Video game Flower

In Flower, you play a series of petals on the

wind, ducking around rocks, fields and wind turbines

in dream-like landscapes designed specifically to

soothe players into a positive emotional experience.

Though Flower wasn't designed with mental

health in mind, its attention to peace and mindfulness

has been therapeutic for a number of players. Louie

Castro-Garcia, who used a series of video games to

battle his own depression, said: “I remember reading

an article online about someone having a friend whose

mother had recently passed away due to cancer. The

person in the article invited his friend over to play

video games, to help her get her mind off things. When

she arrived, the person suggested they play 'Flower'.

The article explained how this person and his friend

sat silently, just enjoying the beauty and simplicity of

the game, occasionally looking over at each other and

smiling, and when the friend left, they looked like a

weight had been lifted from them.”

Flower is part of the silent-wanderer genre of

games like breakout hits Journey and the House of

Cards-approved Monument Valley. Their aesthetics and

tone offer an escapist respite from a video game

landscape that's often frantic and exhilarating.

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The Economist explains

Michel Temer’s plans for Brazil

May 12th 2016, 23:53 BY J.P.

ON MAY 12th Michel Temer became the third Brazilian vice-president in 30 years to be thrust into the top job, after the Senate voted to commence the impeachment trial of the president, Dilma Rousseff. As she steps aside for up to 180 days while senators consider her fate, she leaves behind a mess. The country's economy may shrivel by 7.5% in 2015-16. Inflation and unemployment hover around 10%; so, as a proportion of GDP, does the budget deficit. The political system is a shambles, with Congress home to an unwieldy 25 political parties. What can—and should—Mr Temer do about it all? (…)

If his proposed cabinet is anything to go by, Mr Temer plans to replace Ms Rousseff’s confidence-stifling interventionism with market-friendlier policies. He appears commendably keen to chip away at Brazil’s bloated state. He has named a respected former Central Bank governor, Henrique Meirelles, as his finance minister and created a new super-ministry whose task is to spur private investment in Brazil’s shoddy infrastructure. The number of ministries is to be slashed from 32 to something like 23, to show that the government, not just citizens, can make sacrifices. In principle, all this is welcome. In practice, Mr Temer may face an uphill struggle. To begin mending the economy, Mr Meirelles needs most urgently to tackle the vast budget deficit. Congressmen, never exactly keen on spending cuts and tax rises, may resist the necessary belt-tightening, especially in the run-up to October’s important local elections. And Mr Temer’s caretaker administration—which supporters of Ms Rousseff’s left-wing Workers’ Party regard as coupmongering usurpers—lacks the voter legitimacy for more radical structural reforms, such as to Brazil’s overgenerous public pensions, rigid labour laws, byzantine taxes or graft-prone electoral system. That will still be the case if and when he is handed the keys to the Alvorada.

Brazil police use pepper spray at austerity protest outside Rio parliament

Military police have shot pepper spray at demonstrators who broke down barrier fences outside a meeting in Rio de Janeiro where legislators were considering austerity measures to cope with a deepening financial crisis that has kept thousands of public workers from being paid. […]

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Bullying behaviour often emerges in childhood, and the consequences for victims can last a lifetime.

When RubySam Youngz was singled out by a bully at the age of 10 in her last year of primary school, she felt isolated and confused. She had just moved with her family from England to Wales and the bully honed in on her accent. They then started mocking her appearance. “Nothing really made sense to me,” she says. “I’m in a new place, I don’t really know anyone, no one likes me, and I really do not know why.”

Youngz says the relentless bullying, which continued through secondary school, had a knock-on effect in all areas of her life, and she took up smoking and drinking in an attempt to cope. Now aged 46, it is only in the past year that she has come to terms with the effect that the bullying had on her.

“I felt like ‘no one else likes me, so I don’t like me’,” she says.

Her experience underlines a painful truth. Children, for all their innocence and inexperience of the world, can be some of the most vicious bullies. Their actions, perhaps less hindered by the social norms we learn in later life, can be merciless, violent and shocking. And they can have life-long implications for the victims.

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Health consequences of living in cities

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Infectious diseases are a major threat in many cities due to population density, overcrowding, lack of safe water and sanitation systems, international travel and commerce, and poor health-care access, particularly in urban slums. The 2003 outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is a case in point. Other infectious conditions, such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis, pneumonia and diarrhoeal infections, have an ongoing presence in cities. Frequently, it is the urban poor who suffer the greatest burden. Slums are productive breeding grounds for tuberculosis, hepatitis, dengue, pneumonia, cholera and diarrhoeal diseases, which spread easily in highly concentrated populations. Women face particular vulnerability to HIV infection, stemming from a combination of biological factors and gender inequality. Female drug users and sex workers are particularly at risk; stigma, discrimination and punitive policies only increase their vulnerability.

Leia a entrevista com Dermot Kincaid e relacione as perguntas abaixo com as respostas de cada parágrafo:

a. What is a normal day like?

b. What’s your favorite task?

c. Is your work the same every day?

d. Can you talk about your responsibilities?

Dermot Kincaid

Age: 21 Job: Secretary Nationality: Irish

1_________________________?

I am in charge of the day-to-day running of the office. I am responsible for keeping my boss’s appointment diary up to date. I answer the phone and deal with enquiries from our customers.

2_________________________?

In the morning I open, sort, and distribute the mail. During the day I type letters and answer the phone. I also send and receive emails and faxes. I take care of the filing and I keep records of expenditure such as travel or purchases. At the end of the day I prepare the outgoing mail.

3_________________________?

Not really. We get a lot of visitors and I enjoy meeting new people. I go and meet them at reception, tell them about the company, and look after them.

4_________________________?

I really like arranging business trips for my colleagues. I enjoy finding the flights, booking the hotels, and getting information about the places.

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Could a placebo help heal a broken heart?

The placebo effect is an amazing phenomenon. As we have previously reported, placebos can help with everything from losing weight to improving your vision. And, according to this study, they may even help mend a broken heart. Here, researchers recruited participants who had been dumped in the last six months, and gave them a saline nose-spray that they claimed either was “effective in reducing emotional pain” (the placebo group) or a routine part of fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) imaging (the control group). Next, the researchers conducted fMRI imaging of the subjects’ brains while showing them photos of their ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, and asking the subjects to recall their breakups. The result? Subjects in the placebo nose spray group experienced less social pain when remembering their exes compared with those in the control. Let’s just hope those participants were well compensated!
Adaptado de: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/seriouslyscience/2017/05/04/c ould-a-placebo-help-heal-a-broken-heart/#.WRNtsdLyvIU Acessado em 7 de maio de 2017.

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Early dinosaur relative walked like a croc

One of the earliest relatives of dinosaurs had some features we associate today with crocodiles and alligators, a study suggests.

Many palaeontologists have wondered what the earliest dinosaur relatives looked like, as the fossil record in this time period is sparse. Some assumed they walked on two legs, looking a bit like miniature dinosaurs. But the newly described creature walked on four legs like a croc, the journal Nature reports.

The 2-3m (7-10ft) carnivorous animal, unearthed in southern Tanzania, lived some 245 million years ago during the Triassic Period. It pre-dated the earliest dinosaurs. Prof Paul Barrett, one of the authors on the new paper, said: “This is a little animal that we call Teleocrater. It’s not very big...it probably would have weighed about the same as the average family dog.”

Teleocrater rhadinus appeared just after a large group of animals known as archosaurs split into one branch that led to dinosaurs, and another branch that led to today’s alligators and crocodiles. Its anatomy combines features present in the last common ancestor of these groups, such as a crocodilian-like ankle joint, with some features considered characteristic of dinosaurs.

The first fossils belonging to Teleocrater were discovered in 1933 in Tanzania. They were studied at London’s Natural History Museum in the 1950s. But these specimens were missing crucial bones, such as the ankle. Therefore, scientists at the time could not tell whether they were more closely related to crocs or to dinosaurs.

The new specimens were uncovered in the East African country in 2015, resolving some of those outstanding questions. They show that it is one of the earliest members of the archosaur family tree and that it walked like a crocodilian.

Teleocrater, along with other dinosaur relatives, lived across a wide range of different regions, from Russia to India to Brazil. The team’s next steps are to return to southern Tanzania to look for more remains and missing pieces of the Teleocrater skeleton.