BOUNCING BREASTS DESERVE SCIENTIFIC STUDY

I found it very hard to believe that this interesting subject has not been studied completely, thoroughly, repeatedly, and often before now.--John

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Breasts move far more than ordinary bras are designed to cope with, according to a study by University of Portsmouth scientist Dr Joanna Scurr.

And they also bounce more during exercise – up to 21cm rather than the maximum 16cm bounce measured in past studies.

Bras are designed to stop breasts bouncing but Dr Scurr’s study shows that breasts also move side to side and in and out.

It is estimated that more than 50 percent of women experience breast pain when exercising.

Significantly, Dr Scurr’s latest study also found that breasts move as much during slow jogging as they do at maximum sprint speed.

She said: “This makes wearing a sports bra as important if you jog slowly as if you sprint.”

Dr Scurr is working with major bra manufacturers in Britain and globally who are vying to design a bra which can lessen movement in all three dimensions and reduce much of the pain many women suffer when exercising.

She said: “There really are women who want to do exercise but who don’t have the bras to cope.

“I know of a 16 year old who was selected to play basketball for the county but she was told to give it up because she couldn’t find a bra that made playing possible.

“Breast size and pain caused by exercise can be a real barrier to women doing exercise.”

But pain is not linked to the size of a woman’s breasts. An A-cup woman could be prevented from doing sport just as much as a woman with double FF-cup size.

Breasts have very limited natural support and can hurt for three main reasons: tenderness during the menstrual cycle; permanent breast pain, and exercise-related pain due to stretching of the breast tissue.

Dr Scurr said: “If women wore the correct form of support, if we can get that right, the use of pain medication is reduced and women can be active and lead healthy lives.

“Studies have shown that medication to reduce breast pain was only successful for 54 percent of women, but they had to put up with side effects of the medication, whereas sports bras were shown to be successful at reducing breast pain for 80 percent of women, with no side effects at all."

Dr Scurr’s study disproves the previously held belief that compression bras are better for reducing movement in small breasted women and encapsulation bras better for larger breasted women. She found instead that encapsulation bars are better at reducing breast movement in women of all cup sizes.

She said the big question is why we know so little about the movement of breasts.

“Sports science has always been dominated by men and for them, studying breasts is seen as slightly laughable. For women, though, it’s completely credible – they can see the benefits.

“At conferences when I am asked what I study I say ‘bouncing breasts’ rather than breast biomechanics. It makes people laugh nervously but they always want to know more. So little has been known about this subject until recently.”

Her findings have enormous repercussions for the bra manufacturing industry and for women who want to lead active lives.

Her studies have lead to invitations to work with the military, the NHS and with lingerie manufacturers.

She is hoping to use cutting edge technology in 'intelligent materials' to help develop smart fabrics which can change to provide custom-made support for each woman which varies depending on the wearer’s level of activity.

She said: “It is only recently that bra design has turned to science. There was no research. It’s like designing a car or kitchen equipment without first thinking ‘what is the purpose of this?’

“We need to think why do we need bras? What do we need them to do?”

Seventy women were recruited for the two-year study through the university’s student and staff population, gyms and doctors’ surgeries.

Those chosen represent the widest range of breast sizes ever studied including women with cup sizes DD, E, F, FF, G, H, HH, J and JJ. The glamour model Jordan has a cup size of F, six sizes smaller than Dr Scurr’s biggest breasted subject.

Each woman had to undergo a programme of tests during which a wide range of biomechanical measurements were taken.

Dr Scurr said: “We are building up a database on breast biomechanics which we believe is the largest in the world.

“This information could be used to inform bra design, for clinical support, fundamental breast health research and to broaden understanding in this important area.”

PREPARED PPF EARTHQUAKE COUNTRY

1906 San Francisco earthquake damage

Living in California for most of my life, one becomes accustomed to the ground shaking beneath one's feet. But we should never take them for granted. We have multiple earthquakes each and everyday here, but most you never even feel. We get our jigglers, our shakers, our rollers, our movers, the ones that you hear coming first, the ones that start out as a slight vibration and then build into something larger, and then the snappers, that just hit!!! But with all that, I am used to the earth moving. The point is to be prepared!!! Tornadoes or hurricanes scare me to death. I remember my traveling to Iowa to visit friends, and there had been some warnings on the radio. So naturally we started talking about tornadoes, they were even kind enough to let me read a book with color and black and white pictures of tornado damage (not a good idea!!). So as it was time to hit the sack I asked about the Tornado sirens:

Them: "Oh you can't hear them from here."

Me: "Do you keep the radio on?"

Them: "No reason too"

Me: "How do I know if a tornado will hit"

Them: "You will hear the train"

Me: "What does a train have to do with a tornado?!?"

Them: "The train doesn't run out here any longer."

Me: "HUH?!?!?!"

The conversation continued until dense and worried me realized they were having quite a laugh at the expense of this California boy!!

So you can keep your tornados and Hurricanes (another travel story, another time) I am too used to my earthquakes.

And here is my Earthquake Kit, I am so prepared. Everyone should have an Emergency Kit ready to go.

In All seriousness, Everyone SHOULD have a kit ready to go at a moments notice. I actually do have a REAL Emergency kit, and a smaller one I keep in my tool box in my truck.

Here are some links for information on making you own EMERGENCY KITS:

http://www.cityofcalabasas.com/environmental/Earthquake-Preparation.html

http://www.equipped.com/earthqk.htm

http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/special/quakes/1.1.html

The camera was a Kodak EasyShare

(Borrowed from JoannP page) -->This weeks Picture Perfect theme is Prepared, and our host is Harmaceutical. Each week Picture Perfect will now have a new host. The theme will be blasted on Wednesdays and the host's photo will be posted on the ~ PICTURE PERFECT ~ page. A new host will be named during this time for the following week.

THE CALF PATH --- SAM WALTER FOSS (1858-1911)

Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)

I had not heard of Sam Foss before today. I really enjoyed this poem, and will be certain to search out some more. I hope you enjoy this too. --John

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Born in Candia, NH, Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911) is considered a "poet of the people" today because his writing is crisp, clear and understandable. Born in Candia, NH and graduated from Portsmouth High School. Librarian, newspaperman and poet, Foss continues to inspire with his homey path to the truth. In this classic, Foss writes about creativity and the tendency of most humans to simply follow the herd. -- JDR (editor's note)

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The Calf-Path
by Sam Walter Foss (1858-1911)

One day, through the primeval wood,
A calf walked home, as good calves should;
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail, as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,
And, I infer, the calf is dead.
But still he left behind his trail,
And thereby hangs my moral tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way;
And then a wise bellwether sheep
Pursued the trail o’er vale and steep,
And drew the flock behind him, too,
As good bellwethers always do.

And from that day, o’er hill and glade,
Through those old woods a path was made,
And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
And uttered words of righteous wrath
Because ’twas such a crooked path;

But still they followed — do not laugh —
The first migrations of that calf,
And through this winding wood-way stalked
Because he wobbled when he walked.

This forest path became a lane,
That bent, and turned, and turned again.
This crooked lane became a road,
Where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.
And thus a century and a half
They trod the footsteps of that calf.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet.
The road became a village street,
And this, before men were aware,
A city’s crowded thoroughfare,

And soon the central street was this
Of a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Trod in the footsteps of that calf.

Each day a hundred thousand rout
Followed that zigzag calf about,
And o’er his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.
A hundred thousand men were led
By one calf near three centuries dead.
They follow still his crooked way,
And lose one hundred years a day,
For thus such reverence is lent
To well-established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach;
For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf-paths of the mind,
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.
They follow in the beaten track,
And out and in, and forth and back,
And still their devious course pursue,
To keep the path that others do.

They keep the path a sacred groove,
Along which all their lives they move;
But how the wise old wood-gods laugh,
Who saw the first primeval calf!
Ah, many things this tale might teach —
But I am not ordained to preach.

A TIME MACHINE

several layers of ancient scrolls that are too fragile to separate

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I have often wondered what marvels of the written word we have lost over the thousands of years of writing. How many Libraries of Alexandria have we lost. In Pompeii they have just started to excavate a Villa Of The Scrolls, where a very rich Roman had his own personal library. Most are carbonized and cannot be read, YET! But this new science breakthrough may change that.

Most everything that can be written about has already been written about sometime in deep history. We have marvelous writers now, but to read something written by a person who lived a thousand, two thousand years ago, is something special. To bring us into touch with our humanity, and to feel, to see, to taste events, love, tragedy, happiness, a breeze off the Aegean, or travel in a caravan in ancient Egypt, read poetry written to a lover in Rome, or a soldiers letter home from Hadrian's Wall. To touch the lives of those who came before and realize they are really no different than us. Enjoy the read. I am looking forward to following this story, as it is our story.--John

'Super-scope' to see hidden texts BBC NEWS--Science/Nature http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6991893.stm

By Liz Seward Science reporter, York Super-powerful X-rays could peer beneath the skin of manuscripts Animation: How synchrotron light unravels the text The hidden content in ancient works could be illuminated by a light source 10 billion times brighter than the Sun. The technique employs Britain's new facility, the Diamond synchrotron, and could be used on works such as the Dead Sea Scrolls or musical scores by Bach. Intense light beams will enable scientists to uncover the text in scrolls and books without having to open - and potentially damage - them. The research was presented at the British Association science festival. Iron gall ink, which is made from oak apples, has been in use from the 12th Century, but causes parchment to deteriorate rendering precious documents unreadable. There are some parts of the Dead Sea scrolls which have not been unrolled Professor Tim Wess Both paper and parchment - thinly stretched skins from cows, sheep or goats - contain collagen, which reacts with iron ink to become gelatine. When dry, gelatine is very brittle; but as soon as it gets wet, it turns into jelly, destroying some documents if they are disturbed. Unrolling the scroll Now, scientists from the University of Cardiff have developed a technique that uses a powerful X-ray source to create a three-dimensional image of an iron-inked document. The team then applies a computer algorithm to separate the image into the different layers of parchment, in effect using the program to unroll the scroll. HOW DIAMOND WORKS Electrons fired into straight accelerator, or linac Boosted in small synchrotron and injected into storage ring Magnets in large ring bend and focus electrons accelerated to near light-speeds Energy lost emerges down beamlines as highly focused light at X-ray wavelengths Diamond opens for business Professor Tim Wess, who led the research, said: "We've folded up a real piece of parchment and then done a process of X-ray tomography on it. We've been able to recover the structure where we can see the words that are written inside the document." The team now plans to use the Diamond synchrotron's powerful X-ray source to penetrate many layers of parchment. The synchrotron, which covers the area of five football pitches, generates light beams that can probe matter down to the molecular and atomic scale. Professor Wess explained: "The letters have got iron in them, so you shine a band of X-rays through, and you end up with an absorption image, rather like your bones would absorb on an X-ray. "This is something we can take forward with Diamond, to try to unravel the secrets inside documents that we're too scared to try to open, or that are beyond the point of conservation." Wish list The National Archives has donated some 18th Century fire-damaged scrolls that have never been unrolled, due to their condition. But the team also has a wish-list of works that they plan to probe. Professor Wess said: "There are some parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls which have not been unrolled." Reading books without opening them was a goal of the project, added Professor Wess. The technique works best with rolled parchment. The flat nature, as well as the thickness of books, presents a challenge. He said: "I know of books which have been damaged by iron gall ink corrosion where the conservators are actually afraid to open the book because of all the letters. You really end up with a stencil rather than the lettering." Conserving works Another target of the project is to image documents before they become too damaged, to monitor levels of gelatine. The team can then advise on the most appropriate conservation methods, depending on the state of the parchment. Using modern technology to reveal secrets of the past is a rewarding task. Professor Wess said: "If you can bring together a £260m ($527m) synchrotron, and the cutting edge science from that, the provenance and the depth of history that you can access when you see these things is actually a revelatory moment."

BLACK and WHITE ~~~PICTURE PERFECT FRIDAY

Picture Perfect Friday Theme:

BLACK and WHITE

White cold Frozen Vanilla Yogurt,

covered by dark Dove Chocolate fudge,

Chocolate so dark and so rich,

it is black.

Camera is a Kodak Easy Share

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The first bowl, the Dove chocolate just did not look right on the ice cream, so I had to eat it.

The second bowl, the ice cream settled under the weight of the chocolate, so I had to eat it.

The third bowl, well after taking the shots, I had to eat it. Needless to say I am not wanting dinner tonight, but strangely I do want another bowl of ice cream!!!

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(I borrowed the rules from PICTURE PERFECTS 360 page, please join in)

Welcome to

P i c t u r e P e r f e c t.

Each Wednesday

a theme will be posted!

On FRIDAY,

you get to post a photo on your own page

with that theme in mind,

just one pic per page,

It should be an original picture, and not lifted off the internet!

Feel free to post a comment in Picture Perfect's comment box, or leave a comment below too so that everyone can link to your pages and view your pictures.

A brief description and the type of camera you used is an optional extra!

Its a fun exercise, no voting, no prizes, and no one winner, just a chance to show your creativity and enjoy a general camaraderie.

The post here will be up all week, so feel free to drop in and visit as many sites as you can.

Light De Candle

All the Darkness in the World, cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.

--St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)--

Thanks to Windi and Lisa for bringing to mind Randy Stonehill and memories of the past.

FLY ME TO THE MOON

I have always been fascinated by the view of the Earth from the moon. One would have thought it would have given us a different view of ourselves as human, sharing this small little planet.

RHO OPHIUCHI CLOUDS

ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. (Psalm 19:1 NIV)

The Colorful Clouds of Rho Ophiuchi
Credit: Adam Block, KPNO Visitor Program, NOAO, AURA, NSF

Explanation: The many spectacular colors of the Rho Ophiuchi (oh'-fee-yu-kee) clouds highlight the many processes that occur there. The blue regions shine primarily by reflected light. Blue light from the star Rho Ophiuchi and nearby stars reflects more efficiently off this portion of the nebula than red light. The Earth's daytime sky appears blue for the same reason. The red and yellow regions shine primarily because of emission from the nebula's atomic and molecular gas. Light from nearby blue stars - more energetic than the bright star Antares - knocks electrons away from the gas, which then shines when the electrons recombine with the gas. The dark regions are caused by dust grains - born in young stellar atmospheres - which effectively block light emitted behind them. The Rho Ophiuchi star clouds, well in front of the globular cluster M4 visible above on far lower left, are even more colorful than humans can see - the clouds emits light in every wavelength band from the radio to the gamma-ray.

Van Morrison--INTO THE MYSTIC

A LOSS

A wave of melancholy has swept over me the past week.

I lost a good friend. Far too young to be gone. I first met him in the 70s when he was stationed here in the Navy. I met a great group of people who were stationed here. Some of us have kept in touch. Some of us are gone. Some of us disappeared into life somewhere along the way.

We had such a fantastic reunion in Iowa at his farm in the 80s. It seems like only yesterday, where does the time go. That was such a good time. I visited him and his wife to be on several other times over the years, combined it with some of the group who lived in the Minneapolis area. There is talk now of another reunion in Michigan.

Loren was one of the most unselfish people I have met, always watching out for the other guy, truly a heart of gold. And funny! Lord we all could laugh.

Although this song is at the core a song about lovers, the main sentiment is so true. Loren, we will remember you. I am not afraid to say I loved this man like a brother, I think most of us did. Loren, this song is for you.