Watching the World
Dying Young
Compared with children in 25 other industrialized countries, children in the United States are 12 times as likely to die by gunfire, 5 times as likely to be victims of homicide, and twice as likely to commit suicide, reports The Dallas Morning News. “We were expecting the U.S. would have higher rates, but we were surprised by the magnitude of difference,” says Etienne Krug, coordinator of the report for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. Among the factors associated with violent death among children are drugs, poverty, broken families, and limited opportunities for education.
Foodborne Infections
Increased consumer demand for “a variety of fresh produce year-round” coupled with “a global market that can move products around the world overnight” is contributing to the emergence of new foodborne illnesses in the United States, reports JAMA (The Journal of the American Medical Association). Based on studies conducted over the past ten years, scientists estimate that foodborne microbes “sicken from 6.5 million to 81 million people and cause some 9000 deaths in the United States annually.” Some experts also believe that increased consumption of organically grown foods (foods fertilized with animal manure) may contribute to the problem. According to the JAMA report, “E coli can survive in cow manure for 70 days and can multiply in foods grown with manure, unless heat or additives such as salt or preservatives are used to kill the microbes.”
“Holy” Monkeys—A Nuisance
Rhesus monkeys have lived in Vrindavan, India, for as long as anyone can remember, says primatologist Iqbal Malik. The monkeys are considered sacred by many and have been free to roam the Hindu holy city without fear of capture—until now, that is. According to New Scientist magazine, the rhesus population has risen sharply there in recent years because the number of pilgrims feeding them has increased. Feeding the monkeys is thought to bring prosperity. Over the years, however, the monkeys have become almost totally dependent on handouts because there is very little greenery. “They have begun to steal bags and enter houses to look for food.” Residents have agreed to have as much as 60 percent of the monkey population captured and relocated to rural areas. Says Malik: “The gods have become pests.”
Tight Fit?
Even though the bones of our feet stop growing in late adolescence, our feet change throughout our lives. Neil Koven, president of the Canadian Podiatric Medicine Association, says: “As we age, our feet tend to flatten a bit and splay so they lengthen and widen. It’s because our ligaments become a little bit more loose or lax.” Footwear experts estimate that up to one half of adults wear wrong-size shoes—width size being the most common problem—which contribute to corns, calluses, bunions, and toe deformities. Are your shoes too tight? “Stand on a piece of paper in your bare feet and trace around both feet. Then place your shoes on top of the paper and draw around them. By comparing the outlines, you’ll be able to see how much you are funneling your feet into your shoes,” says The Toronto Star newspaper. For the best possible fit, get your feet measured each time you buy shoes, and make your purchase in the afternoon or evening after being active on your feet.
Hunting “Unknown Enemies”
In 1997, allergies or hay fever began two months earlier than usual for people living in Rome, Italy, says Corriere della Sera. The early pollen assault is thought by one allergist to have been caused by “the general increase in the planet’s average temperature, which has noticeably reduced winter’s duration.” The newspaper notes that “the fine days have brought unknown pollens, which experts in the field are unable to counter.” The “hunt for the unknown cause” has thus already begun, but in the meantime, “patients are suffering from allergies, the causes of which cannot be determined.”
Wafer Watchers
St. Charles Catholic Church in Picayune, Mississippi, has begun posting guards to make sure nobody walks out without swallowing the Communion wafer. This step was taken following a number of instances in which people walked out of church with the wafer, or Host, which Catholics consider to be sacred. According to The Dallas Morning News, clergyman John Noone claims that “Satan worshipers want to get their hands on the host” in order to “desecrate” it. The Communion guards’ job is to watch parishioners and see if they actually swallow. If they don’t, the churchgoers are politely asked either to consume the Host or to give it back.
Video Flashback
According to a statement published in Pediatrics magazine, “a handful of experimental studies indicate that music videos may have a significant behavioral impact by desensitizing viewers to violence and by making teenagers more likely to approve of premarital sex.” Of greatest concern to parents are the lyrics in heavy metal and gangsta rap. “For a small subgroup of teenagers, music preference may be highly significant. Numerous studies indicate that a preference for heavy metal music may be a significant marker for alienation, substance abuse, psychiatric disorders, suicide risk, sex-role stereotyping, or risk-taking behaviors during adolescence.” The report, which was compiled by eight medical doctors between 1995 and 1996, says: “If viewers hear a song after having seen the video version, they immediately ‘flash back’ to the visual imagery in the video.”
Elephant-Dung Paper
When neighbors observed Mike Bugara boiling pots of elephant dung in his yard, understandably they were quite worried. Some thought he was practicing witchcraft, but, in reality, he was making paper. Mr. Bugara first made paper from banana, maize, and eucalyptus leaves. But plentiful supplies of high-fiber dung from Kenya’s elephant population got the ardent conservationist wondering about using it to make paper. He decided that it would be a good way to raise “people’s awareness about the value of keeping the species alive,” reports New Scientist magazine. Now his elephant-dung paper is being used for invitation cards for the Kenya Wildlife Service’s 50th anniversary this year.
Eating Rituals
The TV is the “focal point of much modern ritual behavior,” says The New York Times. One example given is the practice of eating while watching television—now a ritual in countries around the world. In Mexico, for instance, many families eat their supper while watching soap operas. A recent survey in France revealed that “62 percent of meals are eaten with the TV on.” In China, viewers enjoy special TV events while munching on roasted watermelon seeds. These black seeds are also popular among TV viewers in Israel, along with sunflower seeds and pistachios. TV snacks in the Philippines include grilled chicken feet, pigs’ ears, and skewered chicken intestines. A favorite snack is balut—“unhatched duck embryos boiled and eaten from the shell with a sprinkling of rock salt,” says the Times.
Cost-Free Cholera Prevention
Scientists believe that they have found a cost-free method of preventing cholera—filtering drinking water through saris! Researchers at the University of Maryland, in the United States, and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, in Dacca, Bangladesh, found that cholera-producing bacteria inhabit the gut of copepods, planktonlike crustaceans that live in water. By pouring water through four layers of sari material, more than 99 percent of the cholera bacteria can be removed. The sari can then be decontaminated by exposing it to two hours of direct sunlight, or, during the monsoon season, by treating it with cheap disinfectant. London’s newspaper The Independent reports that field trials will begin this year, when people who live in affected areas will be taught how to implement the procedure.
America’s Love of Guns
“Four in 10 American adults live in households with guns, and those homes have an average of two firearms each, according to a national poll,” reports New York’s Daily News. “In the poll, 25% said they had a pistol, 27% a shotgun and 29% a rifle.” Many households have more than one type of gun.