TOPICAL TRENDS

Dr. Who Leaving

2013-06-02T19:44:00.001+01:00

BBC have announced Matt Smith's departure will take place after he appears in the 50th anniversary and the 2013 Christmas special.
Smith first stepped into the TARDIS in 2010. Steven Moffat, lead writer and executive producer on "Doctor Who," praised Smith's work on the long-running series.
"[G]reat actors always know when it's time for the curtain call, so this Christmas prepare for your hearts to break, as we say goodbye to number Eleven. Thank you Matt -- bow ties were never cooler," he said. "Of course, this isn't the end of the story, because now the search begins. Somewhere out there right now -- all unknowing, just going about their business -- is someone who's about to become the Doctor. A life is going to change, and 'Doctor Who' will be born all over again! After 50 years, that's still so exciting!"
“I am very happy doing it. I go and I do the anniversary special, then I go away for a bit. Then I come back and I do the Christmas special. It's sort of one of those jobs that you have to take year by year really because it's 10 months a year. It's all-consuming so I don't think you can plan five, six years ahead or even two years ahead," Smith said on Jonathan Ross’s show in March 2013. "At the moment, it’s 2013 and we will see what 2014 holds."
Now, it's official. Smith said "Doctor Who" was "the most brilliant experience" thanks to the cast, crew and fans. "I'm incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day, to realize all the elements of the show and deliver 'Doctor Who' to the audience. Many of them have become good friends and I'm incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years.
"Having Steven Moffat as showrunner write such varied, funny, mind-bending and brilliant scripts has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges of my career," Smith continued in a statement. "It's been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven, he's a good friend and will continue to shape a brilliant world for the Doctor."
Smith praised the fans of "Doctor Who" for being "unlike any other" for their dedication to the series.

Vancouver Hockey Riots

2011-06-16T20:49:00.000+01:00

Soon after the Vancouver Canucks lost game 7 of the Stanley Cup hockey series to the Boston Bruins, rioting broke out. As the violence became more intense, we found numerous pictures on photo-sharing sites such as Twitpic and yfrog.

A car was set on fire, a truck was flipped over, and when police entered the area of downtown Vancouver with full riot gear, crazed fans were throwing beer bottles and shoes at their plastic shields, according to CTV News.

As the rioting intensified, so did the volume of user content on Twitter and Facebook. Even the Vancouver Police Department used Twitter to express its disappointment, tweeting, “So sad watching our #VPD cars on fire and how quickly people can turn from law abiding to law breaking. #canucksriot.”

Lunar Eclipse

2011-06-14T13:03:00.000+01:00

The year's first total eclipse of the moon will last an unusually long time, a rare celestial treat for a wide swath of the globe.

Except if you're in the United States and Canada. North America will be left out of Wednesday's lunar spectacle, which will be visible from start to finish from eastern Africa, central Asia, the Middle East and western Australia – weather permitting.

The period when Earth's shadow completely blocks the moon – known as totality – will last a whopping 1 hour and 40 minutes. The last time the moon was covered for this long was in July 2000, when it lasted 7 minutes longer than that.

The full moon normally glows from reflected sunlight. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon glides through the long shadow cast by the Earth and is blocked from the sunlight that illuminates it.

As the moon plunges deeper into the Earth's shadow, the disk will appear to gradually change color, turning from silver to orange or red. This is because some indirect sunlight still reaches the moon after passing through the Earth's atmosphere, which scatters blue light. Only red light strikes the moon, giving it an eerie crimson hue.

It's difficult to predict the exact shade the moon will take, which will depend on how much dust and clouds are in the atmosphere during the eclipse.

Since the moon will pass close to the center of the Earth's shadow, the total eclipse phase will be longer than usual, said NASA eclipse expert Fred Espenak at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

The entire eclipse will last a little over 5 1/2 hours. Observers in Europe will miss the first part of the show because it will occur before the moon rises. Eastern Asia and eastern Australia won't catch the final stages, which will happen after the moon sets. Portions of South America will be able see the moon entirely shrouded.

Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to watch with the naked eye.

Keith Gleason, who runs the Sommers-Bausch Observatory in Boulder, Colo., is disappointed that he will not have a ringside seat to the upcoming eclipse. The last total lunar eclipse visible from the U.S. occurred on Dec. 21, 2010, which coincided with winter solstice and was widely observed. Some 1,400 people showed up for a viewing party at the observatory.

"We had an absolutely glorious time," he said.

The next total lunar eclipse will fall on Dec. 10 with best viewing from Asia and Australia. The moon will be completely blotted out for 51 minutes. Only parts of the U.S. including Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest will catch a glimpse.

The rest of the continental U.S. will have to wait until April 15, 2014 to witness a total lunar eclipse.

Flag Day

2011-06-13T21:34:00.002+01:00

Here are some interesting facts about Flag Day in the United States, now celebrated every June 14th.

-There have been 27 different versions of the Star-Spangled Banner. The present flag bearing 50 stars became the country's official flag on July 4, 1960.
-The idea of celebrating the flag's birthday dates to June 14, 1889 when George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City, planned flag appreciation ceremonies for the children of his school. His idea of observing Flag Day was later adopted by the State Board of Education of New York and it grew from there.
-Many communities and a few states had celebrated Flag Day from around 1861 at the start of the American Civil War. However, it was not until 1916 that President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as a national Flag Day, celebrating the adoption of the Stars and Stripes.

-Congressional legislation was signed by President Harry Truman in 1949 designating June 14 as National Flag Day. The law also called upon the president to issue a Flag Day proclamation every year.

-The flag's name, "Old Glory," purportedly came from Captain William Driver, a shipmaster from Salem, Massachusetts. His friends gave him a brand new flag of 24 stars. As the banner was hoisted above his ship and caught the breeze, Driver exclaimed "Old Glory!"

The Hum

2011-06-13T18:05:00.003+01:00

It's a menace that drives thousands to distraction and has been blamed on everything from UFOs to nuclear submarines. A scientist claims he's found the cause. Our man (who's heard it) listens in...

To the unaffected, it sounds suspiciously like a case of mass hysteria. It is the stuff of dark conspiracies, cover-ups and general spookiness. But to 'sufferers', if that is the right word, this mysterious throbbing noise, which never goes away and exists right on the brink of perception, is real and concrete enough to ruin lives.

I have only experienced 'The Hum' - at least, I assume it was The Hum - once. I was about eight or nine years old, and I remember becoming aware of a rumbling noise, half-way between a distant pneumatic drill and a badly tuned diesel engine. It happened in the dead of night, and kept me awake for hours.

I opened my window and turned my head this way and that in a futile attempt to locate the origin of the sound, which seemed to be emanating from the end of our quiet street.

'The Hum' has been blamed on many things, but one thing is sure: It is maddening for those who hear it

In desperation, I woke up the rest of my family to see if they could hear it - they couldn't - and I even got dressed and went out in search of the noise, accompanied by the dog.

It was all to no avail. No one could hear what I was hearing (not even the dog), and I never got to the bottom of the mystery of the noise. It returned on a couple of subsequent evenings and then vanished, never to be heard again - by me at least.

For the noise wasn't, it turns out, just a figment of my imagination. Indeed, The Hum - as it is now known - is a mysterious phenomenon which has been reported by thousands of people around the world.

Le Mans

2011-06-12T17:30:00.002+01:00

The 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: 24 Heures du Mans) is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing,^[1] held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining mechanical damage to the car and manage the cars' consumables, primarily fuel, tyres and braking materials. The endurance of the drivers is likewise tested as drivers frequently spend stints of over two hours behind the wheel before stopping in the pits and allowing a relief driver to take over the driving duties. Drivers then grab what food and rest as they can before returning to drive another stint. Today it is mandated that three drivers share each competing vehicle.

The race is organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and runs on the Circuit de la Sarthe, a circuit containing a mix of closed public roads and specialist motor racing circuit that are meant not only to test a car and driver's ability to be quick, but also to last over a 24 hour period. The competing teams will race in groups called classes for cars of similar specification while at the same time competing for outright placing amongst all of the classes. Originally the race was held for cars as they were sold to the general public which were then called Sports Cars compared to the specialist racing cars used in Grands Prix. Over time the competing vehicles evolved away from their publicly-available road car roots and today the race is made of two classes specialised enclosed-bodywork two-seat Prototype sports cars and two classes of Grand Touring cars which bear much closer resemblance to high performance sports cars as sold to the public.^[2]

Competing teams have had a wide variety of organisation, ranging from competition departments of road car manufacturers who are eager to prove the supremacy of their products, to professional motor racing teams who represent their commercial backers, some of which are also road car manufacturers attempting to win without the expense of setting up their own teams, to amateur race teams, racing as much to compete in the famous race as to claim victory for their commercial partners.

The race is held near the height of the European summer in June, leading at times to very hot weather conditions for the drivers, particularly in closed roof vehicles whose cabins can heat up to uncomfortably hot temperatures with generally poor ventilation; rain, however, is not uncommon. The race begins in mid-afternoon, racing through the night and following morning before finishing at the same time the race started, the following day.^[3] Over the 24 hour period modern competitors will complete race distances well over 5000 kilometres. The present record is 5410 kilometres, recorded in the 2010 race.^[4] It is a distance over six times longer than the Indianapolis 500, or approximately 18 times longer than a Formula One Grand Prix.

The race has over the years inspired imitating races all over the globe, popularising the 24 Hour format at places like Daytona, Nurburgring, Spa-Francorchamps, Sebring and Mount Panorama. Presently the American Le Mans Series and the European based Le Mans Series of multi-event sports car championships have been spun off from 24 Hours of Le Mans regulations. Other races include the Le Mans Classic, a race for historic Le Mans race cars of years past held on the Circuit de la Sarthe, a motorcycle version of the race which is held on the shortened Bugatti version of the same circuit, a kart race (24 Heures Karting) and a truck race (24 Heures Camions).

NY Bike Lane Crashes

2011-06-11T09:09:00.000+01:00

Casey Neistat smashes blocked NY bike lanes

Mr Neistat and his brother Van are creators of The Neistat Brothers, an HBO programme

A New York City filmmaker and cyclist has launched a painful online crusade to push authorities to ticket motorists who park in bike lanes.

In May, a policeman gave Casey Neistat a $50 (£31) fine for riding in a traffic lane, dismissing his plea that the bike lane was dangerously blocked.

To prove his point, Mr Neistat created a video in which he is shown crashing into a series of bike lane obstacles.

The video has become a YouTube hit, garnering almost a million views.

In the video, Mr Neistat crashes into a taxi, a traffic cone, construction kit and finally, a police car - none of which he had placed there for the video shoot.

"Everything we found, I crashed into," Mr Neistat told the local CBS television affiliate. "I refused to leave the bike lane."

He said the falls were not as painful as they looked because skateboarding experience taught him to fall safely.

New York City has dramatically expanded its network of bike lanes in recent years, but cyclists have complained the lanes are disregarded by delivery trucks and police, who use them as an extra parking lane, and by pedestrians, who use them to escape congested pavement.

James Ward - Tennis

2011-06-10T20:43:00.002+01:00

British number two James Ward continued his incredible run at Queen's Club by posting two victories on a dramatic day to join Andy Murray in the semi-finals.

The Londoner, ranked 216 in the world, completed a rain-delayed third-round match against defending champion Sam Querrey, before returning a little over three hours later to defeat world number 54 Adrian Mannarino 6-2 6-7 (14-16) 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

Ward goes on to face another Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who earlier upset world number one Rafael Nadal in three sets.

With Murray already through to the semis thanks to a walkover, following of an injury to Marin Cilic, Britain has two semi-finalists at Queen's for the first time since the Open era began in 1968.

And Ward, 24, can now look forward to his first semi-final on the ATP World Tour, as well as picking up a cheque for at least £22,566 for reaching the last four.

"Unbelievable," said the Englishman, who beat fourth seed Stanislas Wawrinka in round two.

"I didn't expect it at all. It was nail-biting, to say the least, but I got through it. I was just as tight as everyone else to be honest. There was a bit of everything in the match, a bit of luck as well."

Ward had returned to action just after 2pm to complete the match against Querrey after bad light stopped play on Thursday evening with the score level at one set all, and he got the key break to clinch the decider and a 3-6 6-3 6-4 win.

Dukan Diet

2011-06-10T11:36:00.002+01:00

Recently, a study on the famous Dukan diet reopened the debate regarding miracle weight loss diets that work in a short time, stating that after a year or two the dieters recover the lost kilos.

Penelope Cruz and Jennifer Lopez are two of the followers of the Dukan diet, which consists of a high protein intake and suppression, especially in the first stages, of carbohydrates. What is sought is that the body shall build vital structures, particularly muscle without accumulating fat. This would entail, however, increased cholesterol, which increases the risk of cardiovascular problems.

“Its success lies in a fierce marketing campaign and the support of celebrities, but basically it’s just a high protein and unbalanced diet,” says the Organization of Consumers and Users of Spain. It can also affect the liver and kidneys and cause constipation, fatigue, cramps, headaches and bad breath.”

Claudia Angarita, director of the Colombian Center for Integrated Nutrition, says that every diet should follow a strict medical checkup and be accompanied by a change of living habits and physical activity.

The expert carried out a comparative study of five of these restrictive diets (Atkins, Zone Diet, Mediterranean, Ornish and Weight Watchers) and concluded that they do help to lose weight in the short term, but mostly water, not fat; In addition, by altering the proportions of certain nutrients they are counterproductive.

Les Paul

2011-06-09T13:35:00.000+01:00

Google Doodle: Les Paul's 96th birthday

Les Paul has been celebrated on what would have been his 96th birthday with a musical Google doodle which reflects his guitar legacy.
The search engine company's logo is made up of a series of strings, which can be strummed with the mouse.
Les Paul, born Lester William Polsfuss on 9 June 1915, became a jazz and country guitarist. But his work as an innovator and inventor saw him create one of the first solid-body electric guitars in 1940.
His design was belatedly taken up by Gibson after rival guitar-makers Fender had already started producing their own version.
Paul's work on the solid-body guitar is credited with helping make the sound of rock and roll possible, and he was also a keen explorer of recording innovations.

Solar Flare

2011-06-08T21:12:00.000+01:00

A mushroom of cooled plasma popped like a pimple and rained onto the surface of the sun yesterday—shooting perhaps the largest amount of solar material into space ever seen, scientists say.

The solar flare—an unusually bright spot on the sun—wasn't surprising as a "moderate" event. Space observatories in the past year recorded about 70 such solar flares, each roughly ten times weaker than "extreme" flares, of which only two have occurred since 2007.

Instead, what shocked scientists was the unusual amount of material that lofted up, expanded, and fell back down over roughly half the surface area of the sun. The event's simultaneous launch of particles into space is called a coronal mass ejection (CME).

"This totally caught us by surprise. There wasn't much going on with this spot, but as it came from behind the sun, all of the sudden there was a flare and huge ejection of particles," said astrophysicist Phillip Chamberlin of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), one of several spacecraft that recorded the event.

"We've never seen a CME this enormous."

Wii U

2011-06-08T08:35:00.000+01:00

Nintendo hopes the video game device, dubbed Wii U, will reverse its slumping sales. It marries an iPad-like touch screen with a traditional controller and is scheduled to hit the market next year.

With sales of its 4 1/2-year-old Wii console plummeting and avid gamers spending most of their money on competing devices from Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp., Nintendo Co. has unveiled a new console that it hopes will draw those players back.

The Japanese game company showed off the device, which marries an iPad-like touch screen with a traditional controller, at a news conference Tuesday morning before the official opening of the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Dubbed Wii U, it's scheduled to hit stores sometime between April and December 2012.Nintendo sold more than 86 million Wiis since introducing the device in 2006, building a massive audience of women and older people who rarely play games. But consumers appear to have tired of the device, with sales dropping 25% in the first three months of 2011 compared with a year earlier, according to ITG Investment Research.

In addition, those who already own a Wii buy fewer games than owners of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, which led big publishers like Electronic Arts Inc. and Activision Blizzard Inc. to pull back on supporting Nintendo's console.

"The problem with average consumers is getting them to buy more games," said Billy Pidgeon, senior analyst with M2 Research.

Unlike its predecessor, Wii U features high-definition graphics and the multitude of buttons and triggers that serious gamers demand. By combining those elements with an easy-to-use touch screen, the company could attract hard-core gamers while keeping its appeal to more casual players, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said.

Dash Diet

2011-06-07T23:37:00.002+01:00

The DASH diet is recommended by physicians for people with hypertension (high blood pressure) or prehypertension. The DASH diet eating plan has been proven to lower blood pressure in studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension). In addition to being a low salt (or low sodium) plan, the DASH diet provides additional benefits to reduce blood pressure. It is based on an eating plan rich in fruits and vegetables, and low-fat or non-fat dairy, with whole grains. It is a high fiber, low to moderate fat diet, and is rich in potasium, calcium, and magnesium. The full DASH diet plan is shown below. The DASH diet is a healthy plan, designed for the whole family. New research continues to show additional health benefits of the plan.

In addition to being recommended by your physician, DASH is also endorsed by:

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (one of the National Institutes of Health, of the US Department of Health and Human Services)
The American Heart Association
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans
US guidelines for treatment of high blood pressure
and, the DASH diet formed the basis for the USDA MyPyramid.

The DASH eating plan has been proven to lower blood pressure in just 14 days, even without lowering sodium intake. Best response came in people whose blood pressure was only moderately high, including those with prehypertension. For people with more severe hypertension, who may not be able to eliminate medication, the DASH diet can help improve response to medication, and help lower blood pressure. The DASH diet can help lower cholesterol, and with weight loss and exercise, can reduce insulin resistance.

The book, The DASH Diet Action Plan, provides real life solutions to make it easy for people to follow the DASH diet. It has 28 days of meal plans (with adjustments for various calorie levels), recipes, guidance for weight loss, how to eat at restaurants, fast food places, etc. and still stay on track. It shows you how to stock up your kitchen for the DASH diet, and how to read food labels to make good choices. And, of course, the meal plans and recipes are all low sodium/low salt. The book shows you how to add exercise and other lifestyle changes to help lower blood pressure. This book helps you design your own personal "DASH Diet Action Plan."
New research shows that following the DASH diet over time will reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease, as well as kidney stones. The benefits of the DASH diet have also been seen in teens with hypertension. The DASH diet truly is the diet for everyone.

Dash Diet

2011-06-07T22:34:00.001+01:00

The DASH diet was never intended for teen girls, but that doesn't mean it's ineffective.

Originally created to treat adults with high blood pressure, the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is showing new promise in reducing weight gain in teenage girls. According to USA Today, girls whose diet most resembled DASH showed the smallest increase in body mass index (BMI) over 10 years in a new study.

They also recorded the lowest BMIs during the study's follow-up period.

The diet plan itself essentially cuts out red meat and many forms of carbohydrates, focusing on fruits, vegetables, lean meat and whole grains. According to DashDiet.org, the main focus of the plan is to reduce salt intake, which helps to reduce blood-pressure in older dieters.

The study followed 2,379 girls between the ages of 9 and 10, and tracked them for 10 years, according to the LA Times. While the participants were socioeconomically and geographically mixed, over half the girls in the study were black.

The study was especially important, the LA Times reported, because those who showed the best results, didn't even fulfill all of the DASH requirements. Even those in the 95th percentile had a higher than recommended sugar intake and did not necessarily eat the recommended number of servings of fruit per day, were they actually following the diet.
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