The health impacts of sitting may effect you for the rest of your life
This was actually suggested in a journal article two years ago. (Television viewing time and reduced life expectancy BJSM 2012 Vol 46)
While I disagree that constant sitting has the same type of detrimental health effects as smoking, more and more research indicates that sitting and inactivity contributes just as much to the public health cost as smoking – seriously!
So you sit and have breakfast (please tell me you have breakfast), you sit in the car, bus or train, you sit at work and you sit all over again at night! You can have a $1000 “ergonomic (now there’s a brilliant marketing term!) chair, fancy mouse pads, screen filters and monitor arms, but if you sit all day you decrease metabolism (get fat), lose muscle tone and compress key body areas, especially the lower back. Good research shows that even 90 minutes at the gym daily does not compensate for the effects of sitting all day at work.
The answer is really quite simple – don’t. For most workers reading this, standing at work may have a stigma attached – “oh he’s the strange guy with the bad back”. A change in many workplaces’ culture and leadership is needed to encourage daily workplace practices which have been proven to not only improve health and also productivity. Could you stand everytime you make a phone call? Could you move the printer away from your desk? Could you stand in meetings and still hold the conversation?
Ergonomics as an industry is a bit like weight loss. In theory, the answers are quite simple but we look for complex solutions, fancy gadgets and quite often shift the blame to someone or something else. Most modern workplaces do currently encourage sitting and we can make that as ‘ergonomic’ as possible, but, the evidence suggests strongly – if you sit all day, regardless of your set-up, you will suffer pain, reduce productivity and quite probably, suffer long term health concerns.
West End house prices are up, but they are moving slowly
Given the positive comments in the media and the strength of the property market, it is incredible to believe that house sales are down by 45% in West End for the first 6 months of 2014 in comparison to the same period last year.
Using a 10 year average for this period of the year, the numbers of houses sold is usually around 25 compared to the 14 sales this year. So based on these facts, is it a problem with buyers or are sellers just holding on for longer?
As a local resident and Real Estate agent, I believe it’s a number of factors. Firstly, while interest rates remain low, consumers continue to pay down existing debt while still remaining frugal and cautious about the future (Recent research indicates the average mortgage holder is 20 payments ahead of schedule).
Secondly, unemployment remains a concern since the GFC. So while there has been a lift in confidence and retail spending, there is still a concern with the osmosis effect to unemployment – ‘what if it happens to me?’
Thirdly, the area is the cultural hub of the city with GOMA, The Cultural Centre, Southbank and The Convention Centre located here. Add to this the great schools, universities, hospitals, sports stadiums close by and great dining experiences and it’s easy to see why there is a reluctance to move to another part of Brisbane.
The continued residential unit development is also delivering some knock-on benefits to residents such as Aldi, Woolworths and a proposed second ferry terminal.
The big winners in the current market are local house sellers who have very little competition and are achieving outstanding prices from many buyers in the market that recognize the benefits that all local residents currently experience.
Early August is a great time for meteor watching. Credit. Kirito
Get set for a nice crescent Moon for the start of the weekend and boy, isn’t the sky going to be great for stargazers! This is the month they say our Aussie skies are at their best, especially away from city lights. With bright moonlight lasting till almost midnight it’s a good time to test out a new telescope or go panning around looking for star clusters. Head just to the right of the Southern Cross and do a sky sweep, then tell me that wasn’t good advice. See all those bright spots? Yep, brilliant clusters and gas clouds. By the way, anything except full moon nights are great for telescope viewing.
It’s hard to imagine Earth without a moon isn’t it? Life itself might have evolved from the ocean to land thanks to tides induced by the moon’s gravity. Astronomers believe a body as big as Mars once smacked into our infant Earth, breaking off a large piece which fell into orbit, eventually forming into the moon we see today. A lot of that debris fell back on the Earth too making huge craters which, over time, have been smoothed over by volcanism. You know what? Somebody’s actually weighed the Earth! True. The Earth has a mass of 6, million, million, million, million kilograms, or, if you prefer, 6 sextillion tonnes. Try that one at your next trivia night.
In the early evening Saturn with its beautiful ring system is readily visible high in the western sky. Even in small telescopes it’s an amazing sight and never fails to impress. Talking about stunning views, check out what’s hanging low in the eastern sky before sunrise. That bright ‘star’ you see is in reality our sister planet Venus, also known as the evening star. This week Venus is absolutely spectacular and already generating the odd UFO report or two. If you stare at it awhile it appears to move around or wobble. Try it.
The Perseids meteor shower can produce ‘Fireballs’ like this one seen overseas. Cr. John Schumack
Hey, while you’re in the mood, why not take time out and try my favourite celestial sport, meteor watching. The Perseids meteor shower makes an appearance in the coming week and after midnight a few decent meteors should flit across the starry sky each hour in a spooky display. The meteors peak on August 12 and are produced by debris from an earlier passing of Comet 96P/Machholz.
Perseids typically have fast and bright meteors and are known to create the odd fireball or two with flaming tails that streak across the dark early morning sky. More northern centred this year, the radiant may be a little low, but still worth a try. Fireballs are meteors that actually start to melt and catch on fire! Are they dangerous? The simple answer is no, not at all.
Nobody has ever been injured from watching meteor showers. Travelling at speeds of up to 60 kilometres a second, most meteors quickly vapourize 50 kilometres above the ground. Almost all are destroyed in this process – the rare few that survive and hit the ground are known as meteorites. The largest ever found was found in Hoba, Namibia. It weighed 60 tons!
Now for an after dinner treat. Want to see the space station passing over your place this week? Well, if you go to www.spotthestation.nasa.gov/sightings and enter your location a chart will come up for the entire week giving dates and times to go and look. Simple huh? There’s also a great aussie app you can download called ISS Flyover. Just imagine, when you see the space station remember it’s moving at 28,000 kilometres an hour and astronauts onboard see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every day! What a cool job!
Did you know that when the station crew return to earth they look forward to a good long hot shower. In space you can’t do that easily. In fact, astronauts wear the same underwear for the entire mission! You don’t sweat as much in space. Spacesuits are fitted with ‘nappies’ so that astronauts can work outside for long hours especially during spacewalks. They hardly shower at all. You have to remember, in space water doesn’t fall down, it falls up and ‘sponge baths’ are the norm. They use wet cloths for washing and special shampoo for their hair which doesn’t require water.
You know, I get a lot of people telling me they only have a small telescope and want to know if it’s any good to stargaze with. My answer – sure can! Smaller telescopes are capable of doing a lot more than you imagine. I started out with a telescope you could fit in your pocket! Remember, cheapie telescopes under about $200 are made to a price, not a quality, and the trade-off is in the eyepieces.
If your cheapie telescope isn’t giving you satisfactory views I bet it will if you get a good quality brand eyepiece from your camera store. Around $30 -$50 should do it. Stargazers can take it to the next level with some special software that mimics the night sky. I frequently bring my laptop into the field with me to use Stellarium, a free program that gives a real time view of the sky and labels nearby stars. You can recreate the night sky from almost any era in history, and move forward hundreds of years to view an eclipse yet to happen! Download it, you won’t be sorry.
David Reneke is an astronomy writer, lecturer, broadcaster and media personality. Get David’s free astronomy newsletter and a free 323 page e-book called ‘The Complete Idiots Guide To Astronomy. Visit the webpage: www.davidreneke.com
Palau carvers sell their work to tourists and international traders
By Anne Sutherland
I recently visited Palau – one of the chain volcanic islands formed as the Earths Philippine Plate rode up over the Pacific Plate. Eventually coral & guano l (bird pooh) formed fringing reefs around the extinct volcanic rock & today Palau consists of over 250 island – most limestone (the Rock Islands). The coral reefs developed abundant marine life
Carbon Dating of cave burials show a pygmy population, presumably the result of insular dwarfism, from at least 3,000, and perhaps as long as 4,500 years ago until about 900 years ago (1000–2500 BCE until ca. 1100 CE).[1] Palau was at one time occupied by perhaps Philippine people 3-4000 years ago & people of unknown lineage who carved the Monolyths – pottery dated 150AD, but eventually Melanesian seafarers settled the islands. They have a Matriarchal society & the women choose the man to be chief of their clan.
Early contact with European society was with whalers, traders & missionaries & their diseases killed about 1/3 of the people. German missionaries about 18th century were tolerant & only removed the most shocking practices. Their studies were observant & sympathetic to local practices. Then Spain followed in1500AD. Modern Palau consists of 16 clan States – 10 of which are based on Babeldaob – the largest & mostly volcanic island.
1900s Japanese came & set up scientific studies such as clam farming & schooling. During World War 2 30,000 Japanese occupied the islands – occupying villages & gardens & forcing Palauans into the forest – about 1/3 starved to death. Japanese headquarters were set up in caves & camouflaged buildings & as the US landed to free the people towards the end of the war there was heavy bombing & a further 1/3 local people died.
The Clans now form 16 States – 14 of which are on the largest island – Babeldaob. They gained independence 1994 & have a President.
At the meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan – Pew Environment Group Palau declared its “waters a shark sanctuary in 2009, and today has announced that they will also be a whale and dolphin sanctuary. (more than 600,000 square kilometers/230,000 square miles)”.
Money from Japan, US & Taiwan assists Palau now – US stewardship ends in 2030s. Their main income comes from diving eco-tourism, war relics on land & under water & their unique ancient places. The people are really friendly & knowledgeable.
You can reach Anne by leaving a comment on the story below – Ed
The beauty of an unusually large Supermoon rising in the early evening desert skies. Credit: Stefan Seip
Be prepared to be mooned this weekend, in fact get ready to be supermooned! This Saturday night, all across Australia, the Moon will be a little bigger and a little brighter than normal, meaning we’re in for what’s called a ‘supermoon.’
The supermoon is a rare sight that doesn’t happen very often but when it does you’ll want to make sure you’re outside of your house and ready to check out just how breathtakingly beautiful it looks in the night sky.
A ‘Super Moon’ occurs at the time in the moon’s orbit when it’s closest to Earth, a mere 361,863 kilometres. Not only will the moon be full, it will also look slightly larger when rising early evening and somewhat brighter. All full moons bring higher than usual tides but if you’re going fishing during the supermom watch for ‘King Tides.’
The term supermoon name actually originated from the studies of modern astrology. A supermoon can appear as much as 14 percent larger in the sky and 20 percent brighter to our eyes than normal. Despite the claims of some people around the world, the supermoon will not destroy the Earth. Nor will it turn you into a lunatic.
Hey, with thenice full Moon on Saturday night it’s a good opportunity to take a photograph of it. There’s something magical about those pictures of the moonlight sky and dazzling stars, they convey a special something that daytime photos can’t.
You’ll need a tripod to hold the camera completely still for clear pics OK. A shutter release cable is handy too. Bracket your shots, up to a couple of seconds, but not to long to avoid background stars having ‘tails’ on them. Never use a flash! Take several shots at different speeds and see which gives the best exposure.
Got a smart phone? You can hand hold it over the eyepiece and careful aiming might get you a few nice moon shots. Email them to yourself. It’s the best way to build up experience and collect a good number of moon ‘selfies.’
Here’s a cool tip. Download an amazing free app called ‘Sky View. Simply point your smartphone to anything in the night sky and it will tell you what it is. Ask, and it will find planets, stars and constellations for you in a matter of moments, plus its got tons of interesting facts and figures on astronomy. Want some more free stuff? Head on over to my website www.davidreneke.com and download a whole range of fact sheets and free e-books on astronomy.
Westender has just launched an online YouTube channel. So please take a look and subscribe to it and comment and share and we will upload videos as often as we can. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwJZZfEfUHCCkk_hXQwTq5w
