| News Capsules - May-June - Page 4 |
Fewer Tangles in
Curly Hair
Contrary to what one would
expect, curly hair produces fewer
tangles than straight hair. A
French physicist got hairdressers
to count the tangles in the hair of
123 straight-haired people and 89
curly heads. The result: straight
hair had an average of 5.3
tangles, nearly twice that of curly
hair. The research showed the
greater the angle of intersection
of strands of hair, the greater the
chance of producing a knot. Curly
hair intersects more often but at
less steep angles.—Discover
(2007)
Haiti’s Poor Eat Dirt
As food prices in Haiti rise, the
poor who can’t even afford a plate
of rice have taken to literally
eating mud. Cookies made of
dried yellow dirt from the country’s
central plateau mixed with salt and
vegetable shortening have long
been prized as an antacid and
source of calcium. Doctors say
that the dirt can contain deadly
parasites or toxins but can also
strengthen the immunity of
fetuses in the womb to certain
diseases. Malnutrition is also a
risk.—(Racine) Journal Times
(1/30/08)
Sad Shoppers
Spend More
Unhappy shoppers tend to spend
more, according to a new study
released by four universities.
Study participants watching a
sadness-inducing video were
willing to pay up to four times
more for a bottle of water than
were other subjects, $2.11
compared 56 cents. This “misery
is not miserly” phenomenon was
documented in a similar study
done in 2004—www.cnn.com
(2/8/08)
Curly Hair
Contrary to what one would
expect, curly hair produces fewer
tangles than straight hair. A
French physicist got hairdressers
to count the tangles in the hair of
123 straight-haired people and 89
curly heads. The result: straight
hair had an average of 5.3
tangles, nearly twice that of curly
hair. The research showed the
greater the angle of intersection
of strands of hair, the greater the
chance of producing a knot. Curly
hair intersects more often but at
less steep angles.—Discover
(2007)
Haiti’s Poor Eat Dirt
As food prices in Haiti rise, the
poor who can’t even afford a plate
of rice have taken to literally
eating mud. Cookies made of
dried yellow dirt from the country’s
central plateau mixed with salt and
vegetable shortening have long
been prized as an antacid and
source of calcium. Doctors say
that the dirt can contain deadly
parasites or toxins but can also
strengthen the immunity of
fetuses in the womb to certain
diseases. Malnutrition is also a
risk.—(Racine) Journal Times
(1/30/08)
Sad Shoppers
Spend More
Unhappy shoppers tend to spend
more, according to a new study
released by four universities.
Study participants watching a
sadness-inducing video were
willing to pay up to four times
more for a bottle of water than
were other subjects, $2.11
compared 56 cents. This “misery
is not miserly” phenomenon was
documented in a similar study
done in 2004—www.cnn.com
(2/8/08)
Per Cent of Male Babies
In U.S., Japan Declines
In the U.S. and Japan the
proportion of male babies born
since 1970 has been declining.
The U.S. has seen a drop of 17
males per 10,000 births while the
drop is 37 males in Japan.
Moreover, the percentage of male
fetal deaths between 1972 and
1999 rose from just over half to
nearly two-thirds. Some scientists
suspect the reason for this trend
is chemicals such as arsenic,
mercury, pesticides, and solvents
in the environment.—Discover
(January, 2008)
High Tech Census Fails
U.S. census officials are
considering a return to paper and
pencils after learning that some
census takers couldn’t figure out
how to use their new fancy hand-
held computers. Technology
problems could add as much as
$2 billion to the cost of the 2010
census and affect its accuracy.
Census officials are being blamed
for poorly spelling out the
technical requirements for the
computers and for poorly training
the temporary workers hired to
take the census.—Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (3/26/08)
Seed Vault Opens
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault,
a bunker in a frozen Arctic
mountainside north of Oslo,
Norway, has begun accepting its
first seeds. Known as the
“Doomsday Vault,” the facility is
expected to one day hold seeds
from almost every variety of most
every important food crop on
Earth. Stored indefinitely at -8
degrees C, the seeds will provide
an “insurance policy” for the world’
s diversity of crop strains.—www.
nature.com (2/26/08)
In U.S., Japan Declines
In the U.S. and Japan the
proportion of male babies born
since 1970 has been declining.
The U.S. has seen a drop of 17
males per 10,000 births while the
drop is 37 males in Japan.
Moreover, the percentage of male
fetal deaths between 1972 and
1999 rose from just over half to
nearly two-thirds. Some scientists
suspect the reason for this trend
is chemicals such as arsenic,
mercury, pesticides, and solvents
in the environment.—Discover
(January, 2008)
High Tech Census Fails
U.S. census officials are
considering a return to paper and
pencils after learning that some
census takers couldn’t figure out
how to use their new fancy hand-
held computers. Technology
problems could add as much as
$2 billion to the cost of the 2010
census and affect its accuracy.
Census officials are being blamed
for poorly spelling out the
technical requirements for the
computers and for poorly training
the temporary workers hired to
take the census.—Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (3/26/08)
Seed Vault Opens
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault,
a bunker in a frozen Arctic
mountainside north of Oslo,
Norway, has begun accepting its
first seeds. Known as the
“Doomsday Vault,” the facility is
expected to one day hold seeds
from almost every variety of most
every important food crop on
Earth. Stored indefinitely at -8
degrees C, the seeds will provide
an “insurance policy” for the world’
s diversity of crop strains.—www.
nature.com (2/26/08)
Dementia Stats
A detailed analysis of a
representative sample of 856
seniors age 71 and older
concluded that 22% had begun to
see their mental faculties decline.
That translates into 5.4 million
Americans. This figure doesn’t
include the 3.4 million who have
full dementia such as Alzheimer’s.
The total of 8.8 million means
about a third of the 25 million
Americans in this age group suffer
some cognitive impairment. The
study involved psychological and
neurological tests and interviews
with close family members.—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(3/24/08)
Flat Colon Growths
Worse Than Polyps
Scientists are finding out that flat
growths on the walls of colons are
10 times as likely to be cancerous
as the more familiar knobby
polyps. A study reported in the
Journal of the American Medical
Association reported that these
pancake-like growths were only
1/4 as common as the polyps but
far more likely to be cancerous
and more difficult to spot because
they tend to blend in with
surrounding tissue. Colorectal
cancer is the nation’s second
leading cancer killer.—Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (3/5/08)
A detailed analysis of a
representative sample of 856
seniors age 71 and older
concluded that 22% had begun to
see their mental faculties decline.
That translates into 5.4 million
Americans. This figure doesn’t
include the 3.4 million who have
full dementia such as Alzheimer’s.
The total of 8.8 million means
about a third of the 25 million
Americans in this age group suffer
some cognitive impairment. The
study involved psychological and
neurological tests and interviews
with close family members.—
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(3/24/08)
Flat Colon Growths
Worse Than Polyps
Scientists are finding out that flat
growths on the walls of colons are
10 times as likely to be cancerous
as the more familiar knobby
polyps. A study reported in the
Journal of the American Medical
Association reported that these
pancake-like growths were only
1/4 as common as the polyps but
far more likely to be cancerous
and more difficult to spot because
they tend to blend in with
surrounding tissue. Colorectal
cancer is the nation’s second
leading cancer killer.—Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel (3/5/08)
