Between the two of us, my roommate and I have the, uhh, digestive problems that are more common in people of East Asian descent. She's lactose intolerant. I get so-called "Asian glow" when I drink alcohol. But at least when my roommate is craving cheese, she can pop some Lactaid pills. Why can't I take an Asian glow pill?

Tacobell.com has one particularly interesting page (you know, besides its popular new video ad). It's one big, purple page that serves as a short intro into industrial food science. On it, the fast food company briefly explains some of its "unpronounceable" ingredients.

Bracelets or belts that track your activity and vitals may soon be a thing of the past. Engineers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Northwestern University have produced a health-monitoring device that looks like a Band-Aid. The thin, soft patch can stick to and move with the skin, all while wirelessly sending vital updates to your designated cellphone or computer.

Five thousand Norwegians "ran to the point of exhaustion on a treadmill" so you wouldn't have to. They were research subjects whose measurements went into a new online fitness age calculator made by exercise researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, The New York Times reports. The calculator lets people find how fit they are with just a couple of easy-to-get measures, waist circumference and resting heart rate.

The Basis Band is our favorite fitness tracker, the only device that elevates the category beyond simply "here's a graph of what you did." It actually works with your life to suggest new ways to stay fit - actually analyzing data, not just presenting it. And this morning, Basis released the first smartphone app for the device.

The Basis Band is the best fitness tracker on the market. It's the best because it works with your life rather than requiring that a whole bunch of extra new steps be added to your life. It encourages you to get in shape, get a better night's sleep, and live more healthfully. Previous fitness trackers were content to merely measure and present you with raw data of your current state of fitness, like a cat dropping a dead vole at the foot of your bed. The Basis Band is like a cat that digs up voles that were eating your plants and deposits said voles in the garbage can. It's the first truly next-generation fitness tracker.