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Tom's Guide
13 hours ago
- Health
- Tom's Guide
Forget stretching — ‘forest bathing' might be the best back pain relief, study reveals
Dealing with back pain can be exhausting. It can mess with your sleep, distract you at work and even make you think twice about leaving the house. If you've already tried the usual advice like stretching, taking painkillers and using a hot water bottle without much relief, new research suggests it might be time to try something different. And it's surprisingly simple. Have you ever heard of forest bathing? It's a Japanese practice known as Shinrin-yoku that involves slowing down and spending quiet, mindful time in nature. Despite the name, it doesn't mean soaking in a stream or hugging trees. It's about switching off, breathing deeply and taking in your surroundings. If you're curious to see how your body responds, using one of the best smart rings could help you monitor changes in sleep, stress and recovery over time. While the study doesn't use the term "forest bathing," what the researchers found lines up with the idea. They discovered that spending time in nature helped people with chronic back pain feel better, both physically and mentally. Here's what the research revealed. The Oura Ring 4 can help you track how your sleep and recovery respond to lifestyle changes. It offers daily insights into rest, stress, and activity levels, making it easier to spot what's working for your body. This small study, carried out by researchers at the University of Plymouth and the University of Exeter, looked at how nature might support people living with long-term lower back pain. The team interviewed just 10 participants, all of whom had experienced chronic pain for between five and 38 years. Despite the limited sample size, the insights were hopeful. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Spending time in nature helped people feel less focused on their pain, more socially connected and less stressed overall. Many preferred walking outdoors to being in a gym, and said the fresh air, greenery and sounds of water offered a calming escape from daily discomfort. Some did note that uneven terrain or limited seating made certain places harder to enjoy, but overall, nature was a welcome outlet. You don't need a forest on your doorstep to feel the benefits of being outdoors. Whether you have access to a small park, a garden, or a nearby walking path, spending time in nature regularly, even for just 10 or 15 minutes daily, could help reduce stress and take your mind off physical discomfort. The study showed that spending time outdoors can support both physical pain and mental well-being. But comfort and accessibility are key, especially if you live with back pain. If uneven paths or long walks are difficult, try finding routes with flat, even ground and benches where you can rest. Accessible parks, botanical gardens, or smooth riverside paths can be great places to start. Even if you only have a small garden, balcony, or green space nearby, sitting outside and tuning in to natural sounds like birdsong or rustling trees can still help. If you are hoping to walk more often, a good pair of shoes can really help. We've tested and reviewed the best hiking shoes to help you find supportive options for gentle walks or bigger adventures.
Washington Post
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Fearing Trump, academics worldwide issue anti-fascist manifesto
LONDON — In the spring of 1925, a group of academics, researchers and writers in Italy published an open letter in multiple newspapers, hoping to ring alarm bells over the creeping authoritarianism of Benito Mussolini and his Fascist party. It called for 'intrinsic goodness' and recognizing the value of 'liberal systems and methods' over 'violence and bullying and the suppression of freedom of the press.' Spoiler: It didn't work. Mussolini wasn't stopped, fascism plunged Europe into darkness, and the letter signers were variously fired, sidelined and beaten. But exactly a century later, a modern group of academics, researchers and writers around the world is giving it another go — fearing that the world is once again sleepwalking into dictatorship and violence. More than 400 scholars from dozens of countries, including at least 30 Nobel laureates, are reprising the 1925 Manifesto of the Anti-Fascist Intellectuals to warn that 'the threat of fascism is back.' 'In the past two decades we have witnessed a renewed wave of far-right movements,' the new letter states, 'often bearing unmistakably fascist traits: attacks on democratic norms and institutions, a reinvigorated nationalism laced with racist rhetoric, authoritarian impulses, and systematic assaults on the rights of those who do not fit a manufactured traditional authority.' Organizers said the open letter — published Friday by media outlets in Britain, France, Italy, Australia, Argentina and other countries — was inspired by rising influence of, as they see it, a growing roster of would-be demagogues and dictators around the world and their followers. The essay does not name names. But in interviews, organizers cited Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine; the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by rioters trying to block the peaceful transfer of power; and myriad crackdowns on press, protesters and professors in Hungary, Brazil, Israel and other democracies. Their fears have been supercharged by the early actions of the second Trump administration, they said. 'What we are witnessing at the moment is extremely concerning for people who want to defend democracy,' Andrea Pisauro, an Italian professor of neurology at the University of Plymouth in England and one of the organizers, said in an interview. 'It looks to us like authoritarianism is on the march throughout the world and now in the United States.' The group timed the specific release of the letter to coincide with the military parade that President Donald Trump planned to roll through Washington on Saturday, his 79th birthday, which organizers of the letter characterized as a ritual of authoritarian pomp. 'We thought, 'That's perfect. A person is trying to be a king and wants a parade,'' said another organizer in the United States, who would only speak on the condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. 'It's the classic mix of ridiculous and scary.' Publication of the letter also coincides with the Trump administration's ongoing push to exert greater control over universities, including Harvard, by cutting research grants, seeking to block the enrollment of international students and threatening to raise taxes on school endowment funds. The idea of an updated manifesto began mostly among hard-science researchers from Italy, who were familiar with their country's own descent into dictatorship and the noble, if futile, efforts by intellectuals to stop it. Support for it quickly spread to other disciplines and nationalities. Dozens of political scientists, legal scholars, historians and economists added their names. The list is growing, and the organizers plan to keep the letter open for new supporters. Those already signed up include some renowned thinkers, among them historian Garry Wills, New York University's Ruth Ben-Ghiat — the author of 'Strongmen,' a history of authoritarian rulers — and tyranny expert Timothy Snyder of Yale. 'I think it's important to remember that there is a history of university professors and other intellectuals taking risks in the name of principles,' Snyder said in an interview about why he joined the signatories. 'Secondly, it was important to me for people to have this historical reference to fascism, that things today might be more explicable when we have clear references to the past.' The project was launched in February by a loose confederation of academic colleagues who had been wary of rising autocracies for years. They saw Trump's moves to deport international students, threaten sanctions on unfavored law firms and ignore judicial restraints as another check-engine light on democracy's dashboard. The Trump administration has also pulled research funding for the National Institutes of Health and other scientific bodies, they noted, and has co-opted federal watchdog agencies long viewed as independent monitors. Among the most concerning, Pisauro said, were actions by Elon Musk's U.S. DOGE Service to erase decades of irreplaceable research on climate change, sexuality and other suddenly taboo topics. 'We are researchers,' Pisauro said. 'That really shocked us.' Fully aware that academics were already in the crosshairs of powers from Washington to Budapest, they decided to reprise the 1925 letter, which condemned Mussolini's 'bizarre mixture of appeals to authority and demagogy, of proclaimed reverence for the laws and violations of the laws.' The modern version was largely written by an international medical researcher at an American university, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said the atmosphere of fear and mistrust that has enveloped academic institutions under Trump makes him afraid to go public. He isn't alone. Several signatories of the letter opted to remain anonymous. That alone should be seen as a warning sign that the United States is descending into the wary chill that characterized the former Soviet Union and other totalitarian regimes, said the researcher, whose identity and credentials were verified by The Washington Post. 'I don't want my colleagues to know what I'm doing,' he said. 'That is definitely not something I thought would happen when I moved to the United States many years ago.' The organizers are quick to say that current events in the U.S. and elsewhere are not exact parallels to the rise of dictators like Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. By 1925, many opposition figures were imprisoned and a growing number of dissidents were dead, part of a wave of violence that grew to engulf Europe. Still, even though there is debate over the definition of 'fascist' — a label easily deployed in political arguments — the letter writers see echoes of it in the actions of today's strongman leaders and the conditions that enable their rise. 'These movements have reemerged across the globe, including in long-standing democracies, where widespread dissatisfaction with political failure to address mounting inequalities and social exclusion has once again been exploited by new authoritarian figures,' the letter states. 'True to the old fascist script, under the guise of an unlimited popular mandate, these figures undermine national and international rule of law, targeting the independence of the judiciary, the press, institutions of culture, higher education, and science.' Some of those who signed the manifesto did so while also arguing for universities and institutions to address their own shortcomings. Among them is a widespread intolerance of political and cultural views that many academics don't like when it comes to hiring experts and setting curriculum, said Pippa Norris, a longtime political scientist at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. 'We need to make sure all viewpoints are heard and taught,' Norris said. 'At present we don't have the balance right.' Norris said she signed the open letter because she also recognized the rising threat to academic freedom coming from governments. Her institution has seen federal funding stripped by the Trump administration and its international students blocked from applying for visas. 'Everyone can speak up in different ways,' she said. 'And this is something I can do.'
Indian Express
13-06-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Global oceans are darkening, disrupting life beneath the surface: Study
Climate change is not only causing irreversible damage to the green cover, they are equally impacting marine life. A new study seems to suggest that more than one-fifth of the global ocean has considerably darkened in the last two decades. This alarming state of the oceans has been brought to light by the study, Darkening of the Global Ocean, conducted by researchers from University of Plymouth. The study by Dr Thomas Davies, Professor Tim Smyth, and team, suggest that ocean darkening at this scale is not only the latest ecological crisis, but one that comes with grave implications for marine life and overall planetary health. Darkening of the ocean is essentially shrinking of the photic zones or those layers of water where sunlight can pass and induce the process of photosynthesis which is key to all biological processes. The photic layers can go down to about 200 meters and they also act as a base for nearly 90 per cent of the world's marine life. This layer is responsible for increasing the productivity of the ocean which also involves regulating climate and even supporting global fisheries or related activities. As part of the study, Davies and Smyth used satellite data along with sophisticated modelling techniques to analyse changes in how the oceans have absorbed light in the last two decades. The duo tracked the changes using the diffuse attenuation coefficient (Kd 490), a measure of how rapidly light fades as it passes through seawater. The finding of the study is critical as it indicates that between 2003 and 2022, nearly 21 per cent of the global ocean experienced darkening. While nine per cent (equivalent to the area of the continent of Africa) saw a decline in photic zone depth greater than 50 metres, 2.6 per cent saw reduction of over 100 metres. Even though the study states massive loss of light, around the same two decade-span, a considerable part of the global ocean has actually become lighter. This shows that the predictability of ocean darkening is not even across all waterways. The North Sea, the eastern UK coastline, and the Arctic have lost more light than any other regions, while there have even been small areas (e.g. regions of the English Channel) that have had more light. These patterns are the result of varying environmental conditions in different regions which includes varied rainfall, land use, and ocean currents. However, the most prominent darkening was observed in the open ocean, particularly in climate-sensitive zones like the Arctic, Antarctic, and Gulf Stream region. Coastal areas like the Baltic Sea have also lost photic depth because of erosion of sediments and nutrients from lands. Also Read | Deep sea chronicles: Why the mating of anglerfish is one of nature's extraordinary love stories In coastal zones, darkening is usually due to higher runoff of agricultural nutrients, organic matter, and sediments into the ocean with rain which directly promotes algal blooms that block light. In the open ocean, the likely causes are changes in plankton dynamics, increase in sea surface temperature and changes in ocean circulation. 'There has been research showing how the surface of the ocean has changed colour over the last 20 years, potentially as a result of changes in plankton communities. But our results provide evidence that such changes cause widespread darkening that reduces the amount of ocean available for animals that rely on the sun and the moon for their survival and reproduction,' Davies explained. 'We also rely on the ocean and its photic zones for the air we breathe, the fish we eat, our ability to fight climate change, and for the general health and wellbeing of the planet. Taking all of that into account, our findings represent genuine cause for concern', he added. The contraction of photic zones may lead to fundamental shifts in marine ecosystems. Those species that use sunlight and moonlight cues to feed, move, hide, and reproduce will be competing for shallower zones. This might upset marine food webs that are already working hard against an ecosystem with minimal fishing activity. Smyth, who is the head of Science for Marine Biogeochemistry and Observations at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, highlighted the ecological danger. 'The ocean is far more dynamic than it is often given credit for. For example, we know the light levels within the water column vary massively over any 24-hour period, and animals whose behaviour is directly influenced by light are far more sensitive to its processes and change. If the photic zone is reducing by around 50 m in large swathes of the ocean, animals that need light will be forced closer to the surface where they will have to compete for food and the other resources they need. That could bring about fundamental changes in the entire marine ecosystem,' Smyth said. The indicator species used in this experiment was Calanus copepods, a highly photosensitive zooplankton. These animals are at the center of the marine food chain and use very faint light cues from the Sun and Moon for vertical migrations during the day and various other behaviours. Also Read | Study: Only 24% present-day glaciers will remain if world gets warmer by 2.7°C The study infers ocean darkening as maybe one of the biggest global habitat loss cases ever in recent memory. Animals depending on light are being constrained to narrow vertical spaces, increasing predation and greater competition for resources. In due course, this may kill biodiversity, disrupt oceanic carbon cycling, oxygen production, and ocean buffering against climate change. (This article has been curated by Prachi Mishra, who is an intern with The Indian Express)
Euronews
11-06-2025
- Science
- Euronews
From plastics to sunscreen: The battle to clean our oceans
On March 18, 1967, the supertanker SS Torrey Canyon struck a reef off the coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, spilling 100,000 tonnes of crude oil into the English Channel. Beaches in southern England, the French region of Brittany, and Guernsey in the Channel Islands were submerged in thick sludge. More than 15,000 seabirds were killed, and the spill caused innumerable long-term damages to the marine environment. The Torrey Canyon disaster was the first major oil spill in European waters. It marked a turning point in the way people interacted with oceans, revealing how vulnerable marine ecosystems are to human-induced threats. To mark World Oceans Day on June 8, Euronews Tech Talks talked to two ocean experts to better comprehend the state of our oceans and the high and low-tech innovations that can help protect them. Over the past four decades, global plastic production has more than quadrupled, yet recycling has failed to keep pace, with rates remaining below 10 per cent. Simon Bernard is the CEO and co-founder of Plastic Odyssey, a project dedicated to tackling ocean plastic pollution. Bernard and a group of researchers embarked on a tour around the world aboard a research vessel to explore the best solutions for reducing plastic pollution. "The idea of a research vessel is to be a scientific platform to study, do research, and development... The vessel acts as a laboratory, so for example, the aft is dedicated to recycling with various machines used to recycle plastic, test different solutions and technologies, and train local entrepreneurs," Bernard explained to Euronews. Plastic Odyssey has been sailing for two and a half years. During the journey, the crew stops for three weeks in locations affected by plastic pollution, meets the locals, institutions, and entrepreneurs to learn about their solutions, and helps support them. "That's quite shocking to realise that there is no pristine environment anymore, because plastic pollution has impacted all the places," said Bernard. Throughout the Plastic Odyssey's journey, Bernard has met many people tackling plastic pollution and has been impressed by the cleverness of the simplest solutions. "We've visited maybe 150 factories and initiatives, and what's most interesting to us is the ingenuity and the use of low-tech solutions," he said. "We met a guy in Lebanon who made the equivalent of a food delivery app but for waste connection... and I'm thinking about Silvio in Colombia who was building houses out of plastic waste," Bernard said. While plastic pollution is a visible threat to marine ecosystems, oceans are also damaged by hazards that are much harder to detect, like chemical pollutants. Researcher Anneliese Hodge from the University of Plymouth is studying these complex pollutants, and one of her most recent studies focuses on sunscreen. The most harmful components of sunscreen are its UV filters designed to block, absorb, or reflect the sun's ultraviolet rays. "A recent estimation has suggested that approximately 10 million tonnes of UV filters are produced annually for the global market, of which an estimated 6,000 to 14,000 tonnes are released into coral reef zones alone annually," Hodge told Euronews. "So this is quite a widespread issue," she continued. Hodge explained that UV filters in sunscreen can affect marine ecosystems at a molecular, cellular, individual, and community level. For instance, sunscreen can damage the DNA of marine organisms and cause coral bleaching. Despite the need for further research into this topic, Hodge highlighted several potential solutions to reduce the threats sunscreen poses to marine environments. Among them is the encapsulation of UV filters in biodegradable capsules that activate only upon contact with the skin. In addition, Hodge cited the possibility of reducing UV filters and instead using Sun Protection Factor (SPF) boosters, specialised ingredients that could replace UV filters. She also pointed to the introduction of some regulations to make corporations reduce the UV filters or ban the use of certain products.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Shipwreck mystery solved as lost vessel resurfaces 140 years after tragic sinking
This discovery made major waves. Researchers have discovered a vessel that sank over 140 years ago — closing the book on one of the UK's most enduring maritime mysteries. Footage of the long-lost wreckage is currently making waves online. The historic steamer, dubbed the SS Nantes, had sunk in 1888 after colliding with a German boat, resulting in the deaths of most of the crew, Jam Press reported. The freighter then lay undiscovered for nearly a century and a half until 2024, when diver and explorer Dominic Robinson identified the shipwreck by dinnerware he found at the wreck site. 'Even though the wreck had been dived before, it was never identified and this small piece of broken plate allowed us to do exactly that,' the 50-year-old former army officer, who'd been diving for 35 years, told Jam Press. Meanwhile, maritime history expert Dr. Harry Bennett dubbed the recovery the 'underwater archaeological equivalent of a needle in a haystack,' the BBC reported. 'I think the local dive team are to be congratulated on a splendid piece of detective work which reveals this maritime disaster,' said the professor, who teaches at the University of Plymouth. Built in 1874, the SS Nantes was a cargo ship operated by the Cunard Steamship Company. The 14-year-old vessel was traveling from Liverpool, UK, to Le Havre, France, with a load of coal in tow when it was struck by the German sailing vessel Theodor Ruger, which tore a 'big hole in its side,' Bennett recounted to CNN. 'For several hours, the crew tried to save their ship using all manner of materials to try and fill the hole, including mattresses,' he recalled. 'But eventually they lose that fight and the ship goes down very rapidly.' Bennett said that the SS Nantes 'drifted for several hours, before it finally made its way to the bottom, sadly, with many of its crewmen on board.' Their escape efforts were reportedly hindered by the fact that the lifeboats were damaged in the collision. 'There were some 23-odd fatalities,' Bennett told BBC. 'There were three survivors.' Meanwhile, corpses from the wreckage washed ashore in Cornwall, where locals were confronted by the horrific sight of bodies intermingled with pieces of the SS Nantes. Unfortunately, after plunging to the bottom of the ocean, the ship was 'essentially lost' as it was a time period with 'no satellite navigation,' per Dr. Bennett. It wasn't until 2024 that the local dive team identified the sunken vessel. Johnson had caught wind of the unidentified wreck from the UK Hydrographic Office and decided to investigate himself. Toward the end of a mostly fruitless dive, the wreck-plorer saw the broken plate, which provided a major clue as to the vessel's identity. 'I decided to bring it up to the surface [and] we found that [it] had the Cunard Steamship crest on it,' recalled Jonhson. 'It was then bingo, we've found it.' Researchers also identified the sunken ship by the build, technology on board, and dimensions of the vessel — which measured around 240 feet long. After examining the crews' footage and methodology, Dr. Bennett declared that 'beyond any reasonable shadow of a doubt, this is the SS Nantes.' While the sinking of the SS Nantes was an awful tragedy, Robinson hopes that the discovery at least provides a bit of closure to the heartwrenching saga. 'One of the things I like to think is by solving mysteries and telling those stories, I'm ensuring that those people aren't forgotten,' he said.
