Blog Posts by Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo! blogger

Getty ImagesEven in the world of pet names Twilight fever shows no signs of cooling down. This year's most popular name for female dogs and cats is Bella.

Related: Dog people vs. Cat People: the Surprising Differences

Yahoo! Shine just got an exclusive look at this year's list of the 10 top names for male and female cats and dogs. The list is published annually by Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation's largest provider of heath insurance for pets.

According to VPI's database of over half a million pets, it looks like classic canine names such as Spot, Fido, and Rover have gone the way of the Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig craze. Today's owners tend to view their dogs as true members of the family and give them human names such as Jake and Sadie.

The same goes for cat people, with some exceptions. While dog owners see their pets as babies, some cat owners view them more as their superiors in strength or station. Just the way Princess and Simba want it.

Most popular

Celebrity baby names of 2011 In countries such as New Zealand or Sweden there are outright bans on certain names, which means creative parents never get the chance to saddle Junior with a moniker like  "Lucifer," "Superman," or the rather tricky to pronounce name,  "Brfxxccxxmnpcccclll- mmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116." But in this country, we have no such laws, which means people (and by people, I really mean rock stars, models, pro athletes, and reality TV performers) are free to choose whatever kind of shocking/silly names they fancy. In the past few years, celebrities have exercised this right at full tilt--as a result, the baby names some stars came up with bordered on the absurd (I'm thinking of infamous bad choices like Apple, Kal-el, or Rob Morrow's daughter Tu Morrow--yes, that's real). 

Related: Five Ways Celebrity Kids Surprised Us In 2011

These famous folks might do well to follow the advice of an instructional guide we found called "How to Name Your Baby Without Handicapping It for Life," published

Photo: Getty images'Tis the season for over indulgence, but soon visions of sugar plums will be crowded out by New Year's resolutions to cut calories and lose the cookie belly. Is it possible to have your cake, or at least your pasta, and eat it too?

Related: Miracle diet drug in the works. For real this time?

Shirataki noodles from Japan contain zero calories and zero carbs and are gaining a following amongst flab fighters around the country as a miracle alternative to traditional pasta. Lisa Lillien, who writes the popular "Hungry Girl" newsletter, is one of the product's biggest boosters in the United States and endorses the variety made by House of Foods brand.

The noodles, which come in lots of familiar shapes such as spaghetti, angel hair, and fettuccini, are made of water and fiber from a plant called konjac yam instead of from wheat flour. They are naturally calorie- and carb-free, because the fiber they contain is not absorbed by the body. Tofu shirataki, a type made from soybeans and

Yahoo! Shine got an advance peek at this year's most popular dog names list, which is published annually along with cat and exotic pet names by Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. (VPI), the nation's largest provider of heath insurance for pets.

Related: Dog people vs. Cat People: the Surprising Differences

According to the list, it looks like classic canine names such as Spot, Fido, and Rover have gone the way of the Vietnamese Pot Bellied Pig craze. Today's owners (or "Pet Parents" many dog walking services and doggie daycares now call them) prefer to give their pooches human names. If they hailed from the Wild West, that is. A posse of Jakes, Codys, Sadies, and Lolas is currently having a rootin' tootin' good time at a dog park near you.

A notable exception? Twilight madness has even impacted the pet world. For the third year in a row, Bella tops the list of popular names for females. So much for dogs being descended from wolves.

Most popular canine names for females

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On January 1, 2012 a law phasing out standard 100-watt incandescent bulbs will go into effect. However, it won't be the bulb apocalypse that some detractors have been warning of. In short: the notion that incandescent bulbs will no longer be available is a myth. Nor will you be forced to buy Compact Fluroescent Lightbulbs (CFLs). "You will still be able to buy incandescents," Noah Horowitz, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), told Yahoo! Shine. "The only difference being that the new and improved ones are more efficient."

Related: Samsung Introduces Advanced LED Light Bulbs to Brighten U.S. Households with Energy Efficient, Natural-looking Light

The new incandescent bulbs operate and look just like the old-fashioned bulbs that you are used to-they have the same shape and base design. And, according to Horowitz, most people won't notice any difference in the color or quality of light. What is different is that they have an improved filament design,

When former Harvard President Larry Summers suggested there were "issues of intrinsic aptitude" regarding women's math abilities it caused quite a stir. Now, a new University of Wisconsin study based on data from 84 countries definitively debunks the still widely perceived idea that boys are naturally better than girls at math. "Culture, not biology, is the primary force behind any measurable differences," Janet Mertz, PhD, one of the study's coauthors, told Yahoo! Shine.

Related: Top Five Ways to Fix the American Education System

Mertz and her colleague Jonathan Kane, who is a professor of mathematics and computer science, wanted to "put to rest the idea that there are innate differences between boys and girls in both average and variable performances in mathematics." Summers had posited that men hold more PhDs in math than women due to the "greater male variability hypothesis" - that is, there are more men at both the low end and the high end of the spectrum.

Does the week-old zucchini at the back of your fridge have the nutritional value of cardboard? If you are inclined to toss it into the garbage, you might want to reconsider. According to nutrition expert Lora Brown of Brigham Young University, refrigeration vastly improves the shelf life of most fruits and vegetables, and the loss of nutrients usually coincides with visible spoilage. "If you have to take it out of the fridge on a gurney, then throw it away," Brown told Yahoo! Shine. "But if the taste, color, and texture are good, the nutrient content will still be relatively high."

Related link: Nine fast, healthy breakfast ideas

Unless you are buying all your food straight from the farm, it is impossible to know how it was processed or how long it took to get to the supermarket. "Fresh" produce might be in transit for more than a week and then sit on the store shelf for days. For oils, nuts, and dry goods, it could be months or years before an item reaches your pantry.

Is your kid eating dessert for breakfast? According to a new report on sugar in children's cereals published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), more than half of the 84 brands tested contained at least 12 grams of sugar, or the equivalent of three teaspoons, per serving. That's more sugar than three Chips Ahoy! cookies. Moreover, only one out of four cereals tested met the federal government's proposed guidelines for food nutritious enough to be marketed to children. These guidelines were established to combat the childhood obesity epidemic.

Related link: The White House and the Winter Garden: Eating Local All Year Long

Cereals containing the most sugar

The three worst cereals - Kellogg's Honey Smacks, Post Golden Crisp, and General Mills Wheaties Fuel - all contain about 20 grams of sugar, or five teaspoons, per serving which is more than a Hostess Twinkie. The American Heart Association recommends that children consume less than three teaspoons of sugar per day.