Tag Archives: QUESTIONS

Things That Suck About Being Pregnant

Posted on by

pregnancy, things that suck about pregnancy, pregnant, baby, hatePregnancy is supposed to be an amazing time but it doesn’t always work out that way. My mother always talked about her wonderful pregnancies and, in truth, I don’t think I ever heard a negative pregnancy story from a family member or friend. Sure there were some truly awful stories in the media and, although I found them horrifying, I cast them out of my mind. Which is why I am pretty annoyed now. Pregnancy is not this magical thing people told me about. It is not a magical time at all. Okay, creating our child is wonderful and I would not have it any other way but wonderful or any other such word does not encapsulate it. In fairness, my pregnancy has been termed ‘unlucky’ by my doctor. It is a bit of an understatement due to the horrendous acute morning sickness but, never mind. Here are my pregnancy rants. Feel free to add your own because ranting is good for the soul.

Bump Molestation

Seriously, what is up with this? Today I actually had a stranger molest me from barely underneath my breasts all the way down. I may have been in a sitting position but it was not appropriate and if it had not been an elderly woman she would have at the very least been slapped. It is not okay to touch a pregnant women’s bump without asking her. And even then, keep your hands to yourself unless you are a very close friend or family member. How would you like to be felt up? Especially when you are creating a life and feeling very protective of your bump? This brings me on to my next rant….

A Women’s Body Does Not Become Public Property When She becomes Pregnant

Not only does this mean NO TOUCHING but it also means you don’t get to tell her what to eat or drink, how to exercise or how much weight to put on. You don’t get to make comments on how she looks or what she does so mind your business.

The Unsolicited Advice

Your pregnancy choices were good choices for you. Only share them with other pregnant women if they ask. If you are a man, keep quiet unless you are a doctor and a question is asked. Also annoying is pregnancy advice from women who have never been pregnant. I mean, really?

The Constant Personal Questions

When people find out you are pregnant they ask you everything from what you are going to call your baby, what the sex is and how much weight you have put on. It really is too much. People seem to forget their manners when they are in the presence of a pregnant woman. If you feel uncomfortable just smile and avoid the question or say you are not sharing that information publicly yet.

Morning Sickness

As Miranda says in Sex & The City, ‘I don’t know why they call it morning sickness when it lasts all fucking day.’ Exactly Miranda, exactly. Some woman get barely any morning sickness and some, like Kate Middleton, get acute morning sickness which is otherwise known as hyperemesis gravidarum. Morning sickness is not fun. Think of your worst hangover ever and then think about suffering through it everyday for about three months, sometimes longer. There you go: morning sickness.

Not being Able To Tell Anyone Why You Are So ill

The chances of miscarriage are high in the first 12 weeks so you are recommended to keep your pregnancy to yourself. Suffering in silence is not= fun and colleagues will probably notice something is up. Just know you will get to the end of it.

Having To Do All of the Stuff You Did Before

There is a popular quote that Ginger Rogers had to do everything Fred Astaire did but backwards and in heels. Well, pregnant women have to do everything everyone else does but whilst dealing with morning sickness, being kicked internally, headaches, muscle pain, nausea, random pains, tiredness…the list is endless. The pressure for pregnant women to not let anyone down and act like some kind of superwoman is tremendous. The reality is: pregnant women should be given some slack. If you don’t like that, just remember that the little baby they are creating will be paying for public services in your retirement.

The Fact That EVERYTHING Hurts

I mean everything. From your head to your legs to your vagina. A lucky day is when it doesn’t hurt all at once.

The Constant Worrying

I stopped reading the pregnancy literature before 12 weeks. I could not take it. Even now the stuff overwhelms me. Sure, things can go wrong in pregnancy but do you really need to know about every single thing that could go wrong? No, you don’t. So relax and read a magazine or a good book instead. Ignorance is not bliss, but somedays it is easier.

The Glee of Awful Things To Come

Too many people take such glee in the fact that, apparently, you will never sleep again, nor have a life. People can seem pretty happy because they think that having a child will ruin your life or career. Ignore these people. They are jerks.

What are your pregnancy rants?

 

 

 

Debrett’s Reveal The Questions They’re Most Frequently Asked

Posted on by

debrett's guide to good mannersDebrett’s have revealed the questions they are most frequently asked by the public.  The list, which covers everything from social kissing to mobile phone use, provides a revealing insight into the social anxiety people experience in behaviour for everyday situations. We may no longer live in the structured world of ‘Downtown Abbey’, but it’s clear that many of us still yearn for guidance on good manners.

 

Debrett’s was founded in London in 1769, and now has an international presence.  In the last 12 months they received more than 10,000 enquiries from across the globe.  The enquiries on social behaviour inform part of the recently released Debrett’s Handbook, a 480-page compendium on good manners.

 

Below Debrett’s reveal the questions they have been most frequently asked in the last 12 months, and provide their responses.

 

1 – MOBILE PHONE USE

Debrett’s receive more enquiries about mobile use than any other device. According to Debrett’s, it is always rude to pay more attention to a phone than a person in the flesh, and they should always be put away when transacting other business – for example, when you’re paying for something in a shop.  They should be switched off in theatres, cinemas (including during the trailers!), art galleries, or any space where silence is desired.

 

2 – SMOKING E-CIGARETTES AT WORK

As electronic cigarettes become more popular, so to do the number of enquiries that Debrett’s receive on the device.  The most pressing question is whether they are acceptable in the workplace. According to Debrett’s they should never be used in a work environment. Vaping shows that you’re not focused on your work and may also be a distraction to your colleagues.

 

3 – SOCIAL GREETING: KISSING

Many people are clearly unclear on the subject of social kissing.  According to Debrett’s, kissing is not appropriate in many professional situations. On the whole it should only be used among friends, but not on first meeting. An air kiss, without contact, may seem rude or impersonal, so very slight contact is best but no sound effects are needed.

 

4 – EATING AND APPLYING MAKE-UP ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Following the recent controversy surrounding public-shaming websites, Debrett’s has been inundated with enquiries as to whether it’s acceptable to eat or apply make-up on public transport.  According to Debrett’s you should avoid both.  It’s inconsiderate to eat smelly food in a confined environment, and applying make-up on public transport can jeopardise that all-important first impression and make you appear disorganised.

 

5 – RECLINING YOUR SEAT ON AEROPLANES

This is a common bugbear.  According to Debrett’s, it’s selfish to recline your seat back during short daytime flights. When travelling by plane always stay within your own designated space and don’t hog the armrest. Also avoid kicking the back of the seat in front of you or using it as an aid to standing-up.

 

6 – GIVING UP YOUR SEAT ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT

In a recent university experiment only 20% of London tube passengers offered to give up their seat to a visibly pregnant woman.  According to Debrett’s, passengers should always offer to give up their seat to any individual that is pregnant, elderly, or clearly in need. It is important to remember, however, that it is just as rude to aggressively decline the offer of a seat as it is to not offer a seat.

 

7 – BLIND COPYING (bcc)

Debrett’s receive a high level of enquiries on best business practice.  The most commonly asked question is whether it is ever right to blind copy (bcc) someone into an email. According to Debrett’s, blind copying should be used discerningly as it is deceptive to the primary recipient. Instead, the email should be forwarded on to the third party, with a short note explaining any confidentiality, after its distribution.

If blind copying is essential – i.e. for a confidential document where all recipients must remain anonymous – then the sender should address the email to themselves, and everyone else as ‘bcc’ recipients.

 

8  – EATING BEFORE EVERYONE IS SERVED

The final question is one that we’ve all asked ourselves: is it rude to start eating at the table before everyone else has been served?  According to Debrett’s the simple answer is yes, unless the host or hostess gives their permission for diners to start

 

Out now, Debrett’s Handbook is the most comprehensive book Debrett’s has ever published aside from its famed registers, People of Today and Peerage & Baronetage, and combines Debrett’s Correct Form with a guide to modern manners for the first time. Priced at £35, and available from the Debrett’s online shop Debrett’s Handbook will make for a great Christmas present – and it’s sure to settle a number of age-old family debates on manners and appropriate behaviour! The Debrett’s Handbook is out now.  For more information visit www.debretts.com

 

 

Is time travel possible? How big is the universe? Science Questions Answered

Posted on by


Frost Magazine loves everything science so we are very excited about The Times and The Sunday Times launching a month-long campaign that will see both newspapers publish a series of inspirational guides, pullout posters and supplements designed to help readers and their families get smarter.

The ‘Instant Wisdom’ campaign kicks-off this weekend (09/09) in The Sunday Times with the first part of ‘100 Answers Every Grown Up Needs To Know’, a free supplement that gives parents all the tools necessary to answer those tricky questions children ask. The second part will be in The Sunday Times the following weekend.

The Times will also run an eight-part ‘How to Be Smarter’ series which includes grammar training for grown ups; brain trainers; guidance on how to do a cryptic crossword; puzzles and a summary of the best bits of Shakespeare. The Sunday Times will consolidate the series with a double-sided activity poster featuring 75 facts and skills every child needs to know.

The campaign will culminate with The Sunday Times University Guide, the definitive university rankings providing prospective students with all the information they need to make the next step after school or college.

Paul Croughton, Commissioning Editor at The Sunday Times Magazine and Editor of the 100 Answers Every Grown Up Needs To Know supplement, said: “The Times and The Sunday Times are renowned for both authoritative and entertaining education and learning content. We publish the definitive universities and schools guides and our quizzes, crosswords and brainteasers are hugely popular with readers. The Instant Wisdom campaign will amalgamate and develop some of this great content over the course of four weeks to give families up and down the country a reason to come together, learn something new and help each other get smarter.”

The campaign is supported by UK-wide digital outdoor advertising, a radio promotional campaign and an interactive Instant Wisdom quiz free on The Sunday Times website.

Get smarter with these five questions and answers from 100 Answers Every Grown Up Needs To Know – published free inside The Sunday Times this weekend:

1. Is time travel possible? Amazingly, the known laws of physics don’t rule it out. According to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, it is theoretically possible to create a “wormhole” in the fabric of spacetime, allowing us to tunnel through to other eras. Obviously, nobody knows how to do it yet, and the results would be a bit mind-boggling. Suppose you jumped into a time machine, travelled back to when your grandfather was young… and accidentally landed on him before he’d met your grandmother. Then your parents could not exist, and neither could you — yet there you are, having flattened grandad. Many scientists think this “grandfather paradox” rules out time travel. Another bit of evidence is that we have yet to meet anyone from the future who has successfully travelled back in time — unless, of course, they’re here, but don’t like to talk about it. There is a way anyone can see into the past, though: look up. Gazing at Polaris, the north star, is to see it as it was back when Elizabeth I ruled England.

2. How big is the universe? Bigger than you can possibly imagine. In fact, the ancient Greeks came up with an argument for why the universe must be infinitely big. If it were only finite, it would have an edge, but that would mark the boundary with something else — which would then be part of the universe, and so on forever. Yet astronomers now know that, although the true universe may be infinite, we can see only a part of it. That’s because, ever since it was created in the Big Bang, 14 billion years ago, it has been expanding, with distant galaxies racing away from each other at an ever-faster rate. That means there’s a distance at which these galaxies seem to be receding from us at the speed of light — and so remain forever invisible. This marks the edge of the visible universe, and it’s about 46 billion light years away.

3. Is the Bermuda triangle real? Sure: it’s a triangular expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, spanning about 400,000 sq miles between Miami, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. But the idea that “bad things happen” to those who enter the triangle is another story. It began in the 1950s, with reports that five torpedo bombers and their 14 crew had vanished off the Florida coast in 1945. Soon people began looking into it, and that case, Flight 19, was joined by other odd events dating back to the mysterious loss in 1918 of the American supply ship Cyclops, with all 306 on board, near Bermuda. By the 1970s, a catalogue of strange disappearances had been linked to the triangle — along with a host of theories, ranging from rogue waves to alien abductions. The most likely, although not very exciting, explanation is simple probability: if you draw a huge triangle over one of the busiest shipping and flight zones in the world, chances are it’ll have seen a few odd events over the course of a century or so.

4. How do planes fly? When the Wright brothers made their first powered flight, in 1903, they had little understanding of the science that kept their ramshackle craft aloft. Yet amazingly, even today, many explanations of how planes fly are just plain wrong. Most talk about how the air passing over the curved top of a wing gets squeezed, and so moves faster than that passing underneath — creating a pressure difference that generates lift. But, while this sounds plausible, it’s based on laws of physics that just don’t apply in the case of air. The real answer to why aircraft fly is buried in something called the Navier-Stokes equations on fluid mechanics — formulas so complicated, nobody has ever completely solved them. This is a real problem for wing designers, who have been forced to rely on various mathematical tricks, scale models and computer simulations to design efficient wings. While they succeed in keeping planes aloft, the fact remains that there’s no simple way to explain how. Weird, no?

5. Is anything wetter than water? Weirdly, yes. To a scientist, the wetness of a liquid depends on its surface tension — that is, the tendency of its molecules to stick together, rather than spread over and into a surface. (The lower the surface tension, the wetter the liquid.) Oddly enough, water isn’t especially wet as liquids go: many others, including alcohol and acetic acid (vinegar), are much wetter. Water itself can be made wetter, though — by using “surfactants” such as soap, which reduce surface tension.

SCIENCE’S GREATEST UNANSWERED QUESTIONS REVEALED

Posted on by

– Alien life forms, medical cures and the existence of God top list of most popular questions –

– Quirky questions include whether the fridge light really goes out, why unhealthy food tastes so good and which came first, chicken or egg?

Does God exist? Will we ever find a cure for cancer? And are we alone in the Universe? These are the three unanswered scientific questions that Brits would most like to see resolved according to new research released today.

The survey of 2,000 British adults was commissioned to mark the launch of Science Month on TV channel Eden, which begins this Sunday. Respondents were asked about the scientific conundrums they would most like to see answered.

Questions on the existence of alien life forms top the poll, with over half of respondents (54%) choosing this as one of the unanswered questions that intrigue them most. This was closely followed by the perennial problem of when there will be a cure for cancer (46%), while the top three is completed by a desire to prove if God exists by scientific means (39%).

It’s a case of to infinity and beyond for many; as questions relating to the size of space concern a third of respondents (33%). Over a quarter (27%) wondered if we will ever colonise space and 24% want to know how the universe will end. 27% are curious about how we will replace oil, and a fifth would like to find out how long human lifespans could be extended (20%).

The top ten scientific conundrums according to the British public:

1. Are we alone in the universe? – 54%

Scientists say the universe is likely to contain many planetary systems where the conditions are ripe for intelligent life to evolve. However, we may not ever develop the technological wherewithal to reach out millions of light-years to make contact

2. Will there ever be a cure for cancer? – 46%

Survival rates for different forms of cancer are improving all the time with many new treatments in the research pipeline. While it is unlikely that there will be a magic, overnight cure in the near future, patients will live for longer and longer periods.

3. Does God exist? – 39%

There is no empirical, measurable scientific evidence for the existence of God.

4. How big is space? 33%

Some astronomers believe there is no limit to the size of the universe. Others say that since the Big Bang it has expanded to around 150 billion light years across.

5. How and where did life start on earth? – 30%

There have been numerous theories, from various bacteria entering into symbiotic relationships to convection currents passing through the Earth’s crust.

6. Is time travel possible? – 29%

The fabric of space time contains shortcuts called wormholes which make time travel theoretically possible. However, wormholes are unstable and to prop one open would require repulsive gravity, the existence of which has yet to be confirmed.

7. Will we ever colonise space? – 27%

Maybe. Some say we should take a serious look at creating colonies elsewhere in our solar system in case conditions on Earth become inhospitable. NASA has already held meetings on terraforming – the deliberate modification of the conditions on other planets or moons to make them similar to those on Earth.

8. What will replace oil and when? – 27%

Alternative energy sources are available but need to be made more cost efficient and reach demands in order to replace oil. There are however advances in nanotechnology that may be the answer.

9. How will the universe end? – 24%

Theories include that the universe will stop expanding and then collapse in on itself, that it will get colder as it expands until it is at absolute zero, and that dark energy, will eventually overcome gravity.

10. How long can the human lifespan be extended? – 20%

Life-span extension experiments in mice have convinced some scientists that humans may soon routinely live way beyond their hundredth birthdays.

Just missing out on the top ten were questions relating to the possibility of an effective HIV vaccine (19%), what would happen if the sun died (19%) and whether machines and robots could ever be conscious and have feelings (17%).

On a lighter note, the research also revealed some of the quirky questions that Brits wish could be answered by science. A quarter (23%) cited the classic chicken or egg conundrum as their top quirky question, with why do we rarely see dead birds? (18%) and why does healthy food taste worse that unhealthy food (16%) completing the top three. Given our poor summer so far it is perhaps not surprising that 14% of Brits want to know why it always rains in England, while 11% wonder whether the fridge light really goes off when you close the door.

The survey found that three quarters of British adults (75%) profess an interest in science, with a similar percentage (73%) stating that they wish they were better informed about scientific research and new discoveries.

Regional results

When it comes to scientific knowledge respondents across the country were divided. Brits in the south of England seemed to be most concerned with matters of life and death, with 48% putting the question of extending lifespan at the top of their list, swiftly followed up by ‘Will there ever be a cure for cancer’ (40%), and ‘Do human’s face mass extinction?’ (32%).

Conversely, Northerners appeared to be pre-occupied with matters of the universe, infinity, and aliens. Respondents from Liverpool were most likely to ask whether we are alone in the universe (62%), which may well be attributed to recent UFO sightings over the mouth of the river Mersey earlier this year. Newcastle respondents were most interested in questions around the death of the sun, with 59% clearly paranoid about our future on this planet.

The recent number one blockbuster hit Prometheus appeared to play a part in influencing the interests of the Welsh, with 54% wondering whether we would ever colonise space and 33% placing questions around Artificial Intelligence and robots possessing feelings or a conscience second. Michael Fassbender’s portrayal of the advanced robot David has clearly made quite an impression!

The next ten years

In terms of the questions that the general public expect to be answered within the next 10 years, ‘Will there ever be a cure for cancer?’ and ‘Is an effective HIV vaccine available?’ top the list, at 30% and 29% respectively. Respondents rated questions relating to human quality of life as the most pertinent (47%), relegating answers that explain our existence (15%) or would further our technology to the bottom of the list (11%).

Adrian Wills, UKTV’s General Manager of Eden, says, “’It’s been more than 500 years since the majority of people believed that the earth was flat, so its important to note that our understanding of science moves at an astonishing speed. This survey shows that most of us still query our place in the universe and many of the bigger unsolved questions of science. Eden’s Science Month attempts to answer some of these questions, though clearly there’s still much for us to learn.”