10 Extraordinary Rivers Around the World

Irrigating crops, producing electricity, acting as roadways for trade and travel, and even offering a sacred place for worship, rivers are the epicenter around which much of humanity lives and thrives. From the Nile in Africa, which played a vital role in the development of the Western world, to the Ganges in India, considered by Hindus to be the holiest of all rivers, here are 10 of the most important natural waterways on the planet. 

Amazon, South America

Beginning in Brazil and traveling through Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean, the Amazon is perhaps the most record-breaking river in the world. It is the largest (2.7 million sq. miles), the widest (202 miles wide at its mouth; 6.8 miles wide along its path) and among the longest (4,000 miles) and deepest (300 feet in some spots). It is also called the "Ocean River" because it boasts the greatest total discharge of all rivers—between 9 million and 32 million gallons per second—which is 20 percent of the world's freshwater ocean discharge. Photo: Zubin Shroff/Getty Images

Caño Cristales, South America

Starting in the Andean foothills of the Amazon rainforest in Colombia, the "river that ran away from paradise" is generally regarded as the most beautiful in the world due to its brief seasonal blooming of colorful bottom-feeding algae. In full glory during late October and early November when the water level is just right, vibrant blotches of reds, oranges, yellows, greens and blues paint its water—turning the surface into a virtual rainbow. Photo: Fredy Gómez

Danube River, Europe

At 1,770 miles long, the Danube is the second longest river in Europe after the Volga. But unlike the Volga, which only runs through Russia, the Danube snakes through Germany, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania and the Ukraine before emptying into the Black Sea. Vital to the settlement and political evolution of central and southeastern Europe, the Danube's banks are lined with castles and fortresses as it was the boundary between so many great empires. Today the lower portion of the Danube is a major avenue for freight transport, while the upper Danube is an important source of hydroelectricity. Photo: Gil Azouri/Getty Images

Ganges, South Asia

Hindus believe the Ganges River is the earthly manifestation of the Goddess Ganga, and they worship it as the holiest of all rivers. Beginning in the southern Himalayas, the 1,560-mile river flows through China, India, Nepal and Bangladesh before emptying into the Indian Ocean. Many of the practicing Hindus who populate the 52 cities and 48 towns along its banks believe in the river's ability to cleanse them of their sins and liberate them from the cycle of life and death. Pilgrimage sites are particularly significant, attracting hundreds of thousands of worshippers each year, and some people cast the ashes of their dead into the river, believing it will guide the souls of the deceased straight to paradise. Photo: Robert Harding/Getty Images

Jordan, Southwest Asia

The Jordan River is both the Biblical and historical epicenter of the Judeo-Christian world. Not only is it where Jesus Christ was baptized by John, but it is also believed to be the scene of a number of miracles, including the crossing from Egypt to Canaan, and Biblical wars, such as the battle between Jonathan and Bacchides. Though part of the river's upper portion is still used for baptisms today, much of it is considered endangered due to domestic and agricultural use. Photo: Shutterstock.com

Mississippi, North America

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America—so large, in fact, that it runs through 10 U.S. states and is divided into two main parts: the Upper Mississippi (from its source in Northern Minnesota to where it meets the Ohio River at the southern tip of Illinois) and the Lower Mississippi (from the Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico). A major navigational route and settlement hub since the Native Americans settled there, the Mississippi River has been immortalized in American culture in everything from books like Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to the rhythm and blues music of the Mississippi Delta. Photo: Kevin Horan/Getty Images

Nile, Africa

At 4,132 miles long, the Nile is the longest river in the world. It also happens to be one of the most iconic. Flowing north through the deserts of Uganda and Egypt, it has been the lifeline of Egypt since the Stone Age, and, to this day, the vast majority of the Egyptian population is settled along its path. It is also one of the main routes of shipping traffic. In fact, the winter winds are so strong that ships can travel against the current using just a sail. Photo: Peter Adams/Getty Images

Neretva, Southeastern Europe

Neretva is the world's largest "karst river" or river surrounded by karst topography, which is the phenomena of rock dissolution that creates caves, sinkholes, sinking streams and large springs. Running mostly through Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Croatia, the river is considered among the 10 most endangered karst ecosystems—its cold, fresh water is maintained by dams and hydroelectric plants—but is still hailed as one of the most beautiful rivers in the world. Photo: Michael Short/Getty Images

Rio Negro, South America

At just over 430 navigable miles, the Rio Negro is the world's largest blackwater river, and forms the border between Colombia and Venezuela. Its color, which looks like darkly brewed tea, is caused by the release of tannins from decaying vegetation. The Rio Negro feeds into the Amazon just below Manaus, Brazil, and is its largest tributary, creating a beautiful contrast of color where the white waters of the Amazon and the black waters of the Rio Negro meet. Photo: Jose de Paula Machado/Getty Images

Zambezi, Africa

The Zambezi is the fourth longest river in Africa, running 2,200 miles from northwestern Zambia through Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique before emptying into the Indian Ocean. It also happens to be home to some of the largest—and most beautiful—waterfalls in the world, Victoria Falls, located between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The waterfalls' height (350 ft) and collective width (5,700 ft) create such a powerful crash at the base that it is called "the smoke that thunders." Photo: George Wright/Getty Images

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How Staying Mentally Fit Can Make a Difference

Your brain isn’t a muscle, but you can treat it like one
Many people focus on physical fitness, but few know that brain fitness is also something you can work on. In fact, you can exercise your brain as often as you would your arms or abs--and the results can be positive and empowering.

It’s helpful to think of your brain as you would a muscle. To improve your brain, you can’t simply repeat the same exercises over and over. Just as lifting a two pound weight will cease to challenge you, so will repetitive exercises such as crosswords or Sudoku. Once you master easy exercises, you must move on to harder ones in order to push your brain—like your muscles—to a new level.
This is based on your brain’s innate neuroplasticity, or its ability to grow and change in response to new challenges. In other words, the right types of stimulating exercises can physically change your brain.

The science behind brain training
Scientists once believed that your mental abilities were fixed in adulthood. Now that studies on neuroplasticity have shown just the opposite, millions of people around the world have adopted the new practice of brain training.
The most popular of these brain training products is made by the San Francisco-based Lumosity, which employs a team of in-house neuroscientists with degrees from Stanford and UC Berkeley.
Realizing that brains need more sophisticated programs and guidance to grow and change, Lumosity’s scientists work with an experienced team of game designers. Together they’ve developed a fun, effective online brain training program that measure, tracks, and adapts to your progress so you’ll always be challenged.
Lumosity's training algorithm and 40+ games are based on well-studied tests used in clinical neuropsychology research.

Promising studies on the effects of brain training
In a 2013 Stanford study, a treatment group of 21 breast cancer survivors used 12 weeks of Lumosity training to work on processing speed, mental flexibility, and working memory tasks. On average, those who trained improved on tests of these abilities, compared to a group that did not train with Lumosity.
There is even some preliminary evidence suggesting that Lumosity may be beneficial to normal, healthy adults. In a 2011 study by Lumosity and San Francisco State University researchers, 13 people who did Lumosity training over 5 weeks improved on tests of brain performance compared to a group that did not train. On average, those who trained improved working memory scores by 10% and attention scores by 20%.

Brain training is designed to address real-life needs
The goal of brain training is not to improve game scores: it’s to improve the underlying core abilities that those games rely on. Neuroscientists like those at Lumosity design brain games meant to translate into real-life benefits; with continued testing and research, the body of evidence behind brain training continues to grow.

Better attention, for example, can mean greater focus in the classroom or at an important business meeting. With improved processing speed, you might react and adapt faster to the demands of a busy life. And a better memory could mean stronger, longer relationships with the people closest to you.
Brain training is an investment

Training can take just a few minutes a day, but the rewards can make a difference in many aspects of life.
Lumosity is one of the first and most popular brain training programs in existence. There’s a small fee to use the full product, or new users can start a free trial.

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There are Two Kinds of Auto Insurance Buyers. Which Kind Are You?

One of the dirty little secrets of the auto insurance world is that there are two types of customers; savvy ones who pay rates considerably below the norm, and those who get a quote from just one company and end up paying way more than they need to.

If you’ve been casually following the news about the auto insurance industry over the past few years, you could be forgiven for believing that rates have skyrocketed and continue to climb.  The real story is that, as a result of relentless consumer and regulatory pressure on insurance companies, auto rates in many cases have actually dropped.  Of course, don’t expect your insurance company to let you know you could be getting coverage for less.

Of all the monthly expenses that can be reduced with some time and effort, auto insurance tops the list.  But, of course our time itself is worth money.  Often, we don’t take the time to research if we could be getting a better deal.  It’s a tradeoff between perhaps paying more and spending hours of our time getting quotes from multiple insurers.

But, here’s the kicker: When it comes to auto insurance, the savings to be had by doing a little comparison shopping can be huge – often hundreds, if not thousands of dollars!
More importantly, new online services now make it remarkably quick and easy to get multiple competitive quotes, so that you can easily find the lowest quote for you.

One of the best of these free new services is called Bestcarinsurance.com, which is remarkably fast and easy to use.  Just input your zip code on their website and they will find the best and lowest cost insurance companies for your location.  Most people are amazed by the huge differences between the quotes and their current coverage.

Bottom line: It makes it simple to find significant savings fast.  And, contrary to what many people believe – it’s easy and cost-free to change insurance carriers anytime.  Consumers are never locked into a policy for any period of time.

So, if you think that saving hundreds of dollars immediately with minimal effort is a smart move, check out Bestcarinsurance.com.

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Rare Undersea Discovery Could Extend Your Life by 10, 20 or 30 Years

Humans have made incredible health strides and are living longer lives than ever.  Many of the maladies that struck down our ancestors have for the most part been completely eliminated – everything from tuberculosis, to polio to malaria.

Today, the biggest killers stem as much from our lifestyles as from microscopic bacteria and viruses.  One of the worst of these is heart disease, and specifically high blood pressure. It’s a slow, but efficient killer that robs many people of what should be the last 10, 20 or 30 years of their lives.

Part of the reason that heart disease is so prevalent and intractable is that it often requires massive changes to one’s lifestyle— changes that are not easy to make.  Everything from radically altering ones diet to implementing serious exercise routines.  And while it’s never too late to start, people often realize the true danger only when it’s too late to make the changes and the damage is done.
Now, however, there may be a scientific breakthrough that could have an impact on high blood pressure comparable to penicillin’s ability treat infections or quinine’s effect on malaria.
Scientists are claiming that they have now isolated unusual ingredients in a rare seaweed discovered by fishermen off the coast of Korea that offer incredible health benefits—including the ability to restore blood pressure to normal levels.

Dr. Haengwoo Lee, a renowned biochemist living near Seattle, Washington conducted a massive 15 year, multimillion dollar clinical study on these two ingredients. The first is Seanol, an extremely rare seaweed extract from Ecklonia Cava that's proven to be 100 times more powerful than any land-based antioxidant. That's because it stays working in your body for 12 hours, compared to land-based antioxidants that work for 30 minutes.

"Its secret is its make-up of special polyphenol antioxidants that are a whopping 40% lipid (fat) soluble," Dr. Lee explains. "Unlike nearly all land-based antioxidants that are water soluble, Seanol's protective compounds can get into things like the fatty tissues of your brain and penetrate all three layers of your cells, including the outside, the oil-based cell membranes, and your DNA."

Indeed, Seanol is so powerful, it's the only FDA-approved Ecklonia Cava marine-algae extract in existence.
The second ingredient is Calamarine, a deep-sea omega-3 discovery that delivers 85% more DHA omega-3s to your heart, brain, joints, and eyes. It's known to combat everything from fatigue and poor memory, to vision problems, joint pain, mood swings and depression.

With that research in mind, Dr. Lee combined Seanol and Calamarine with a high dose of vitamin D to form Marine-D3, the newest supplement in the fight against age-related illnesses and high blood pressure.
According to the CDC, about 1 in 3 U.S. adults has high blood pressure, which increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, the two leading causes of death in the United States. Increasing your omega-3 intake can reduce high blood pressure, and because it's difficult to get enough omega-3s in foods like fish and nuts, many people turn to supplements.

Dr. Lee found that Calamarine delivers some of the greatest concentration of omega-3s known to science, and has been able to formulate it without any fishy burps or aftertaste. Combined with Seanol's ability to reduce body inflammation, as well as help cells get the nutrients they need to thrive, stay healthy and protected, Marine-D3 is able to boost a body's entire well being.

The makers of Marine-D3 are so confident that you'll see fast dramatic results from this product, that if you aren't happy after two full months, simply return the unused portion and they'll buy it back. They'll even give you ten dollars extra just for giving it an honest try! That kind of faith, combined with Dr. Lee's exhaustive research, shows that Marine-D3 really is a one-of-a-kind product.

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