Watching the World

Highest Suicide Rate

The suicide rate in Hungary ranks as the highest in the world, and the Hungarian government is worried, reports The New York Times. According to psychiatrist Dr. Bella Buda, a researcher with the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungarian suicide victims are viewed as ‘brave men’ who have accepted death to avoid more suffering. Each year “nearly 5,000 persons commit suicide in Hungary,” says Buda, while “as many as 50,000 try.” Prompted by the alarming increase of suicides, the government is asking researchers to find better means of prevention. Cited as factors in suicide cases were economic stagnation, inflation, and alcoholism spurred on by “a frantic pursuit” of a materialistic life-style.

How Salt Preserves

Salt preserves meat​—but how? Microbiologist Robert Buchanan of the U.S. Department of Agriculture says he has figured it out. “It doesn’t kill food-spoiling bacteria by drying them,” reports Hippocrates magazine. “Instead, salt forces the bacteria to use so much energy getting rid of sodium that they have no energy left to eat and reproduce.” Perhaps this news will help meat processors learn how to get by with less salt in their products.

“A Bleak Picture”

Statistics for 1986 show that the membership of Canada’s largest Protestant denomination, the United Church of Canada, has again decreased by more than 9,000. In 1985 the drop was over 10,000. The Toronto Star described the 1986 figures as “a bleak picture for a denomination that is at times beset by controversy.” Among the causes for the “general unrest” that has led to loss of members are listed “the proposed ordination of self-declared homosexuals and the use of non-sexist language in church literature.” A former church moderator admitted that some believe “the leadership of the church is so out of touch with the local people.”

New Pyramid Theory

How the ancient Egyptians lifted the massive stones that form the pyramids into place has long intrigued scholars. Now Joseph Davidovits, a chemist at Florida’s Barry University, claims they were not lifted at all but rather cast in place. He bases his hypothesis on analysis of samples of the pyramid blocks that he obtained in 1982. The blocks, he says, contain minerals that do not occur naturally in limestone and that differ from the stone in Egypt’s quarries. He asserts that the ancient Egyptians cast the stones by putting limestone and rock rubble together with a natural cement, using the edge of a finished stone as part of the mold for the next. The Egyptian government has challenged his hypothesis.

Pope’s Visit Commercialized

Months before the pope’s nine-city tour of the United States in September, entrepreneurs started selling papal memorabilia. “Vatican and U.S. Roman Catholic Church officials refuse to lend their endorsements to any of the commercial ventures,” says Newsweek. “Still, the amount of papal paraphernalia is multiplying like loaves and fishes.” Among the offerings were T-shirts: A reported favorite sold to priests and nuns features a “canine beer mascot . . . in papal hat and robe.” Hats, masks, and rings: A gold plastic imitation papal ring has red lips attached. “When you kiss it,” says its creator, “it’ll kiss you back.” Posters and pictures: You can have your picture taken with a life-size, cutout likeness of the pope. Videos and comic books: Both offer the pope’s life story. Lawn sprinklers: Water shoots from the “out-turned palms of a plywood pope.” They were marketed under the slogan: “Let Us Spray.” For refreshment, an ice bar in the pope’s image​—called the Popesicle—​was proposed.

Universally Rejected

It began as a good idea: Take bales of tightly compacted garbage; put them in small, controlled landfills; and make energy from the methane gas produced as the garbage decomposes. To start the project, contractor Lowell Harrelson had 3,100 tons of commercial garbage from Islip, New York, loaded on a barge and towed down to North Carolina, where he had an agreement with some farmers to use their land. But when it arrived, protests caused officials to order the barge away. Gaining in notoriety, it was similarly rejected by the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. Belize and other Caribbean nations also said no, and Mexico dispatched its coast guard and air force to keep it from going ashore there. Finally, 60 days and 6,000 miles [9,700 km] later​—at a cost of $6,000 a day for the barge and tug—​it arrived back in New York. But officials would not let it dock there either, citing issues of health and safety. After the garbage had been sitting in Gravesend Bay for three months last summer as somewhat of a tourist attraction, agreement was finally reached to have it incinerated in Brooklyn and the ash buried back in Islip. “Sometimes,” said Harrelson, “I wonder how I could have been so stupid, how I could have caused a fury like this.”

Heavy Responsibility

The fact that almost all women who undergo an abortion suffer thereafter from severe psychological disturbances is often kept hidden from the public, claims Professor P. Petersen of the Hannover, Germany, gynecological hospital. Aftereffects include “severe feelings of guilt; depression; apathy or irritability; hatred for partner, doctor, or for men in general; frigidity; [and] terrible nightmares.” According to the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Petersen pointed out that the doctors who make abortions possible must also bear “a share of the responsibility for killing humans.” This has already taken a heavy psychological toll on many doctors.

Thirst Quenching?

What do you drink when you are thirsty? “Ironically, the most popular choices​—sugar-sweetened carbonated soft drinks—​do not even quench thirst,” states The New York Times. “Rather, their high sugar content can leave you thirstier, setting off a thirst cycle that supports soaring soft-drink consumption.” A typical 12-ounce [340 g] soda contains nine teaspoons of sugar and “supplies no nutrients other than sweet calories.” It may also contain up to half as much caffeine as in a cup of coffee. Then there is the acidity​—in colas, about the same as that of vinegar—​that attacks tooth enamel. Diet, noncaffeine, and “natural” sodas address some problems but leave others and usually do not add anything to the soda’s nutritional value.

Fetal Feelings?

Do fetuses and newborn babies suffer pain and fear? Düsseldorf professor H. G. Lenard feels that the question should be fully answered. As reported in the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he points out that fetuses, “upon being pricked with a needle, react with defensive gestures, anxiety, and increased heartbeat.” Since an unborn baby with water on the brain may be treated by means of puncture needles through the top of the skull, he advocates a “search for a practicable method of anesthetization for fetuses.” The question of pain, he says, should also be considered when using forceps and suction apparatus during a difficult delivery.