If
something is run of the mill, it is average, ordinary, not
special. It most likely originally referred to a run from a
textile mill. It is material that has been manufactured, before it
is decorated or embellished.
The expression you
have your work cut out for you comes from tailoring. To do
a big sewing job, all the pieces of fabric are cut out before
they get sewn together. It seems like if your work has been cut
for you, it should make job easier, but we do not use the
expression that way. It is more that the task is ready to be
tackled, but the difficult part is laying out the pieces in
order, and doing the actual sewing.
Dec 7, 2018
More Proof of Laughter Benefits
Laughter has positive psychological,
physiological, and immunological impacts on our health. In fact
there is a term for the study of laughter and laughing and the
examination of its effects on the human body: gelotology, from
the Greek gelos, meaning 'laughter'.
In a study “Humor and Laughter May Influence Health” in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, authors report that a sense of humor influences psychological and physiological well-being.
- Laughter leads to increased heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen consumption, similar to aerobic exercise. After intense laughter, body muscles relax.
- Like other strong emotions, humor seems to activate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which shows an increase in such hormones as urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine, but blood pressure remains stable. (Sad emotional stimulus results in higher blood pressure.)
- Exposure to a humorous stimulus decreased self-reported anxiety.
- Laughter in response to humorous stimuli correlates with improvement of natural killer (NK) cell activity, the immune cells that kill cancerous cells and prevent some types of viral illnesses.
- Laughing also has social benefits. Since much laughter is a social response rather than a reaction to jokes, laughing facilitates social reaction.
- Laughter is also contagious. If you see someone laughing, you will probably laugh, too. Scientists found that we often mimic other’s behavior, copying words or gestures due to the mirroring system in the brain.
In a study “Humor and Laughter May Influence Health” in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, authors report that a sense of humor influences psychological and physiological well-being.
- Laughter leads to increased heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen consumption, similar to aerobic exercise. After intense laughter, body muscles relax.
- Like other strong emotions, humor seems to activate the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which shows an increase in such hormones as urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine, but blood pressure remains stable. (Sad emotional stimulus results in higher blood pressure.)
- Exposure to a humorous stimulus decreased self-reported anxiety.
- Laughter in response to humorous stimuli correlates with improvement of natural killer (NK) cell activity, the immune cells that kill cancerous cells and prevent some types of viral illnesses.
- Laughing also has social benefits. Since much laughter is a social response rather than a reaction to jokes, laughing facilitates social reaction.
- Laughter is also contagious. If you see someone laughing, you will probably laugh, too. Scientists found that we often mimic other’s behavior, copying words or gestures due to the mirroring system in the brain.
Straw vs. Hay
Straw and hay are often used interchangeably, and it is easy to
see why. They are both dry, grassy, and easy to find on farms in
the fall, but the two terms actual describe different materials,
and once you know what to look for, it is easy to tell the
difference between them.
Hay refers to grasses and some legumes such as alfalfa that are grown for use as animal feed. The full plant is harvested—including the heads, leaves, and stems, then dried, and typically stored in bales. Hay is what livestock like cattle eat when there is not enough pasture available, or when the weather gets too cold to graze. The baled hay most non-farmers are familiar with is dry and yellow, but high-quality hay has more of a greenish hue.
Straw is the byproduct of crops, not the crop itself. When a plant, such as wheat or barley, has been stripped of its seeds or grains, the stalk is sometimes saved and dried to make straw. This part of the plant is lacking in nutrients, which means it doesn't make great animal fodder. Farmers have found other uses for the material throughout history, such as to weave baskets, thatch roofs, and stuff mattresses.
Straw is easy to identify, such as if it is being used in a way that would be wasteful if it were food. Every hayride you have ever been on was most likely a straw-ride.
Hay refers to grasses and some legumes such as alfalfa that are grown for use as animal feed. The full plant is harvested—including the heads, leaves, and stems, then dried, and typically stored in bales. Hay is what livestock like cattle eat when there is not enough pasture available, or when the weather gets too cold to graze. The baled hay most non-farmers are familiar with is dry and yellow, but high-quality hay has more of a greenish hue.
Straw is the byproduct of crops, not the crop itself. When a plant, such as wheat or barley, has been stripped of its seeds or grains, the stalk is sometimes saved and dried to make straw. This part of the plant is lacking in nutrients, which means it doesn't make great animal fodder. Farmers have found other uses for the material throughout history, such as to weave baskets, thatch roofs, and stuff mattresses.
Straw is easy to identify, such as if it is being used in a way that would be wasteful if it were food. Every hayride you have ever been on was most likely a straw-ride.
8K is Here
On
December 1, 2018 Japanese TV networks began publicly
broadcasting 4K and 8K channels via satellite. NHK is pushing
content at 8K with 22.2 channel sound. The first movie listed in
its TV guide is '2001: A Space Odyssey', and it is a rescanned
version of the original 70mm negatives specifically for this
broadcast. Seems like a great choice.
Seven Uses for Leftover Bananas
Banana domestication began some 7,000
years ago. They are one of the most widely grown, traded, and
eaten of all the crops. Modern bananas are sterile, containing
only tiny residual seeds, so new banana plants are propagated
from cuttings. Bananas have many uses and leaves, flowers,
fruits, stems, and rhizomes are used for plates, food wrapping,
medicines, stimulants, textiles, clothing, packaging,
paper-making, crafts, ornaments, and ceremonial magic and ritual
activities. Below are a few uses for the banana itself.
Pressing the inside of a banana peel onto a bite from a mosquito or other insect for a few minutes is a surprisingly simple way to stop itching. The use of banana peels to treat inflammation is said to be an ancient Chinese remedy to soothe poison ivy rashes, psoriasis, sunburn, and other skin maladies.
Tape a piece of the peel over a splinter, with the soft, inner side of the peel facing down and leave it in place for about 10 minutes. The enzymes in the fruit should help to force the splinter out.
Monarch butterflies are difficult to spot, but you can improve your chances by placing an overripe banana in your garden. They are soft and sweet enough for butterflies to enjoy. You can also place bananas near a hummingbird feeder to attract fruit flies, which the hummingbirds feast on. (Remove the bananas before you go to bed or you may have other animals like raccoons in your yard.)
While you are out in the garden feeding birds and butterflies, you can give your plants some nourishment, too. Cut up and bury banana peels to enrich the soil with nutrients and help feed plants.
Bananas have long been a staple in smoothies, but if you have a whole bunch that is about to go bad stick them in the freezer. You can pull one out any time you get a smoothie craving, and since it is frozen, you will not need to add ice.
Bananas are a great ingredient in DIY hair treatments and skin exfoliants. The amino and citric acids help protect hair from damage and keep it shiny. There are a few different recipes you can try, some of which combine banana with avocado, yogurt, egg, and other ingredients. Rubbing the inside of a banana peel onto your face (seriously, try it) is also said to brighten your skin, fight acne, and reduce puffiness around your eyes.
A recent study published in the journal PLOS One found that competitive cyclists who had consumed a banana instead of a sugary drink or water had less inflammation following their workout. Although other physicians cite the benefits of consuming bananas post-workout, the sample for this particular study was small, just 20 cyclists and was funded by Dole Foods (although it had no role in any part of the study). May be best to not experiment for the first time on race day.
Pressing the inside of a banana peel onto a bite from a mosquito or other insect for a few minutes is a surprisingly simple way to stop itching. The use of banana peels to treat inflammation is said to be an ancient Chinese remedy to soothe poison ivy rashes, psoriasis, sunburn, and other skin maladies.
Tape a piece of the peel over a splinter, with the soft, inner side of the peel facing down and leave it in place for about 10 minutes. The enzymes in the fruit should help to force the splinter out.
Monarch butterflies are difficult to spot, but you can improve your chances by placing an overripe banana in your garden. They are soft and sweet enough for butterflies to enjoy. You can also place bananas near a hummingbird feeder to attract fruit flies, which the hummingbirds feast on. (Remove the bananas before you go to bed or you may have other animals like raccoons in your yard.)
While you are out in the garden feeding birds and butterflies, you can give your plants some nourishment, too. Cut up and bury banana peels to enrich the soil with nutrients and help feed plants.
Bananas have long been a staple in smoothies, but if you have a whole bunch that is about to go bad stick them in the freezer. You can pull one out any time you get a smoothie craving, and since it is frozen, you will not need to add ice.
Bananas are a great ingredient in DIY hair treatments and skin exfoliants. The amino and citric acids help protect hair from damage and keep it shiny. There are a few different recipes you can try, some of which combine banana with avocado, yogurt, egg, and other ingredients. Rubbing the inside of a banana peel onto your face (seriously, try it) is also said to brighten your skin, fight acne, and reduce puffiness around your eyes.
A recent study published in the journal PLOS One found that competitive cyclists who had consumed a banana instead of a sugary drink or water had less inflammation following their workout. Although other physicians cite the benefits of consuming bananas post-workout, the sample for this particular study was small, just 20 cyclists and was funded by Dole Foods (although it had no role in any part of the study). May be best to not experiment for the first time on race day.
Vegetarian and Kangatarian
A study by the US Humane Research Council
revealed that 84 percent of modern-day vegetarians gave up their
new diet less than a year after they started. The participants
included 11,000 vegetarians, former vegetarians, and
non-vegetarians in the United States. According to the study, 88
percent of Americans above age 17 have never gone vegetarian, 10
percent are former vegetarians, and 2 percent are vegetarians.
However, only one in five vegetarians stay that way with the
rest returning to eating meat. Of that figure, one-third dumped
the vegetarian diet after three months while the rest got rid of
it in less than a year. One-third of vegetarians said they
started eating meat after they got into a relationship with
someone who ate meat. Others went back to meat due to health,
financial, or social reasons. All former vegetarians ate less
meat than they did before they became vegetarians.
A new group of vegetarians has popped up in Australia. They are kangatarians, vegetarians who only eat kangaroo meat. Kangatarians usually stop eating meat for ethical reasons. Ethical vegetarians do not like the way that animals are reared and slaughtered on farms. Australia has an abundance of wild kangaroos and since they are not reared on farms, these vegetarians have no qualms about eating them. Kangatarians further justify their consumption of kangaroo meat by claiming that kangaroos are greener for the environment since they do not produce as much ozone-destroying methane as cattle and sheep raised on farms.
Vegetarians can receive all the vitamins and minerals they need from a plant-based diet except vitamin B12, which is available in meat, fish, eggs, and dairy. Vegetarians could get this vitamin from vitamin-enriched cereals and supplements, but it is not usually enough. Vitamin B12 deficiency can trigger the excessive production of homocysteine, leading to depression, fatigue, weakness, nausea, constipation, anemia, heart disease, and stroke. The people at most risk are vegans who do not consume any kind of meat or animal product. However, regular vegetarians are also at risk of developing vitamin B12 deficiency. Another study revealed that 92 percent of vegans and 67 percent of lacto-ovo vegetarians suffer from B12 deficiency.
A new group of vegetarians has popped up in Australia. They are kangatarians, vegetarians who only eat kangaroo meat. Kangatarians usually stop eating meat for ethical reasons. Ethical vegetarians do not like the way that animals are reared and slaughtered on farms. Australia has an abundance of wild kangaroos and since they are not reared on farms, these vegetarians have no qualms about eating them. Kangatarians further justify their consumption of kangaroo meat by claiming that kangaroos are greener for the environment since they do not produce as much ozone-destroying methane as cattle and sheep raised on farms.
Vegetarians can receive all the vitamins and minerals they need from a plant-based diet except vitamin B12, which is available in meat, fish, eggs, and dairy. Vegetarians could get this vitamin from vitamin-enriched cereals and supplements, but it is not usually enough. Vitamin B12 deficiency can trigger the excessive production of homocysteine, leading to depression, fatigue, weakness, nausea, constipation, anemia, heart disease, and stroke. The people at most risk are vegans who do not consume any kind of meat or animal product. However, regular vegetarians are also at risk of developing vitamin B12 deficiency. Another study revealed that 92 percent of vegans and 67 percent of lacto-ovo vegetarians suffer from B12 deficiency.
Dec 1, 2018
Happy Friday
"Do not run after
happiness, but seek to do good, and you will find that happiness
will run after you." ~James Freeman Clarke
I am always chased by happiness, especially on a Happy Friday!
I am always chased by happiness, especially on a Happy Friday!
Common Acronyms
Here
are a few names that you probably did not know they really were
acronyms.
PAM (cooking spray) stands for Product of Arthur Meyerhoff.
NECCO (wafers) stands for New England Confectionery Company.
Smart Car (a collaboration between Swatch and Mercedes), is short for Swatch + Mercedes + Art.
The USA PATRIOT Act stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. (a real mouthful)
TIME (magazine) stands for “The International Magazine of Events.”
CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.
Arby’s is a play on RB, for the chain’s founders, the Raffel brothers.
A&W stands for its founders, (Roy) Allen and (Frank) Wright.
PAM (cooking spray) stands for Product of Arthur Meyerhoff.
NECCO (wafers) stands for New England Confectionery Company.
Smart Car (a collaboration between Swatch and Mercedes), is short for Swatch + Mercedes + Art.
The USA PATRIOT Act stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. (a real mouthful)
TIME (magazine) stands for “The International Magazine of Events.”
CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart.
Arby’s is a play on RB, for the chain’s founders, the Raffel brothers.
A&W stands for its founders, (Roy) Allen and (Frank) Wright.
What's in a Name, Larry
The blue bird from the Twitter logo has a name:
Larry. The creators of the social network named the bird after
basketball player Larry Bird.
Minneapolis Food Ordinance
During 2016, Minneapolis enacted the Staple
Food Ordinance which requires all grocery stores, with few
exceptions, to keep on hand fresh produce, and other healthy
foods that city politicians felt they needed in order to change
the eating habits of the public.
Two years later the city has found no discernible increase in the amount of healthy food people are buying. It also found the healthy food mandate is leading to frustrated grocers and reports of food waste, due customers not buying the mandated items.
A survey of 3,000 customers outside selected convenience stores was conducted to see if the Ordinance was actually encouraging people to buy healthier foods. So far, it has not. The survey shows "We did not see any significant changes in the healthfulness of customer purchasing. We can't point to customer purchasing and say purchases are getting healthier as a whole."
In addition, a survey found just 10% of stores were compliant. The law requires, among other items, stores must keep six one-dozen containers of eggs on hand; 6-count or 18-count containers do not count toward this requirement. Nor do one-dozen containers if the eggs inside are medium or extra-large size. Stores must stock approximately 13 cans of beans, but baked beans do not count toward this requirement, nor do cans that mix beans and meat, despite canned meat being another requirement.
The rigid requirements are a large problem for ethnic grocers, who are forced to stock foods that are not used in their customers' native cuisines. Owners are questioning whether the law is perpetuating institutional racism and cultural bias.
After two years, the mandates in Minneapolis have produced few observable health gains, a number of upset store managers, increases in food waste, increased costs, and frustrated customers. The findings mirror some of the same problems as the school lunch dictates did.
Two years later the city has found no discernible increase in the amount of healthy food people are buying. It also found the healthy food mandate is leading to frustrated grocers and reports of food waste, due customers not buying the mandated items.
A survey of 3,000 customers outside selected convenience stores was conducted to see if the Ordinance was actually encouraging people to buy healthier foods. So far, it has not. The survey shows "We did not see any significant changes in the healthfulness of customer purchasing. We can't point to customer purchasing and say purchases are getting healthier as a whole."
In addition, a survey found just 10% of stores were compliant. The law requires, among other items, stores must keep six one-dozen containers of eggs on hand; 6-count or 18-count containers do not count toward this requirement. Nor do one-dozen containers if the eggs inside are medium or extra-large size. Stores must stock approximately 13 cans of beans, but baked beans do not count toward this requirement, nor do cans that mix beans and meat, despite canned meat being another requirement.
The rigid requirements are a large problem for ethnic grocers, who are forced to stock foods that are not used in their customers' native cuisines. Owners are questioning whether the law is perpetuating institutional racism and cultural bias.
After two years, the mandates in Minneapolis have produced few observable health gains, a number of upset store managers, increases in food waste, increased costs, and frustrated customers. The findings mirror some of the same problems as the school lunch dictates did.
Computer Size
This is a picture of a grain of rice next to the world's
smallest computer. It is built by the University of Michigan,
dwarfed by a grain of rice, and measures just 0.33mm on each
side.
Traffic Safety
The most important single traffic safety device, the painting of
lines down the center of roads was devised by Michigan, Wayne
County Road Commissioner Edward Hines in 1911 after he saw the
dotted drippings from a leaking milk wagon and struck on the
concept.
He ordered his road commission to begin center striping all danger spots, curves and bridges were first, and the immediate reduction of accidents was impressive. He then ordered the striping of all roads in Wayne County. When the rest of the state and the nation saw the results, they began center lining their roads as well. Incidentally, he was also responsible for the first mile of concrete roadway. It was in the City of Detroit, Michigan.
He ordered his road commission to begin center striping all danger spots, curves and bridges were first, and the immediate reduction of accidents was impressive. He then ordered the striping of all roads in Wayne County. When the rest of the state and the nation saw the results, they began center lining their roads as well. Incidentally, he was also responsible for the first mile of concrete roadway. It was in the City of Detroit, Michigan.
Arlington National Cemetery
Union soldiers buried their dead in
Robert E. Lee’s garden. Before Arlington was a national
cemetery, it was the Lee homestead, and then a tent city for
occupying troops.
Robert E. Lee inherited Arlington House from his wife’s late father. It was a hillside manse overlooking 1,100 acres, just across the river from the White House. Lee left Arlington in April 1861, after resigning from the Union Army and accepting the rank of major general of the Confederacy.
Union troops were preparing to claim the estate almost as soon as he left and his wife Mary, fled.
As the war raged, Arlington looked like a place to put a graveyard after the government acquired the estate in 1864, for $26,800. It became a cemetery during June, 1864. Today, Lee’s former estate is the final resting place for more than 420,000 people. Funeral services continue six days a week, with several dozen a day.
Robert E. Lee inherited Arlington House from his wife’s late father. It was a hillside manse overlooking 1,100 acres, just across the river from the White House. Lee left Arlington in April 1861, after resigning from the Union Army and accepting the rank of major general of the Confederacy.
Union troops were preparing to claim the estate almost as soon as he left and his wife Mary, fled.
As the war raged, Arlington looked like a place to put a graveyard after the government acquired the estate in 1864, for $26,800. It became a cemetery during June, 1864. Today, Lee’s former estate is the final resting place for more than 420,000 people. Funeral services continue six days a week, with several dozen a day.
Wordology
Push the envelope belongs to the modern era of the
airplane. The “flight envelope” is a term from aeronautics
meaning the boundary or limit of performance of a flight object.
The envelope can be described in terms of mathematical curves
based on things like speed, thrust, and atmosphere. You push it
as far as you can in order to discover what the limits are.
Go haywire relates to actual haywire. In addition to tying up bundles, haywire was used to fix and hold many things together in a makeshift way, so a patched-up place came to be referred to as 'a hay-wire outfit'. It then became a term for any kind of malfunctioning thing. The fact that the wire itself became easily tangled when unspooled contributed to the use of the phrase.
Go haywire relates to actual haywire. In addition to tying up bundles, haywire was used to fix and hold many things together in a makeshift way, so a patched-up place came to be referred to as 'a hay-wire outfit'. It then became a term for any kind of malfunctioning thing. The fact that the wire itself became easily tangled when unspooled contributed to the use of the phrase.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)