Daily Express - 07.08.2019

Daily Express Wednesday, August 7, 2019 11

DX1ST

By Mark Waghorn

Surprise

Feeding time... A stand-off

when watched, above, but

gull swoops in, below, when

the researcher

looks away

Where seagulls stare...a long, hard

look can stop them snatching chips

STARING at seagulls stops them

stealing your chips, researchers

have found.

The scavenging birds are also

known for snatching ice cream out

of unsuspecting tourists’ hands.

But scientists in a coastal town

in Cornwall believe they have

found a simple solution – just look

them straight in the eyes.

Researchers put a bag of chips

on the ground as bait and recorded

how long it took herring gulls to

approach the tasty snack.

A total of 74 gulls were moni-

tored for the study which was

published in the Royal Society’s

Biology Letters.

Of the 74, just 27 gulls (36 per

cent) ended up approaching the

chips.

With a human watching, this

took on average 21 seconds longer

than when they looked away.

Madeleine Goumas, lead author,

said: “Gulls are often seen as

aggressive so it was interesting to

find most wouldn’t even come

near during our tests.”

Miss Goumas, from the Centre

for Ecology and Conservation at

Exeter University’s Penryn

Campus, added: “Of the gulls that

did approach, most took longer

when they were being watched.

“Some wouldn’t touch the food

at all, although others didn’t seem

to notice a human was staring at

them.

“We didn’t examine why indi-

vidual gulls were so different – it

might be because of differences in

‘personality’ and some might have

had positive experiences of being

fed by humans in the past.”

Senior author Dr Neeltje

Boogert said: “Gulls learn really

quickly, so if they manage to get

food from humans once, they

might look for more.

“We therefore advise people to

watch out for gulls approaching, as

they often take food from behind,

catching people by surprise.”

Herring gulls – the most com-

mon of Britain’s seagulls – are

renowned for stealing food.

Between 1969 and 2015, the

UK population fell by 60 per cent,

with plastic pollution blamed.

FFeedidingttiime AAstatnddoffoff

the researcher

looks away

Pictures: SWNS

PATIENTS could soon

monitor their blood

pressure by taking

video selfies, thanks to

a smartphone app.

The technology uses

artificial intelligence to

detect high blood

pressure after camera

sensors track changes

in blood flow.

In tests it was 95 per

cent accurate compared

with a traditional blood

pressure cuff.

High blood pressure

affects one in three

Britons and is a major

cause of heart attacks

and strokes.

The findings are in

the journal Circulation:

Cardiovascular Imaging.

App ‘spots

high blood

pressure’

Scientists recommend

chicken instead

Red meat ‘raises risk of

breast cancer in women’

SWAPPING red meat for poultry
could cut a woman’s risk of develop-
ing breast cancer.
Researchers have revealed that
gorging on beef, lamb, mutton and
pork makes women more likely to be
affected by the disease.
Those who ate the most red meat
had a 23 per cent higher chance of
developing breast cancer than those
who ate the least, according to a
study of 42,000 women.
Women who ate the most poultry
had a 15 per cent lower risk than
those who ate the least.
Study author Dr Dale Sandler, of
the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences in

the US, said: “Our study adds further

evidence that red meat consumption

may be associated with increased

risk of breast cancer whereas

poultry was associated with

decreased risk.

“While the mechanism

through which poultry con-

sumption decreases breast

cancer risk is not clear, our

study does provide evi-

dence that substituting

poultry for red meat may be a simple

change that can help reduce the inci-

dence of breast cancer.”

Some 1,536 cases of breast cancer

were diagnosed during the

study. Participants all had

a family history of breast

cancer and filled in sur-

veys about their eating

habits.

Those who ate

more meat tended to

be younger, consume

more total calo-

ries and were

more likely to

have smoked or

drunk alcohol.

Breast cancer is the most common

cancer in the UK, with 55,200 cases

diagnosed every year of which 23

per cent are preventable, according

to Cancer Research UK.

The charity’s health information

officer, Weilin Wu, said: “Research

hasn’t shown a link between eating

red meat and breast cancer risk

before, so this is intriguing but the

results don’t paint a clear or consist-

ent picture.

“This study looked at women with

a family history of breast cancer,

which may already put them at

higher risk, so we need research with

a wider range of people to better

understand the relationship.”

By Hanna Geissler

Health Reporter

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