Overestimating how hard we exercise

For a study published last month in PLOS One, researchers at York University in Toronto recruited 129 sedentary adult Canadians ages 18 to 64 and set out to see what they knew about exercising for health. . . . In general, during each of the tests, “the volunteers overestimated how hard they were exercising,” said York University kinesiology Professor Jennifer L. Kuk in The New York Times June 11. The implications of that finding are worrisome, she continued, on both a personal and public health level. Read full story.

What happened to Laura Babcock? Mystery leaves family in ‘a horrible situation’
Alan Young, a professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, said detectives often won’t release key details about physical evidence. That way, they can use those details to test the credibility of witnesses. “If people know the physical evidence ahead of time, they can tailor their story to it,” said Young in the Toronto Star June 11, adding that the evidence will eventually come up in legal proceedings. Read full story.

Gabriel Kolko, left-leaning historian of U.S. policy, dies at 81
Gabriel Kolko, who argued that American domestic and international policies have long been driven more by the interests of big business than by the interests of the people, died on May 19 at his home in Amsterdam, reported The New York Times June 11. . . . Professor Kolko taught at Penn and the State University of New York at Buffalo (now the University at Buffalo) before joining the faculty of York University in Toronto in 1970. He remained an emeritus professor at York after he moved to Amsterdam in the 1990s. Read full story.

The downward ramp
New evidence produced by Paul Beaudry and David A. Green of the University of British Columbia, and Ben Sand of York University, demonstrates that the collapse, between 1980 and 2000, of mid-level, mid-pay jobs – gutted by automation or foreign competition (and often both) – has now spread to the high-skill labour market, reported The New York Times June 10. Read full story.

Should I get a Walmart will?
One advantage of Axess Law’s $99 will service at select Walmart stores is you can get a will made in the evenings or weekends. And when you consider that 56 per cent of Canadians don’t even have a signed will, “anything that helps people help themselves is probably a good idea,” said Allan Hutchinson of York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, in MoneySense June 10. Read full story.

Polar challenge: Extreme conditions put high cost on Arctic operations
The Canadian government has vowed to significantly boost military capability in the Arctic, but after years of such promises, a major roadblock still stands in the way – money. . . . “Establishing a presence in the Arctic doesn’t come cheap,” explained defense analyst Martin Shadwick, who teaches strategic studies at York University, in Defense News June 10. “It’s one thing to announce such purchases but much more difficult to make them happen.” Read full story.