Watching the World

New Bird Species Discovered

“A total of 28 new species [of birds] have been described in scientific journals since 1998, and research could add many more to the world total of about 9,700,” says The Independent of London. According to Steve Gantlett, editor of the magazine Birding World, “many of these discoveries result from the world becoming much more accessible​—ornithologists can go to remote places virtually out of reach a few decades ago.” The discoveries, he says, “also reflect increased expertise at identifying species by their calls​—often the only way of detecting them in dense tropical rainforests.” Scientists believe that there are many more species to be found. However, habitat destruction may put many of the newly discovered species at risk “because their populations are low and confined to small areas,” explains The Independent.

 Noisy Fish

Researchers at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) have discovered that fish, “including damselfish, soldierfish and cardinalfish . . . conversed via a series of grunts, squeaks and whistles,” reports The West Australian newspaper. This finding helps explain how baby fish, when swept away from a reef, find their way home again. AIMS researchers recorded reef noises and played them back in fish traps. Scientist Dr. Mark Meekan told the paper that “more baby fish were collected in fish traps that broadcast the recordings than in traps without the noise, indicating [that] fish were drawn to particular sounds.” Researchers have discovered that some adult fish sounds can be detected up to 10 miles [15 km] away. “At dusk and dawn,” said Meekan, “the chorus of fish sounds reaches a crescendo equivalent to the roar of thousands of voices at a football stadium.” However, this “chorus” is inaudible to human ears.

Weight Loss or Money Loss?

“About 231 million people in the European Union attempted a diet in 2002,” states the International Herald Tribune of Paris. According to a report by Datamonitor, a group that tracks developments in industry, dieters in Europe spent 100 billion dollars on slimming products last year​—“the equivalent of the economic output of Morocco.” However, “fewer than 4 million will succeed in keeping trim for more than a year,” and “fewer than one dieter in 50 in Europe achieves permanent weight loss,” says the paper. Germany topped the spending spree, dieters paying out nearly 21 billion dollars on slimming products, while Britons spent about 16 billion dollars. Consumers in Italy and France handed over about 15 billion and 14 billion dollars respectively. According to Datamonitor, says the Tribune, “the message that dieters need to receive is that a diet alone is not a long-term solution to excessive weight.”

“Quarter-Life Crisis”

The “golden twenties” ought to be “the ideal time for a happy, relaxed life,” says the German newspaper Gießener Allgemeine. “Puberty is over with, and a mid-life crisis is still far off.” But instead of being happy and relaxed, a growing number of 20-somethings are facing what specialists call a quarter-life crisis. The term “stands for the identity crisis young people suffer when they are about to finish their education and have to decide what to do with the rest of their life,” says the paper. Mannheim psychologist Christiane Papastefanou explains that social developments in recent years contribute to anxiety about the future. Additionally, given the large number of job possibilities and life-style options available today, some young people fear making the wrong choice. However, Papastefanou, quoted in the German paper, believes that decisions are not irrevocable and that it is not wrong to make “a few detours on the road through life.”

New Technology Exposes Truancy

“New technology lets teachers send text messages to parents when students cut class,” says the English edition of the Spanish newspaper El País. In 200 schools in Spain, a special computer system has been installed enabling teachers to report examination results, record absentees, and indicate sanctions imposed on pupils. Every morning, teachers take roll call with a hand-held unit the size of a pocket calculator. Next, they plug the unit into the central computer, which processes the data. “In some cases, automatic messages are relayed to parents’ cellphones,” says the paper. As a result of this technology, absenteeism that previously went unnoticed is now registered. According to the Spanish edition of El País, 400 more schools are interested in installing the computer system.

Redecorating May Harm Baby’s Health

“If people redecorate their home during pregnancy or shortly after the birth of their child,” notes Germany’s newsletter Medi-Netz, “the baby might suffer from irritations of the respiratory tract or even from a respiratory disease during the first few months of its life. Now it has been discovered that the child’s immune system is affected as well, even in the womb, making the child more prone to infectious diseases and to allergies.” Researchers in a number of clinics and institutes in Germany found that problem chemicals include those emitted from adhesives, carpet, fresh paint, and new furniture. “Volatile chemicals weaken those very cells in our immune system that can protect us from allergic reactions,” says Medi-Netz. A similar report in GEO magazine recommends that parents postpone redecorating “until the baby is two years of age,” when its immune system is stronger.

Sports Clubs and Addictive Substances

“Young people in sports clubs use more alcohol and get drunk more often than others,” says the Finnish Broadcasting Company’s on-line news. The findings, published by the Research Center of Health Promotion at the University of Jyväskylä, found that “liquor, beer, and cigarettes are far too often linked with sports through advertising and sponsorship,” says the Helsinki newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. “Young people follow the example of older athletes who are admired and imitated. The champagne baths and cigar smoking in the championship celebrations do not go unnoticed by the youths.” Inhaling snuff, a preparation of pulverized tobacco, was another problem. “Under 4 percent of 15-year-old boys who are not in sports clubs had inhaled snuff weekly, but in sports clubs almost 10 percent did,” says the paper.

The Blink of an Eye

“Thousands of neurons belonging to more than 30 different groups are needed to produce the movements of our eyelids,” explains Spain’s El País newspaper. These neuronal groups, which link “the eyelid itself to the cerebral cortex,” have been identified more precisely than ever before by a team led by Spanish neuroscientists, who conducted their study on animals. Why do eyelids need such a large, complex array of neurons? Because they do not always close in the same way or for the same reason. Eyelid functions include automatic blinking​—about 15 times a minute to keep the cornea wet—​as well as reflex blinking when something quickly approaches the eyes and voluntary, or deliberate, blinking. Eyelids can also close partially, perhaps in response to certain emotions, or fully for various lengths of time.

Computers​—Their Environmental Cost

“The clean, gleaming image of the modern computer belies its true environmental cost,” says New Scientist magazine. Simply making a basic memory chip and using it for a typical computer’s four-year life span “eats up 800 times the chip’s own weight in fossil fuel,” explains the magazine. Analysts in Japan, France, and the United States estimate that to manufacture and use a 32-megabyte memory chip weighing two grams [0.07 oz] takes a minimum of 1.6 kilograms [3.5 lbs] of fossil fuel, plus at least 32 kilograms [70 lbs] of water and 72 grams [2.5 oz] of toxic chemicals such as ammonia and hydrochloric acid. The analysts conclude: “The environmental weight of semiconductors far exceeds their small size.”