All posts tagged: buffer

Israel is building a buffer zone inside Lebanon : NPR

Israel is building a buffer zone inside Lebanon : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Israel is creating a large buffer zone in southern Lebanon for a prolonged military occupation, with low expectations that direct talks with Lebanon will lead to quick action on disarming Hezbollah. MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Israel and Lebanon held historic talks today in Washington. They’re seeking a diplomatic resolution to Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah. But on the ground, Israel is expanding its occupation of southern Lebanon, maybe for years to come, as NPR’s Daniel Estrin reports from Tel Aviv. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: (Speaking Hebrew). UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (Speaking Hebrew). DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Soldiers cheered crossing the border from northern Israel into southern Lebanon a few weeks ago. The Israeli military posted these morale-boosting videos on Instagram. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) SAGIV DAHAN: (Speaking Hebrew). ESTRIN: Like this one with Brigadier General Sagiv Dahan radioing into his troops as their tanks rolled into southern Lebanon, telling them the mission is to protect Israelis who live near the Lebanese border. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) DAHAN: (Speaking Hebrew). ESTRIN: “Families know we are standing between them …

A watered-down ‘buffer zone’ bill passes NYC Council

A watered-down ‘buffer zone’ bill passes NYC Council

Published by Sam Flores

(RNS) — The New York City Council passed a bill Thursday (March 26) calling for buffer zones around places of worship in an attempt to protect them from rowdy protesters. But the bill that passed with a solid majority, 44-5, with one abstention, was a watered-down version of what Council Speaker Julie Menin initially called for. The bill, which had been much discussed after a November protest was held outside a prominent Manhattan synagogue, directs the New York Police Department to present a plan to the mayor and the council within 45 days, explaining how the city will use “security perimeters” to help safeguard houses of worship. Menin, who is Jewish, had originally called for secure buffer zones of up to 100 feet outside of houses of worship. But Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch raised concerns that the bill would restrict the police’s ability to determine the size of the necessary buffer zones. Others raised free speech concerns and said a buffer zone law would only serve to intimidate those fighting for Palestinian human rights. The bill …

Birdwatching may reshape the brain and build its buffer against ageing

Birdwatching may reshape the brain and build its buffer against ageing

Published by skeptic

Learning to recognise birds may strengthen your cognitive reserve steve young/Alamy Expert birdwatchers have brain differences that may underlie their remarkable ability to identify unfamiliar birds and suggest that birdwatching can reshape the brain in much the same way as learning a language or a musical instrument does. Such activities may bolster cognitive reserve, the brain’s ability to defend itself against ageing and adapt to damage. When learning or practising a skill, the brain reorganises itself, strengthening and streamlining relevant pathways. This ability, known as neuroplasticity, underpins the development of expertise. It is why professional musicians show structural changes in brain regions involved in hearing, and athletes exhibit similar adaptations in motor areas. To understand whether birding also shapes the brain, Erik Wing at York University in Canada and his colleagues analysed brain structure and function in 48 hobbyist birders, half experts and half novices, as judged on a screening test. Participants were aged 22 to 79, and both groups were similar in terms of sex, age and education. While undergoing brain scans, the participants …

5 Subtle Ways Your Interests Buffer Work Stress

5 Subtle Ways Your Interests Buffer Work Stress

Published by Jenni Sidey

Hobbies and interests do more than give you a break from work. They give you exposure to different ways people measure success, solve problems, think creatively, and structure their efforts. Here are five under-the-radar ways hobbies build your skills for handling stress. 1. They Put Your Work Pressures in Perspective I occasionally watch professional running races, and it always strikes me how intense it must be to train for decades for races that last seconds or minutes. That pressure is such a contrast to when I shuffle-jog for health, when it doesn’t matter how fast I am or how one day’s performance differs from the next. In any professional sphere, what people value and are judged on is often irrelevant to people outside that world. Your field might care about sales numbers, thinly-sliced career levels, followers, how your company is ranking next to a competitor, or whatever. Outside your field, those concerns often don’t register. When we engage with one of our interests, it exposes us to a world in which what matters in our …

Music training may buffer children against the academic toll of poverty

Music training may buffer children against the academic toll of poverty

Published by José Betancourt

A recent analysis of a major developmental dataset reveals that children who play musical instruments over several years exhibit stronger vocabulary skills than their non-musical peers. The findings indicate that music training might serve as a buffer against the academic disadvantages often associated with living in lower-income neighborhoods. This research appeared in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Educators and neuroscientists have debated the extent to which artistic training impacts the brain for decades. Playing an instrument is a demanding activity that requires a student to integrate auditory perception with fine motor control. It forces the brain to monitor pitch and rhythm while maintaining focus for extended periods. Researchers suspect that these rigorous mental demands strengthen general cognitive abilities. The theory posits that the discipline required for music transfers to other domains, such as language processing and attention regulation. Assal Habibi, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Southern California, led the investigation. Habibi and her colleagues at the Brain and Creativity Institute sought to determine if these cognitive benefits …

Russia’s Top General Tells Troops to Keep Carving Out ‘Buffer Zones’ in Ukraine

Russia’s Top General Tells Troops to Keep Carving Out ‘Buffer Zones’ in Ukraine

Published by Sam Flores

MOSCOW, Dec 31 (Reuters) – Russia’s top general ‌has ​told troops to keep ‌carving out buffer zones in Ukraine’s Sumy and ​Kharkiv regions in order to protect civilians in Russia’s neighbouring Kursk ‍and Belgorod regions from ​Ukrainian attacks. General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, made ​the ⁠comments during a visit to a command post belonging to Russia’s “North” military grouping, which the Defence Ministry publicised on Wednesday. The ministry did not say when Gerasimov made the comments or where the ‌post was located. There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine to Gerasimov’s ​comments, ‌but Kyiv has repeatedly ‍condemned ⁠Moscow’s efforts to carve out buffer zones inside its territory, accusing Russia of using the pretext of security zones to illegally grab more of its territory. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Moscow’s plans for Sumy and Kharkiv are “mad” and will be resisted as Ukraine defends ​the two regions. Gerasimov said Russian forces had taken control of around 950 square kilometres (366 square miles) in the two provinces, including 32 settlements. Reuters could not …

Support for Black Lives Matter may buffer against the psychological toll of traumatic viral videos

Support for Black Lives Matter may buffer against the psychological toll of traumatic viral videos

Published by skeptic

New research provides evidence that support for the Black Lives Matter movement may help protect Black young adults from the negative mental health effects of viewing videos depicting police violence. While exposure to racialized traumatic media is generally linked to higher anxiety, the new study suggests that connection to the social movement buffers against depression and anxiety. The findings were published in Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. The year 2020 marked a significant period of social unrest and visibility regarding anti-Black police brutality in the United States. The killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor reignited the Black Lives Matter movement and led to a surge in media coverage. This coverage frequently included graphic videos of Black individuals being harmed or killed. Scholars refer to this specific type of content as racialized traumatic media. Past inquiries have established that repeated exposure to such images acts as a stressor for Black Americans. It contributes to poor mental health outcomes. This includes symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. The authors of the current study sought to …