Brisk walk healthier than running
Brisk walking reduces the risk of heart disease more effectively than running when the energy expenditure of both activities is balanced out, a study has found. Researchers compared data from two studies of 33,060 runners and 15,045 walkers. For the same amount of energy used, walkers experienced greater health benefits than runners. The effects on participants, who were aged 18 to 80, were observed over a period of six years.
Running reduced the risk of heart disease by 4.5 per cent while walking reduced it by 9.3 per cent. Calorie for calorie, walking also had a stronger impact on heart disease risk factors. The risk of first-time high blood pressure was reduced by 4.2 per cent by running and 7.2 per cent by walking. First-time high cholesterol risk was lowered by 4.3 per cent by running and 7 per cent by walking. The risk of first-time diabetes was reduced by about 12 per cent by both walking and running.
100 billion Earth-like planets
Researchers have developed a new method for finding planets that orbit their stars in the so-called “habitable zone” — the right distance to be able to support life. Scientists at the University of Auckland claim that by combining data from a NASA space telescope that is currently searching the heavens for other planets with a ground based technique called gravitational microlensing, it will be possible to identify smaller Earth-like planets in the right orbit.
They estimate there could be as many as 100 billion of these planets in the Milky Way, our own galaxy. With roughly 300 billion stars in our galaxy, this figure may not be as unlikely as it first seems, they say.
Secret to exam success: puppy love
Undergraduates at Aberdeen University will be able to avoid the pressures of study in a special “puppy room”. The sessions, part of the exam welfare initiative by the university’s students’ association, will be held over four days next month. Emma Carlen, the university’s president of societies and student activities, said a trial run in February with golden retrievers and labradors was a success. She added that the sessions helped students to relax in the most stressful period of their academic year. She also said it would help push up grades.
The puppy programme is thought to have originated in American and Canadian universities. Top universities such as Harvard Medical School and Yale law School have dogs on site that students can borrow like books. Studies have shown that interaction with pets can reduce levels of cortisol — a hormone associated with stress — and releases endorphins.