May 3rd, 2012
Yep, you’ve guessed it - this was one tree-felling exercise that went wrong…badly wrong. Now I know that it could have been a lot worse (at least no one was injured) - felling a tree so close to your house and asking someone to video it is bound to jinx the operation.
Commenting on the video, The Telegraph said that the poor guy, realising that he has felled the tree onto the roof of his own home, seems ’stumped’ for a moment and then shouts, “my house!” and a few seconds later, “my bedroom!”
The clip drew loads of comments, many offering advice on the correct way to cut down a tree.
One posting reads, “the notch in the front was about one-fifth the height and half the depth it should have been.” Adding, “He should have been tensioning that bad boy.”
Tags: YouTube
Posted in Animals, Social networking, Uncategorized | No Comments »
May 1st, 2012
Great article in The Telegraph made us all laugh in the office today. Hundreds of caped avengers dance in downtown Santiago, as part of a demonstration for education changes.
Gathering in Santiago’s main plaza to dance, the students actually had a serious message, expressing their protest at the county’s education minister.
Student Arturo Fuentes, who took part in the protest, said: “This movement is going forward and is not weakening, as the government says. This activity shows that we are passionate and in favour of free education.”
Talk about a good way to get your message noticed!
Tags: Education, Society
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April 26th, 2012
Unmasked, he is actually a 50-year-old retired police officer, Andre Luiz Pinheiro, who is taking the fight against crime to local schools in the town of Taubate, Brazil. Interesting article in The Telegraph quotes the local caped crusader: “I will not actually battle crime. But I do think I am fighting crime in a preventive way, by helping these children to avoid becoming criminals. This is my job, this is my battle,” Pinheiro said.
Dressed as Batman, the crime fighter tours local schools educating kids on the dangers of getting involved in gangs and petty street crime. He also aims to make a connection with the local community and the police force, vital in their fight against crime. “Police act in favour of good and the state works in favour of good through the police, and since Batman is also a character who works in favour of good, we decided to join efforts to prevent children from becoming criminals,” he said.
Tags: Crime, Education, Society
Posted in Children, Education, Society | No Comments »
April 24th, 2012
Unbelievable! A great grandmother from Utah has soared into the record books by paragliding in celebrations of her 101st birthday. With four generations of her family looking on, she looped and spun her way across the sky. Not quite the usual hobby you would associate with a pensioner!
The Telegraph quotes her remarking, “I feel very humble in setting a new Guinness World Record. My desire is for the elderly to keep on going, do things as long as you are physically able. Be positive,” she said in comments cited by Guinness. “When a person is busy, the hurts seem to ease up. If you are able and even older than I, then I’m happy for people to attempt to break my record. I promise the experience will be well worth it!”
Asked how she felt just after landing gently back on the ground, she told local TV station KSL 5: “How was it? I’m ready to go again!”
Tags: Health, Leisure, Sport
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April 19th, 2012
Essex Police have proposed that female officers in their ranks should wear more comfortable bras while on duty, in the unfortunate case they get shot.
What at first glance seems to be a bizarre request that could lay a precedent for the privatisation of the police force in Britain, there does appear to be some logic behind it.
Senior officers claim that underwired bras, or those with metallic parts, could increase ballistic damage, as a gunshot to the chest could drive these objects further into the skin with potentially fatal consequences.
Female constables have been surprised simply because of the rarity of this situation arising in relatively quiet Essex, but the theory is supported by health and safety officers as well as the Home Office Scientific Development Branch.
Specifically, they recommend not just any bra but a Marks & Spencer one, which naturally pleased the retail chain’s spokesman.
The article can be reviewed in the Daily Mail online.
Tags: England, Society
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April 17th, 2012
The 108th birthday of Dr. Seuss was marked on 2nd March this year, and we were slightly surprised to discover that among his infamously remarkable children’s books he had at one point written an adult themed story containing nudity.
The Atlantic Magazine website has an entry complete with direct illustrations of his 1939 book ‘The Seven Lady Godivas: The True Facts Concerning History’s Barest Family’. It follows the story of seven nudist sisters who vow not to get married until they have each brought a truth about the benefits of horse to mankind.
Based on the 11th-century legend of Lady Godiva, which is also where the Peeping Tom reference comes from, the book was a complete flop, selling 2,500 copies out of 10,000 printed in the first batch.
It would appear that Dr Seuss was simply wired to write for children, so we won’t let it take away from his undeniable genius. That’s not to say there’s no chance of Hollywood snapping up the rights to a new movie blockbuster, though…
Tags: Book, Children
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April 12th, 2012
Interesting findings from studies carried out in the 1960s show that a single dose of LSD may be enough to support alcoholics to give up drink entirely.
BBC Health News reports that data from the experiments, which involved six trials and over 500 patients, demonstrated a “significant beneficial effect” on alcoholism lasting for a few months after the treatment.
The powerful hallucinogen has been banned in the UK since 1966, just 23 years after it was first discovered. It is a long-acting drug that affects the levels of serotonin in the brain, which is a massive factor in behaviour, mood and perception.
And the results are pretty impressive – 59% of those given a single dose of LSD, between 210-800mg, demonstrated reduced levels of alcohol abuse compared with a 38% change in those undergoing alternative treatments.
While it would seem odd that this should be the case, Professor David Nutt, the former drug adviser for the UK Government, who was in fact sacked for his views on relaxing prohibitive measures on illegal drugs for research purposes, suggests that the results corroborate the notion that alcohol dependency needs to be cured by altering one’s outlook on life.
The analysis was carried out by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and can be read about in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Tags: Health, Science
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April 10th, 2012
For centuries, eccentric scientists and alchemists have tried to create the ‘elixir of life’, with their stories ironically being immortalised by fiction and non-fiction alike.
But experts at Nottingham University may be on to something after studying the regeneration properties of the humble flatworm, a creature we find in ponds, gardens, and sometimes, unfortunately, in our children’s mouths.
The article in The Daily Telegraph reports that the researchers were able to create a colony of over 20,000 flatworms from a single flatworm, by cutting it up and watching as each piece developed into a completely separate worm.
The findings may lead to treatments to increase the length of human life as well as providing a better understanding of what it takes for an immortal creature to exist.
In particular, the researchers were surprised to observe that both the asexual and sexual types of planarian flatworm were able to develop all the necessary organs, muscles and skin, while they replenish endogenous levels of a key enzyme needed for this to occur - perhaps highlighting they could be potentially immortal.
Tags: Animals, Science
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April 5th, 2012
We’ve heard about homosexual animals before, but were interested to learn of new research carried out by the Emory University of Atlanta – female bonobo apes communicate their homosexual activity to other higher ranking “alpha females” of the group in an attempt to boost their status.
BBC Nature News reports on the findings during an experiment in a sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The aim was to learn more about the communication between different bonobos, known as Pan Paniscus, which are not heavily male-dominated as other animal groups.
According to their work, once engaged in sexual activity, the female apes will call and scream more loudly to almost advertise their encounter, depending on the audience, and this helps them climb the social ladder.
Previous research had shown that bonobo apes were among the more sexually promiscuous animal species, as they look to build relationships but also use sex to reduce stress and competition levels within the group.
This strategy makes for an interesting social dynamic, but surprisingly they still have less offspring than their less erotic chimpanzee cousins.
The full findings were published in the journal ‘Scientific Reports’.
Tags: Animals
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April 3rd, 2012
In a similar way to observed social behaviour at schools that demand the wearing of uniforms, researchers at Northwestern University suggest that wearing white lab coats can help students to focus more during tasks and reduce their overall number of errors.
Being that the people we associate this attire with – doctors, scientists, bakers? – work in positions that require the utmost care and attention to detail, thus psychologically we’re wired to increase our own attention when wearing them ourselves.
The Daily Mail reports on the study which concluded that out of 58 undergraduates, the half that wore lab coats made almost half the number of mistakes in some selective attention word tests.
However, in a separate experiment it was found that for those people that were made to associate the white coats with painting as opposed to the medicine, there was no real observable effect on attention.
We are what we wear, it seems – we may have to try our own little experiment in the 247Moneybox.com office…
Tags: Science
Posted in Education, Science | No Comments »
