Watching the World
“An Accounting Game”
Three years ago the Third World debt crisis erupted, prompting fears that the global financial system would collapse. Today, however, “there no longer seems to be any immediate danger of debt problems toppling big banks like dominoes,” writes Nicholas D. Kristof in a news analysis for The New York Times. Why? Because the debt-ridden countries of Latin America have been generating trade surpluses, opening the door for further loans from the International Money Fund and others. But critics say this is only postponing the day of reckoning. “In a way it’s an accounting game,” decries a senior vice-president of a large brokerage house. “You postpone principal payments and lend new money to pay interest.” Adds Kristof: “For all the emergency repair work, the total amount of Latin American debt has actually risen, not fallen, over the last three years.”
Women and Stress
Women are under more stress from their family roles than men are from problems at work, reports The New York Times. “If you compare housewives, especially those with young children, to working husbands and fathers,” says Dr. Peggy Thoits of Princeton University, “there is little question that housewives suffer more anxiety and depression.” The women who suffer the most are those who are termed “role captives”—women who feel trapped at a dreary job or at home. Researchers have found that the happiest housewives have outside interests and fill multiple roles—such as wife, mother, part-time worker, student, and active member of a religious or social organization.
Lightning Alert
“Lightning is more lethal than you probably realize,” states Parents magazine. Most injuries occur to people in buildings that are not protected against lightning. When an electrical storm strikes, persons at home are advised to stay away from open doors and windows, the fireplace, the phone, and metal objects. Those caught outside should avoid open fields, open boats, wire fences, lone trees, or the tallest trees in a grove. If swimming, get out of the water. Your best protection will be in a low spot. But if you are caught in the open, the magazine gives this advice: “Kneel down and bend over low, without resting your hands on your knees. Allow only your knees and feet to touch the ground, a position that reduces the risk of your conducting electricity.”
Bone-Marrow Clock
Researchers studying hemoglobin production by bone-marrow stem cells report the existence of a “developmental clock” within these cells. According to The Guardian of London, “foetal haemoglobin is chemically different to that found in the red blood cells after birth” and takes up oxygen more readily from the mother’s blood. After birth, however, with oxygen in plentiful supply from the newborn’s lungs, the stem cells begin producing a chemically different hemoglobin. How do the cells know when to switch production? The timing is fixed by some kind of genetic clock within the cells. Says The Guardian: “Just quite how cells are preprogrammed and time their own genetic events remains an intriguing question.”
Guns or Babies?
As military spending increases so does the infant mortality rate, according to Harvard and Boston University researchers after studying data from 141 countries. The researchers feel that their conclusion makes sense because military spending takes money away from social programs that would lower infant death rates. As an example, Japan spends less than 1 percent of its gross national product for military purposes and has a rate of 6 babies one year or younger dying per 1,000 live births. In contrast, the United States has a higher military spending rate—6 percent—as well as a higher infant death rate—11 per 1,000. “A good deal of the difference may be due to military spending,” says one of the researchers.
Easy Come, Easy Go
When Jim Cohoon won half a million dollars in the Provincial lottery in Canada, he quit his job. Eleven weeks later he was broke. What did the 53-year-old seaman do with the money? He simply gave it away—to friends or strangers, once even passing out $50,000 to winos, prostitutes, and others on the street. He also bought a house and a number of cars and gave them all away. No money went to his family, however, not even to pay for the collect call he made to tell them of his winnings, lamented his brother Bob. Now Jim lives on unemployment insurance and stays with friends.
Safest Seats?
Which seats in an airplane are the safest? Some passengers now opt for the rear seats, in view of two recent airplane disasters in which all the survivors were seated in the rear. But experts point out that there is no way to predict which part of the airplane will strike first in a crash or suffer the most damage. “Safety Board records on the 16 worst airline crashes since 1970 show survivors of most crashes were seated in the rear of the plane,” states a New York Daily News report. “In nine crashes, survivors were seated in the rear; in four, throughout the plane. In three crashes, most who died were seated in the rear.” As the primary danger for survivors is usually fire, the safest seats may be those nearest the emergency exits that are farthest from the fire. It has been found that most victims died because their escape was delayed or prevented by cabin debris, not because of crash impact.
Science Fraud Up
The pressures of competition in modern science are producing more and more cases of fraud, “white lies,” and deception, and are eroding its integrity. That was the conclusion reached by a panel discussion of journal editors and medical leaders at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “Science in 1985 is too competitive, too big, too entrepreneurial and too bent on winning,” said Dr. Robert G. Petersdorf from the University of California. Competition to gain promotions or research grants has led many scientists to cheat or exaggerate in their research, he said.
Taking No Chances
When the body of a smallpox victim who died about 1845 was discovered by archaeologists in an East London church crypt, authorities took no chances. Even though it was believed that the smallpox virus would not be active after some 140 years, work was suspended while tissue samples were sent to the United States for analysis. Also, the archaeologists were vaccinated against the disease. “No trace of live viruses have been found,” reported The Sunday Telegraph. Two years ago the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated.
Avoid the Ice Too
Wise travelers know that, to avoid intestinal afflictions, they should not drink the local water in some areas. But that is not enough, warns a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Refrain from using ice as well. According to the study, the bacteria that cause the distress can survive in the ice—some even after weeks of freezing. Depending on its point of origin, airplane ice may also be unsafe, even in alcoholic beverages. “You are running a risk when you put ice in a drink,” said Dr. Herbert L. DuPont, one of the medical researchers who worked on the report. “I don’t do it myself.”
Persistent Virus
People infected with the AIDS virus can carry it without symptoms for over four years, according to a recent report in The New England Journal of Medicine, and still transmit it to others through blood transfusions. Over 200 people are reported to have developed AIDS through blood transfusions or by use of blood substances. A separate study by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta has confirmed that the virus may persist symptomless in some for over five years. As of mid-August, there were more than 12,000 confirmed cases of AIDS in the United States—rising at the rate of 160 new cases each week—and more than 5,000 of them have died. The first cases were reported in 1981.
Soviets Fight Alcoholism
Following an intensive publicity campaign, the Soviet government has launched a widespread drive against alcoholism, a major national problem. Among the new measures imposed were raising the drinking age to 21, increasing penalties for drunkenness in public or on the job, restricting the serving of liquor in restaurants to after 2 p.m., and allowing liquor stores to open only for five hours on workdays. Roadblocks have been set up across the land to catch drunken drivers, and drinking scenes have been deleted from films shown on television. But some Soviets doubt that drinking habits can be changed. “People will find a way to drink,” said one. “It’s in our Russian roots.”
Terrorist Preference
The largest number of acts of international terrorism last year occurred in Western Europe, according to a study by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies in Israel. Of the 412 incidents of terrorism involving the interests of two or more nations, 40.5 percent took place in Western Europe and resulted in 349 fatalities. However, a considerable number of them involved non-Europeans. The Middle East followed with 20.6 percent, with Lebanon accounting for 9.7 percent of the total—not counting the attacks on Israelis there. Spain was next with 8.3 percent and France with 8 percent. Only two tenths of 1 percent of the international terrorist acts occurred in Eastern Europe. “The report noted a growing number of incidents directly or indirectly supported by governments,” said The New York Times.