List of All Articles with Tag 't'

Ben Roberts-Smith tried to intimidate witnesses in last week's defamation trial, a judge says.

NBC's 'American Ninja Warrior' Season 13 winner Kaden Lebsack is the CEO of podcast 'Bucket of Chalk'

By Suban Abdulla LONDON British retail sales growth slowed to a seven-month low in May as soaring food

By Ted Hesson and Kristina Cooke SAN FRANCISCO A flight carrying about 20 migrants landed in Sacramento, California,

Virtual reality could help footballers improve their heading without the repetitive head impacts from a ball, a new study indicates. Players involved in a study at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport and its Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences demonstrated greater performance in ‘real world’ heading after training with a VR headset compared to a control group who did no training. The VR group also reported greater self-confidence and efficacy in their heading compared to the control group, the study found. Our findings show that virtual reality (VR) based training can be used to improve real-world heading performance. Dr Ben Marshall, Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport The study, titled: ‘A preliminary investigation into the efficacy of training soccer heading in immersive virtual reality’, has been published in the journal Virtual Reality on Tuesday. It provides some insights into how players may be able to improve heading technique amid restrictions on training. Football Association guidelines advise against any heading training in under-12s, while a trial is ongoing in the current season and next season to eliminate deliberate heading completely from matches up to and including that age group. At ages 12 and 13, heading should be limited to a single session of no more than five headers, and no more than 10 headers per session for children aged 14 to 17, according to FA guidance. Even in adult football at all levels, players are advised to perform only 10 ‘higher force headers’ per training week, such as headers from crosses, corners, free-kicks and returning of goal kicks. The exposure to heading has been limited because of concerns over the sub-concussive impact of repetitive heading on a player’s longer-term wellbeing. The 2019 FIELD Study found professional footballers were three and a half times more likely to die of neurodegenerative disease than age-matched members of the general population. “With increasing restrictions of heading exposure to professional and youth soccer, it is evident that alternative methods for training heading confidence and technique will be required while it remains an integral part of the game,” the VR paper concluded. “The work presented here provides some initial evidence suggesting that immersive VR may have a place in any new approach to training this important skill.” A group of 36 adult recreational-level players, made up of 30 men and six women, participated in the study in total. The 36 were split into two groups of 18, with 16 men and two women in the control group who did not use the VR headsets between ‘real world’ heading sessions, and 14 men and four women in the VR group. The VR group used the Oculus Quest 2 head-mounted display, with the Rezzil Player 22 application used to provide the VR football heading training. Dr Ben Marshall, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, said: “Our findings show that virtual reality (VR) based training can be used to improve real-world heading performance and that this method is more effective than not training the skill at all. “This is important as current training guidelines recommend limiting the number of physical headers performed in training for all age groups due to the associated long-term risks to player health. “Our findings suggest the inclusion of VR-based training could play an important role in developing football heading skills whilst reducing the number of real-world headers and sub-concussive head impacts that players need to be exposed to – which is really positive.”

Lewis Capaldi is taking some time for himself.

Starling Bank has launched a feature in its app allowing customers to hide payment references, which could help survivors of economic abuse. The “hide references” feature is designed to help people mute unwelcome or abusive references that can accompany bank transfers. Payment references are generally simply intended to describe the nature of a payment, such as “rent”, “mum’s birthday gift” or “dinner”, for example. But in cases of economic abuse, they can be misused, with the aim of upsetting or trying to manipulate the recipient. An abusive former partner who has been blocked from other forms of contact, may, for example, send messages claiming they miss their ex, or even send insults or threats, Starling Bank said. Using online bank payment references to send intimidating or malicious messages is just one of the ways an abuser can maintain control from afar, leaving victims feeling helpless and highly vulnerable Lauren Garrett, Surviving Economic Abuse These references can be used as a way for an ex-partner to maintain some control and have a triggering impact on the recipient. The bank said multiple messages may even be sent to accompany payments as small as 1p. It has partnered with the charity Surviving Economic Abuse to launch the feature. Economic abuse, which is often accompanied by other forms of abuse, can involve someone taking another person’s wages, stopping them from working, or intentionally putting them into debt. While such abuse can happen within couples, it may sometimes take place within other types of relationships; for example, an adult child may abuse a frail and elderly parent, or a parent may abuse a child. Abusive payment references are a key obstacle for economic abuse survivors to overcome, Starling Bank said. Starling’s personal current account holders can use the feature by swiping up from the app home screen to pull up their transaction fee, tapping on a payment that has been received with an unwanted reference, and tapping the hide icon. This will hide references from past or future payments made from that account. Starling said the new feature will not stop money landing in a customer’s account – the recipient will simply not see any payment references that come from the sending account. Customers can choose to unhide payment references in the app at any time. Starling said one person had told the bank: “The ability to hide these references with a simple tap makes all the difference and I am so pleased that Starling has listened to my experience.” This feature shows just how powerful technology can be in making people’s lives easier Charity Wood, Starling Bank Lauren Garrett, financial services manager at Surviving Economic Abuse, said: “Economic abuse can continue, increase, or even start long after a victim-survivor has separated from an abuser. “Using online bank payment references to send intimidating or malicious messages is just one of the ways an abuser can maintain control from afar, leaving victims feeling helpless and highly vulnerable. “We’re pleased to be working with Starling on this new feature and commend them for sharing what they are doing to give survivors the power to choose what payment references they see without having to relive traumatising experiences to customer services. “This small in-app feature will make a huge difference to survivors’ ability to bank safely, and we’re proud to work alongside financial services who are listening to the voices of victim-survivors and encourage firms to continue closing down gaps in products and services which are being used to inadvertently facilitate abuse.” Starling is a founding signatory in the UK Finance financial abuse code. The hide references feature is part of the bank’s existing work supporting economic abuse survivors, which includes a dedicated vulnerable support team. Charity Wood, head of customer experience at Starling Bank, said: “Anyone can experience economic abuse; they might not realise that it’s happening to them or how their bank can support. “This feature shows just how powerful technology can be in making people’s lives easier, and is testament to Starling’s belief in doing the right thing.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Augmented reality headset Vision Pro is ‘most advanced device ever’ – Apple Revealed: The delivery apps charging you double for your food shop Therapist develops secret app to help abuse victims

On Saturday, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado posted a video on Twitter in which she claimed that she had intentionally skipped Wednesday's key House vote on a bill to suspend the nation's debt ceiling.

The Texas Rangers have transferred Jacob deGrom to the 60-day injured list

By Stephanie van den Berg THE HAGUE Ukraine and Russia face off at the top United Nations court

WASHINGTON Microsoft will pay $20 million to settle U.S. Federal Trade Commission charges that the tech company illegally

RBC Canadian Open picks and best bets at Oakdale this week as we have an outright, Top 10 and more PGA Tour expert picks for golf.We're heading north of the United States border for a national championship this week for the 2023 RBC Canadian Open at Oakdale Country Club, where Rory McIlroy ...