Reds have the Edge

by Mignonne Senaratne

British Scientists have claimed that wearing red can give competitors in sporting contests the winning edge; a report in 'Nature' by Durham University academics suggests donning a red kit increases the probability of winning physical contests in a range of sports.

According to the researchers, it could be down to a deep-seated evolutionary response that works subconsciously to put opponents on the back foot.

Co-author Dr Robert Barton and colleague Russell Hill studied four combat sports during the 2004 Athens Olympics Games: boxing, taekwondo, Greco-Roman wrestling and free-style wrestling, where contestants were randomly assigned either red or blue colours.

They found that, across the four disciplines, contestants wearing red won significantly more fights. The Durham researchers also carried out a preliminary analysis of results from the Euro 2004 soccer tournament which showed that five squads had better results when playing in red. The three teams that have dominated English football over the past 50 years - Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal have sported red liveries. The recent FA Cup final was won by Arsenal wearing red whilst Manchester United who chose blue shirts, had to settle for the crumbs.

The influence of colour on such contests may have its roots in our evolutionary past. In the animal world, red is thought to be related to fitness, aggression and high levels of testosterone. Male mandrills, for example, have red colouration on their faces, rumps and genitalia that they use to communicate their fighting ability to other males.

However, Dr John Lazarus, a biologist at the University of Newcastle, is not convinced that red held particular significance over other colours as a dominance signal. "To take another monkey species, velvet monkeys have blue testicles and the ones with the bluer testicles are more dominant." - BBC News

The New Lepers

They have already been driven out into the cold, but now smokers face a ban from all public buildings. Patients caught smoking inside or outside hospitals face being discharged under new government legislation, which will abolish hospital smoking rooms and encourage a total ban in all grounds.

The controversial "zero tolerance" plans are part of a new Bill, which will make all hospitals smoke -free by the end of 2006. Hospital workers have been asked to walk the streets if they wanted a puff. Patients were told to do the same, if they could.

However, Independent's reporter Tom Anderson reassures hospital-dwelling addicts - he recounts his visit to London's St Bartholomew's Hospital (which banned smoking in all its grounds and entrances last September); The security guard at the main entrance did not attempt to stop him smoking. The guard was scathing about the new crackdown: "It's a stupid rule. You can ask people to stop but more often than not they tell you to get stuffed, so there's nothing we can do about it. We're not police."

But the guard's attitude changed dramatically when the photographer started to take pictures of Mr Anderson smoking.

- The Independent

The Piano Man

Dripping wet and deeply disturbed, a smartly -dressed man was discovered walking along a windswept road beside the sea. He has steadfastly refused, or is unable to answer the most simple of questions about who he was or where he had come from.

It was only when someone in hospital had the bright idea of leaving him with a piece of paper and pencils that the first intriguing clue about the stranger's past emerged. He drew a detailed sketch of a grand piano. Excited, hospital staff showed him into a room with a piano and he began to skilfully perform sections from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky and presumably some of his own compositions. Several weeks have elapsed but he has still not spoken a word.

Many, who have heard the "piano man", as he has been nicknamed, believe he may be a professional musician. One theory is that he has suffered a trauma which has caused amnesia, one of the methods the mind used to retreat from shock.

The "piano man" was found on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, last month. He wore a black jacket, smart trousers and a tie, all dripping wet. All labels from his clothes had been removed. So far police officers have failed in their investigations as to his indentity and if he had fallen into the sea, been pushed or even swum ashore from a boat. Doctors examined the man, who appeared to be in his 20s or 30s, and found nothing wrong with him but he failed to respond to questions and appears terrified of any new face.

Canon Alan Amos, the Hospital Chaplain has suggested that he was using music as an anaesthetic. "Playing the piano seems to be the only way he can control his nerves and his tension and relax. When he is playing he blanks everything else out..." The Chaplain does not believe that he is a professional musician but that the man's clothing suggests that he had been to a funeral "clearly there must have been some sort of trauma..." Although over 1,000 people from all over the world have phoned a special helpline to offer clues to his identity, West Kent Hospital Trust said that it may still be some time before they know who he is.

- The Guardian