The 15-second move that instantly lowers blood pressure and stress
We roll our shoulders and stretch our backs because it feels relaxing, refreshing and maybe even rejuvenating. But why is that?In healthy adults, the stretch leads to a quick drop in blood pressure, researchers have found. And the body’s reaction to the movement may explain why we feel calmer after we stretch.
SCIENCE: Study finds GLP-1 drugs may help prevent risks from sleep apnea.
A fortune teller told this woman to open a bar, and 50 years later it's still open
Phil Gyford, writing about when he first got online in 1995: My First Months in Cyberspace. “It was a miracle and it changed my life. All of our lives.”
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Barf, Funk, Tug, and Other Etymological Mysteries
Eponyms, for instance. Words like dunce (after John Duns Scotus), nicotine (after Jean Nicot) or diesel (after Rudolf Diesel) are no riddle. Other words, like robot, poodle and porpoise, are fun to discover, but also well-documented. Then there are the words of Germanic, French and Latin origin that account for much of the English language. These can require more unraveling, and the further back one goes, the more conjecture there is.
Take slang, the informal nonstandard language that fills our world. Everyone knows what slang is, but not where the word comes from. Is it related to the narrow strips of land known as “slangs,” or with the Scots “slanger,” meaning to dawdle, or with the Norwegian “slengjeord,” meaning a mocking word? Neither slang experts nor the OED know. Which brings us to the three words no etymologist wants to write: “Of unknown origin.” For instance, no one knows the origin of dog.
Similarly, frog, hog, pig and stag. They certainly look to be related, but beyond that, etymologists are stumped. What’s surprising is how many everyday words are “of unknown origin.” One might expect the source of girl or ink or tantrum would be known. But such words often have ancient roots, and the longer the history, the murkier the evidence gets…”
Dogs protect us if we go to Hell. That’s why we worship them The Times
