It’s the latest bizarre internet phenomenon that’s sweeping the world, causing people to, well, basically, lie down in the strangest places, including the engine of a jumbo jet (engine off, on the ground)

There’s only one rule – you must have your palms flat against their sides and tips of your toes touching the ground.

No place is out of bounds. And the more public the better. Pictures posted on the Facebook site have people lying down in front of tanks, on roads, on roofs…

In one British hospital, the medical staff on night shift in the Emergency war laid down on the floors, the resuscitation trolley, and the hospitals helipad. Hospital management were not amused. Seven of the 18 staff who participated and posted pictures to the Lying Down Game website were suspended for having apparently “breached health and safety and infection control regulations.’

Obviously, the hospital didn’t find it at all funny. But to suspend the staff – that’s really a bit of overkill if you ask me.

What do you think?

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They are doctors aiming to get the message to kids through hip hop.

There’s Rani G Whitfield, a board certified family doctor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who wants to  empower young people to change unhealthly lifestyles.

By hip hop…

 

 
And then there’s Dr John Clarke from New York City who does the medical rap, writing his own lyrics about ssthma, diabetes, and HIV.

Dr Clarke has just entered the 2009 Flu Prevention PSA Contest with his song about Swine  H1N1 Flu.

 

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Swearing apparently plays an important role in relieving pain.

The study, published last month in the NeuroReport journal, tested this theory on college students. Students are required to immerse their hands in cold water for as long as they could. While the hands were in the cold water, they were encouraged to either repeat a swear word of their choice or chant a neutral non-swear word.

The students who used sweat words reported less pain during the exercise and were also able to keep their hands in the cold water for at least 40 seconds longer.

While the study’s researchers are unsure how this works, they are now advocating that if you hurt yourself, then go ahead and swear.

So next time you stub your toe or hit your finger with a hammer, go ahead and swear. I’m sure you do anyway.

But at least you now know that you have scientific proof that swearing helps.

(image source)

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The hybrid assistance limb, otherwise known as HAL, was developed with the goal of helping the injured and the weak get around.

Made by Japanese robotics company Cyberdyne, the exoskeleton is a 10 kilogram (22 pound) machine that belts at the waist and has a battery and computer system at the back.

HAL’s bio-electrical sensors, which are attached to the body, are able to capture electromyogram signals on the person’s skin control the way someone walks.

As a result, a HAL suited individual will be able to walk up to speeds of 1.8 kilometres an hour.

Interested?

Well, you can rent your own suit from Cyberdyne for  220,000 yen ($2,200) a month.

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But can we expect everyone to smile all the time. Is that even possible? And would we really want to be constantly surrounded by smiling faces?

One Japanese company, Omron, thinks so and has created the Smile Scan to help people rate their smiles.

Consisting of a video camera and sensor unit that connected to computer software, the Smile Scan scans a person’s face, rendering a 3D image and evaluates critical spots such as mouth and eyes to see if the person is smiling hard enough. The smile is then rated from 0 to 100.

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Currently available only in Japan, the Smile Scan is being used by companies such as Japan’s Keihin Electric Express Railway Co. This Tokyo-based company is using the ‘smile meter’ to grade and evaluate the grins of it’s station staff as they report to work each day. Employees are then able to carry around a printed image of their best smile so that they can replicate it throughout the day as they meet and greet customers at train stations.

Can you image the employees at the Grand Central Station in NYC or at LAX airport submitting to a similar process?

Somehow I don’t think they’d be smiling!

(image source)

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Vaudeville players back in the 1920’s and 1930’s, it’s easy to see that for Fran & Marlo Cowan (married 62 years), the show still goes on.

Learn more about their story here.

(another great find from  Seeing Good)

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There were even sessions that specifically focused on the relationship between gaming and cognitive health and whether games can help change behavior and/or improve balance for people with neurodegenerative diseases.

Me – I’m all for the idea that games can help maintain cognitive health as well as possibly improve memory.

And with that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to my latest find – Chocolatier: Decadence by Design.

Seriously, what could be more fun than spending an hour or two pretending that you are a chocolatier building up a chocolate empire from scratch. There’s travel, there’s intrigue, and there’s recipes. And not a single ounce of chocolate will get near your waist line.

Decadence by Design is the third in a series of Chocolatier games available. You can play them free online, download free and play for an hour, or purchase and be a chocolatier for the rest of your life. The choice is yours.

(image source)

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Have a go at Open Heart Surgery. Definitely not for the faint of heart. With a simulated heart monitor beeping away, the pressure is on to perform. There’s a choice of three levels – intern, surgeon, and specialist. I should have chosen intern but I wanted to be the top gun. Bad move. As a specialist, I killed the patient within seconds. I was advised to ‘call my lawyer’.

Or maybe something a little less challenging – performing open heart surgery on a stuffed bunny . Easy you think! Think again! You have 60 seconds to shock the heart, make an incision, do some intraoperative tasks and then suture the poor bunny back up.  I tried but the poor bunny did not survive.

Don’t know about you, but my dream of being a (successful) surgeon was fading away…

But then I found Heart Operations and my faith in my abilities was restored. This is heart surgery without pressure. I soon discovered I had a hidden talent for transplant, bypass, hole in
the heart, and valve replacement surgery. In other words, no one died.

So what are you waiting for?

Gown up, grab your scalpel and start cutting…

It’s a guaranteed fun-filled (not to mention educational) way for the whole family to kill time together.

All the fun with none of the blood and gore…

(image source)

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According to the daily green, some Swiss researchers in the mid-1980s did some tests and found that people ‘who used to suffer from headaches and tiredness felt better after working for two years with a cactus next to their monitors.’

Why?

One theory is that the cacti, which grows in areas of extreme heat and dryness, is able to counter the effects of harsh solar radiation.

My theory – the cactus simply reminds people of wide open spaces and helps their minds  escape from the confining office cubicle. A totally unscientific theory but it works for me.

(image source)

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But that’s what happened earlier this year at Antwep’s Grand Central Station. Yes, it was a promotional stunt for a reality show. But that doesn’t matter – just think of how many lives it must have brightened up for a minute or two.

(found via Seeing Good)

(image source)

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