Bees in the News
Soaring sugar prices have helped spur a honeybee business boom, according to an Illinois bee broker. A starter package of about 12,000 bees and their queen costs about $25 there now compared with $15 a year ago. Bee rustlers are expanding too. “They drive up in trucks, plug the entrance of the hives, cart them away and mix the bees with their own bees,” says the broker. Many beekeepers are now branding their hives.
A World Food Conference report noted that the West German apple harvest is down 41 percent for lack of bees to pollinate the trees, and a Burma sunflower plantation went seedless a second year for the same reason. In some areas pesticides aimed against destructive insects have been killing the beneficial bees.
A not-so-benevolent variety of deadly African bees that escaped from a Brazilian scientific laboratory in 1957 has now reached Colombia. They are moving north about 200 miles per year, reportedly killing about 300 persons and thousands of animals annually.
A More Balanced Life
A survey conducted by the Australia Institute, an independent research organization, found that “23 per cent of Australians aged 30 to 59 have sacrificed income for the sake of a more balanced lifestyle in the past 10 years,” reports The Sydney Morning Herald. The trend, which the researchers call downshifting, is being adopted by many who hope to improve their sense of well-being and to have more time with their children. These workers are “switching to a less demanding and less well-paid job, reducing work hours or dropping out of the workforce altogether,” says the Herald. Dr. Clive Hamilton, executive director of the Australia Institute, said: “This is about putting lives in front of incomes. These are people who certainly do not view themselves as drop-outs; they’re ordinary people from the mainstream, who are rejecting over-consumption and deliberately reducing their income in search of a more balanced lifestyle.”
WATCHING THE WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF.
▪ “The deep sea is by far the largest habitat on the planet. And one of the harshest . . . Yet everywhere we look we are finding life, sometimes in extraordinary abundance.”—NEW SCIENTIST, BRITAIN.
▪ In a recent test case, a federal court judge in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., ruled that “it is unconstitutional to teach [intelligent design] as an alternative to evolution in a public school science classroom.”—NEW YORK TIMES, U.S.A.
▪ According to a news poll in 2005, “51 percent of Americans reject the theory of evolution.”—NEW YORK TIMES, U.S.A.
▪ At 175 years of age, Harriet, a 330-pound [150 kg] giant Galápagos tortoise that lives at a zoo in Brisbane, Australia, is the “world’s oldest known living animal.”—AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION.
▪ Swiss researchers have found how some maize varieties defend themselves against western corn rootworm. They emit odors into the ground. These attract minuscule threadworms that kill the larvae of the rootworm.—DIE WELT, GERMANY.
"In Janury 2009, eight states possessed a total of more than 23 300 nuclear weapons." - STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, SWEDEN.
By: Icek Blueyez
When You Quit Smoking
Within 20 minutes after a person quits smoking, the body begins to change for the better. Reader’s Digest published the following list of beneficial changes that occur at specified times after a smoker quits. Twenty minutes: Blood pressure and pulse rate drop to normal; temperature of hands and feet increases to normal. Eight hours: Carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal; oxygen level in blood increases to normal. Twenty-four hours: Possibility of heart attack decreases. Forty-eight hours: Nerve endings start regrowing; ability to taste and smell is enhanced; walking becomes easier. Two weeks to three months: Circulation improves; lung function increases up to 30 percent. One to nine months: Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease; lung cilia regrow. One year: Risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker.
Pushing the Planet to the Brink
The world’s current yearly population growth is almost 100 million, and it is estimated that by the year 2050, the earth’s population will be 10 billion, says a report in the British M
edical Journal. The Royal Society of London and the U.S. National Academy of Science issued an unprecedented joint statement that said that such growth threatens the environment with irreversible damage. This would be particularly true if the developing nations, where most of the growth is taking place, were to consume resources at the same rate as the developed world. The academies suggested a central role for science and technology but said it is not prudent to rely on them alone “to solve problems created by rapid population growth, wasteful resource consumption, and harmful human practices.” If nothing changes, the statement said, “science and technology may not be able to prevent either irreversible degradation of the environment or continued poverty for much of the world.” “If we don’t make serious attempts to control population everything else becomes secondary,” stated Sir Michael Atiyah, president of the Royal Society of London.
Economic Woes Spill Over Into Clinics
Economic woes related to the sharp fall in the value of Argentina’s currency are sending Argentinians to hospitals and clinics in droves with stress-related health problems, taxing these facilities beyond their capacity, reports the newspaper Clarín. Health problems include “headaches, hypertension, ulcers, gastritis, insomnia, and anxiety.” Some people faint “without neurological causes,” said one medical professional. Consultations for stress, depression, and fear increased 300 percent in just a few days in one clinic. Besides having to cope with crowded waiting rooms, doctors and nurses also have to contend with patients who are angry because of the financial crisis. Some patients have even physically attacked doctors and nurses. One nurse was hit in the head.
Icek Blueyez
Workplace Stress“Almost one in five Canadians say they are so stressed that they have considered committing suicide to relieve the pressure,” reports The Globe and Mail. What is the source of this stress? In a survey of 1,002 individuals, 43 percent cited their work. “In the modern workplace, we are pushing people to their physical and psychological limits,” says Shimon Dolan, an organizational psychologist and professor at the University of Montreal. “The pressure to perform is tremendous but, at the same time, there is great uncertainty—you don’t know if you will have a job tomorrow.” How do Canadians deal with stress? Exercise is the most popular way, says the Globe, “followed by reading a book, hobbies and playing sports, socializing and spending time with family.”
Teens’ Re
al Worries “Parents are so worried about their teenage children getting mixed up with drugs that they are failing to spot the serious emotional and mental health problems that concern their offspring,” says The Times of London. A survey of more than 500 parents and more than 500 teenagers shows that 42 percent of parents believe that drug abuse is the single biggest problem facing their children. However, only 19 percent of teenagers agree. Thirty-one percent of teens worry more about relationships with friends and family, and 13 percent about bullying. Justin Irwin, director of the telephone help line Get Connected, the organization that commissioned the study, expressed particular concern about the tendency of parents to overlook their teenagers’ psychological and emotional problems. He urges parents: “Stop making assumptions. Start being realistic.” Harmful Effects of Sleep Loss “Nine percent of Poles sleep less than five hours per night,” reports the Warsaw weekly Wprost. 
“Among Americans and Britons, 1 in 3 sleeps no more than 6.5 hours a night.” According to Michał Skalski of a sleep-disorder clinic in Poland, “someone who sleeps little is under permanent stress.” Japanese research indicates that “the risk of heart attack is 50 percent higher in those who sleep five hours a day or less when compared with those sleeping eight hours per night,” reports Wprost. In addition, American studies indicate that lack of sleep may be linked to diabetes and other health problems. Sleep loss not only “leads to changes in glucose metabolism” but is also related to “increased risk of obesity,” says the report. “When you’re tired, your body tries to compensate for the lack of energy,” explains the magazine American Fitness. “Sleep-deprived people tend to eat and drink more to feel awake. So, if you’ve lost a couple pounds and want to keep them off, sleep a little more.”Icek Blueyez
