Daily Archives: February 27, 2020
Fitness: 62-Year Old Man Sets World Record For Holding Plank Position
From a New York Times online article (Feb 27, 2020):
Mr. Hood, a former Marine and Drug Enforcement Administration agent, held the plank on Feb. 15 for more time than an average day’s work.
The plank is a feat of static, but strenuous, exercise. The torso is sustained in a horizontal position, anchored by the toes on one end and the forearms on the other. The abdominal and thigh, back and arm muscles are among those firing away, turning most of the human body into a gravity-defying platform.
George E. Hood, a 62-year-old retiree from Naperville, Ill., strapped a heart monitor band across his chest, attached a catheter to his body, climbed onto a custom-built table covered with a lambskin and dialed up a curated rock ’n’ roll playlist on his phone.
And then he raised himself into a plank — and held the position for eight hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds to set a Guinness World Record.
Health News: England Offers “Drive-Thru” Coronavirus Testing
“Drive-thru” coronavirus testing is to be introduced on the NHS – with suspected cases swabbed in their own cars.
The new scheme is part of efforts to relieve pressure on ambulance and hospital services, amid concern they could soon be overwhelmed by the number of tests they are carrying out.
Top Science Podcasts: A Greater Mayan Empire & Costs Of Illegal Fishing
This week on the podcast, Contributing Correspondent Lizzie Wade joins host Sarah Crespi to discuss a turning point for one ancient Mesoamerican city: Tikal. On 16 January 378 C.E., the Maya city lost its leader and the replacement may have been a stranger. We know from writings that the new leader wore the garb of another culture—the Teotihuacan—who lived in a giant city 1000 kilometers away.
But was this new ruler of a Maya city really from a separate culture? New techniques being used at the Tikal and Teotihuacan sites have revealed conflicting evidence as to whether Teotihuacan really held sway over a much larger region than previously estimated.
Sarah also talks with Rashid Sumaila, professor and Canada research chair in interdisciplinary ocean and fisheries economics at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. You may have heard of illegal fishing being bad for the environment or bad for maintaining fisheries—but as Sumaila and colleagues report this week in Science Advances, the illegal fishing trade is also incredibly costly—with gross revenues of between $8.9 billion and $17.2 billion each year.
Surrealism: “Midnight In Paris, 1929″(Dalí Museum)
Excerpts from a Wall Street Journal online review (Feb 25, 2020):
Masson, a founding Surrealist, saw the movement as an immersion “into what the German romantics call the night side of things.” However, “towards 1930,” Masson wrote, “a formidable disaster appeared in its midst: the demagogy of the irrational.” “Midnight in Paris” touches on Surrealism’s highs and lows, its darkness, poetry, beauty and banalities, reminding viewers—at the heart of the Dalí Museum, no less—that the movement is much, much more than melting watches.
In 1920s Paris, Surrealist revolution and transgression were in the air, but not everyone agreed on how to make Surrealist works or what they should look like. “Midnight in Paris: Surrealism at the Crossroads, 1929,” an exhibition of 80 paintings, prints, sculptures, drawings, collages, photographs, films and documents at St. Petersburg’s Dalí Museum, proposes to examine Surrealism’s rich visual fabric, conflicts and rivalries during the movement’s heyday in the City of Light. Organized by Didier Ottinger, deputy director of the Musée national d’art moderne at the Centre Pompidou, and William Jeffett, chief curator of special exhibitions at the Dalí, it focuses on the moment just before Surrealism burst onto and began to dominate the world stage.
Interview: 71-Year Old Model And Dietitian Maye Musk On Getting “More Fabulous” As She Ages
Excerpts from a WSJ. Magazine interview (Feb 24, 2020):
Well, when you get older, you are more fabulous, actually. You go through a lot of hard times in your life… and then, at this stage you get out of those bad situations quicker and they are less painful. You figure them out, and you move on. And I’m having the best time ever. I’m 71 now, it’s the best time ever, and I think at 81 it will be great. My mom [had] her best times when she was in her 90s. So I look forward to that.
A model since age 15, Maye Musk was in her 60s when her life took a turn for the fabulous. In her seventh decade, the former dietitian appeared in a Beyoncé music video, signed a contract with top modeling agency IMG and became a CoverGirl spokesperson, setting a record as their oldest yet. At the end of last year, Musk, now 71, added memoirist to her resume. Her book, A Woman Makes a Plan: Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty and Success, chronicles her career and experience raising her children—SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon, restaurateur and philanthropist Kimbal and filmmaker Tosca—as a single mother who fled a turbulent marriage.
Born in Canada, raised in South Africa and now residing in L.A., Musk spoke to WSJ. about what she eats for breakfast, how she stays on top of emails and why she doesn’t miss hustling all the time.
Health: Coronavirus Disease (Covid – 19) And Influenza In 2020 (JAMA)
Top New Travel Videos: “Aura – Images From The Kimberley” In Western Australia By Dan Proud
Filmed and Edited by: Dan Proud
The Kimberley is Western Australia’s sparsely settled northern region. It’s known for large swaths of wilderness defined by rugged ranges, dramatic gorges, semi-arid savanna and a largely isolated coastline. The mostly unsealed (unpaved) Gibb River Road runs 660km through the region’s heart, passing by Windjana Gorge National Park, which has towering limestone cliffs and pools where freshwater crocodiles gather.
The Kimberley was one of the earliest settled parts of Australia, with the first arrivals landing about 41,000 years ago.
In 1837, with support from the Royal Geographical Society, Lieutenants George Grey and Franklin Lushington and 12 men sailed on the schooner Lynher from Cape Town, reaching Hanover Bay on 2 December 1837. The party started inland on 19 January 1838.[4] Leaders and men were totally inexperienced, progress was delayed by flooded country, many stores were abandoned, and the party was constantly split up despite the presence of large numbers of hostile Aboriginals. On 11 February, Grey was speared and became critically ill, but after two weeks, continued the exploration. The party found and named the Gairdner River, the Glenelg River, the Stephen and Whately ranges and Mount Lyell before returning to Hanover Bay in April. There they were picked up by the Beagle and Lynher and taken to Mauritius to recuperate.
The region was named after John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, who served as Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1870 to 1874 and 1880 to 1882.
From Wikipedia
Italian Cars: “1966 Alfa Romeo GTA 1600 Stradale”
The Alfa Romeo GTA is a coupé automobile manufactured by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1965 to 1971. It was made for racing (Corsa) and road use (Stradale).
In 1962, the successor for the very popular Giulietta series was introduced. This car was the Alfa Romeo Giulia, internally called the “Series 105”. The coupé of the 105 series, used the shortened floorpan from the Giulia Berlina and was designed by Bertone. The name of the car evolved from Giulia Sprint GT to Giulia Sprint and to GTJ (Junior) and GTV (Veloce) in the late 1960s.
From Wikipedia
Boomers Daily 