How to Walk the Nile

The man who conquered the Nile, Levison Wood battled through blisters and exhaustion, he walked the length of the Nile, through war zones and completely deserted regions of Africa. He had to bypass a small section of the Nile because he found himself caught in the midst of a civil war in South Sudan, he also battled through temperatures as high as 62C, he raced to reach a well in the desert through dwindling water supplies, but he made it, 9 months and thousands of miles later. 

Lev had to stay hydrated, walking with guides and journalists covering his adventure, unfortunately an American journalist, Matthew Power collapsed due to heatstroke, hours away from help he died, Lev carried on, dedicating the rest of the expedition to Matthew and his wife Jess. The tragic incident was a stark reminder of the physical challenge which lay ahead, not only to get to the end of the Nile but simply to survive. 

Lev, a former British Army Captain was used to being around in war but he said this was like nothing he'd ever seen, he said "One guy tried to attack me, and threatened to kill me", in the Channel 4 series, he talked about the fact he became a target because they wanted to attack anyone accosiated with the UN, potentially supporting the other side. 

Months later he completed his expedition, although his hopes for being the first to walk the length of  the Nile were ended after he was forced to skip a 400 mile war torn stretch of the Nile. 

As he entered Egypt, he viewed it as a kind of respite, although he was consistently followed by two police cars and a personal bodyguard, all to protect him from extremist groups or any other problems which may have occured. Throughout the trip, he explored some of the treasures of Africa, even some pyramids that a Pharoh blew the tops off to hunt for treasure - all to no avail, as he found treasure in only one of the pyramids! 

So how do you walk the Nile? The answer? Walking the Nile is a battle, a battle with the elements, a physical and mental battle and certainly not for the faint hearted,with temperatures averaging 50C it's about staying hydrated, drinking as much water as humanly possible - but as Lev has proved, it's all possible. 

Levison's book, Walking the Nile is available to buy from all well known book stores and Amazon

Why is yawning contagious?

As promised... here is my #WeekofScience post 4 of 7.

Take a look at this video - see if the chimps can make you yawn!

To many people's surpise yawning becomes contagious around age 4, if you have autism yawning is less likely to be contagious for you. If you watch somebody yawn or sometimes even read about yawning it can be impossible to resist, a new study now offers an answer as to why yawning is so contagious.
Scientists say that yawning might eventually help doctors diagnose developmental disorders and it could allow us to gain a better understanding into how people communicate and connect.
A graduate student in clinical psychology has done  a study at the University of Connecticut said her inspiration for the study came when she tried to get her own autistic son to clear his ears on an aeroplane. She repeatedly yawned at him hoping he would yawn back and he never did.

Foetuses begin yawning in the womb as early as 11 weeks old. For reasons scientists still can't explain, spontaneous yawning continues throughout life. (Studies have shot down theories about yawning to bring in more oxygen.) In fact, all vertebrates yawn, including snakes and lizards.

Contagious yawning is a different story. Only humans, chimpanzees and possibly dogs have been shown to do it.
Like contagious laughter and contagious crying, scientists have theorized that contagious yawning is a shared experience that promotes social bonding. Specifically, the founder of the study said that it could diffuse stress after a period of being on high alert and spread a feeling of calm through a group.

Channel 4 - Live in Space

As promised - this is the 2nd post in my #WeekofScience series. Last night Channel 4 - with Dermot O'Leary broadcast live from Houston's Mission Control linking live to the ISS (International Space Station). Astronauts on-board the ISS showed the nation around the football-pitch sized orbiting laboratory to give us an insight into how it works. Throughout the show in 102 minutes they completed a lap of the planet- showing us some incredible live images of the Earth from the Cupola Module of the ISS.  One of the astronauts, Mike landed back on Earth after a six months stint aboard the ISS, we were shown the footage of his re-entry into the atmosphere. Here are some pictures from the ISS.

This has to be one of the coolest 'selfies' out there! This is one of the Astronauts on a Christmas Eve space walk