Helmets Are Actually Dangerous

Adult cyclists who wear protective headgear while cycling could actually be less safe than those who do not. New research from  the University of Bath found that wearing a helmet could actually make people less safe because they are more inclined to take greater risks. The University of Bath study measured sensation-seeking behavior and analyzed risk-taking in adults aged 17-56 using a computer-based simulation.

Splitting participants in two groups - one wearing bicycle helmets and the other baseball caps - they had to blow up an onscreen balloon. The results showed that the group wearing helmets were more inclined to take risks and inflate the balloon the most. I guess we should not wear helmets anymore?

Written by Billy Coles

How to Look 20 Years Older in 8 Short Years

Looking at my blog feed, a post came up that showed President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address from his first year as president, to his last one just this month. The contrast is startling, because he looks as if he has aged 20 years.

Even though he will be turning 55 this year, these days it’s not that old. With the wonders of modern science, 55 is the new 45. Just out of curiousity, I looked into our past presidents. Starting from Barak Obama and going backwards.

Fortunately for George W. Bush, the only thing different from his first to last address was the lighting, couple more wrinkles, and a woman in a seat of power behind him.

George H. W. Bush got contacts and again a couple more wrinkles. If poor Obama is going to be the only one showing how the presidency affected his features?

He should be rewarded for his efforts, not let it age him!

Alright last one, let us see if Reagan had any negative effects from his presidency.

Slightly more wrinkles, a lighting change, an obviously better camera man and a few more grey hairs, but again not much difference from his first to last address within eight years.

Hopefully, the next president will not be as changed by the job as the presidents preceding him/her. But as it stands now, they will get more wrinkles at the very least.

Written by Keira Zirkle

Mars Potatoes?

For those of us who saw the Oscar nominated film, The Martian, we were all ecstatic to see him, as he put it, “science the crap out of Mars.” In order to survive longer, Mark Watney (Matt Damon) uses his botanist mind and lots of crap to grow potatoes during his stay. While this was super interesting in the movie, the concept made us wonder?  Is this as possible as it is portrayed in the film and, more importantly, would these make good chips?

Professor Brian Cox gave  a serious answer. “On the space station, they have a box that they put outside it, where they take different organisms, bacteria and things, and expose them to space to see what happens. And they survive, generally. So it is the case that living things, particularly single-celled things, can survive even space travel. Mars is hostile, because of the radiation levels at the surface, but actually it’s got a bit of an atmosphere, so it’s not as hostile as many other places … so, probably yes.” This is so good to know and I’m really happy that future astronauts will be able to enjoy the tastiness of space chips.

Written by Billy Coles

Poem of the Week, by Eva Saulitis

Poem of the Week

Eva Saulitis was a marine biologist before she turned poet. But even in the science field she wrote and helped write books on the killer whales she studied in Alaska. As a poet, she has written several books, either anthologies or collections of essays. This poem is from Eva’s latest book, Prayer In Wind. The book filled with poems and prayers she wrote during her time of chemotherapy and treatment for breast cancer. This poem along with several others talk about her Latvian lineage, her childhood Catholicism, and her quest to find meaning in the world she lives in

by Eva Saulitis

No one wants another paean to a rosy dawn,

so it's good this one's bluish, baby-shade

at the horizon, bleeding up into midnight like

a botched dye job.

And having enough of the old world—larks,

crakes, nightingales, storks—this space

is populated by one fly crabbing

across a notebook page. He seems, like me,

honey-slowed by winter's shortest days, clumsy

and isolated. My love bought a black-and-white

photo once, close-up of a birch trunk,

fly crawling up

the curled paper bark, marring the purity

of the image. You don't notice the fly

until you do, and then you can't stop.

No one wants a fly in art,

but there it is, elegantly framed.

And we're over the epic, so here, first thing

this morning, a pedestrian quarrel. Years ago, I flew

across a mountain range in black coat

and black boots to secretly meet him

in the city. How many dawns did it take to arrive

at this particular? At 9:30 the sky flares

not like flame—a paper fan

you buy in Chinatown for a dollar.

A sudden breeze sways the Tibetan flags strung along

the eaves. I never noticed how thin

the fabric. You can see right through the printed prayers

to the thermometer—

five degrees—and beyond, birches leaning

all to windward. Sun bleaches out

the last mysterious. Now we pray to the real.

                                                     

Written by Keira Zirkle

Jasmine the Fortune Teller

Since I’m obviously the best fortune teller around, I thought I’d share with you some of my more noteworthy predictions for 2016.

• The sky will continue to be blue unless disturbed by giant greyish clouds or the sun is rising and or falling
• It will probably snow at least one more time before March
• The Oscars will be awarded to every caucasian person who is not Leonardo Di Caprio
• Everyone will pretend for one day this year that they care about sports when, in actuality, they only want to see the commercials
• The pollen count this year is gonna be so high and everyone with allergies will cry
• When spring break ends, everyone will groan loudly about how there are no more breaks
• When it finally gets hot, everyone is gonna be mad that our shorts have to be capri length
• By May, the Seniors will probably start crying twice a week out of pure nostalgia and the realization that we’re going our separate ways (unless you go to the same college and/or live in VA)

There you go. And like any good fortune teller, don’t quote me on these.

Written by Jasmine Bonner

Movies To See

In the past two months, we have seen some interesting movies come through the box offices. While some of their titles are self explanatory, others need to be explained a little more. So, for those who are deciding what to see this weekend, here’s some quick summaries of the most popular movies.

1)The 5th wave is a movie about aliens once again coming to attack the earth.

2) The Boy is a  horror film about a  woman who has to babysit a “living” doll.

3) Do I really have to explain what Star War is ??? If you don't know what is is, then you’re obviously under the age of three.

4) The Revenant has Leonardo DiCaprio in it. Enough said. (also there's biracial love which I fully support)

5) Brooklyn is a movie starring an Irish actress who finally gets to use her regular voice. Everything else you can figure out from the title.

Now personally I'd only go see about 3 of these movies. I mean cmon aliens? space? creepy dolls??  The other two are movies that will win awards at the Oscars and no one saw them except our parents. But if you love history then go for it.  

Written by Jasmine Bonner

Basketball's Peak

So, what team is the pinnacle of the NBA’s illustrious history? Who deserves to be on top? And who can claim the title for being the best team of all time? Some would say the early 2000’s Lakers with Shaq and Kobe. Others might say the mid 80’s Celtics led by legendary small forward Larry Bird. Many current day NBA fans would say the best team in NBA history is the current Golden State Warriors who are led by Steph Curry and an extremely deep and talented roster. But as good as these legendary squads are they all pale in comparison to 1996-1998 Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.

Many people say that the current day Golden State Warriors are the best team to ever lace ‘em up. The Warriors are a fantastic team and deserve a ton of respect for the type of season they are putting together. At this point they are 41-4, a record only matched by the 1995-1996 Bulls who won an NBA record 72 games. So, can the Warriors catch the Bulls? As their schedule plays out the Warriors have a decent chance to make that 73 win mark. But, the record in this case honestly makes no difference. The league has come a long way from what it was in the 90’s. More fouls are called and softer defensive rules have completely changed the game. When Jordan and his Bulls were playing the Detroit Pistons literally created the Jordan rules which were made to specifically knock Michael Jordan off his game. Many times Jordan was nearly injured and had to be taken out due to this ultra-aggressive style of play. In today’s NBA you wouldn’t see rules like this that were so aggressive because the game has implemented more and more rules.

Now, I will give credit where credit is due. The Golden State Warriors are the greatest shooting squad ever hands down. Curry, Thompson, Green, Iguodala, Barnes; all of these guys can literally pull up from 30 feet and are expected to make their shot. They have a good defense and offensively, they will oppose their will on you.

Here’s why I give the Bulls advantage, 2 words: MICHAEL JORDAN. The greatest basketball player to have ever lived, Jordan was unstoppable and it is almost blasphemous to put anyone’s name in the same sentence as him. Jordan was the epitome of a winner. He went to 6 finals and he won all 6 without flinching. I mentioned earlier that teams literally made Jordan rules to specifically stop him. Now while there have been countless other players to acquire special attention, no one ever had the type of attention that Jordan had. Not only that, but they had one of the greatest defenders of all time in Scottie Pippen, who by my estimation is a very underrated basketball player. They also had an all-time great rebounder in Dennis Rodman who used to play for Jordan’s rivals, the Pistons.

In a head to head matchup, it would truly be epic. We would see the greatest shooter of all-time vs. the great player of all time. We would see the best shooting team vs. a fantastic perimeter defense. In the end it would be a close one, but I have no doubt that the Bulls would take this game and remain atop the NBA mountaintop of great teams. What do you think? Comment your thoughts below!

Written by Kenny Quinn