Bieber’s superpower was his face’

‘Bieber’s superpower was his face’
L.A. Reid thought Justin Bieber was as "beautiful" as a woman when he was first introduced to the singer and admits his looks played a major role in him getting signed to Island Records in 2008.

Credit: AFP

Singer Justin Bieber and L.A. Reid at the Island Def Jam Spring Collection party at Stephen Weiss Studio on May 20, 2009 in New York City. Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Island Def Jam/AFP

The 59-year-old music mogul signed the 'Baby' hitmaker to Island Records in October of 2008 when Bieber was just 14 years old after being introduced to the Canadian pop star by Usher.

And in his new book 'Sing To Me', Reid recalls that first meeting with Bieber and admits he was as struck by his famous haircut and looks as he was his singing.

In the memoir, Reid reveals: "At four on the dot, Usher walked into my office with this adorable fourteen-year-old boy. This kid was beautiful, like a woman can be beautiful and men rarely are, and he turned it on as soon as he stepped into the room.

"I could see immediately that Justin's hair would be every bit as important as his songs, his voice, his face, or his presence. Justin was simply beautiful - his superpower was his face."

Reid is not the only person who has commented on Bieber's androgynous beauty.

'Orange is the New Black' actress Ruby Rose has noted the 21-year-old singer has a similar face to her own.

She said: "I hear that Justin gets asked a lot if he is Ruby Rose. It must be very frustrating for him."

Female First

Eat Vegetarian, Live Longer?

People who eat a vegetarian diet live longer than those who eat meat, according to research published this week.

Researchers from Loma Linda University in California followed 73,308 members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which encourages a vegetarian diet, for almost six years. There were 12 percent fewer deaths among vegetarians over that period compared to meat-eaters, the researchers reported in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Other studies have pointed toward similar connections, but this research analyzed a larger group of people. Specifically, researchers found that vegetarians were less likely to die from heart disease, diabetes and kidney failure.

“We can’t tell from this current paper with certainty, but one of the most plausible potential reasons contributing to this beneficial association is perhaps the absence or reduction of meat intake,” lead author Dr. Michael J. Orlich told TIME.

Or it could be that the consumption of certain plant foods has a protective effect, he said. Vegetarians also tend to be thinner. The total number of calories consumed in this study, however, didn’t appear to be linked to living longer.

So should you trade in that hot dog for a tofu variety? Perhaps, especially if you’re a man. The association between a vegetarian diet and death risk was much stronger for men than women, the researchers reported.

“People are confronted with all sorts of nutritional information, but the bottom line is, ‘How will your diet pattern affect your risk of dying?”‘ Orlich told The Wall Street Journal.

Image: iStockphoto

9/11: Your Stories and Ours

Each week we at Discovery News honor the best of our readers' comments across our Facebook and Twitter feeds!

feeds! Watch the video below for my response to your angriest, most insightful and funniest comments.

This week, in remembrance of 9/11, we're dedicating this vlog and blog to your stories and stories from our staff. Watch the video for more information on how to share your story with us.

Check out more personal stories from our readers, or add your own memory here: 9/11: What You Remember.

Bieber holds off RiRi on Billboard chart

Justin Bieber has again this week topped the US Billboard Artist 100 chart, beating out Rihanna who stormed to second place following the release of her new album 'ANTI' and accompanying lead single 'Work', featuring Drake.

Credit: REUTERS

Beck, Justin Bieber and Joan Jett watch the Saint Laurent fall collection fashion show at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California on February 10, 2016. Photo: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

The chart measures artist activity across some of Billboard's most influential charts including Top Album Sales, the Social 50 and the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, blending data measuring album and track sales, streaming, radio airplay and social media fan interaction.

This is the sixth total week Bieber is at the summit of the chart, having remained in the top two since November 28 of 2015 when he first reached the top spot. Streaming gives him his biggest slice of Artist 100 points (25%) whilst radio airplay lands him 22% of his points and social reaction and song download sales gain him 21% of his points a piece.

Rihanna goes from 16 to find herself at number two, having previously found her peak at number 11 with 'ANTI' opening at number one on Top Album Sales, with 124,000 sold in the tracking week according to Nielsen Music.

Those sales account for 58% of her Artist 100 points, with digital sales at 30% and single 'Work' jumping by 23% to 156,000 downloads sold.

Adele has gone from two to three this week, whilst Drake holds strong at number four and Kevin Gates vaults 543% up from number 61 to number five, with album 'Islah' debuting at two on Top Album Sales (93,000).

ZAYN sits at number six, with twenty one pilots at seven, The Weeknd at eight and Sia at nine. Charlie Puth rounds out the top 10 in the 10th position, jumping from his position of 31 last week.

Female First

Are Humans Still Evolving?

P – A – S/Flickr.com
Despite using culture and technology as ways of adapting to new environments, humans, like all other living things on Earth, undergo genetic changes as a response to conditions around them — or in this case, favorable traits in their genes.

A recent studysuggests that humans aren’t exempt from evolutionary pressures.

In other words, we’re all still evolving.

Most discussion about our evolutionary history focuses on macroevolution, or changes occurring over long periods of time, including why our teeth are smaller when compared with our ancestors’ and how our species may have interacted with Neanderthals.

Instead, the study’s authors provide an example of microevolution, or changes tracked in a few generations. The team, led by Canadian researchers, studied the small island town of Ile aux Coudres, located in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in Quebec.

Researchers looked at church records from 1799 to 1940, which provided detailed accounts of marriages, births and deaths. Because the vast majority of families have remained on the island with few newcomers arriving, it was possible to build extensive family trees from the demographic data. The team studied the age at which women are capable of giving birth, a trait that’s heritable between generations.

They found that the average age at which women on the island had their first child fell from 26 years to 22 years of age over the time period. But what makes the finding unique — an example of microevolution — is the relationship between younger childbirth and family trees. The trend closely follows genetic ties, and it increased over time, suggesting the trait was passed down and favored by natural selection.

But how can scientists rule out social and cultural factors that affect when a woman first gives birth?

Since the small island has a rather egalitarian history, social standing has been less of an issue. In addition, if cultural factors and better nutrition caused the spike in younger mothers, it would be traceable through all women suddenly, not through family lineages over time.

Natural selection, as suggested by a researcher not involved in the study, may have even acted on a group of genes, not just one gene, responsible for sexual maturity, according to a New York Times article.

Culture still matters, though, and one Wired points out that social conditions still allowed for natural selection to occur, meaning conditions were favorable for it to happen.

Marks & Spencer thinks small as it gears up for Australian debut

The $13 billion British department store retailer Marks & Spencer is accelerating plans to enter the crowded Australian market.

It's expected Marks & Spencer will use the small format stories it already uses in Asia for its Australian debut. Photo: Chris Ratcliffe

Marks & Spencer has just appointed two new directors to a corporate entity known as Marks & Spencer (Australia) Pty Ltd which has previously been dormant for almost seven years, and is on the hunt for retail space in Sydney.

The move into Australia is in line with Marks & Spencer���s chief executive officer Marc Bolland���s strategy of transforming the company from a traditional British high street retailer into an international multi-channel retailer.

It will put further pressure on Myer and David Jones, which also face the imminent arrival of fast fashion chains including H&M from Sweden and Japan���s Uniqlo.

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But Marks & Spencer won���t be tackling Myer and David Jones head-on, instead aiming to set up small format stores that are around one-fifth the size of a large department store operated by David Jones and Myer.

The timing of the UK giant���s arrival will depend on it securing good sites, with Sydney seen as a likely first target.

Marks & Spencer has 766 stores in the UK and operates 418 stores in countries across Europe and Asia.

It has 16 outlets in Hong Kong and 10 in Singapore and has been eyeing the Australian market for some time.

Marks & Spencer successfully operates a small format retail model in Singapore and Hong Kong where a range of fashion, beauty and gourmet foods form the centrepiece of its offering.

There is speculation that Marks & Spencer will use the small format as its entry into Australia, with the return on investment much better than if it chose to have a more extensive range of items mirroring Myer and David Jones.

The small format stores are likely to be around 2,000 square metres, compared with 10,000 square metres for a full-line department store. Fashion and beauty take up around 80 per cent of the floor space in a small format Marks & Spencer, with food the remaining 20 per cent.

Having stand-alone stores provides a stronger brand presence, which M&S can leverage in its multi-channel approach.

Offshore arrivals

Nora Farren, director of research at Colliers, said offshore retailers were attracted to the Australian retail sector because the local economy was strong relative to many other countries around the world.

Australians were still showing a propensity to spend in the retail sector and consumers were generally enthusiastic about new offerings.

���The issue for them will be finding sites,������ Ms Farren said.

She believed Marks & Spencer would perform solidly in the Australian market, with online sales across the retail sector still relatively low compared with bricks and mortar retailers.

���Australians like to spend and they like new things and I can see them doing quite well,������ she said.

Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis is a director of Marks & Spencer Group. Under Mr Bolland���s leadership, the company has earmarked international growth as one of the core planks of its strategy, using a ���clicks and bricks������ approach.

The latest figures from National Australia Bank���s online retail index show that Australians spent around $14.6 billion online in the year ended November 30, 2013 and this equated to about 6.4 per cent of the total spending by shoppers with traditional bricks and mortar retailers.

In December Marks & Spencer notified the corporate regulator it had appointed two directors to the entity known as Marks & Spencer (Australia) Pty Ltd.

They are Anthony Clarke, who is an assistant company secretary of the Marks & Spencer Group parent company in Britain, and Melissa Lovell, a corporate lawyer at oil and gas company, Santos.

Ms Lovell previously worked at the UK law firm Linklaters.

Marks & Spencer (Australia) Pty Ltd has also just notified the corporate regulator that its new registered office is now at law firm Minter Ellison���s Sydney premises, and this became effective on January 21 this year.

JB cancels 'depressing' meet and greets

Justin Bieber has cancelled his future fan meet and greets.

Credit: AFP

Justin Bieber performs on stage during opening night of the 'Purpose World Tour' at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. Photo: Mat Hayward/Getty Images/AFP

The 'What Do You Mean?' hitmaker may have only just kicked off his Purpose World Tour but he's already decided to axe his intimate backstage experience, which cost $925 a pop, because they make him feel "drained and unhappy."

Taking to his Instagram account on Tuesdaynight, he wrote: "I'm going to be canceling my meet and greets. I enjoy meeting such incredible people but I end up feeling so drained and filled with so much of other people's spiritual energy that I end up so drained and unhappy..

"Want to make people smile and happy but not at my expense and I always leave feeling mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point of depression ..

"The pressure of meeting people's expectations of what I'm supposed to be is so much for me to handle and a lot on my shoulders. Never want to disappoint but I feel I would rather give you guys the show and my albums as promised.

"Can't tell you how sorry I am, and wish it wasn't so hard on me.. And I want to stay in the healthy mindset I'm in to give you the best show you have ever seen (sic)."

However, although he's claimed pulling the plug on his meet and greets was down to him feeling depressed, it's believed the 21-year-old pop star made the call after a security scare at his gig at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Monday when a fan got within 10 feet of him.

A source told TMZ: "This was the last straw in an increasing problem Justin's team has had in managing the number of people who wanted special access to the singer before and after the concert. Up to now, around 20 people purchased one-on-one packages, and up to 200 others paid to meet Justin in groups. He's had his hair pulled, clothes ripped and one fan even gave him the flu. Justin never complained, but Monday night's scare was a wake up call for security."

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