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Off Topic The "That's interesting"/geek thread

Discussion in 'Queens Park Rangers' started by UTRs, May 25, 2018.

  1. Steelmonkey

    Steelmonkey Well-Known Member

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    I was hoping he'd be going to some of the old underground ones! Some nice spooky tunnels etc.....
     
    #361
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  2. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    Anyone interested in “Solar Flares”?

     
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  3. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    #363
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  4. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    #364
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  5. kiwiqpr

    kiwiqpr Barnsie Mod

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    steelsy must be really healthy

    Could music festivals be good for your health?
    By Martin Vennard BBC News
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    Image caption Many festival-goers get up early to take part in workshops and classes
    Millions of people around the world go to music festivals each year. At one time, they were seen as encouraging heavy drinking and drug-taking while providing poor facilities and bad food. But now organisers are more focused on festival-goers' wellbeing.
    "The music is great, it's educational and it's therapy," says Marta Pibernat, from Catalonia in Spain.
    "But we do end up drinking more than we should," admits her friend, Patricia Torne, who is also from Catalonia, but lives in the UK.
    It is Friday morning and we are in a field in rural Wiltshire, in southwest England, where the two women and several hundred other people have just taken part in a 90-minute yoga workshop.
    We are at the Womad world music festival, where performers such as Macy Gray, reggae star Ziggy Marley and Malian singer Salif Keita are performing over the four-day event to a total of 39,000 people.
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    Image caption The American R&B and soul singer Macy Gray was one of the headliners at this year's Womad
    There are workshops, talks and therapies, along with exotic and familiar foods.
    James Mowbray, from London, has just had a gong bath when I meet him.
    Massages, reiki, reflexology and inversion therapy are all on offer, while two shamans offer to remove "ancestral traumas from the vibrational field of your DNA".
    Mowbray lies on his back on a couch while two therapists gently bathe him in the sound of their gongs.
    "It's extremely pleasurable and relaxing," he says of the 30-minute session, which cost £40 ($49).
    "I used to go to dance music festivals, which are not necessarily good for your health," he adds, referring to their reputation for drugs and overindulgence.
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    Image caption Gong baths are among the many therapies available at festivals
    The health benefits of listening to live music are borne out by studies.
    "We found that going to concerts significantly reduces the levels of the stress hormone cortisol," says Daisy Fancourt, associate professor in epidemiology at University College London.
    They took saliva samples from people attending a classical and a pop concert to compare stress levels.
    "Both groups were biologically calmer afterwards. That suggests it's more about the event rather than the type of music.
    Her studies also found that going to live music events could help reduce the risk of developing depression and preserve cognition in the over-50s.
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    Image copyright Garry Jones
    Image caption The reggae artist Ziggy Marley believes festivals can benefit the collective wellbeing
    Julie Ballantyne, of the University of Queensland, has studied the effects on people's wellbeing of music festivals in Australia.
    "The experience of being separated from everyday life prompts people to reflect and spend time on themselves and this is important for their wellbeing," says the associate professor of music education.
    "But we also found that if they had a positive social experience with friends, their subjective, psychological and social wellbeing were all the more impacted."
    She says that bad experiences, such as drinking too much alcohol, being jostled in big crowds, poor toilet and shower facilities or queuing, can reduce the benefits.
    Ziggy Marley tells me that festivals such as Womad are good for the collective wellbeing. "They represent the potential of the world. Thousands of people together in unity," he says.
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    Image caption Festival-goers at Womad can take part in many different workshops, such as the kora or African harp
    But not everyone has a good time at festivals.
    "If you aren't enjoying it and everyone else around you is, that could make you feel worse," says Dr Chris Howes, the founder of the charity Festival Medical Services (FMS).
    "That's why we have psychiatrists and mental health nurses on site and work with welfare services," he tells me in the medical tent at Womad.
    Using volunteers, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists and paramedics, FMS now also works at 11 other UK festivals, including Reading.
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    Image caption The World of Wellbeing at Womad is situated in the arboretum
    "At Reading, you get a lot of young people who are away from home for the first time," says Dr Howes. "Sometimes they just need a cuddle."
    He says that around 10% of the cases they deal with at festivals involve mental health or psychiatric problems.
    "We see all the medical conditions you would expect in life from cardiac arrests to burns from barbecues and fires, to sunburn. We see an upswing in stomach problems towards the end of festivals as food people have brought starts to go off.
    "I've delivered one or two babies in caravans at Glastonbury in the past and a festival is not an ideal place to have a baby," Dr Howes adds.
    He says they see relatively few drink and drug-related problems.
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    Image caption Being in a crowd can expose you to infectious illnesses
    He says festival-goers should make sure their immunisations for things such as measles and meningitis are up to date.
    "The close proximity of people means epidemics can spread very quickly," Dr Howes adds.
    "The truth is there is a healthy and an unhealthy side to music festivals," says Jeet-Kei Leung from Vancouver in Canada.
    He has been involved in festivals across the world for 20 years as a producer, DJ and documentary filmmaker.
    Leung divides festivals into the "transformational" and "ragers".
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    Image caption The Burning Man Festival in Nevada says it is a "network of dreamers and doers"
    "At ragers, people are partying really hard and there could be a relatively high use of intoxicants," he says.
    He says transformational ones, such as Burning Man in the Nevada desert, support personal and community growth, offer workshops and health practices and often having a non-religious, spiritual side.
    "Overall festivals are good for your health and most people go home recharged and reinvigorated," Dr Howes says. "We do our best to pick up the pieces when it goes wrong."
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  6. Steelmonkey

    Steelmonkey Well-Known Member

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    I'm going to live til I'm 120.....

    Going to Concerts Is Good for Your Health (Study)
    Attending a gig results in twice the "feeling of well-being” as doing Yoga, potentially expanding a music lover’s life expectancy by several years.
    By ARIANA BROCKINGTON

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    CREDIT: EMIL HOUGAARD/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
    The bright lights, screaming crowds and pulsating beats that come with attending a concert can actually help you live longer, a new study reports.

    According to research conducted by UK music venue O2 and Patrick Fagan, a Goldsmith University lecturer and expert in behavioral science, 20 minutes at a gig “can lead to a 21 percent increase in [a] feeling of well-being,” reports the study. Comparatively, yoga increases well-being by 10 percent, and dog-walking by 7 percent.

    “Additional scholarly research directly links high levels of well-being with a lifespan increase of nine years pointing to a direct link between gig-going and longevity,” states the report, noting that attending a concert once every two weeks could potentially expand a music lover’s life expectancy by nine years.






    The test subjects for the study participated in psychometric and heart-rate tests while performing multiple activities. While watching live music, feelings of self-worth and being close to others both improved by 25 percent. Mental stimulation was the most affected with an improvement by 75 percent.

    In a press release published by O2, Fagan said, “Combining all of our findings with O2’s research, we arrive at a prescription of a gig a fortnight which could pave the way for almost a decade more years of life.”
     
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  7. kiwiqpr

    kiwiqpr Barnsie Mod

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    Ancient parrot in New Zealand was 1m tall, study says
    • 7 August 2019
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    Image copyright PA Media
    Image caption Palaeontologists found fossils of the parrot in southern New Zealand
    A giant parrot that roamed New Zealand about 19 million years ago had a height of 1m (3ft 2in) - more than half the average height of a human, a new study has found.
    The remains of the parrot were found near St Bathans in New Zealand's southern Otago region.
    Given its size, the parrot is believed to have been flightless and carnivorous, unlike most birds today.
    A study of the bird was published on Tuesday in the journal Biology Letters.
    Weighing just over one stone (7kg), the bird would have been two times heavier than the kākāpo, previously the largest known parrot.
    "There are no other giant parrots in the world," Professor Trevor Worthy, a palaeontologist at Flinders University in Australia and lead author of the study, told the BBC. "Finding one is very significant."
    Palaeontologists have dubbed the new species Heracles inexpectatus in recognition of its unusual size and strength.
    The bones - initially believed to belong to an eagle or duck - were kept in storage for 11 years until earlier this year, when a team of palaeontologists reanalysed them.
    Prof Worthy said one of his students came across the parrot's bones by chance in his laboratory during a research project.
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    Image copyright PA Media
    Image caption The parrot, dubbed Heracles, is estimated to have been more than half the size of a human
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    The parrot's beak would have been so big, Mike Archer of the University of NSW Palaeontology said, it "could crack wide open anything it fancied".
    The professor told AFP news agency the parrot "may well have dined on more than conventional parrot foods, perhaps even other parrots".
    However, because the parrot had no predators, it is unlikely that it was aggressive, Prof Worthy told the BBC.
    "It probably sat on the ground, walked around and ate seeds and nuts, mostly," he said.
    Paul Scofield, the senior curator of natural history at Canterbury Museum, told AFP that researchers were "putting our money on it being flightless".
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    Media captionThe mystery of a bird with feathered limbs was researched by scientists in 2014
    The discovery of large birds is not uncommon in New Zealand, once home to the moa, a now-extinct species whose height reached an estimated 3.6m (11ft 8in).
    St Bathans, where the giant parrot's leg bones were excavated, is an area known for its abundance of fossils from the Miocene epoch, which extended from 23 million to 5.3 million years ago.
    "But until now, no-one has ever found an extinct giant parrot - anywhere," Prof Worthy told AFP.
    "We have been excavating these fossil deposits for 20 years, and each year reveals new birds and other animals... no doubt there are many more unexpected species yet to be discovered in this most interesting deposit."
     
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  8. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    #368
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  9. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    #369
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  10. UTRs

    UTRs Senile Member

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    If anyone is still awake around midnight and have a clear sky then go outside and have a gaze in the sky, you may well see The Perseid meteor shower<ok>

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    Perseid meteor shower: Where to watch 'one of the best meteor showers of the year'

    The Perseid meteor shower is a highlight of the celestial calendar and this year is active from 17 July to 24 August, with some countries having already been treated to some spectacular views.

    But its UK peak is still to come and - if skies are clear - it will be visible across much of the country from around midnight until 5.30am tomorrow.

    https://news.sky.com/story/perseid-...-the-best-meteor-showers-of-the-year-11783697




     
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  11. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    A very watchable short film on massive black holes at the center if the Universe.

     
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  12. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    #372
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  13. UTRs

    UTRs Senile Member

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    #373
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  14. Steelmonkey

    Steelmonkey Well-Known Member

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    That's when F1 was interesting! It's just a procession these days in comparison to that
     
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  15. Steelmonkey

    Steelmonkey Well-Known Member

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    Was looking forward to this show on BBC4 tonight, but they've switched it out for a box-set of Peaky Blinders :headbang:

    BBC Four - How to See a Black Hole: The Universe's Greatest Mystery, Trailer: How to See a Black Hole: The Universe’s Greatest Mystery https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0755t2s
     
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  16. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    #376
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  17. Steelmonkey

    Steelmonkey Well-Known Member

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    #377
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  18. kiwiqpr

    kiwiqpr Barnsie Mod

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  19. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    An extremely sensible idea!
     
    #379
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  20. QPRski

    QPRski Well-Known Member

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    #380

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