Latest news with #JiminyCricket
Times
10-07-2025
- Health
- Times
Being constantly nagged by health apps is no fun at all
Health and fitness apps have come a long way since they logged your daily steps and not much else. Now, not only on your phone, but on your wrist and, increasingly, on your finger in the form of a smart ring, anyone interested can measure cardio capacity, sleep patterns, stress resilience, skin temperature, oxygen saturation levels, recovery times and something called circadian alignment. Best of all, just as some phones are still used to make actual phone calls, most wearable trackers will also tell you what time it is. Personal stats gathering can be helpful, a latter day Jiminy Cricket-style conscience promoting better health, but recent innovations suggest these devices risk becoming, at worst, busybodies, and at best, purveyors of the absolutely blinking obvious. Witness the upgraded smart watch which can now tell its wearer they need to dose up on beta carotene, found in brightly coloured vegetables, to improve their antioxidant score. So, essentially, this clever new function on a clever watch tells its clever owner to eat more carrots. Such redundant advice is in tune with those endlessly repeated announcements at transport hubs ordering passengers to carry water in hot weather, avoid falling over in wet weather, hold the handrail, apply the brakes on the buggy, collect their belongings and please don't smoke, skateboard or attack members of staff. Worse, some trackers will tell you, without so much as a by your leave, when to start drinking coffee, when to stop drinking coffee, when to go outside to soak up some sun, when to go to bed, when to have a glass of water, when to stand up, when to sit down, etc. Paradoxically, these gadgets are most favoured by alpha-male types who hold a dim view of the nanny state yet submit to being bossed about all day by a cheeky gizmo on their wrist. Go figure.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Virginia grasshopper once thought to be extinct was seen in Augusta
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Jiminy Cricket was spotted! Well … not quite. But a different species of cricket was seen that is arguably just as exciting. Last seen in 1946, the Appalachian grasshopper was once thought to be extinct. Not anymore. The species was only ever recorded to be seen in five Virginia Counties. Andrew Rapp, field zoologist, discovered an Appalachian grasshopper (Appalachia hebardi) on Sept. 3 in Augusta County. This is a flightless species with the ability to camouflage. Continue to check for updates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
