All posts tagged: stairs

This robotic wheelchair can climb stairs

This robotic wheelchair can climb stairs

Published by skeptic

Korea’s Institute for Machinery and Materials unveiled a pretty cool robotic wheelchair this week. By creating a compliant wheel that conforms to the terrain around it, these engineers have created an early version of a wheelchair that can climb stairs and traverse rocky terrain. The wheel uses a “smart chain” structure, which means that a chain on the wheels attaches to spokes that change tension when confronted with changes in the terrain. The team says that this design was inspired by the surface tension properties of water droplets, which are rounded by gravity. On today’s TechCrunch Minute, we’re looking at how these wheels work. Source link

Climbing stairs is linked to a longevity boost. How many flights is enough? : Shots

Climbing stairs is linked to a longevity boost. How many flights is enough? : Shots

Published by skeptic

Climbing stairs is a good way to get quick bursts of aerobic exercise, says cardiologist Dr. Carlin Long. lingqi xie/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption lingqi xie/Getty Images Climbing stairs is a good way to get quick bursts of aerobic exercise, says cardiologist Dr. Carlin Long. lingqi xie/Getty Images At a time when less than half of adults in the U.S. get the recommended amount of exercise, there is new evidence that climbing stairs can reduce the risk of heart disease and help people live longer. A new meta-analysis presented at a European Society of Cardiology conference finds that people in the habit of climbing stairs had about a 39% lower likelihood of death from heart disease, compared to those who didn’t climb stairs. They also had a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes. “I was surprised that such a simple form of exercise can reduce all-cause mortality,” says study author Dr. Sophie Paddock, of the University of East Anglia and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Foundation Trust in the UK. She and her …

Best hard-wearing, durable paint for bannisters

Best hard-wearing, durable paint for bannisters

Published by Sam

Painting bannisters and spindles usually require a different type of paint to standard emulsion, especially if you’re working on wood. Use a specialised paint to get the finish you’re after, and if you’re painting in a darkly lit area, which staircases often are, consider a glossier finish to help reflect what light there is around the room. Eggshell and gloss formulas are best for interior woodwork, offering a hard-wearing and durable result. Source link

Pro-Palestine Activists Unfurl Large Quilt Across Met Stairs

Pro-Palestine Activists Unfurl Large Quilt Across Met Stairs

Published by skeptic

A vast quilt calling for Palestinian liberation was unfurled across the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Sunday, making the institution the latest one in New York to be targeted by activists seeking a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Each of the quilt’s squares were rendered in the green, black, and red of the Palestinian flag, and bore an artist’s response to a prompt: “From oppression to liberation, free Palestine.” According to the artist-led advocacy group Hope in the Art World, 64 artists participated in the creation of 30-by-50-foot quilt, titled From Occupation to Liberation. The squares variably invoked tatreez, a traditional form of Palestinian embroidery; poppies, a national symbol and a plant that is indigenous to Palestine; and Thomas Kilpper’s Jenin Horse (2003), a 16-foot sculpture installed removed by the Israeli military during a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Related Articles The quilt also honored the poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in December. His writings have frequently been invoked by pro-Palestine protestors, most notably the …

Joe Biden ‘unsteady and confused’ as he stumbles up Air Force One stairs again | US | News

Joe Biden ‘unsteady and confused’ as he stumbles up Air Force One stairs again | US | News

Published by skeptic

US President Joe Biden appeared “unsteady and confused” as he boarded Air Force One after his holiday in the US Virgin Islands, according to body language expert Judi James. The President, 81, was returning to the US following a week-long holiday at a luxury villa owned by major Democrat donors Bill and Connie Neville. Despite looking sunburnt and cheerful as he waved at people on the tarmac at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, James suggests other photos paint a “slightly different picture”. She told The Mirror: “Walking to the plane and mounting the steps, Biden appears unsteady and confused to the point where it looks painful to see him without someone nearby to offer assistance if needed.” Meanwhile, First Lady Jill Biden stood confidently in the background. Ms James added: “The possible vanity of proving Biden can walk up a very steep flight of steps that might challenge a younger man is probably less important than having someone close on hand if he does stumble.” Biden greeted people at the airport amid mounting pressure on issues …

Gyles Brandreth: ‘Never look back. You might fall down the stairs’ | Gyles Brandreth

Gyles Brandreth: ‘Never look back. You might fall down the stairs’ | Gyles Brandreth

Published by Sam

Busy people are happy people. When I was 10, the headteacher at my school, Mr Stocks, who was 82, gave me those five words of advice. And they have informed and directed my entire life. I think I found they were true at school, where I was very happy and very busy and probably very irritating. And I’ve not dared stop since. My parents met over a game of Monopoly, the first set sold in the UK. My father bought it at Selfridges in 1937. He took it back to his digs at Gower Street and there was my mother, a student. A few weeks later, they eloped. Years later I became European Monopoly champion. I didn’t realise until recently how much my parents sacrificed for their five children. My father was a successful lawyer and my mother was a very fine English teacher. But they sent all of us to independent schools – and the fees were considerable. I now realise my father had money worries all his life. One of my lasting images …

Women, know your limits – leave going down stairs to men | Alex Clark

Published by Sam

In a packed day with numerous demands on your attention and resources, you may be tempted to challenge time’s winged chariot by attempting to do several things at once. If you are a young woman, do not do this. Resist the lure of multitasking, even though you have been repeatedly told that you excel at being able to undertake more than one activity at a time without your brain exploding by those with a vested interest in making you do stuff for them. Do not, at all costs, even contemplate such ambitious behaviour anywhere near a staircase, for a scientific study published last week entitled Risky Behavior During Stair Descent for Young Adults: Differences in Men Versus Women, has shown that a lady is more likely to take a tumble than a gentleman, and far more likely to do herself an injury in the process. We are back in the arena of minutely detailed scientific research that we had no idea we needed until its breathtaking results shake our world to its core, or, more …

‘No chairs, no stairs, no glass in the windows’: what did Kanye West’s schoolkids get for $15,000 a year? | Arwa Mahdawi

Published by Sam

When you reach a certain level of wealth, a little switch seemingly gets turned off in your brain. The part of your mind that tells you: “Nah, I’m not really qualified for this,” is disabled and you become convinced that being filthy rich makes you an expert in everything. There are plenty of examples of “money brain” out there, but one of the more glaring is Kanye West. Ye, as West likes to be known, seems to think that his success in music and fashion makes him qualified to do everything from run for president to set up a school. We all know how his presidential aspirations went, but we are only just discovering quite how bizarre the disgraced musician’s foray into education was. A few years ago, Ye opened a private school in Los Angeles called Yeezy Christian Academy, which became Donda Academy. The school, which cost $15,000 (£11,600) a year, was named after his late mother, Prof Donda West, and was highly secretive about its unorthodox approach. Now, the school is the subject …