Thursday, November 15, 2012

Medical Journals: How Fast You Walk Is How Long You’ll Likely Live

(By the Easy Health Options: First published in article dated 4 Jan 2012 - http://www.easyhealthoptions.com/alternative-medicine/how-fast-you-walk-is-how-long-youll-likely-live/)

If you’re one of those people who stroll very slowly down the block, you better pick up the pace. Something may be gaining on you. Research shows that the slower you walk, the sooner death is likely to catch up to you.

In an analysis of the health history of more than 34,000 people over the age of 65, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh found that faster walkers had greater life expectancy.

According to these scientists, there are several reasons why walking speed may predict survival. "Walking requires energy, movement control, and support and places demands on multiple organ systems, including the heart, lungs, circulatory, nervous, and musculoskeletal systems. Slowing gait may reflect both damaged systems and a high energy cost of walking."

In this study, if you walked slower than about 2 feet a second, it was time to start making sure your affairs were in order: And you only had time for a couple of more walks.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

RSA Animate: The Truth About Dishonesty

(By Dan Ariely, published at RSA Animate on 14 September 2012 at the following link:http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate/animate/rsa-animate-the-truth-about-dishonesty)


In this RSA Animate, Dan Ariely explores the circumstances under which someone would lie and what effect deception has on society at large. In this case, he sought to examine the mechanisms at work behind dishonest behaviour, and the implications this has for all aspects of our social and political lives.This is taken from a lecture which was first given by Dan Ariely as part of the RSA's free public events programme on 10 July 2012 at this link: http://www.thersa.org/events/video/vision-videos/free-beer-the-truth-about-dishonesty.

N.B. Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology & Behavioural Economics at Duke University, and is dedicated to helping people live more sensible – if not rational – lives. His interests span a wide range of behaviours, and his sometimes unusual experiments are consistently interesting, amusing and informative, demonstrating profound ideas that fly in the face of common wisdom. In addition to appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, the Department of Economics, and the School of Medicine at Duke University, Dan is also a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight, and the author of the New York Times bestsellers Predictably Irrational, and The Upside of Irrationality. His new book The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty will be published in June 2012.