|
It was once believed that humans had a maximum number of heartbeats and that once you used them up, it was tatty-bye for you. Bleak and, fairly obviously, completely untrue. However, the idea of being economical with your BPMs fed into a recent study that found elite athletes recorded around 11,500 fewer heartbeats per day compared to average adults. Being fit, of course, means your resting heart rate is slower, hence these results. We looked at how useful this
finding could be if we are to take our (reassuringly limitless) heartbeat budget and use it to monitor our fitness.
With a ceasefire finally taking effect in Gaza, there’s hope that peace is on the horizon. Palestinians are starting to return to what is left of their homes. The remaining hostages are expected to be released at the start of next week. But what of Hamas? Donald Trump’s peace plan calls for its disarmament and dissolution. Making that happen may not be so easy.
Despite the triumph of securing a ceasefire, Trump is still unhappy that these efforts did not win him this year’s Nobel peace prize. The honour instead went to Venezuelan opposition politician and democracy campaigner Maria Corina Machado. While she might appear to some as a more suitable choice, don’t rule out Trump’s name appearing on the winner’s list next year.
You can read our coverage of the prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry and literature to find out why each was awarded. And hear directly from one of the winners in the latest episode of our podcast, The Conversation Weekly.
The Church of England has taken a huge leap by appointing a woman as archbishop of Canterbury. But we learned that not every part of the church was entirely ready for her arrival. Nearly 600 parishes still don’t allow women to become priests, leading to the more than slightly paradoxical situation they now face. Sarah Mullally is now the leader of their church, but they won’t accept communion from her. Talk about a difficult onboarding.
Also this week: which political party members are the most radical? How do spiders see the world? And what the heck is a “coregasm”?
|
