Explosion of Classroom Cheating

In a survey of 20,000 first-year university students in Canada, 73 percent “admitted to committing one or more serious acts of academic dishonesty on written work while in high school,” says the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL). One university reported that cases of cheating and plagiarism increased by 81 percent between the years 2003 and 2006. “Over the past decade,” says Dr. Paul Cappon, president of CCL, “internet and high-tech devices have enabled a virtual explosion of classroom cheating.”

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Born to Dance?

“Humans have a unique ability to coordinate their motor movements to an external auditory stimulus, as in music-induced foot tapping or dancing,” says a report published by researchers from the universities of York, England, and Jyva¨ skyla¨ , Finland. The researchers found that even before infants learned to speak, they responded to the rhythm of music and spontaneously tried tomove in time with the beat. The more successful their attempts, the longer they smiled. This suggests that the sense of rhythmand a desire to move with music are not something we pick up but something that comes naturally.

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The Coffee Dilemma

OVER 1,500,000,000 cups a day! According to a recent estimate, that is how much coffee the world drinks. This vast consumption has persisted despite repeated warnings from scientists over the years that coffee drinkers face a virtual plethora of hazards, ranging from heart disease to diabetes and even various types of cancer. Why is it, then, that so few coffee drinkers have dropped their cups and run from the drink?

Over the past 40 years, scientists have published more than five hundred reports on the effects of coffee drinking. But so far their conclusions have been, well, inconclusive. Why? For one thing, coffee is more complex than it looks. A cup of coffee may contain as many as five hundred naturally occurring chemicals. Yet, most studies focus on just one ingredient, the stimulant caffeine.

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The Enigma of Britain’s House Sparrows

The ubiquitous house sparrow, with its familiar chirpings and twitterings, has long been part of the British scene. But it is now disappearing—often suddenly—from urban areas, and nobody knows why. The Independent newspaper of London has offered a £5,000 ($7,200) prize for the first scientific paper from anyone who can solve the mystery. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology will act as judges. The project is expected to take at least two years to complete.

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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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