Why laughter literally is ‘good medicine’
Here is something you would never have guessed: laughter can literally help wounds to heal more quickly.
Scientists at Leeds University have discovered that in wounds where the patient needs to stimulate blood flow for healing, there is something more they can do than use compression bandages and support stockings and exercise…. they can laugh.
Having a hearty chuckle gets the diaphragm moving , which in turn increases the blood flow around the body, which then increases the amount of blood sent to the wound, which aids healing! It’s all enough to make you smile…
Coffee IS good for you – if you’re a woman.
Women should save their herbal tea bags until they get home. If they want to get ahead of their male colleagues at work, they should hit the strong coffee, instead.
Drinking caffeinated coffee boosts a woman’s performance in stressful situations. But tests have shown that it can have the opposite effect on men, who become less confident and take longer to complete tasks when they have drunk several coffees.
The research, published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, found that caffeine, taken in a high stress situation, helps a woman’s performance, but can hinder a man’s . One conclusion is that unlimited coffee supplies for men at meetings might not be a great idea. One added: “Because caffeine is the most widely consumed drug in the world, the global implications are potentially staggering.”
Suffer the little children…. with eating disorders
Children as young as eight are battling eating disorders. Three quarters of seven to 11 year olds would like to change something about their appearance. A behavioural expert, Nicky Hutchinson, is deeply concerned by this trend. She calls for the subject of body image to be taught in primary schools. “Children face exposure to the media on a far greater scale that ever before, “ she says. “Primary schools have a critical role in helping them develop a healthy body image.”
Rise – and roam – of the garden gnome
Garden gnomes are making a comeback. Nowadays one in five young adults will even admit that they own one. But if a gnome is living happily in your garden this Spring, beware: there has also been a rise in gnome-related kidnaps, known as ‘gnoming’. They are hard to protect.
Hedgehogs on the move
Our towns and cities are getting crowded – with wild beasties. It seems that hedgehogs, like foxes, are turning up more and more often in town and city gardens. Hedgehogs are now spotted in 30 per cent of urban gardens, with one in seven residents seeing them regularly. In rural areas, hedgehogs are reported in 48 per cent of gardens. If you have a resident hedgehog, consider buying it some tinned dog food, as they much prefer this to milk and bread. And if you ever hear them eating, you will understand why there is a ‘hog’ in their name.
Don’t hurt your garden pond
Be careful what water you use to top up your garden pond. Gardeners are unknowingly polluting their ponds by using tap water, according to a recent survey. Water boatmen, beetles, snails, alderflies and damselfly larvae are threatened by the tap water, which has much higher level of nitrates than the level found in natural ponds. Nitrates cause excessive nutrients in the water, encouraging plants such as duckweed and blanketweed, which then kill off submerged plants that are essential for healthy and diverse pond life.
Don’t kill ALL the dandelions
Don’t be too hard on your dandelions – they are one of the most important sources of nectar and pollen for bees, and help hives thrive. From that point of view, perhaps it is good that dandelions are so notoriously tough and fast-growing.
Splat – bugs that hit your windscreen
Every summer it is the same: you are driving along when – splat! Something hits your windscreen and turns to mush. Now an ecologist has given ‘splat’ ratings to ten bugs you are most likely to encounter – rated by the size of the mess they make. So – what’s out there waiting on the road for you?
Top 10 bugs on your windscreen (given splatomerter ratings out of five)
1. hawk moth – 5
2. chafer beetle – 4
3. hornet – 4
4. wasp – 3
5. honey bee – 3
6. flies – 2
7. midges alone 1, swarm 5
8. mosquitoes – alone 1, swarm 4
9. aphids 2
10. peacock and red admiral butterflies 0
The guide, created for the car accessory retailer Halfords, has a serious point: dirty and scratched windscreens cause serious accidents every year. Get those bugs off your screen!
Bits and pieces