One of the UK’s top sports psychologists tells Tech & Science Daily how England can win the Euro 2024 final.
Dr Misia Gervis from Brunel University London and Wycombe Wanderers football club, has previously worked with the Lionesses, Olympians and many other elite athletes.
Watching England throughout the Euros, Dr Gervis has been impressed with how the team have evolved mentally.
She also says it’s in no way a coincidence that this particular England team is within touching distance of the trophy. When it comes to the psychological work that’s gone into it, this has been years in the making.
The Vision Pro is a wearable computer, designed as a set of goggles with internal displays that overlay apps and content onto the real world around the wearer so they blend together.
Jim tells host Evgeny Lebedev about his top tips for a healthy brain, and discusses the benefits that come directly from the people around you. Listen to the full episode here.
Here’s a fully automated transcript of today’s episode:
Hi, I’m Rochelle Travers, and this is The Standard’s Tech and Science Daily podcast.
Coming up, the Apple Vision Pro hits the UK.
One of the UK’s top sports psychologists has been speaking to Tech and Science Daily about how England can win the Euro 2024 final.
“We have a better understanding now of how we’re thinking about things, moves us from being in a threat state or in a challenge state.
“When we’re in a threat state, we feel fear and it translates into our bodies. Our bodies then start doing things in ways that we don’t want our bodies to do. So for example, skying a penalty.”
That’s Dr Misia Gervis, sports psychologist at Brunel University London and at Wycombe Wanderers Football Club. She’s previously worked with the Lionesses, Olympians and many other elite athletes.
“So the skill of coming back into the now, the skill of being present is something that you can’t learn the day before a big match like this. It’s a skill you have to have acquired over a while.
“So core mindfulness skills, anchoring techniques, connecting techniques, all of these things.”
Watching England throughout the Euros, Dr Gervis has been impressed with how the team have evolved mentally.
“I think if you look across the tournament, psychologically, things have changed. So in the first couple of games, we saw possibly a little bit of fear. We saw disconnect between players, we saw that things were a little bit clunky.
“And then I think the turning moment was the game with the Jude Bellingham amazing overhead kick, which gave suddenly hope and translated into a different space.
“And then if you move on and you look at the penalties, the penalties were a supreme example of people being grounded, people being calm, people being focused and being in the present.”
So now for the all-important question: What did the Lions need to do to win the final?
“When you’re talking about a team game, it’s about how people support each other, how they are connected, how they make each other feel safe.”
Dr Gervis says it’s in no way a coincidence that this particular England team is within touching distance of the trophy. When it comes to the psychological work that’s gone into it, this has been years in the making.
“Gareth Southgate is probably one of the most emotionally and psychologically literate coaches around. This England team in this moment right now is the culmination of many, many years of work and I am not surprised that they are where they are. Not surprised at all.”
England face Spain in the Euro 2024 final this Sunday the 14th July at 8pm.
After a long and much anticipated wait, the Apple Vision Pro has finally arrived in the UK.
The device is the US tech giant’s first move into mixed reality and it’s expected to serve as a marker for the consumer appetite for such devices.
The Vision Pro is a wearable computer, designed as a set of goggles with internal displays that overlay apps and content onto the real world around the wearer so they blend together.
If you fancy getting one for yourself, it’s gonna cost you. Prices start at £3499 for the 256GB storage capacity model or, you know, you could always just pop down to an Apple Store and try it out for free.
On this week’s episode of our sister podcast, Brave New World, host Evgeny Lebedev’s guest is none other than the podcaster and brain coach, Jim Kwik. He’s been sharing his top tips for a healthy brain. Here’s a sneak peek.
“Who we spend time with is who we become. The science behind it is we have these things called mirror neurons which activate our empathy and we unconsciously imitate, you know, the examples around us.
“They say we’re the average of the five people we spend the most time with. You know, if you’re around nine broke people, be careful, you might be number ten.”
Jim says there are numerous other extra health benefits that also come directly from the people around you.
“One of the longest studies on longevity and happiness was at Harvard University and they concluded that the long life and the level of joy had less to do with exercise and diet. It had more to do with positive relationships.
“Even if you look at the blue zones, and this is subject to debate, but a big part of that is they have strong family bonds, eating meals together, and then that social connection is so very important.
“To also combat mental illness, like loneliness and depression, having people that are there to be able to support you.”
To hear this episode in full and many more interviews with world-renowned scientists, influential leaders and top experts, make sure to search Brave New World on your podcast provider. We’ll also leave a link in our show notes.
Coming up, Stephen Hawking’s archives are made public, and why seagulls might not actually want your chips after all.
The late professor Stephen Hawking’s scientific and personal archives have been made available to the public.
Featured in the vast collection at the Cambridge University Library is a letter addressed to his parents, in which the theoretical physicist discussed his infamous computer, which, in his words, speaks a bit like a Dalek, but with an American accent.
There are also tens of thousands of pages of papers relating to his work, as well as photographs and scripts from his appearances in films and TV series like The Simpsons, and souvenirs from his encounters with popes and presidents.
The bestselling author of A Brief History of Time, From the Big Bang to Black Holes died in 2018, aged 76.
A study suggests that narcissism declines with age.
The research led by the University of Bern in Switzerland has found that people tend to become less narcissistic as they age from childhood through to older adulthood.
However, differences among individuals remain stable over time, so those who are more narcissistic than their peers as children tend to remain that way as adults.
The team analysed data from 51 longitudinal studies involving more than 37,000 participants ranging in age from 8 to 77.
Now, we all know how much of a pain it can be heading to the seafront to sit down and enjoy a sandwich, some chips or an ice cream, to then spend half the time trying to avoid being dive bombed by seagulls.
But, despite what our many irritating encounters with them might suggest, a new study has found that urban seagulls actually prefer raw fish even when offered human-made foods.
Research from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation found chicks raised on an urban diet of bread and cat food showed more interest in meals that would normally come through foraging, such as mackerel and sprat.
The findings indicate that human-associated foods are often reliably present and easy to obtain, but when fish is available, they clearly prefer it.
You’re up to date, come back at 4pm for The Standard podcast with our politics team.
Tech and Science Daily will be back on Monday at 1pm. See you then!
