An Age of Magic

One look can say it all

If you think buying your beloved diamond rings is the way to cement her love and devotion then think again – it might only take just one glance to do just this…so long as you time it correctly.

His eyes meet hers across a crowded room – is that the look of love? Only, say scientists, if it lasts longer than 8.2 seconds. So that, it seems, is the secret.

If a man’s gaze is more like four seconds, research suggests he is less than impressed with what he sees. Women however treat both hunks and geeks alike, with their eyes lingering on both for similar amounts of time. But I assume that is because we are looking at different things.

Researchers believe that men use eye contact to seek out fit and fertile mates. But women are more wary of attracting unwanted attention because of the risks of unwanted pregnancy and single parenthood – so we look for less time. Anyway, men often need that extra time whereas we women can tell a lot quicker whether a guy is worth the trouble

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Are you a seafood lover…?

Think about this next time you get out the crab claw-crackers…

Crabs DO feel pain when they are boiled and would remember it if only they could escape the pot. Research has shown that when hermit crabs are given small electric shocks, they try to avoid being zapped again.  The finding could have important implications for the food industry, where many chefs boil crabs, lobsters and prawns alive in the belief that they are impervious to pain. But the poor little guys are not!

The study, carried out at Queen’s University Belfast, focused on hermit crabs, which protect their fragile bodies with empty seashells. When small electric shocks were delivered to their abdomens, some of the crabs moved out of their shells.

With less powerful shocks the crabs remained inside, but when a new shell was offered they were more likely to switch homes than crabs that had not received a shock. This suggested that they remembered the earlier pain and wanted to get away from it, the journal ‘Animal Behaviour’ reports.

I had a friend who stopped eating fish when he bought some coloured carp for his pond – the fish swam up to the side of the pond whenever he appeared as if they were saying ‘hello’. He said they were looking at him!

He has not eaten fish ever since.

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It is the Mayans who predict our destruction…

Whilst you can take the writings of Nostradamus with a pinch of salt – I actually find them fascinating though having been translated from old French you have to question their accuracy. But they are interesting in how he names specific years – I mean, why would someone in the 16th century be looking forward in time to the 20th century…?

But it is the Mayan’s who are said to have predicted that the world will end on 21st December 2012. And this is due to interpretations of predictions made in the Mayan calendar.

The Mayan civilization was extremely advanced beyond their time in mathematics, engineering and also astronomy.  They also had an incredible knowledge of time and space.  Various calendars were used to follow time in linear progressions within their cycles.  The “Great Cycle” of the “Long Count” calendar equals 5,125.36 years.  The current Great Cycle is due to complete on the winter solstice of 2012, December 21.  So, it has been interpreted by experts that on this day when the Great Cycle ends, time ends, so the Earth has to end as well.  However, opinions differ on what this ending date really means.

So maybe it is time to start getting your affairs in order; I wouldn’t be worrying about such little things like identity theft protection and long term insurance policies or even that 25 year mortgage you may have just signed.  As mentioned, some believe cataclysmic events will take place in 2012 with the ultimate destruction occurring on December 21, 2012.  Others believe that the world will not end, but instead humanity will enter a new age, marked by significant changes physically and mentally. To me it all seems rather chancy – just take a look at how the world has changed over the past 10 years – economically and socially – I wonder if that ‘doomsday’ is actually a slow occuring kind of thing…

Popularity: 73% [?]