Latest news with #Sydney
Forbes
an hour ago
- Health
- Forbes
Being Curious Might Help Keep Alzheimer's Disease At Bay: Study
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: A chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) family enjoys Christmas treats of flavoured pine ... More cones and frozen fruit at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, 23 December 2004. The Christmas gifts form part of Taronga's on-going behavioural enrichment programme, aimed at stimulating the animals' natural curiousity. AFP PHOTO/Torsten BLACKWOOD (Photo credit should read TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP via Getty Images) The secret to maintaining your brain health and staying sharp as you age might just be cultivating your sense of curiosity, a recent study found. Being curious during old age could also help in preventing or at least off-setting Alzheimer's disease. 'Curiosity is broadly defined as a desire to learn, experience, or explore new information or environments. It is a motivating influence that drives us to participate in hobbies, pursue education, and travel to experience new things,' the authors wrote in the study. 'Trait curiosity, defined as people's stable tendency to actively seek knowledge and information, has been correlated with a variety of positive traits in everyday settings. For example, in educational settings, curiosity is related to rates of student question-asking and academic performance. Additionally, medical students with higher levels of curiosity report having deeper motives for studying and engaging in deeper study strategies when learning new information,' the authors added. Psychologists measure curiosity as a state, where feeling curious is just a momentary or fleeting experience and as a trait, where it is a feature of an individual's personality and way of life. During old age, curiosity is the main factor that motivates people to engage in formal learning such as taking classes for learning a new skill. And such stimulating activities help in maintaining the brain's cognitive abilities. In a press release, senior author of the study, Alan Castel, a psychologist at UCLA said: 'You see this in the context of lifelong learning: A lot of older adults will go back to take classes or pick up hobbies or engage in bird watching. I think it shows that this level of curiosity if maintained, can really keep us sharp as we age.' To further investigate how the two forms of curiosity work in adults, the researchers collected data from 1,218 participants between the ages of 20 and 84. They completed an online questionnaire that measured their levels of curiosity. Some of the questions they answered included: 'What is added to white sugar to make brown sugar? (answer: molasses) and what is the name of the biggest constellation in the sky? (answer: hydra)." The researchers then rated each participant's curiosity level on a scale of one to 10. 'Age does not have a uniform influence on curiosity; rather, we need to consider the multifaceted nature of this construct when discussing aging effects,' they noted. 'Curiosity subsumes different levels of psychological processes (e.g., emotional processes, reinforcement, learning, attention, appraisal, etc.), each of which would be impacted differently by age.' Prior research has found that younger adults tend to be more curious about learning new topics while older adults feel more motivated to continue expanding their existing knowledge. 'It is important to consider some of the ways that older adults may maintain curiosity other than via trait curiosity measures. Specifically, older adults may be selectively curious about things that have greater self-relevance or that are relevant to their prior knowledge, which may benefit them in specific contexts. For example, if an older adult is curious about gardening, they may be more likely to read gardening magazines, join a gardening group, or to learn a new gardening skill,' the researchers highlighted in their study published in the journal PLoS One in May 2025. 'Engaging with any of these activities can be beneficial for overall well-being and cognitive outcomes in older age, for example by fostering social connections and learning complex new skills. Thus, it may be important to recognize and encourage specific domains of curiosity for older adults, rather than simply focusing on measures of trait curiosity,' they added.
Miami Herald
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
How to Get Sydney Sweeney's Bathwater Soap: Competition and Release Date
Actor Sydney Sweeney has released a limited-edition soap made with water from her own bath, and some fans are in a real lather about the product, desperate to get their hands on it. Sweeney, who starred in the first White Lotus series, partnered with natural body care brand Dr. Squatch to produce Sydney's Bathwater Bliss, priced at around $8 per bar. A promotion campaign is giving away 100 as competition prizes. One keen customer wrote on Instagram: "Made with your actual bath water? Lol. That's awesome! ... Let's go @sydney_sweeney." Not all fans have been impressed though, one saying: "Sydney honey I love you but I don't know about this." Another wrote: "Geez this is literally sad for humanity." The collaboration is soaking up the comments section of Sweeney's Instagram posts. Excited male fans are drooling over the star, and offended feminists are concerned about her "stimulation of the male gaze" and "promotion of a female stereotype." One user appeared to suggest the collaboration could have wider repercussions on gender issues, writing: "we're never making it out of the patriarchy." While Sweeney voiced her excitement about this latest collaboration, she has previously spoken out about the way the world views her body. She told Variety in March 2024: "People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want, because they believe that I've signed my life away. That I'm not on a human level anymore, because I'm an actor. That these characters are for everybody else, but then me as Sydney is not for me anymore. It's this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over." Sweeney, 27, is recently single, and has also featured in TV shows including Euphoria and Sharp Objects. Her movies, across a wide range of genres, include rom-com Anyone But You, horror movie Immaculate, and action film Madam Web. This collaboration is in response to fan curiosity sparked by a previous advertisement by Dr. Squatch, the men's natural products store. It features Sweeney soaking in a candlelit bathtub, and playful banter from fans about her bathwater, led to the creation of the unconventional product. Dr Squatch wrote in an Instagram announcement: "In collaboration with Sydney Sweeney, we created a limited-edition soap infused with her ACTUAL bathwater. Why? Because y'all wouldn't stop asking. And Sydney said, 'Let's do it.' (what a legend)" The actor is not the first person to commercialize her bathwater. In 2019, an adult content star, Belle Delphine, sold jars of hers for $43 a piece, according to a report by the New York Post. Sydney's Bathwater Bliss is set to launch on June 6, 2025, and there will be 100 winners in a competition to get a bar for free. Each bar is crafted with natural ingredients, including exfoliating sand, shea butter, and a touch of Sweeney's bathwater, which Dr. Squatch's website said was "one of nature's finest aphrodisiacs." It has a medium grit level, and the men's care brand said the bar smells like "morning wood," adding this included notes of pine, Douglas fir, and earthy moss. Either follow Dr. Squatch's Instagram account and leave a comment, or you can fill out a form on its website. The product giveaway ends on June 4, and winners will be messaged or emailed from June 6. Dr. Squatch said consumers would also be able to buy the product, although there is a very limited stock, reports saying only 5,000 bars have been made. The men's care brand wrote: "But can I buy one?' Not yet … but we'll have a VERY limited stock when they do drop! Keep an eye out for an announcement." Winners of the competition will find out on June 6, and fans will be able to purchase the product soon Dr. Squatch said, adding it would be providing a further announcement in due course. Related Articles Hotel Guard Suspended, Accused of Asking Woman in Bathroom to Prove GenderBetter Office Bathrooms Can Improve Attendance and InclusionBathroom Renovation Disaster Leaves Internet In Stitches: 'Serial Killer Setup'Man Spends All Day Tiling Shower, Then Realizes Mistake-'Is it Noticeable?' 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- The Guardian
Abdul Abdullah: ‘People made assumptions about who I was and what I stand for because of my name'
At Bankstown Central, Abdul Abdullah has become lost. 'Far out, this place is bigger than I thought' he texts while gamely trying to locate me, also lost. 'I think I was in the basement.' It's been three decades since the artist, then nine years old, fell in love with the labyrinthine and luminous shopping centre then known as Bankstown Square. He has since built a successful career across major galleries and public broadcasting, and relocated to Bangkok – and the Square has been demolished and redeveloped. 'The best place in the world was the World 4 Kids toy shop, and the koi pond in the old town square,' he says. These are happy memories from what he remembers as a tough time. He and his parents moved to Sydney from Perth for a year so that his dad could work at Malek Fahd Islamic high school. His three older siblings, all over 18, stayed on the other side of the country. It wasn't just that Abdullah and his parents were living in a sparsely furnished one-bedroom apartment and sleeping on a shared mattress ('I can remember every piece of furniture,' he says, laughing), or the long days accompanying his dad to the school early in the morning and then staying back until he finished his work day. It was the culture shock. The Perth Muslim community he'd grown up in had been predominantly south-east Asian; in Sydney, he says, 'I was one of the only kids in the class who didn't speak Arabic. You were kind of thrown in the deep end.' Abdullah is wary of 'poor-bugger-me stories' and tends towards laughter and lightness in conversation. 'It wasn't the best year for me and my family,' he admits, as we escape the mall and make our way across the train tracks and down into Bankstown's bustling central plaza. 'But it was interesting living in a completely different place. And that koi pond was pretty nice.' Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning He has often felt like a fish out of water. Growing up as a Muslim with mixed Malay and white convict ancestry in Perth's south-eastern suburbs, he has previously recalled how only the white kids were referred to as 'the Aussies'. He followed his two brothers into boxing and drawing at a young age, and travelled an hour to attend a high school with a selective art program, but as he grew older he came to feel 'too boxing gym for art school and too art school for the boxing gym'. He laughs as he says this, framing it as a joke – but also describes approaching art school with an underdog boxer's adversarial chutzpah. '[I felt like] the brown kid from the wrong side of the tracks who didn't really fit it in,' he admits. We reach the Grahame Thomas cricket ground and pause to chat while watching a men's soccer team limber up under a moody, overcast sky. 'I think all artists are a little bit outsiders,' Abdullah reflects. 'We're all sort of gremlins looking in from outside the house.' But even as recognition and accolades have accrued – including a mentoring role on the ABC's arts and mental health show Space 22, and most recently, winning the Archibald's packing room prize – Abdullah has felt this more than most. He can't shake the feeling, he jokes, of being an 'outsider among outsiders'. Abdullah was 15 and playing Gran Turismo with his brother Abdul-Rahman when planes flew into the World Trade Center in September 2001; they turned on the TV and watched the footage in horror. 'At first I didn't think it had anything to do with me,' he says. 'Then the next day my mum was assaulted.' Men pulled her into a store in a busy Perth street, and tore off her headscarf; no one intervened. The family's local mosque was defaced. Overnight, Abdullah's experience of being a Muslim in Australia changed. 'It reframes you immediately,' he says. It forced a political awakening that has infused every aspect of his life – though it took a while for him to embrace it. He enrolled in art school and fell in love with painting. 'I didn't really think about politics a great deal while I was there,' he says. 'All I wanted to do was portraits, and I would just paint pretty pictures of my friends.' It's a characteristic moment in which Abdullah flips from earnestness and sincerity into irreverence and self-deprecation. Then two years after graduating, in 2011, he entered a portrait of author and commentator Waleed Aly into the Archibald prize – and got his first hate mail. 'As soon as the finalists were published online, I got a spate of really nasty messages telling me to go back to where I came from,' he says. It shocked the young artist. 'I hadn't been personally targeted like that before.' The painting is innocuous – a sombre portrait of Aly on a plain background – and at the time Abdullah was a virtual unknown. 'All [they] had was my name, and people made a lot of assumptions about who I was and what I stand for because of that,' he says. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion Five months later Abdullah won the Blake prize's human justice award for a photographic self-portrait titled Them And Us, in which he displayed a torso tattoo combining a Southern Cross with an Islamic crescent moon. Again, he copped a backlash. It was the beginning of a prolific era in which Abdullah used his body and the camera to turn a lens on mainstream Australia via a series of images of himself as a supposedly monstrous other. With age and time, the work changed – but the complaints kept coming. 'It's never from the general public that the furore starts. It's from [politicians or] the media,' Abdullah says. So he is wary of media coverage. During our photoshoot he notes a recent article in The Australian about his packing room prize win that characterised him as a 'Pro-Palestinian activist artist' and used an old headshot of him frowning, his cap backwards. 'I don't know where they got it, that photo's from so long ago,' he says. 'I'm always smiling in my photos.' Given his own experiences, he was not surprised when his friend and fellow artist Khaled Sabsabi – a Lebanese Australian Muslim – was attacked in The Australian and then in parliament over old artworks supposedly promoting terrorism. But he was shocked when Sabsabi was sacked as Australia's representative at the prestigious 2026 Venice Biennale less than 48 hours later. He worries about the message it sends. 'Institutional spaces in this country have, for a long time, felt not welcoming to huge swathes of people that they should be for … [and] things like this just reinforce the idea that [the arts] is not for some people. That as hard as you work, you won't ever be accepted and celebrated or acknowledged,' he says. The racism against Muslim and Arab Australians that reared its head after 9/11 has never really gone away, Abdullah says. 'It felt like it went away for a while, a little bit, but it's all very much still there.' Recently, he's been reflecting on another flashpoint of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiment: the Cronulla riots. Abdullah was 19 when mobs of young white men descended on Cronulla beach on 11 December 2005, yelling abuse at and physically assaulting anyone of Middle Eastern appearance. 'I remember seeing [on the news] people wearing T-shirts that said 'save 'Nulla, fuck Allah' and 'ethnic cleansing unit',' he says. December marks 20 years since the riots. Abdullah recently completed a large diptych painting depicting the train carriage where rioters attacked two young Lebanese Australian men, for a group exhibition at Mosman Art Gallery. The right-hand panel shows a throng of violent bodies pressed up against the windows; the left is eerily empty. Graffiti-style text over the top reads: So where the bloody hell are you? It's the slogan from Scott Morrison's Tourism Australia campaign, which debuted the following year; it also echoes the text messages sent out by the instigators of the Cronulla riots. It's the first overtly political art Abdullah has made in five years. In the intervening time, he moved to Bangkok and branched into the international commercial art market – and jettisoned political and Australia-specific references in his work. 'I don't know if it's just getting older as well – being a little bit gentler with the way that I'm practising, and also wanting to enjoy people's reactions a little bit more,' he says, with a slightly sheepish laugh. I ask him if he anticipates another backlash, and he shrugs. 'I guess I'll brace myself for it a little bit.' 'I've never been under the false impression that this wasn't an adversarial space,' he says, with a wry smile. 'When people talk about safe spaces in museums and that sort of stuff, it's never really rung true for me. Like, I'm working in spite of things.' Abdul Abdullah's packing room prize-winning portrait is showing at the Art Gallery of NSW until 17 August as part of the Archibald prize exhibition. His painting Cronulla is showing at Mosman Art Gallery until 17 August as part of Curlew Camp. He will present new work as part of Sydney Contemporary art fair from 11-14 September and the Biennale of Sydney from 14 March-14 June 2026
Associated Press
4 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Gym Mentor Announces Launch of Ultimate Gym System 1.0, Bringing AI Automation to Fitness Industry
Gym Mentor unveils the Ultimate Gym System 1.0, an AI-driven platform designed to automate gym operations, improve lead conversions, and support gym owners globally with technology and expert coaching. Australia, May 30, 2025 -- Gym Mentor Launches Industry-First AI Automation Platform for Gyms Gym Mentor, an Australian AI and automation agency, has officially launched the Ultimate Gym System (UGS 1.0), a technology platform tailored exclusively for gym owners. This launch introduces an all-in-one solution that automates lead management, appointment booking, sales conversions, and client retention to help gyms operate more efficiently. The platform combines AI-powered phone agents, marketing automation, customer relationship management workflows, and real-time business analytics into one integrated system. This innovation allows gym owners to reduce administrative workload and focus on member engagement and growth. Beau-Jacob Houldsworth, Co-Founder and CEO of Gym Mentor, said, 'We have developed a system that replaces chaos with structure, empowering gym owners to reclaim their time while growing their businesses efficiently.' Addressing Critical Challenges in Gym Operations The Ultimate Gym System directly tackles common operational challenges faced by gym owners such as missed calls, delayed lead follow-ups, and overwhelming administrative duties. The AI-powered phone and messaging assistants operate continuously, ensuring every lead is promptly addressed and appointments are booked automatically, leading to improved lead conversion rates and customer experience. Jaydyn Hansen, Co-Founder of Gym Mentor, noted, 'Most gyms do not need more leads; they need a system that effectively converts the leads they already have. Our platform delivers precisely that.' This system is distinctive in combining AI setters with live human closers, offering an efficient yet personalized sales process tailored to the fitness industry. Features and Benefits of Ultimate Gym System 1.0 The Ultimate Gym System 1.0 integrates multiple key features designed to support gym growth. These include AI-driven phone and messaging assistants that manage inquiries and appointment bookings, automated marketing funnels developed specifically for fitness businesses, and CRM automation that nurtures leads and manages client retention. Additionally, the platform provides real-time KPI dashboards to offer actionable business insights, along with pre-built sales scripts, templates, and standard operating procedures to enable quick system adoption. Gym Mentor also offers continuous coaching and community support from experienced gym professionals to help owners maximize the system's benefits. This comprehensive approach eliminates the need for multiple disconnected tools, providing gym owners with a scalable and adaptable solution that addresses their unique operational challenges. Empowering Gym Owners Through Technology and Community In addition to technology, Gym Mentor prioritizes building a community and providing expert support. Gym owners using UGS 1.0 gain access to a free global network where they can collaborate, share strategies, and receive ongoing guidance on automation and modern sales techniques. The company's founders bring deep industry experience, having scaled over 14 gyms and sold 32 locations, ensuring that the system is built on real-world insights. Beau-Jacob Houldsworth remarked, 'We are creating more than software. We are setting a new industry standard.' Gym Mentor also offers a free four-week course designed to help gym owners implement automation tools without requiring advanced technical knowledge. Industry Impact and Future Growth Since its launch, Gym Mentor's Ultimate Gym System has attracted interest from multi-location gym operators and fitness franchises, with ongoing conversations around white-label partnerships and broader implementation. Clients have reported measurable improvements in operations. Nick Grey, owner of Fitness Perfection, commented, 'The AI assistant handles every call and books appointments instantly, allowing our team to focus on training rather than chasing leads.' Vanessa, owner of Greatest Version Strength, added, 'The UGS system transformed our operations. Automation has helped us manage our gym more like a business than a busy gym floor.' Gym Mentor is expanding internationally and is actively seeking new partnerships and speaking opportunities to promote automation as the future standard for gym management. About Gym Mentor Gym Mentor is an Australian AI and automation agency focused exclusively on gym owners. The company provides the Ultimate Gym System 1.0, an integrated platform combining AI technology, marketing automation, and expert coaching to help gyms operate efficiently and grow sustainably. Founded by fitness industry veterans Beau-Jacob Houldsworth and Jaydyn Hansen, Gym Mentor supports gym owners through technology and community, setting a new standard for fitness business management. For more information, visit Media Contact Beau-Jacob Houldsworth Co-Founder & CEO, Gym Mentor Email: [email protected] Phone: 0459250532 Contact Info: Name: Beau-Jacob Houldsworth Email: Send Email Organization: Gym Mentor Website: Release ID: 89161276 Should you identify any discrepancies, concerns, or inaccuracies in the content provided in this press release or require assistance with a press release takedown, we strongly urge you to notify us promptly by contacting [email protected] (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). Our responsive team is committed to addressing your concerns within 8 hours by taking necessary actions to resolve identified issues diligently or guiding you through the necessary steps for removal. Our dedication lies in providing accurate and reliable information.
Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Sydney Sweeney to sell soap made with her bathwater
Sydney Sweeney, the American actress, will sell soap infused with her used bathwater because her fans 'wouldn't stop asking' for it. The 27-year-old said she was flooded with requests after appearing in an advert last year that showed her soaking in the tub. In the advertisement, filmed for Dr. Squatch, a men's personal care company, Sweeney bathes and tells viewers: 'Hello, you dirty little boys. Are you interested in my body… wash?' Speaking as she announced her new Sydney's Bathwater Bliss soap, she said: 'When your fans start asking for your bathwater, you can either ignore it or turn it into a bar of Dr. Squatch soap. 'It's weird in the best way, and I love that we created something that's not just unforgettable, it actually smells incredible and delivers like every other Dr. Squatch product I love.' The product will be a mix of soap made with sand and pine bark extract, with 'a touch of Sydney's real bathwater', Dr. Squatch said. In a post on Instagram, the company wrote that it had created the soap because 'y'all wouldn't stop asking for it'. Sweeney told GQ magazine that comments from fans wanting to consume her bathwater were likely to have been influenced by a scene from the 2023 film Saltburn, in which Barry Keoghan's character drinks the leftover bathwater of Jacob Elordi's character. 'Honestly, it probably has been a huge catalyst for it,' she said. During filming for the Dr. Squatch advertisement, Sweeney said the crew 'had a tub for me. And I actually got in there and I took some soap, and we had a nice little bath and they took the water. So it's my real bathwater'. Describing the soap, she said, 'It's super soft... it's marbly and has blues and a little bit of brown in it'. The actress, who grew up near Spokane, Washington, said she wanted Sydney's Bathwater Bliss to 'lean towards my home roots, so there's this really outdoorsy scent of, like, pine and earthy moss and fir. So it smells super manly'. The soap, priced at $8 (£6), will have a limited run of 5,000 bars and will go on sale on June 6. The announcement received a mixed reception on social media, with one X user describing it as 'genius marketing'. But another said: 'If you buy this soap, you should be placed on a watchlist because something is wrong with you.' Sweeney, who once apologised for having 'great' cleavage and 'correct opinions', is a rising star, with credits including the HBO series Euphoria and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In 2023, she starred in the romantic comedy Anyone But You and a year later had a prominent role in Sony's Spider-Man spin-off Madame Web.
