Tormented by Phobias

“Phobias have often been a subject of ridicule. But ‘funny’ is one thing they are not.”—Jerilyn Ross, director of a treatment center for anxiety disorders

THE word “phobia” refers to an intense, unrealistic fear of an object, an event, or a feeling. But a definition alone cannot convey the terror and loneliness that mark this condition. Raeann Dumont, who has treated phobias for more than two decades, notes: “Phobic people may avoid so many situations that they become housebound, or they may live with constant, unrelenting anxiety, or they may relieve their anxiety with alcohol, which may cause additional problems.”

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Treatment Obstacles

In time, the large pharmaceutical companies started to offer AIDS drugs at much lower prices to developing countries in need. It was hoped that in this way many more people would be able to make use of the drugs. However, there are major obstacles to overcome to make such drugs readily available in developing lands. One of these is the cost. Even at drastically reduced prices, the drugs are still far too expensive for the majority of the people who need them.

Another problem is that the drugs are not easy to administer. Many pills must be taken daily, at specified times. If they are not taken correctly or if the medication routine is interrupted, this could lead to the development of drug-resistant strains of HIV. It is difficult to ensure adherence to correct dosages in African conditions, where there may be little food, a low supply of clean drinking water, and few medical facilities.

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Comet Crash !

For a week in July 1994, the collisions of about 20 fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into the planet Jupiter captured the attention of stargazers around the world. Comet watchers marveled, since the display turned out to be, as one astronomer put it, “the celestial drama of the century.” Why did this event far exceed expectations?

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Those Awesome Baby Brains

They are awesome from their beginning. Three weeks after conception, they start out with 125,000 cells and thereafter increase in spurts of 250,000 cells a minute. Each little brain continues its explosive growth until at birth its cells number some 100,000,000,000—as many as there are stars in the Milky Way!

But months before that, while still in the womb, baby’s brain has gone into operation. It is registering perceptions from its watery environment. It hears, tastes, senses light, reacts to touch, learns, and remembers. The mother’s emotions can affect it. Gentle words or soft music calms it. Angry speech or rock music agitates it. The mother’s rhythmic heartbeat soothes it. But if fear sets her heart racing, soon baby’s heart beats twice as fast. A distressed mother transmits anxiety to the babe in her womb. A tranquil mother carries a peaceful baby. A joyful mother may make the babe in her womb jump for joy. All of this and more keeps baby’s brain busy. Even in the womb it is awesome.

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The Power of Spider Silk

It is lighter than cotton, yet ounce for ounce it is stronger than steel. For decades scientists have studied the silk produced by orb-weaving spiders. Dragline silk—the strongest of the seven silks these spiders can spin—has attracted the most attention. It is tougher and more waterproof than silkworm strands, which are commonly used in clothing.

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Smoking Deaths Helpful to the Economy?

“Philip Morris Cos. officials in the Czech Republic have been distributing an economic analysis concluding that . . . smokers’ early deaths help offset medical expenses,” says The Wall Street Journal. “The report, commissioned by the cigarette maker . . . , totes up smoking’s ‘positive effects’ on national finances, including revenue from excise and other taxes on cigarettes and ‘health-care cost savings due to early mortality.’” The article adds: “Weighing the costs and benefits, the report concludes that in 1999 the government had a net gain of 5.82 billion koruna ($147.1 million) from smoking.”

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Surveying the Red Planet

The orbiter Mars Global Surveyor arrived at Mars in 1997. It discovered that Mars once had a strong magnetic field. The orbiter also accurately mapped the topography of Mars, revealing, among other things, that the distance from the lowest spot on the surface of the planet to the highest exceeds 18 miles [29 km], compared with just over 12 miles [19 km] for the earth.

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Will Science Cure the World?

WILL modern science cure the world? In view of the many accomplishments in health care, some feel that this is not a far-fetched notion.

Governments and private benefactors are now working together with the United Nations in an unprecedented campaign against disease. One concerted effort focuses on the immunization of children in developing countries. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, if countries achieve their goals, “by 2015, more than 70 million children who live in the world’s poorest countries will receive each year life-saving vaccines against the following diseases: tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, rubella, yellow fever, haemophilus influenzae type B, hepatitis B, polio, rotavirus, pneumococcus, meningococcus, and Japanese encephalitis.” Measures are also being taken to provide basic health necessities, such as adequate access to clean water, better nutrition, and hygiene education.

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Cheap Imports, Fewer Burglaries

“An influx of cheap electronic goods” might put British burglars out of their jobs, according to a Reuters news report from London, quoting criminology lecturer James Treadwell, of the University of Leicester, England. The low cost of new DVD players, for example, means that those goods have almost zero resale value. They are “simply not worth stealing,” says Treadwell.

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Improving Your Memory

Memory involves three stages: encoding, storage, and retrieval. Your brain encodes information when it perceives it and registers it. This information can then be stored for future retrieval. Memory failure occurs when any one of these three stages breaks down.

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That Amazing Weed—The Dandelion

Dandelions “are reviled as Public Enemy No. One by golf course superintendents and fastidious lawn owners everywhere” and as “the weed that won’t go away,” states The News of Mexico City. Yet, the dandelion “is one of the world’s most healthful plants” and can contribute much to your health and diet. Rich in Vitamin A and potassium, the dandelion is more nutritious than broccoli or spinach.

All its parts are useful. The young leaves can be used as greens in salads or in almost any recipe calling for spinach; the dried, roasted roots, for a coffeelike beverage; and the blossoms, for wine. Historically dandelion has been used as a liver tonic and cleanser, as a blood purifier and builder, and as a mild diuretic. The dandelion is “one of the top six herbs in the Chinese medicine chest,” declares The News. And for people who have a lawn or access to a pasture, dandelions are free.

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Stress—Its Causes and Effects

WHAT is stress? According to one expert, stress may be defined as “any physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension.” Does this mean that stress is inherently harmful? No. As Dr. Melissa C. Stöppler observes, “a mild degree of stress and tension can sometimes be beneficial. Feeling mildly stressed when carrying out a project or assignment often compels us to do a good job and to work energetically.”

So when is stress a problem? Says Stöppler: “It is only when stress is overwhelming, or poorly managed, that its negative effects appear.” Consider some common sources of stress.

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Narcolepsy—The Sleeping Illness

Narcolepsy is an illness that causes its victims to have frequent attacks of sleepiness. Explains sleep researcher Wilse B. Webb: “People with narcolepsy will, while performing normal day-to-day activities, suddenly and involuntarily lapse into sleep lasting from a very few minutes to episodes of up to 15 minutes.” The attacks can come virtually anytime—during a lecture, while carrying on conversation, or while driving an automobile. Other symptoms often include sudden muscle weakness, sleep paralysis, and frightening hallucinations.

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A Penchant for Pizza

KING Ferdinand I (1751–1825) is said to have disguised himself as a commoner and, in clandestine fashion, visited a poor neighborhood in Naples. Why the secrecy? One story has it that he wanted to sink his teeth into a food that the queen had banned from the royal court—pizza.

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Why Men Die Younger

“A man’s life, a miserable life: men get sick sooner and die sooner.” This grim picture was painted by the organizers of the first World Congress on Men’s Health, held in Vienna, Austria. They were alarmed, reports the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, by the fact that men die, on average, five years earlier than women.

Why do men die younger? For one thing, they are more likely to smoke or drink excessively. Overeating and lack of exercise are other major risk factors—70 percent of middle-aged men are said to be overweight. Moreover, many suffer from the stress of trying to balance work and family. And men are less likely to go to a doctor when they are sick or to seek preventive health care. Summing it up, Siegfried Meryn, one of the congress organizers, said: “Medically, men are indeed worse off.”

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Good Music Can Be Good Medicine

“Among the reasons for the existence of music in virtually every culture [is] its ability to elicit and maintain human health and well-being,” says the book Principles and Practice of Stress Management. When we are singing, notes another reference, our entire body resounds and vibrates. In turn, gentle vibrations help tissues relax and dilate, which may help to reduce pain.

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Oxygen-Starved Eyes

Some contact-lens wearers may be starving their eyes of oxygen, reports The Globe and Mail. “Vascularization occurs when the cornea [the eye’s transparent cover] can’t get the oxygen it needs through surface contact with the air and begins growing blood vessels to compensate.” Impaired vision or even blindness can result.

Dr. Raymond Stein, chief of ophthalmology at a Toronto hospital, says that the “worst scenario is when a patient fails to take care of his or her lenses and does not come in for follow-up.” Optometrists encourage patients to consult an eye-care professional to make sure that they have the right contact lenses for their particular eyes and then to follow the recommended wear schedule and lens-care instructions.

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Know Your Hair

Do you know how many hairs your scalp contains? On the average, about 100,000. An individual hair continues to grow for only two to six years, not endlessly. It then falls out, and after an interval a new hair starts to grow from the same pore. The life cycle of an individual hair is called a hair cycle. Because of this cycle, even if one does not have a hair problem, some 70 to 100 hairs fall out naturally every day.

What causes the variety we observe in hair color? The World Book Encyclopedia explains: “The color of hair is determined largely by the amount and distribution of a brown-black pigment called melanin.” Melanin is a biological pigment that is found in hair, skin, and eyes. The greater the amount of the pigment, the darker the hair will be. As the amount of melanin lessens, the hair color varies from black to brown or rust or blond. If hair contains no melanin at all, it looks shiny white.

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The World’s Largest Seed

Many years ago, when an unusually large seed washed ashore on islands of the Maldives and Indonesia, it captured the human imagination. Myths circulated about its origin. Some thought it came from an underwater tree. Thus, it was given the name Coco De Mer, or sea coconut. It was even believed to be the forbidden fruit that was eaten by Adam in the garden of Eden. However, the truth was finally discovered in the middle of the 18th century. This mysterious seed had come from a type of palm tree found only in the Seychelles, a small group of islands in the Indian Ocean.

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“Talking” Plants

Researchers at the Institute for Applied Physics at the University of Bonn, Germany, have developed laser-driven microphones that can “listen” to plants. The microphones pick up sound waves produced by ethylene gas, which is given off by plants when they are under stress. Bonn University scientist Dr. Frank Kühnemann says: “The more a plant is subjected to stress, the louder the signal we get on our microphone.”

In one case an apparently healthy cucumber “was virtually shouting,” according to readings. “A closer study showed that it had developed mildew, yet the symptoms were not visible.” In fact, mildew takes eight or nine days to form visible spots, and only then can farmers detect the problem. “By eavesdropping on plants,” says The Times of London, “it should be possible to develop an early-warning system to detect pests and disease. Knowing the stress level of fruit and vegetables can also be an aid in efficient storing and transporting.”

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The Power of a Smile

Although it lasts only a moment, the memory may stay with you all your life. Its value is immense, but nobody is so poor that he cannot share it or so rich that he does not need it. What are we talking about? A smile.

A smile is produced by a muscular contraction in which the eyes brighten and the corners of the mouth curve slightly upward expressing satisfaction. During the first few weeks after birth, a baby smiles, and this, of course, delights the proud new parents. These early smiles are known as reflex, or involuntary, smiles. Experts explain that this kind of smile appears often during dreaming and seems to be related to internal feelings and activity of the central nervous system. Even when we are adults, this reflex smile may still occur after a meal or while we are listening to music.

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Strange New Organism Discovered

Scientists at the University of Regensburg, Germany, have discovered an interesting microbe on the volcanic ocean floor north of Iceland. It thrives only in scalding-hot, oxygen-free water that is rich in sulfur, notes the newsmagazine Der Spiegel. The bacteria owe their name, Nanoarchaeum equitans, or primitive riding dwarf, to the fact that they live on the surface of a much bigger organism named Ignicoccus, or fireball, on which they seem to depend for growth.

With a diameter of just 400 nanometers, the microbes are so small that, according to the report, “over six million would fit on the point of a needle.” They are also unique in that their DNA does not even contain 500,000 base pairs. “Thus the primitive dwarf is the creature with the smallest known genome,” says Der Spiegel.

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First Light Pollution Law

The Czech Republic is the first country with a law prohibiting light pollution, notes the Berliner Morgenpost. The law, known as the Protection of the Atmosphere Act, came into force on June 1, 2002. It has found wide support among astronomers and also the population in general. The law defines light pollution as “every form of illumination by artificial light that is dispersed outside the areas it is dedicated to, particularly if directed above the level of the horizon.”

Citizens and organizations are obliged to reduce stray light, which impedes observation of the night sky, by using shielded light fixtures. Even prior to June 1, the use of such fixtures in downtown Brno had markedly reduced stray light. “The improvement is spectacular,” said Czech astronomer Jan Hollan.

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Carbon Monoxide — The Silent Killer

Every year about 50 people in Britain die of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by faulty home heating appliances. “After asbestos, carbon monoxide is the most common single cause of poisoning at work and in the home,” reports London Hazards Centre Trust. What is carbon monoxide?

Carbon monoxide is a gas that is formed when incomplete combustion occurs, whether in an automobile engine or in heating appliances that burn coal or other fossil fuels, especially gas. It is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. So how does it kill?

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Timepiece - The Science Behind the Machine

Horology—the science that involves the making of machines that indicate time—is among the oldest of the scientific crafts. The “heart” of these machines is the escapement. This regulates the rate at which the power driving the machine is released. When this power is allowed to escape only in small amounts and at regular intervals, periods of time can be measured. No one knows exactly when the first all-mechanical clock was invented, but a milestone was reached about the year 1500, when portable timepieces were first made.

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The World’s First Photographer

French physicist Joseph-Nicéphore Niepce possibly started his quest to make permanent photos as early as 1816. But his real breakthrough came when he was experimenting with lithography and came across a light-sensitive substance called bitumen of Judaea. Sometime in the mid-1820’s, he put a bitumen-coated pewter plate in a camera obscura facing a window of his estate and exposed it for eight hours. Not even the most inexperienced of today’s amateur photographers would be proud of the blurry picture of a building, a tree, and a barn that resulted, but Niepce had reason to be. His picture was most likely the first permanent photograph ever taken!

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Deafness From Headsets

Research by Australia’s National Acoustic Laboratory revealed that even normal use of personal stereo headsets can cause latent ear damage, reports The Courier-Mail of Brisbane. Researcher Dr. Eric LePage said that young people are reluctant to take such warnings seriously. “They can repeatedly expose themselves to very loud sounds or music for years and they judge that it has no effect,” he said.

One survey showed that warnings “had little impact until people actually started suffering deafness,” the paper said. The new research confirms German studies indicating that about one quarter of military recruits there aged 16 to 24 have already damaged their hearing by listening to loud music and that “almost 10 percent of students aged 16 to 18 had lost so much hearing that they had problems understanding some normal conversation.”

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Longevity, Is the Secret in Okinawa?

The islands of Okinawa, Japan, were estimated to have nearly 740 centenarians in 2006—90 percent of whom were women—out of a population of 1.3 million. This represents about 50 centenarians for every 100,000 people, according to the Okinawa Centenarian Study, headed by Dr. Makoto Suzuki. In most developed lands, the ratio is thought to be between 10 and 20 per 100,000.

The ongoing study, said to be “the longest continuously running centenarian study in the world,” found that “an unusual number of centenarians [were] in extraordinarily healthy shape.” To find out why, Suzuki and his team examined the lifestyle and genetics of over 900 centenarians, as well as many other Okinawans in their 70’s or older. The researchers found that the subjects tended to be lean and fit, that their arteries were clean, and that they had remarkably low rates of cancer and heart disease. And of those in their late 90’s, fewer had dementia than comparable populations in other developed lands. The secret?

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First Aid at Funerals

A defibrillator has been issued to gravediggers at a cemetery in Australia. The purpose? To resuscitate grief-stricken mourners who suffer cardiac arrest, reports the Sydney Sun-Herald. “Funerals are risky places for heart attacks,” explains Sisenanda Santos, a spokeswoman for the St. John Ambulance service, which is supervising the program.

“People are in large groups, they are distressed, and they are often overdressed for hot days.” The defibrillator is programmed with recorded instructions to the user and administers an electric shock to restart the distressed person’s heart only if the device detects the distinctive signs of cardiac arrest.

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The Seagull’s Leg

A seagull does not freeze even while standing on ice with bare feet. How does this creature conserve its body heat? Part of the secret is in what are called countercurrent heat exchangers.

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Robots, How Far Have They Come?

Robots are no longer confined to the factory. They now come equipped with such things as voice-recognition software, gyroscopes, wireless data communication, Global Positioning Systems, and a range of sensors including those for heat, force, ultrasound, chemicals, and radiation. More powerful and versatile than ever, robots are performing tasks that were viewed as impossible just a few years ago. Consider some examples.

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Long Lived Whale

When indigenous Alaskan hunters killed a bowhead whale in 2007, they found lodged in it the point and fragments of an old harpoon. These were identified as “parts of an exploding lance made in New Bedford [Massachusetts, U.S.A.] in the late 1800s,” says The Boston Globe.

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Less Sleep, More Colds

“People who sleep fewer than seven hours a night are nearly three times as likely to get a cold than people who average eight or more hours of sleep,” says a report from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. And those who stay awake “as little as 8 percent of the time they [are lying] in bed [are] five-and-a-half times more likely” to catch a cold than those who sleep more soundly.

“Although sleep’s relationship with the immune system is well-documented, this is the first evidence that even relatively minor sleep disturbances can influence the body’s reaction to cold viruses,” said Sheldon Cohen, the study’s lead author. “It provides yet another reason why people should make time in their schedules to get a complete night of rest.”

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Paper as Strong as Iron

Researchers at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology have developed a method of producing paper from wood cellulose that preserves the natural strength of its fibers. The normal mechanical processing of wood pulp in papermaking damages its tiny cellulose fibers and greatly reduces their strength.

But the Swedish team succeeded in breaking down the pulp with enzymes and then gently separating its cellulose fibers in water, using a mechanical beater. When the undamaged fibers are drained, they bond into networks, producing sheets of paper with a yield strength greater than cast iron and almost as great as structural steel.

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Singing Mice

“Mice can sing, and . . . their songs to prospective mates are nearly as complex as those of birds,” reports New Scientist. Mouse songs are at ultrasonic frequencies, that is, at a pitch too high for the human ear to hear—likely the reason they were not noticed before.

Researchers in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A., found that the vocalizations of male mice “were arranged into phrases and motifs, fulfilling the definition of ‘song.’” This puts mice in an exclusive club. Other mammals known to sing are whales, dolphins, some bats and, of course, humans.

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Good Friends, Long Life!

Having a network of good friends may well increase a person’s life span, reports the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. A study of nearly 1,500 Australians aged 70 or over examined how relationships affected longevity over a ten-year period.

Individuals with a strong network of friends had a mortality rate 22 percent lower than those with few friends. Active friendships also have a positive effect among the elderly when it comes to “depression, self efficacy, self esteem, coping and morale, or a sense of personal control,” says the report.

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Nile Crocodiles Communicate Before Hatching

“Baby crocodiles talk to each other while still in the egg,” synchronizing hatching, reports The Times of London. Pre-hatch calls of Nile crocodiles in their eggs were recorded. The calls were then played to one group of eggs.

The juveniles in those eggs answered the calls and made their eggs move more frequently than those not exposed to the calls. “Those hearing the noises of other unborn crocodiles synchronised their hatching to within ten minutes of each other,” says the report. Eggs that were either kept in silence or exposed to random noise failed to fine-tune their hatching.

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Great Monsters of the Deep Sea

A monster suddenly ascends from the sea, snatches the boat, and drags the sailors down to a watery grave. This story line provides the plot for legends that have persisted through the ages. But do monsters that large really exist?

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The Amazon Once Hosted Urban Civilization

Vast areas of southern amazonia believed to be virgin forests may once have hosted urban communities "surrounded by large walls." This conclusion was reached by anthropologists working in Mato Grosso, Brazil.

There they discovered "networks of walled towns and smaller villages" overgrown by tropical forest and coverling an area of perhaps 11,600 square miles [30,000 sq km]. Some of the towns occupied 150 acres [60 ha].

A report by the University of Florida, whose anthropologists made the discovery, says that the settlements "date from around 1250 to 1650, when European colonists and the diseases they brought likely killed most of their inhabitants."

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Threat From Shrinking Glaciers

The world's lagest body of ice outside the polar regions will disapper within 40 years if the current rate of melting continues, reports The Sunday Telegraph of London. A combination of rising global temperatures and the relatively low latitude of the Himalayas threatens the region's 15,000 glaciers. The Gangotri glacier, which is one of the sources of the Ganges River, has shrunk by almost one third if its length in the past 50 years.

Syed Hasnain, a scientist who monitors the glaciers, warns that if the current rate continues, "rivers such as the Ganges, the Indus and the Brahmaputra, which recieve about 70 to 80 per cent of their water from snow and glacial melt, will dry up." The result would be "an ecological disaster," he warns. Meantime, the risk of serious flooding grows. When glaciers shrink, lakes are formed that are surrounded by fragile walls of ice, boulders, and sand. As melting countinues, the walls brust, sending deavastating floods to he Valleys below.

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Wind Turbines, Kill Bats

In Alberta, Canada, the bats found dead at the foot of wind turbine towers, reported the magazine Scientific American.

Investigators puzzled because bats have sonar and an amazing flying abilities. However, the researchers discovered the existence of internal bleeding in 92 percent of the bat, so they concluded that the respiratory systems of bats are fragile, unable to overcome the air pressure decreases dramatically due to the turbine blades.

The end of this propeller can achieve speeds of 200 kilometers per hour. The main victims are migrating insectivorous bats, and dikwawatirkan that wind turbines can interfere with the stability of ecosystems.

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Useful to Read Before Bed

When parents read to their children before bed, they not only lull children. According to the researchers, these activities enhance children's language skills, help develop motor skills by teaching them hold and turn the page, and sharpens their memory.

"But the most important thing is that reading aloud is a time to share attention and emotion between parent and child," said The Guardian newspaper. "This confirms that reading is fun." and, according to professor Barry Zuckerman, who led the study, "the children eventually learn to love books because they use it together with their loved ones."

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Cow Has a Name, Produce More Milk

"A cow that is named generate more cases than not have a" say scientists at Newscastle University, UK.

In fact, by treating the cows individually, cow's milk production could increase to almost 280 liters a year. Why? "Just like humans are more pleased with the personalized approach, the cows are also more comfortable and more relaxed if they are given more personal attention." said Dr.Catherine Douglas, from the faculties of agriculture, food and rural development. "Our research shows what has long been believed by many farmers of good and caring", he explained.

by providing more individual attention, like calling a cow with her name or more frequently interact with the star until they grew older, we not only can improve animal welfare, but also increase their milk production.

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In What Language a Baby Crying?

"From the age of two days, a baby crying in his mother tongue tone," said the researchers from the University of Wurzburg, Germany.

The researchers record the cries of 30 infants from the French, and 30 infants from germany, and analyze the frequency, patterns of melodies, and high-low tone. The crying baby from the french often start with low and then rising tone, while the baby from germany, often starting with high tones and then the lower.

Both groups of infants are imitating the typical pattern of the language of their parents. Thus, it is believed that language development begins in the womb and infant language began with his first cry.

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Human vs. Nature

Actually a lot of imitating human designs from nature to create a product that was created for the benefit of man. But whether humans can exceed the work of nature? Here we will compare, the work of man-made with nature.

FIBER:

Human: Kevlar is a strong man-made fibers used to make bulletproof vests, racing car body, and many more. To make kevlar required high temperatures and hazardous solvents.
Nature: Spiders spinners can produce seven types of silk. The strongest, is called a silk noose, lighter than cotton. However, with the same weight, silk is stronger than steel and kevlar. And if enlarged to the size of a football field, made of silk nets of this type, with a thickness of one centimeter and the distance of four centimeters, can stop a large jet aircraft in flight. Produce spider silk at room temperature, with water as a solvent.

NAVIGATION:

Human: Some commercial aircraft have automatic computerized steering system that not only can direct the plane from one city to another city, but also landed the plane. Computer in one ekspertimen automatic steering system for credit cards only.
Nature: With a brain the size of the tip of the pen, the king of the butterflies may migrate as far as 3000 miles from Canada to a small forest dimeksiko. These butterflies rely on the sun to navigate and able to compensate for the movement of the sun in the sky.

LENSES:

Human: The engineers have developed artificial compound eyes the size of the head of a needle head consisting of lenses 8500. Such lenses can be used in high-speed motion detectors and super-thin camera that can shoot to many directions.
Nature: Each eye consisted of dragonflies approximately 30,000 lenses. These lenses produce wide-angle image mosaic. Dragonfly compound eye has a wonderful ability to detect motion.

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