Watching the World

World Hunger Update

“The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that roughly half the population in all nations—wealthy and poor—suffers from poor nutrition of one kind or another,” reports State of the World 2000. It is estimated that 1.2 billion people worldwide are suffering from malnourishment. Moreover, several billion more people are said to suffer from ‘hidden hunger,’ which refers to those who appear to be adequately fed but are impaired by a lack of essential vitamins and minerals. “The myth persists today that hunger results from scarce food supplies,” says the Worldwatch Institute, which produces the annual State of the World report. “The reality is that hunger is the product of human decisions . . . Whether people have a decent livelihood, what status is accorded to women, and whether governments are accountable to their people—these have far more impact on who eats and who does not than a country’s agricultural endowment does.”

Suicide in France

“Thirty percent of French adults have thought of committing suicide,” reports Le Monde newspaper. Of those questioned in this first survey ever conducted on suicide in France, 13 percent said that they had seriously contemplated suicide and another 17 percent confessed that they had vaguely thought about it. However, according to Michel Debout, professor of forensic medicine at the university hospital in Saint-Étienne, the true figure is much higher, as many tend to hide such thoughts because of feelings of guilt. The majority of those polled view suicide as “an act of desperation” caused by social problems rather than family circumstances. Each year, there are 160,000 suicide attempts in France and approximately 12,000 deaths from suicide.

Religion à la Carte

A study by pollster George Gallup, Jr., shows that most people in the United States view religion as “a tossed salad.” Rather than follow “traditional belief systems, [North] Americans ‘pick and choose’ what they want to believe, often mixing ideas from within one religion or blending two or more religions into a personal belief system,” reports Canada’s National Post newspaper. The study also reveals that “there is a glaring lack of knowledge about the Bible, basic doctrines and the traditions of one’s own religion” and that “often the faith professed is superficial, with people not knowing what they believe or why,” says the newspaper. Reginald Bibby, a professor of sociology at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, says: “The vast majority continue to identify with the predominant Catholic and Protestant traditions, but selectively draw beliefs, practices, and professional services—such as baptisms, weddings and funerals.”

Coffee and Toxins

According to recent research, coffee can remove from tap water “78 to 90 per cent of dissolved heavy metals, such as lead and copper, because the coffee grounds, with uncharged or negatively charged molecules, attract the positively charged heavy metals,” reports the Australian newspaper. “The stronger the coffee, the better the removal,” said environmental chemist Dr. Mike McLaughlin. Similar experiments were conducted with tea bags, but while tea takes out about a third of the lead, it did not seem to have much effect on copper.

Sabbath Snowman?

Heavy snowfalls in Israel last winter have presented local Orthodox Jews with some tricky questions: Are snowball fights allowed on the Sabbath? What about building a snowman? According to the news service IsraelWire, the former Israeli chief rabbi Mordehai Eliyahu has now come up with some guidelines for those believers who are not sure what is allowed and what is not. The rabbi explained that building a snowman is “work,” even if it  is just for fun. Hence this activity falls under the Sabbath restrictions. Waging a snowball fight, on the other hand, does not constitute work and is therefore allowed. There is one condition, however. All participants must agree to the fight, which excludes throwing snowballs at passersby.

Adult Brains Produce New Nerve Cells?

“For decades, it was axiomatic that people were born with all the brain cells they would ever have,” states The New York Times. Even though as far back as 1965, experiments with certain animals indicated that their brains were generating new nerve cells, many neurologists believed that this did not happen in humans. During the past decade, however, evidence has mounted to indicate that the brain does produce new nerve cells and that it may be constantly renewing itself. Last year researchers discovered that new cells were formed in a part of the human brain associated with short-term memory. Some scientists now believe that “the brain may be repairing itself all the time.”

Acute Stress Linked to Child Abuse

“Women who were physically or sexually abused in childhood may suffer for a lifetime from a distorted response to stress,” reports The Dallas Morning News. Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta compared stress hormone levels and heart rates of women who had previously been abused with those of nonabused women, while the women were performing a stressful task. Those who had suffered child abuse showed markedly elevated levels of stress hormones and increased heart rates in response to stress. The researchers conclude that “there may be a permanent biochemical disruption in the way their bodies respond to and regulate stress,” states the newspaper.

Heavy Backpacks

A study by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons has shown that there is a close relationship between back and shoulder pain in children and the heavy backpacks that some children carry. After stuffing their backpacks with schoolbooks, food and drink, musical instruments, and a change of clothing, some children carry loads of up to 40 pounds [18 kg]. Pediatricians caution that elementary school children could end up having serious back problems, including curvature of the spine, if they daily carry such heavy loads to school. Some specialists suggest to principals and teachers that the weight of the backpacks that students carry equal no more than 20 percent of the body weight of the child or that backpacks be transported “on wheels, have belts for the hips, and even have padded backs,” reports Mexico City’s Excelsior newspaper.

Wine—Three Centuries Old

Two bottles of wine have been discovered in the rubble of a London building that was destroyed in 1682, reports The Times of London. The cork of one had decayed, and the wine inside had turned to vinegar; but the other cork, held in place by wire and wax, had maintained a perfect seal. At a special wine tasting staged by the Museum of London, wine experts sampled some of the centuries-old libation that had been drawn from the bottle with a syringe. They concluded that it was likely a dry Madeira, and they pronounced its taste “fresh, clean, lively and well-balanced.”

World’s Rivers in Serious Trouble

“More than half the world’s major rivers are going dry or are polluted,” reports the newspaper USA Today. Many waterways have been “seriously depleted and polluted” from overuse and misuse of land and water, says the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century. The fouling of these natural resources is “threatening the health and livelihoods of people who depend upon them for irrigation, drinking and industrial water,” says the commission. Interestingly, of the 500 major rivers worldwide, the two “healthiest” rivers are the Amazon in South America and the Congo in Africa. The reason? “Both have few industrial centers near their banks,” notes the report.