Ben Carr

I was near the Potomac River in Maryland a few days ago in the afternoon. While I heard a lot of birds, one sound was quite interesting. It sounded a lot like water dropping and rippling. That's about as much as I can describe though. Any guesses?

So say there are two males of similar body composition. The only difference is one is highly active, and 2500 calories is below their caloric maintenance level, while the other is extremely sedentary, and 2500 would give them a caloric surplus. They both, however, eat 2500 calories of the same food. Would the active one have smaller bowel movements or problems with constipation, and if so, why?

http://instagram.com/p/obS7a6NXSo/

I have my first physique bodybuilding competition in two weeks. I've been cutting down for months to get to a low enough bodyfat. I was sticking to my plan very well, but had been feeling increasingly weak and mentally unstable the past few weeks. Yesterday, halfway through my work out, I broke down and started crying. I knew that I needed food. I went to the kitchen and ate until I couldn't fit anything else in my stomach, then ate some more. It felt so good but now I'm really worried that it will hurt my progress. I made it so far, and I feel like I blew it. I weighed 6 pounds more than usual this morning. I know the majority is water-weight, but still... How damaging do you think this binge was? How can I feel better?

I know that colleges can rescind their acceptances if the student's grades dip too low. How low is too low though? I want to go to University of Miami and am awaiting a decision. All other colleges I've applied to have accepted me, so I think I have a good shot (I'm above their curve with a weighted GPA of 4.43, 3.8 something unweighted). Things have been tough outside of school and I've been overwhelmed lately. How much should I worry about keeping my scores up? Have any of you had a college rescind on you, or been in a similar situation?

GOOD we must love, and must hate ill,

For ill is ill, and good good still;

But there are 1 things indifferent,

Which we may neither hate, nor love,

But one, and then another prove, 5

As we shall find our fancy bent.

If then at first wise Nature had

Made women either good or bad,

Then some we might hate, and some choose;

But since she did them so create, 10

That we may neither love, nor hate,

Only this rests, all all 2 may use.

If they were good, it would be seen;

Good is as visible as green,

And to all eyes itself betrays, 15

If they were bad, they could not last;

Bad doth itself and others waste;

So they deserve nor blame, nor praise.

But they are ours as fruits are ours;

He that but tastes, he that devours, 20

And he that leaves all, doth as well;

Changed loves are but changed sorts of meat;

And when he hath the kernel eat,

Who doth not fling away the shell?

I received an email from "information@wilmerhale.com" stating

"Court notification No8105

Notice to appear in court,

Please take notice that you have to come to the hearing

of your case that will be held in the Court of Washington on February 28, 2014.

The subject of the hearing "illegal use of software".

Your attendance is required.

You may find the detailed pretrial notice attached to this letter,

you are highly recommended to study it thoroughly in advance.

Recording secretary,

CAMACHO Nunez"

There is a zip file attached, but I am hesitant to open it do to it potentially being a virus. I have not received anything in the mail, so it seems fishy. What should I do?

I'm American and didn't think that there was much difference between Hershey's and other chocolates. I never noticed any "tangy" aftertaste or anything, but everyone online seems to be saying how awful it is compared to European chocolates. What is a good brand name to try for comparison?

So I was at my local Chinese restaurant and the owners child was eating some seeds and left some on the table that we sat down at. They were mostly black if I remember correctly, and I think they were like red or purple near the center. They were sort of arrow-head shaped I think. The shell was hard, and I don't think I was supposed to eat that part, but the core was sweet and had a distinctive flavor. Any thoughts on what it was?

I turned on my Xbox 360 and started up the game, but when it loaded, it loaded to a point very early on in the game, at my last manual save. I looked, and it had overwritten my auto save file with this. It's like 20 hours behind where I was. Is anyone else facing a similar problem or is there any solution to get my memory back?

For my human geography class, I must find current events or problems that East Asia is dealing with. They can be political, economic, or whatever. I personally haven't watched tv (including the news) since around may, so I'm at a loss for current events. Any help would be much appreciated.

I've been increasingly noticing chunks of food in my stool. Mostly plants foods. I just spotted a chunk of an apple, some lettuce, spinach and I always notice carrots. I eat a pretty healthy diet, no junk foods or fast food or anything. What does this mean? Should I be taking some supplements or certain foods to boost my digestive system? I'm 17 and male.

I have windows 8 and was using McAfee virus protection (free trial). I began to notice that the majority of the pages I visited had this symbol — http://i.imgur.com/zx0m7C1.png — in the search box.

I use google chrome (as evident in the screenshot) and the computer is new. I've uninstalled McAfee and switched to Windows Defender and am currently running a full scan. McAfee never detected anything. I'm scared that there is some sort of spyware and I don't want to enter any information on the computer. What should I do?

I've been benching for about six weeks now but I was pretty fit to start with. I'd tried my first 1RM today at 230 lbs and ended up putting it up twice. I weigh 155 lbs. Is this good?

I'm 17, male, white (Russian, English, German) pretty active (I do a lot of weight training) and only 5'8". I'm really insecure about my height (I know I'm not that short but still) and I feel like I won't even grow to be average. As a youngling (isn't that an awesome word?) I was always a little taller than most of my friends but by high school, I was the shortest. My mom is only 5' tall and the women on her side are all short but the men are kind of tall/above average. My dad's a bit above average and I believe his side if the family is for the most part. Is it likely that I'll hit a growth spurt or something, or will I be stuck at chin height for most other guys?

For the record, I have been working out since I was hardly a teenager but there is no evidence whatsoever (in fact, some against) to suggest that weight training inhibits growth. It is just a myth.

It is basically a vertical line with three horizontal lines crossing it. It is seen in this picture, second symbol from the bottom (between the Shen and ankh)

http://i.imgur.com/Qx42PMs.png

Maybe after some shaving, a tan and a haircut or something?

http://imgur.com/a/nh3yo

My right eye is slightly puffy and is itchy. The eye itself is sort of pink. My other eye is fine. I tried rinsing it out but nothing happened. What could it be?

So my brother said that it's just an American thing to cook a steak rare, and that most other countries cook them well done or medium. Is there any truth to this? I couldn't imagine so many people ruining a good cut like that.