Thursday, December 28, 2006

Some stuff that amused/interested me

whilst some of you are enjoying your extended breaks some of us are providing a public service. Oh ok I'm saving the two days for a trip to Norfolk in January.

It did come as a shock when the alarm went off and I had to get out of bed. Perhaps more so for Dad as he had to get up and get the morning cuppa, Mum tells me he was tempted to phone and ask me to pop in on my way to work. HA!

The journal Nature Neuroscience asked people to follow a scent as a dog would (nose on ground) and found that they two thirds of people could follow a scent.

The researchers from University of California Berkley laid scent trails, including one of chocolate essential oil, in a grassy field, and asked 32 people to find the 10 metre trail and track it to the end.
Those who took part were blindfolded and wore thick gloves and earplugs to force them to rely exclusively on smell.

Have you heard of "Paris Syndrome"? Apparently its something about a dozen or so Japanese suffer from every year. Its cause? Visiting Paris and having to deal with rude Parisian waiters or taxi drivers etc. The Japanese embassy has a 24-hour hotline for those suffering from severe culture shock. The sufferers are mostly women in their thirties.

I wonder if there is a Yorkshire Syndrome?

Apparently some brave (or stupid dependant on your point of view) souls queue up overnight to get a place in the King's College Carol Service. They don't do this once, oh no siree bob, they do it year by year. Once chap comes from Dallas every year. I eman its lovely but I'd rather watch it on BBC2 with a nice glass of wine thanks.

Oh and were you online Christmas day? Well I wasn't but if the folks had a broadband connection......

2 comments:

nicola said...

I was online very briefly to check the weather and snuck a look at my emails on christmas day, but only on for about 5 mins........was the only exercise I got!

Unknown said...

I saw that report about Paris syndrome - to be honest I didn't think Parisians were particularly rude, but I suppose if someone is used to an ultra-polite culture most European taxi-drivers would come as a shock.

I suspect there may be a Yorkshire syndrome, but only twitchers from Essex ever suffer from it ;-)

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