The Daily Drift

You want to know why no one tries to cause trouble at the Games - it might be that sevaral hundred men carrying four-feet of steel has something to do with it (And yes, we know the illustration has last year on it.) ...!

 

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Today in History

1199		English King Richard I is killed by an arrow at the siege of the castle of Chaluz in France.
1789		The First U.S. Congress begins regular sessions at Federal Hall in New York City.
1814		Granted sovereignty in the island of Elba and a pension from the French government, Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates at Fountainebleau. He is allowed to keep the title of emperor.
1830		Joseph Smith and five others organize the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Seneca, New York.
1862		Confederate forces attack General Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh, Tennessee.
1865		At the Battle of Sailer's Creek, a third of Lee's army is cut off by Union troops pursuing him to Appomattox.
1896		The Modern Olympics begin in Athens with eight nations participating.
1903		French Army Nationalists are revealed to have forged documents to guarantee a conviction for Alfred Dryfus.
1909		Americans Robert Peary and Matthew Henson become the first men to reach the North Pole.
1917		The United States declares war on Germany and enters World War I on Allied side.
1924		Four planes leave Seattle on the first successful flight around the world.
1938		The United States recognizes Nazi Germany's conquest of Austria.
1941		German forces invade Greece and Yugoslavia.
1965		President Lyndon B. Johnson authorizes the use of ground troops in combat operations.

Charity shop volunteer unhappy that her £1,500 diamond bracelet was accidentally sold for £1.99

A piece of jewellery worth £1,500 was accidentally sold by a charity shop for just £1.99. Volunteer shop assistant Debbie Aston-Thwaites is appealing for the treasured bracelet to be returned after it was mistakenly put on sale at the Age UK shop in New Milton, Hampshire. Debbie, of Barton on Sea, was serving at the shop when she noticed that the catch on her bracelet had become stuck.

“I was going to lock the bracelet away with my handbag but showed it to a colleague who said she would have a go at fixing it for me,” she said. Debbie then returned to the sales area and went home later that day after forgetting to retrieve her property. She rang the shop the next morning but it was several days before she discovered that her bracelet had been sold.
The precious object, a family present for her 50th birthday, was given a price tag of £1.99 and was bought by a customer the following day. Debbie said: “I’m shocked that anyone would think it was a cheap piece of costume jewellery, it was gold with diamonds and had a hallmark. It’s part of the job to assess what something is worth.” She has now contacted police in a bid to find the bracelet.
Age UK’s managing director of retail, Hugh Forde, said that the charity had also launched an investigation into the sale. But he added: “As the matter is the subject of a police investigation, we are unable to comment at this time.” Debbie criticized Age UK over how it has handled the matter and accused the charity of failing to take it seriously. She has since quit her volunteer job. “It’s just too awkward,” she said. Hampshire police confirmed that they had received a report of the missing bracelet and that inquiries were ongoing.

Ziggy

Chronic Loneliness and the Doctor's Office

Chronic loneliness in older adults leads to more doctors’ office visits

Experiences of loneliness and social isolation can lead to increased health care use among older adults, according to new research from the University of Georgia College of Public Health. The […]

Diabetes News

Type II Diabetes Patients Gain Weight While Taking Common Medication, And Researchers Know Why

Medication used to treat patients with type II diabetes activates sensors on brain cells that increase hunger, causing people taking this drug to gain more body fat, according to researchers […]

Folic Acid and Heat Waves

Folic acid may help elderly weather heat waves

Supplemental folic acid can enhance blood vessel dilation in older adults, according to Penn State researchers, suggesting that folic acid supplements may be an inexpensive alternative for helping older adults […]

‘Exploding head syndrome’

‘Exploding head syndrome’ affects more young than thought

Washington State University researchers have found that an unexpectedly high percentage of young people experience “exploding head syndrome,” a psychological phenomenon in which they are awakened by abrupt loud noises, […]

Improving Walking

Researchers improve efficiency of human walking

Humans have evolved to be incredibly efficient at walking. In fact, simulations of human locomotion show that walking on level ground and at a steady speed should theoretically require no […]

Natural nanocrystals and Concrete

Natural nanocrystals shown to strengthen concrete

Cellulose nanocrystals derived from industrial byproducts have been shown to increase the strength of concrete, representing a potential renewable additive to improve the ubiquitous construction material. The cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) […]

Research findings back up Aboriginal legend on origin of Central Australian palm trees

How the only native palm tree in Australia got to an isolated valley in the center of the country has long been a mystery.

The scientific world is stunned by research which backs an Aboriginal legend about how palm trees got to Central Australia.
Several years ago Tasmanian ecologist David Bowman did DNA tests on palm seeds from the outback and near Darwin.
The results led him to conclude the seeds were carried to the Central Desert by humans up to 30,000 years ago.
Professor Bowman read an Aboriginal legend recorded in 1894 by pioneering German anthropologist and missionary Carl Strehlow, which was only recently translated, describing the "gods from the north" bringing the seeds to Palm Valley.
Professor Bowman said he was amazed.
"We're talking about a verbal tradition which had been transmitted through generations possibly for over 7,000, possibly 30,000 years," he said.
"Just an amazing coincidence that we'd independently concluded that the seeds had been transported and then subsequently we discover an Aboriginal legend is exactly what we found scientifically.
"The concordance of the findings of a scientific study and an ancient myth is a striking example of how traditional ecological knowledge can inform and enhance scientific research.
"It suggests that Aboriginal oral traditions may have endured for up to 30,000 years, and lends further weight to the idea that some Aboriginal myths pertaining to gigantic animals may be authentic records of extinct megafauna."
The research has been published in the Nature magazine.

Palms once grew in ice-free Arctic

Palms flourished in the Arctic during a brief sweltering period about 50 million years ago, according to a study that hints at gaps in our understanding of modern climate change.

Tropical Forests and Climate Change

Major New Research Project to Study How Tropical Forests Worldwide Respond to Climate Change

Tropical forests play major roles in regulating Earth’s climate, but there are large uncertainties over how they’ll respond over the next 100 years as the planet’s climate warms. An expansive […]

No Room For Bigfoot

Loss of Space Threatening North American Sasquatch

There are many reasons the U.S. Forest Service conserves open space. It allows us to deliver clean water, provide space for recreation activities and maintain wildlife habitat for a variety […]

Woman on horseback chased armed raiders

A woman has told of the moment she chased two armed bandits across a field on her horse. Catherine Sugden had come across the fleeing robbers who had terrorized staff at Aldington Post Office in Kent on Wednesday. Not realizing who they were, but suspicious that they were thieves, she galloped after them. The thieves got away but she alerted police, who launched a massive manhunt with armed officers and a helicopter.

And then, when the robbers thought they had high-tailed it out of her sight, she dismounted, and then carried on the chase in her car. Mrs Sudgen, 58, said; “It was all a little bizarre. “I thought that they maybe had done a robbery at some local cottages that had been burgled some months ago. I never gave my safety a single thought. They had an orange swag bag and I thought they’ve got some stuff in there that they didn’t ought to have.
“They were fit, they were running really fast, I couldn’t keep up.’’ Mrs Sugden had come across the robbers on foot on a field behind her home in Burmarsh, shortly after the post office was raided at 1.30pm. She chased them on her 17-year-old New Forest pony, Mr Smiffy , until they waded into a 6ft dyke and crossed to the other side. Fearing for the safety of the horse she stopped the chase on horseback, called police and galloped back to her home to fetch her car and chase the robbers by road.
As she neared Dymchurch she caught sight of the robbers again and again rang for police. Officers had by now arrived and Mrs Sugden came across a patrol car. Once again she sighted the robbers on foot but officers then took over the chase. She only realized that they were the Aldington robbers later. The suspects are still at large and described as white slim men. One was 5ft 8in tall, the other slightly taller at 5ft 10in tall. Both were wearing hooded tops and grey face masks at the time of the robbery.
There's a news video here.

Dispute over legality of charity wiener dog racing

Greyhound Rescue of Idaho have sent a "cease and desist" letter to the Boise Host Lions addressing their intended wiener dog racing fundraising event this forthcoming May. The group say the event breaks a law dating back to 1996.

Baboons and Drought

Born during a drought: Bad news for baboons

The saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” may not hold up to scientific scrutiny. After the plains of southern Kenya experienced a severe drought in 2009 that took […]

Polar Bears and their food

Polar Bears Unlikely to Thrive on Land-based Foods

A team of scientists led by the U.S. Geological Survey found that polar bears, increasingly forced on shore due to sea ice loss, may be eating terrestrial foods including berries, […]

Ants and Spam

Ants’ intruder defense strategy could lead to better email spam filters

To kill spam, email filters might need to act a bit more like ants. Deborah M. Gordon, a biology professor at Stanford, has worked with a computer scientist, Fernando Esponda, […]

Animal Pictures