Tuesday:
I was reading the latest New Scientist while drinking my post-lunch cup of tea, as you do, and I thought I share a couple of things that interested me.
In Sweden, they are trying to wipe out racoon dogs, which are not native. They got most of them with various strategies including sniffer dogs, but the way they are finding the last few struck me. They get a sterilised male (which they name Judas), tag him and let him loose. He looks for a mate, one of the few left hiding away. When he finds one, Wildlife Management shoot her. So Judas sets out again to find another. Who gets shot.
I know the humans have their reasons for eliminating this introduced pest, but still. What a horrible sad lonely life for Judas. Always looking for love, bringing death with him. That made me sad.
Another thing, which I don't know if I'll explain very well. A research team thinks we have the wrong strategy in aggressively killing off as many cancer cells as we can. This leaves a lot of space for the really nasty cancer cells that are resistant to chemo, and after a short remission period they often take over and kill people quickly. In studies with mice, the mice lived a lot longer if the original cancer was controlled but not wiped out. The "weak" cancer took up all the space so the "strong" cancer couldn't multiply so fast. It would be different if we were able to kill all the cancer, but often we can't, so in many cases it would be better to live with a milder form. I'm sure there will be a lot more research on that.
And finally, there was a study where people were led to a room by a guidance robot (like a garbage bin with wheels and glowing arms to point the way) and then had to fill out a questionnaire about it. Then there was a fake fire alarm. People had the choice of running out the way they had come or following the instructions of the guidance robot who pointed a different way. The researchers thought people would have trouble trusting the robot after such a short acquaintance. But 26 out of 30 followed the robot's instructions. I guess we trust robots already.
Showing posts with label New Scientist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Scientist. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Quarks
Sunday:
I need to share something I just read in New Scientist magazine because it blew my mind (and it's kind of a tiny bit weight related, sort of). Firstly, remember back to high school chemistry, everything in the world including us is made out of atoms which are made of protons, neutrons and electrons. More recently they have discovered that these are in turn made up of even smaller particles called quarks. So:
"although you are made of molecules that are made of protons and neutrons, those protons and neutrons are made of quarks. Quarks, as it happens, are so light that they make up only about 1 to 2 per cent of your body mass. The rest comes from the incredible energies with which these quarks interact." ( New Scientist 25 April 2015, No. 3018, p35)
To translate, only 1 or 2% of what your scale says is actual weight, the solid bits of you. The rest is energy! Isn't that amazing! So I really only weigh about 1 kg, the rest of me is all the energy from quarks buzzing around. Not sure how that works, the article got a bit technical.
Of course weight is a measurement of your mass affected by gravity, so on the moon I would only weigh 13 kg, whereas on Jupiter I would weigh 194 kg! And on the sun 2220 kg!! Just shows how little the scale really means.
Another thing I read was about a 19,000 year old body recently examined by archeologists, whose teeth show a lot about the real paleo diet. Apparently about 80% meat from hoofed animals like bison, most of the rest was fish. A small amount of seeds and other fruit and vegetables. But the woman died at 35 so they make no claims about the health benefits of the diet.
Yesterday was a rest day and a feast day. I do feel kind of refreshed by it, but I had too much. I'm still wavering about whether to just restrict that one day a week to one meal plus one snack instead of all day, or to split it so I can have something in the middle of the week and something on the weekend. Either way, I want to concentrate more on my favourite foods. Sure I like dessert, especially the first couple of bites, but what I LOVE is salty crunchy chips. They are my trigger food that I can't keep in the house so I'll have to go out of the house to get my treat. Why am I wasting calories on something that is merely quite nice? Just because I am not allowed to have it the rest of the week?! So aside from maybe some dark chocolate, I'll mostly spend my treat calories on savouries. Chips! Cheese and crackers! Cheezles! Maybe pasta or pizza.
I'm also eating more fruit, having it at breakfast as my carb instead of toast, instead of only having fruit on high carb days. I'm enjoying my oranges and pears.
I did an hour of Just Dance this morning (modifying movements for the left shoulder). I'm sure I have more energy today after extra calories yesterday, I think the low carb days are slowing me down. I'm considering changing from Turbo Cycle (two low days for every high day) to Classic Cycle (alternating low and high), I think it would help my energy levels for exercise and stop the carb cravings I have on the second day of low.
We are having all our carpets cleaned tomorrow so this afternoon we did a lot of tidying up to get stuff off the floor. The place looks better without Lego and textas all over the floor. Tim and the kids also went out to shop for Mothers' Day next week. We are going out to a live show that day (kids too), it was my birthday present to Tim but it falls on Mothers' Day so we'll go out to lunch and make a day of it.
Report card:
Diet: Good. I didn't have any leftover cheesecake (everyone else did).
Exercise: Good. A sweaty hour of dance.
Water: Good.
Sleep: Good.
Mental health: Good.
I need to share something I just read in New Scientist magazine because it blew my mind (and it's kind of a tiny bit weight related, sort of). Firstly, remember back to high school chemistry, everything in the world including us is made out of atoms which are made of protons, neutrons and electrons. More recently they have discovered that these are in turn made up of even smaller particles called quarks. So:
"although you are made of molecules that are made of protons and neutrons, those protons and neutrons are made of quarks. Quarks, as it happens, are so light that they make up only about 1 to 2 per cent of your body mass. The rest comes from the incredible energies with which these quarks interact." ( New Scientist 25 April 2015, No. 3018, p35)
To translate, only 1 or 2% of what your scale says is actual weight, the solid bits of you. The rest is energy! Isn't that amazing! So I really only weigh about 1 kg, the rest of me is all the energy from quarks buzzing around. Not sure how that works, the article got a bit technical.
Of course weight is a measurement of your mass affected by gravity, so on the moon I would only weigh 13 kg, whereas on Jupiter I would weigh 194 kg! And on the sun 2220 kg!! Just shows how little the scale really means.
Another thing I read was about a 19,000 year old body recently examined by archeologists, whose teeth show a lot about the real paleo diet. Apparently about 80% meat from hoofed animals like bison, most of the rest was fish. A small amount of seeds and other fruit and vegetables. But the woman died at 35 so they make no claims about the health benefits of the diet.
Yesterday was a rest day and a feast day. I do feel kind of refreshed by it, but I had too much. I'm still wavering about whether to just restrict that one day a week to one meal plus one snack instead of all day, or to split it so I can have something in the middle of the week and something on the weekend. Either way, I want to concentrate more on my favourite foods. Sure I like dessert, especially the first couple of bites, but what I LOVE is salty crunchy chips. They are my trigger food that I can't keep in the house so I'll have to go out of the house to get my treat. Why am I wasting calories on something that is merely quite nice? Just because I am not allowed to have it the rest of the week?! So aside from maybe some dark chocolate, I'll mostly spend my treat calories on savouries. Chips! Cheese and crackers! Cheezles! Maybe pasta or pizza.
I'm also eating more fruit, having it at breakfast as my carb instead of toast, instead of only having fruit on high carb days. I'm enjoying my oranges and pears.
I did an hour of Just Dance this morning (modifying movements for the left shoulder). I'm sure I have more energy today after extra calories yesterday, I think the low carb days are slowing me down. I'm considering changing from Turbo Cycle (two low days for every high day) to Classic Cycle (alternating low and high), I think it would help my energy levels for exercise and stop the carb cravings I have on the second day of low.
We are having all our carpets cleaned tomorrow so this afternoon we did a lot of tidying up to get stuff off the floor. The place looks better without Lego and textas all over the floor. Tim and the kids also went out to shop for Mothers' Day next week. We are going out to a live show that day (kids too), it was my birthday present to Tim but it falls on Mothers' Day so we'll go out to lunch and make a day of it.
Report card:
Diet: Good. I didn't have any leftover cheesecake (everyone else did).
Exercise: Good. A sweaty hour of dance.
Water: Good.
Sleep: Good.
Mental health: Good.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Housework workout
Thursday:
I read an article in New Scientist today (from Australian issue no3010) about a big predictor of obesity being the mother's activity level during pregnancy.
"When pregnant women are physically active, the increased energy demands redirect nutrients to her muscles and away from her fetus. This competition between the mother's muscles and the developing fetus's fat cells produces leaner, healthier babies. Their genes and food intake are irrelevant to the process.
This competition doesn't happen in inactive mothers. Without having to struggle for energy and nutrients, the fat cells in the fetus increase in both size and number..." (p32)
So it was all our mother's fault! But seriously, it says a lot about the importance of staying active and healthy during pregnancy. Giving up smoking and alcohol, and controlling gestational diabetes, are not enough any more. They now say that the health of the father's sperm (related to his age and health) are very important too.
I lay awake a long time last night thinking about all the changes that need to be made to my novel. I was buzzing with excitement and ideas. A little bit embarrassed about the all the (now obvious and glaring) faults in the version the critique group read. But eager to get started. When I finally got to sleep I did get some good dreamtime.
But this morning I couldn't work on my novel. In a "just in case" move, yesterday I arranged for a real estate agent to come to the house today to give us a valuation so that we would have an idea of how much money we had to spend on a new house. So I spent a solid three hours cleaning the house so that it was to a semi-decent level, enough that I could let someone in to see it. I didn't even attempt to clean the kids' rooms except for making the beds. But I did a lot of other stuff, I was literally dripping sweat and got a workout worthy of a trip to the gym. I am not much of a housekeeper, I like a clean house but it just isn't my top priority. But I could let the agent in at lunchtime and have the house merely looking like I hadn't had much time to tidy up, rather than its usual state of looking like a bomb went off during a tornado in a rubbish tip. He gave an estimate similar to what I had been expecting, and some advice about replacing the carpet and repainting and whether to auction etc.
We have decided to look at "the castle" in person. And I have lined up an interview with the loan officer at my bank to talk about the loan we'd need if we bought a house before selling this one. Just in case. We have 100% equity here now so I think that would be ok. And Tim is looking for a way to make the work thing happen.
I don't have my heart totally set on this house I haven't even seen "in the flesh" as it were, but if we do all love it, we're as ready as we can be to outbid the competition. And we do all like the look of it, and we're all keen to move to that city and that area. So you never know.
I was really tired in the afternoon after all that housework and had an energy slump and turned to food. My afternoon snack turned into a 500 calorie meal! Including three chocolate biscuits, leftover from what I took to the critique supper last night (and resisted then!). I had a light lunch and small dinner so I am still ok for calories but I don't like that out of control element. Yet again it was due to tiredness rather than hunger. I think there was a lack of mental focus too, I'm so distracted by having my novel critiqued and the thought of moving house in a hurry that I'm finding it hard to think about healthy living, and I'm not yet in autopilot on the food and exercise. I have to concentrate to make it happen!
Report card:
Diet: Ok. Good for most of the day except mid-afternoon.
Exercise: Good.
Water: Good. Finally!
Sleep: Good, once I eventually got to sleep.
Mental health: A bit overstimulated.
I read an article in New Scientist today (from Australian issue no3010) about a big predictor of obesity being the mother's activity level during pregnancy.
"When pregnant women are physically active, the increased energy demands redirect nutrients to her muscles and away from her fetus. This competition between the mother's muscles and the developing fetus's fat cells produces leaner, healthier babies. Their genes and food intake are irrelevant to the process.
This competition doesn't happen in inactive mothers. Without having to struggle for energy and nutrients, the fat cells in the fetus increase in both size and number..." (p32)
So it was all our mother's fault! But seriously, it says a lot about the importance of staying active and healthy during pregnancy. Giving up smoking and alcohol, and controlling gestational diabetes, are not enough any more. They now say that the health of the father's sperm (related to his age and health) are very important too.
I lay awake a long time last night thinking about all the changes that need to be made to my novel. I was buzzing with excitement and ideas. A little bit embarrassed about the all the (now obvious and glaring) faults in the version the critique group read. But eager to get started. When I finally got to sleep I did get some good dreamtime.
But this morning I couldn't work on my novel. In a "just in case" move, yesterday I arranged for a real estate agent to come to the house today to give us a valuation so that we would have an idea of how much money we had to spend on a new house. So I spent a solid three hours cleaning the house so that it was to a semi-decent level, enough that I could let someone in to see it. I didn't even attempt to clean the kids' rooms except for making the beds. But I did a lot of other stuff, I was literally dripping sweat and got a workout worthy of a trip to the gym. I am not much of a housekeeper, I like a clean house but it just isn't my top priority. But I could let the agent in at lunchtime and have the house merely looking like I hadn't had much time to tidy up, rather than its usual state of looking like a bomb went off during a tornado in a rubbish tip. He gave an estimate similar to what I had been expecting, and some advice about replacing the carpet and repainting and whether to auction etc.
We have decided to look at "the castle" in person. And I have lined up an interview with the loan officer at my bank to talk about the loan we'd need if we bought a house before selling this one. Just in case. We have 100% equity here now so I think that would be ok. And Tim is looking for a way to make the work thing happen.
I don't have my heart totally set on this house I haven't even seen "in the flesh" as it were, but if we do all love it, we're as ready as we can be to outbid the competition. And we do all like the look of it, and we're all keen to move to that city and that area. So you never know.
I was really tired in the afternoon after all that housework and had an energy slump and turned to food. My afternoon snack turned into a 500 calorie meal! Including three chocolate biscuits, leftover from what I took to the critique supper last night (and resisted then!). I had a light lunch and small dinner so I am still ok for calories but I don't like that out of control element. Yet again it was due to tiredness rather than hunger. I think there was a lack of mental focus too, I'm so distracted by having my novel critiqued and the thought of moving house in a hurry that I'm finding it hard to think about healthy living, and I'm not yet in autopilot on the food and exercise. I have to concentrate to make it happen!
Report card:
Diet: Ok. Good for most of the day except mid-afternoon.
Exercise: Good.
Water: Good. Finally!
Sleep: Good, once I eventually got to sleep.
Mental health: A bit overstimulated.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Wansink research
Wednesday:
A recent New Scientist magazine (no. 3003, Australia) has an article by Brian Wansink about making environmental changes to help you change your eating habits without any struggle with will power. He's been researching it for 25 years (I've read his very interesting stuff before) and I'd thought I'd share a few things from this article.
* Use smaller plates. You eat more from a bigger plate. And, one I haven't seen before, you eat more if the plate is the same colour as the food. So if you want to cut down on carbs, it's probably wise to go for a non-white plate.
* The only food visible on your clean and tidy counters should be the fruit bowl. Visible chips are bad, cereal is worse! "Women who keep cereal packets visible weigh on average 9.5 kilograms (21 pounds) more than those who put them away." Apparently women are more susceptible to this 'visible food' issue than men. Maybe because they spend more time in the kitchen.
* Keep salad on the dining table where you can see it but serve everything else from the oven/counter. You're less likely to grab a second helping if you can't see and reach it easily.
* Smaller serving spoons.
* Use tall thin glasses (except for water!) instead of short wide glasses. Pour wine looking down into your glass (it looks like more) instead of having the glass at eye level when you pour.
* In a restaurant, sit near the window or in a well-lit area and not near the bar or a TV. And at a tall table where you don't slouch.
Wansink has done some fascinating studies, well worth a read.
A recent New Scientist magazine (no. 3003, Australia) has an article by Brian Wansink about making environmental changes to help you change your eating habits without any struggle with will power. He's been researching it for 25 years (I've read his very interesting stuff before) and I'd thought I'd share a few things from this article.
* Use smaller plates. You eat more from a bigger plate. And, one I haven't seen before, you eat more if the plate is the same colour as the food. So if you want to cut down on carbs, it's probably wise to go for a non-white plate.
* The only food visible on your clean and tidy counters should be the fruit bowl. Visible chips are bad, cereal is worse! "Women who keep cereal packets visible weigh on average 9.5 kilograms (21 pounds) more than those who put them away." Apparently women are more susceptible to this 'visible food' issue than men. Maybe because they spend more time in the kitchen.
* Keep salad on the dining table where you can see it but serve everything else from the oven/counter. You're less likely to grab a second helping if you can't see and reach it easily.
* Smaller serving spoons.
* Use tall thin glasses (except for water!) instead of short wide glasses. Pour wine looking down into your glass (it looks like more) instead of having the glass at eye level when you pour.
* In a restaurant, sit near the window or in a well-lit area and not near the bar or a TV. And at a tall table where you don't slouch.
Wansink has done some fascinating studies, well worth a read.
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