*Mornings Archives

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For the first time ever, a vegan restaurant has been awarded the coveted Michelin Star rating. ONA, located near the Bordeaux region in France, doesn’t just avoid meat based foods in their cuisine. According to the New York Times they forego all animal products completely including leather and wool textiles in their seating and décor.

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And speaking of Vegan … How do you feel about meat grown in a lab? With more people going vegan, vegetarian, or flexitarian, and others cutting back on meat consumption due to health reasons or concerns about the treatment of animals, there’s a new choice – meat grown in a lab. Researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, say they’ve developed a new form of lab-grown meat that tastes better and has a better texture than other types of “alternative meat.” According to the researchers, the meat can even be “tuned” to have whatever fat content or marbling you like. “We are creating slabs of meat,” said researcher Ravi Selvaganapathy. “Consumers will be able to buy meat with whatever percentage of fat they like — just like they do with milk.” He says, “It felt and tasted just like meat.” (EurekAlert)

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Now you’ve got a good reason to turn off the camera during your video chats … According to a new study from MIT, Yale, and Purdue University, those video calls are bad for the environment. According to researchers, just one hour in a video conference or streaming shows in high-definition emits between 150 and 1,000 grams of carbon dioxide and requires two to 12 liters of water. However, leaving your camera off during calls will reduce your carbon footprint by 96%. And streaming in standard definition rather than HD could bring an 86% reduction, according to researchers.

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Celebs are struggling with their weight during quarantine too. Singer Ciara, who is married to NFL quarterback Russell Wilson and recently gave birth to her third child during the pandemic, has joined Weight Watchers as an ambassador to help with her weight loss and fitness journey. Adapting for safety measures, Ciara says she exercises mostly at home with her children, husband, and pets. She also says that marking down her goals and celebrating with little wins are great ways to stay motivated. (USA Today)

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Speaking of goals… TikTok is helping us take on the new year with the 3-6-9 method on how to manifest our goals. Here’s how it works: First, pick what it is that you want to manifest. In the morning, shortly after waking up, write down that manifestation three times. In the afternoon, write it down six more times. Finally, at night, write it down nine times. Seems frequency and repetition are important factors in manifestation practices — and can help turn your wishes into reality. (Yahoo)

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They make smartphones and smart homes. How do you feel about a smart toilet? Toilet and bath manufacturer Toto unveiled a concept at C.E.S. last week – a toilet that can assess your health by examining what you leave behind. Ok, that’s a little creepy. Yep, based on your ‘business,’ the toilet’s sensors will track your mental and physical health, transmit the data to an app, then offer suggestions on how to eat healthier or alert you if it detects a possible illness. Still a little creepy. No date yet on when the wellness toilet will be available.

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As it turns out, there may actually be some magic in those magic mushrooms after all. Researchers at the University of British Columbia are studying how the psychedelic drug found in magic mushrooms can help treat obesity. The drug psilocybin (sigh-luh-sigh-bin) has been shown to alter neural pathways in the brain that can help people shift their mindsets. The scientists hope the trippy drug can also be used for effective weight-loss purposes. Previous studies suggest that psilocybin is also effective in treating anxiety and depression.

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If you’re planning on filing your tax returns early, you’ll have to wait a few weeks. On Friday the I.R.S. said they won’t start accepting 2020 individual tax returns until February 12^th. The agency says they need more time to program and test their computer systems after Congress passed a tax relief law last month. The late start date also means you should expect late returns. The April 15^th tax deadline, which was extended last year, remains unchanged this year.

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The shelter where President-elect Joe Biden adopted his dog threw an “indoguration” to celebrate the pooch’s imminent arrival at the White House. It was all held over Zoom. Recording artist Josh Groban joined the virtual event, singing a version of “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window.” He adapted just for Major, a now 3-year-old German Shepherd. Major is the first shelter dog to ever to live in the White House.

A good day to wear a hat … eat a bagel … have some ice cream.

It’s also National Pizza Week (Thriilist)

According to a YouGov poll, these are the most popular pizza toppings

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Losing weight is always the top New Year’s resolution … but it seems people are really feeling the pressure to drop those quarantine pounds this year. 71% of respondents said weight loss was one of their top goals of 2021 — and 70% admitted they are feeling pressure to start eating better. Why is this year different than others? Mindless (aka bored/stressful) eating.

A survey by OnePoll, on behalf of Nutrisystem, found that 76% of those surveyed said they eat more during the day because of their easy access to their kitchen. 30% confessed that they go to their fridge more than 10 times a day. Basically, we’re mindless eating. The reason? We’re bored – and stressed.

According to the survey, these are the top reasons we’re eating worse during the pandemic:

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Speaking of eating … Are you pretty much eating the same meals, over and over? A new survey found that nearly 60% of respondents are “stuck in a rut” when it comes to their meals, with the majority eating the same six meals over and over, usually just rotating them throughout the week. (SWNS)

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If you’ve had enough of your boss, tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot is 750-million bucks. That’s the second largest pot in Mega Millions history. Saturday night’s Powerball jackpot is nothing to sneeze at either: it’s now 640-million bucks. And if you happen to somehow be the absolute luckiest person ever, winning them both would get ya a cool 1-point-4 billion dollars.

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A TikTok user is getting mixed reactions after sharing a video of how she took revenge on her cheating boyfriend. User @hollynicoleeee posted a video of herself throwing glitter all over her ex’s apartment — with Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” playing in the background. The glitter is everywhere – on his bed, in his bathroom, all over his furniture, on his clothes … “It’s not key his car in 2021 … no, it’s glitter his EVERYTHING 2021,” she captioned the video.

Many commenters sided with her, saying it was a harmless prank – and even suggesting other places she should have put the glitter, like the ceiling fan. But others called her behavior “childish” and “toxic.”

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Looks like the home improvement boom of 2020 isn’t going away in 2021. A study conducted by OnePoll, on behalf of Puffy, found that 70% of respondents said they are upping their home décor game in 2021. Seems 55% said they did a home makeover project in 2020, and 71% said that, after spending more time at home than ever last year, they’re planning to take the project to the next level this year. (SWNS)

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Want some cereal in your coffee? International Delight has rolled out Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles Coffee Creamer. Yep, this is a real thing. “The creamer on its own is the exact flavor of Fruity Pebbles cereal. It’s phenomenal. Furthermore, the flavor still shines through in coffee! Many coffee creamers have their flavor drowned out by that of coffee, but not this one! Even with a small amount of creamer, the Fruity Pebbles flavor is noticeable,” @CandyHunting wrote in its review. Yum? (Delish)

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Now this is automation we can get behind … This week, during the all-virtual Consumer Electronics Show, Samsung introduced a trio of robots that can do everything from pick up dirty laundry and put away groceries to pour you a glass of wine . And no, they’re not yet available just yet… Finally, parts of the Jetsons are coming to fruition! (Food & Wine)

Make Your Dream Come True Day: We all have dreams that we put on the back burner. Today’s the day to take the first step to making it happen.

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Did you start going gray … last year? Seems for many women, the color of 2020 was gray. A new OnePoll survey found that the average American woman says she feels four years older after the stress of last year. 65% of the women surveyed said they believe 2020 aged them more than ever – and that includes going gray. 52% said they’ve gone gray faster in the last year than they would have, and 42% said they discovered news strands of gray in their hair in the last year. 46% of those said it was the first gray hairs they’d ever had. The survey, which was commissioned by Garnier, found that 33% of respondents said they dyed their hair at home during the pandemic – with 88% saying they did it to cover up their grays. 44% said they colored their hair just to make a change and another 32% said they tried a new color because they were bored.

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Here’s another pandemic effect … Seems many people are in such a funk these days that they are “too tired” to clean, cook, exercise, shower, or even have sex. A new British survey of adults found that they feel tired at least four times a day and spend a total of three hours per day feeling low in energy. 41% said their fatigue is a result of not being able to sleep at night, while 31% blame it on stress. 27% said it’s the cold dark winter days that make them tired, 15% said their bad diets drain their energy, and 9% said it’s their kids that exhaust them.

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Lose weight … wirelessly. If you’ve ever watched My 600-Lb Life you know that for people who suffer from morbid obesity, gastric-bypass surgery is sometimes the only tool to aid in long-term weight loss. Researchers from Texas A&M University have just discovered, however, that they can mimic the surgery – using light. Yep, via a tiny, wireless implant, light can be used to trigger the nerve in the stomach that tells the brain that you’re full. That means with just a small implant, doctors could one day replace invasive surgery with a simple procedure and produce similar results.