News Roundup 382

A bit of Post Brexit news: According to the Daily Mirror there are several things that we Brits want to preserve about the UK. The top (rather diverse) interests were:-

The NHS
The English countryside
Medical research charities
Parks
Mental Health charities
Medical Care charities
Libraries
Evironmental conservation charities
First response charities
Elderly support charities
Museums and art galleries
Bumblebees
Cash
Homelessness charities
Disability charities
Pubs
Armed services charities
The high street
Local hospices
Children’s charities
Fish and chips
Education and employment charities
The Sunday roast
Politeness
The Royal Family
BBC radio and TV
Charity shops
Youth programme charities
International aid charities
Human rights charities
Cadbury chocolate
Traditional playground games
Red post boxes
Local sports clubs
Performing arts charities
English Breakfast tea
Red telephone boxes
Classic British children’s TV programmes
Scottie dogs and Old English sheepdogs
Celebrating Guy Fawkes night with bonfires and fireworks
Landline telephone
Teaching Shakespeare in schools
Televised charity appeals
The traditional afternoon tea
Talking about the weather
British soaps
The game of conkers
Strawberries and cream at Wimbledon
Glastonbury

According to a story on ABC, an artist in Berlin used a handcart full of smartphones to trick Google Maps’ traffic algorithm into thinking there was a traffic jam. Seemingly the artist, Simon Weckert, searched for directions within the Maps app using 99 second-hand smartphones, then walked them in all a handcart down several main thoroughfares in Berlin, including outside Google headquarters. The phones reported the same location to Google leading the app to determine there was a large traffic jam in the area and update its map directions accordingly.

In a statement on his website, Weckert said his intention was to make changes in the physical world by using digital means.

A spokesperson from Google said, “We’ve launched the ability to distinguish between cars and motorcycles in several countries including India, Indonesia and Egypt, though we haven’t quite cracked travelling by wagon.”

According to the Big Issue, The Royal College of Nurses has issued a “style guide” to nursing staff on how to address patients, in order to avoid causing offence and to promote the use of gender neutral language.

Here’s a story for people taking part in the Exercise Challenge: According to research listening to up-tempo music boost the cardio value of exercise. A study from  Frontiers in Psychology  has revealed that music with higher tempos can deliver two distinct benefits, by increasing the heart rate and reducing the sense of effort.

They concluded that for runners, walkers, and cyclists, music at a high tempo can make exercise both easier and more effective.

Sticking with the music theme, according to the Guardian, a study by scientists at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology has found that upbeat music, rather than the shrill ring of an alarm clock, is the best way to rise and shine, and helps to prevent sleep inertia, which is caused by being forced awake too suddenly .

Stuart McFarlane, the lead author of the study said, ‘When they wake up, people experiencing sleep inertia may show signs of reduced alertness and reduced cognition, manifesting in inadvertent mistakes. Sleep inertia can last for seconds, minutes or hours after waking.”

Melodic songs such as the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations, The Cure’s Close to Me, and even Beethoven’s Fur Elise, were better at holding the brain’s attention for longer, helping it to get going in the morning. 

(Remember – We can discuss any of these topics in our NRU session.)

Sources:

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