Or it could be that Happiness = Vegetables. Either way, researchers have established a correlation (and, yes, I’ve been waiting for this a long time):
People who eat more vegetables and fruits are significantly happier than those who eschew such foods.
Dartmouth University’s Daniel Blanchflower looked at the eating habits of 80,000 British citizens. He, alongside two British researchers, saw that mental well being — satisfaction with one’s life on a scale of one to 10 — rose alongside each serving of produce consumed daily…
[snip]…There is one big, outstanding question that he acknowledges: What’s the causal relationship? It could be that eating vegetables make people happy — or that happier people tend to chow down on more salads.
“It might be that we just have all these vegetarians that are richer or happier,” Blanchflower says. “There are definitely issues of causality. At the same time, I think what we’ve done here is establish correlation. I don’t think we expected to see the relationship we did. The reason you’re calling me is because this was unexpected.”
Nevermind they haven’t figured out which way the causation runs. The correlation alone is just one more reason to at least think like a vegetarian.
Now all they need to show is that vegetarians have more sex and we’ll be getting somewhere.
Who isn’t a sucker for a good surfing movie? And if it happens to feature the gnarliest wave of them all–Mavericks–then I think it’s going to be worth a look.
“Chasing Mavericks” is about surfer Jay Moriarty’s quest to surf, and survive, Mavericks’ epic break. Yes, there will be lots of manufactured drama. But judging from the trailer there will be also lots sweet surfing footage. It opens later this month.
Nat Geo reports that mountain gorilla youngsters have been seen dismantling and destroying poachers’ snares:
On Tuesday tracker John Ndayambaje spotted a trap very close to the Kuryama gorilla clan. He moved in to deactivate the snare, but a silverback named Vubu grunted, cautioning Ndayambaje to stay away, Vecellio said.
Suddenly two juveniles—Rwema, a male; and Dukore, a female; both about four years old—ran toward the trap.
As Ndayambaje and a few tourists watched, Rwema jumped on the bent tree branch and broke it, while Dukore freed the noose.
The pair then spied another snare nearby—one the tracker himself had missed—and raced for it. Joined by a third gorilla, a teenager named Tetero, Rwema and Dukore destroyed that trap as well.
That’s an amazing insight into gorilla intelligence and awareness, and it makes it all the more horrific and tragic that wild gorillas are being driven by humans toward extinction. The gorillas apparently are doing what they can to preserve their young from poachers. But they will need a lot more help to have any hope of surviving.
It will be another week or so before I get back to serious blogging, but couldn’t resist throwing this up. It came via my friend @Sam10K, and it’s a beautiful glimpse at the positive potential of humanity. If only Coca Cola could bottle that and get everyone drinking it.
Anyhow, it’s guaranteed to send you into the weekend with a smile.
But for those of you who don’t: If you’ve ever been to St. Maarten’s Maho Beach, you know that it sits right at the end of the main runway to Princess Juliana Airport. That makes for a very unique beach experience, as large, tourist-packed, airliners land right over your head.
It’s a plane buff’s paradise. Sun, sand, cold beer, and large aircraft. But when I was there it never for a second occurred to me to try this. Which, apparently, is a good thing.
Even if you are jaded, lifeless, and already sick of all the Titanic obsessing that is going on for the 100th anniversary of the sinking (though it is inexplicable to me that anyone would be), I defy you not to be entranced by the series of photographs taken by Father Francis (Frank) Browne, who was aboard from Southampton to Cobh and documented his experience, producing one of the most important photographic collections of Titanic’s first voyage.
Here’s how Browne came to be on Titanic:
Frank Browne’s mother died whilst he was young and his father when in his teens. His uncle Robert Browne who was Bishop of Cloyne acted as guardian to Frank and his siblings, four of whom were to enter religious life. By the time Frank was completing his secondary education he had decided to become a Jesuit.
Immediately before entering the Order, Uncle Robert sent him on a Grand Tour of Europe and most significantly bought him a camera to record his trip. This visionary act was to reveal a natural aesthetic ability and fostered an interest in photography that was to reach fruition when Frank became the most outstanding Irish photographer of the first half of the Twentieth Century.
The Bishop had another surprise up his sleeve, when in early 1912 he presented Frank with a first class ticket for the Maiden Voyage of the Titanic to bring him as far as Cobh. So it was that on the morning of the 12th April 1912 he arrived at Waterloo Station in London to catch the Titanic Special. He immediately started taking photographs, first recording the train journey and then life aboard the Titanic on the initial section of the voyage.
Having made friends with a wealthy American family he was offered a ticket for the remaining part of the journey and no doubt excitedly telegraphed a request for permission to go on to New York, to which he received the terse response “Get Off That Ship——Provincial!” That telegram not only saved Frank’s life but also meant that this unique record of the voyage was saved for posterity and guaranteed overnight fame for Frank Browne SJ.
Browne’s collection of photos can be seen here. And here is a sampling:
In addition to the deck plan Frank Browne was given this postcard as a souvenir.This must be one of the best known pictures taken on the “Titanic”. The six year old Robert Douglas Spedden whipping his spinning top, watched by his father Frederic, has attracted the attention of other passengers.Inside the Gymnasium Mr.TW McCawley the physical educator poses at a rowing machine and Mr.William Parr, electrician who was travelling first class, is seated on some form of excercising machine, hold still for the duration of a time exposure . Both men were lost.This interior view of the Titanic's First Class reading and writing room conveys some idea of the opulence of the liner's grand interiors.Obviously Frank Browne could not photograph the arrival of the “Titanic” at Queenstown so subsequently he acquired photographs of the event from photographer friends. In his album he describes this picture as “Dropping Anchor at Queenstown. 12-15 pm. Apr. 11th.”. In fact the ship is still moving and preparing to drop anchor. The picture is attributed to Mr. McLean and was taken from the tender “America”.
Latest edition of my Adventure Fix newsletter just went out, featuring stories about kayaking the awesome Tsangpo River and the disappearance of Steve Fossett, a photo remembrance of Pearl Harbor, and some amazing videos. Including this one of jetman Yves Rossy flying in formation with some real jets:
This is an extraordinary image (thanks to Trina for sharing): Polar bear confronts an icebreaker. And depending on your feelings about the collision between man and his technology and the natural world, it is profoundly sad.
Naturally, it cries out for a caption contest. Let me know what your caption would be. I’m going with:
Or it could be that Happiness = Vegetables. Either way, researchers have established a correlation (and, yes, I’ve been waiting for this a long time):
Even if you are jaded, lifeless, and already sick of all the 
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