of acupuncture as an alternative form of veterinary treatment has made its way to American shores -- and it is growing in popularity at a rapid rate, according to a May 5 Slate article. Many American veterinary schools now offer animal acupuncture courses, and there are approximately 4,000 veterinarians across the country who are qualified to stick needles in your pet in exchange for money. However, expert opinions on whether veterinary acupuncture is actually an effective form of treatment are highly conflicted. Most of the scientific studies intending to prove the effectiveness of this practice so far have been unreliable -- according to Slate, four out of every five studies on animal acupuncture are unreliable; the fifth usually disproves the idea that acupunctur...

Back pain -- either temporary or chronic -- is one of the most common work-related injuries, with at least 50% of Americans admitting to having back pain symptoms. It is often caused by ordinary work activities such as sitting in an office chair, or lifting heavy items. Because many Americans sit for an extended amount of time every day, one of the easiest solutions to solving back pain is to buy a chair that is specifically designed to reduce musculoskeletal stress. The best type of chair to solve such issues is an ergonomic one. An ergonomic chair is designed to suit a range of people, but you should not simply purchase an ergonomic chair just because is it labeled as such. There is also no guarantee that every ergonomic chair is best for you. Finding the right chair is important f...

A new report from online real estate service Redfin is showing some positive signs of growth in one of America's smallest, albeit most lucrative, sectors of real estate. Year-over-year, the sales of luxury homes in the U.S. have grown by 35.7%. Since January,luxury home sales have grown by more than 21%. In a country where the rest of the real estate market remains shaky at best, this growth is more than welcome news, both for the overall economy and the real estate agents who are making big things happen. Luxury Homes Sales Buck Dismal Nationwide Trends When looked at against new home sales for April, the boom in luxury homes is even more impressive. New home sales in the general market only grew by 6.4% last month, and while that should be seen as encouraging after two months of decl...

At 5-foot-7 and 125 pounds, Molly Schuyler looks like the kind of woman who mainly eats her kids' leftovers and a salad a day, which is precisely what her diet looks like most days. Appearances can be deceiving though, as Schuyler proved last week when she devoured a shrimp cocktail, baked potato, roll, salad, and a 72-ounce steak in under five minutes. What's most impressive though is the fact that she had room for dessert, which just so happened to be the exact same meal again, wolfing it in nine minutes the second time around. “We witnessed history,” said Danny Lee, co-owner of the The Big Texan Steak Ranch where Schuyler feaster. “If there’s a zombie apocalypse, I want to stay away from this girl.” The challenge actually dares contests to only eat one of the feasts in under an ho...

It's bee season, and many people are taking a kinder approach to the way they interact with nature's yellow and black pollinator. This week, the NYPD responded to a four-pound bee swarm found in the Upper West Side. The responders captured the swarm, estimated to be composed of up to 20,000 bees, in a box and transported them safely to a more rural location.The move was a positive one for the hive, since it involved both the new queen and most of her loyal drones. Earlier this month in Delaware, several hundred honey bee hives were in danger when a truck carrying them was overturned while on the freeway. The hives were en route from Florida to Maine when the truck crashed into a guardrail, resulting in the loss of at least 10 million bees. The accident shut down the roads for almost 13 ...

"Kim Kardashian and her family were decked out in 'millions of dollars' worth' of jewelry this weekend by Lorraine Schwartz, a friend of the family and the bling expert who provided Kim's eye-popping 15-carat engagement and the diamond-encircled wedding bands she and husband Kanye West slipped on each other's fingers on Saturday," E! Online reports. Unsurprisingly, sources report that the newly weds' wedding bands were similarly lavish. "West received a handmade gold band, while Kardashian now wears a handmade diamond band, which complemented her own diamond studs and her massive Lorraine Schwartz diamond engagement ring," People magazine reveals. Schwartz also designed West's gold wedding band. The famous couple exchanged rings during an outdoor ceremony at Forte di Belvedere in Floren...

What if a parking lot could power your entire business? That's the premise behind a new idea proposed by Idaho couple Julie and Scott Brusaw. Scott Brusaw, who is an electrical engineer, is focused, along with his wife, on creating streets lined with solar panels that will span the entire United States. "All of the current asphalt and concrete currently soaking up the sun can be covered with our technology to turn that sunlight into clean, renewable electricity," Brusaw explains. The idea is promising enough that the U.S. Federal Highway Administration has granted it funding, and the couple, who own a company called Solar Roadways, are currently seeking $1 million on Indiegogo so that they can commercially manufacturer the product for the first time. The hexagonal solar panels, which...