Refine Search

Watching the World

Book for the Whole World

◆ The American Bible Society recently reported that all or part of the Bible (at least one book of it) has been published in 1,631 languages. Those languages represent about 98 percent of the world’s population. During 1977 the Bible, or parts of it, appeared, for the first time, in 28 additional languages. Seven of this number are spoken in Papua New Guinea and three in Indonesia.

Phonetic Typewriter Coming?

◆ Experts at Japan’s Applied Electrical Research Institute of the University of Hokkaido have developed a typewriter that immediately converts spoken Japanese into letters. They say, however, that another two years of research will be needed before the phonetic typewriter can be put to commercial use.

Jail Costs More than Hotels

◆ The U.S. National Council on Crime and Delinquency reported recently that it costs New York city $173 million (U.S.) a year to house its 6,600 jail inmates. That amounts to $71.87 a day for one person. Other costs brought the figure to $76.19 per prisoner per day. By comparison, a single room in the Plaza Hotel costs $47 a day. And an expensive single room in New York’s Waldorf comes to $65 a day​—still less than the cost of a jail cell.

Priests’ Quitting Pains Pope

◆ The Vatican recently reported that over 4,000 priests out of a total number of 405,000, left the priesthood in 1975. No figures were given for 1976 or 1977, but Vatican observers believe that fresh worldwide data recently caused the pope to say that he has suffered “immense pain” over this matter. To an audience of priests in the Sistine Chapel, the pope added: “The destiny of the weak ones who have found the force to desert their pledge confounds us and makes us invoke the mercy of God.”

Among nuns the problem is even more serious. The Vatican has disclosed that, between 1973 and 1975, out of almost 1,000,000 nuns, about 10,000 a year have left convents.

Freezing the Bugs Out

◆ The Yale University Library has begun a program to eradicate any beetles and other bugs lurking in their rare books. Certain insects eat well on a diet of cellulose, glue and leather. However, relatively few of the old books were found to be infested with insects. So the wholesale freezing of 37,000 books is mainly a precautionary measure. Books are placed in polyethylene bags and then put into a blast freezer at -30 degrees Celsius (-22 degrees Fahrenheit). After three days, the books are returned to room temperature and to the shelves, insect free. Since this method has proved so successful and avoids the problems connected with fumigation, the library decided to apply the technique to all its books.

Soda-Pop Peril?

◆ In a letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Daniel M. Thompson, M.D., writes that his experience indicates that heavy drinking of soda pop is linked to hematuria (blood in the urine). He told of two patients with this problem. Both worked at a soft-drink plant, and, “when they were thirsty, they would take a bottle of carbonated beverage off the line and drink it. They rarely drank water.” When they followed the doctor’s advice to stop drinking soda pop, their ailment cleared up. Since then the doctor says that he has seen many cases of blood in the urine among “people who are heavy drinkers of soda pop.” He has also seen “a considerable number” of cases of pus in the urine, which fact he believes was “associated with regular drinking of soda pop.” He concludes: “Our heavy pop-drinking society of adults and children cannot eat because their stomachs hurt, cannot sleep because of the excessive caffeine, and cannot urinate because of the burning. A pop-drinking history should be included for every patient.”

Archbishop Wants Army

◆ According to the Athens News Agency Daily Bulletin, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus is calling for a well-equipped army to be set up to deal with Turkish troops on the island. “A struggling people,” he is quoted as saying, “should exploit all the possibilities that present themselves. We are struggling against a strong foreign power which constitutes a permanent threat for Cyprus. We do not intend to surrender. We shall fight. And in order to fight effectively, we require a capable army.”

Pilgrim Deaths at Mecca

◆ Dr. A. I. Atta, executive secretary of the Nigerian Pilgrims Board, disclosed recently that 383 Nigerian Moslems died during last year’s hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca. He reported that a significant factor in these deaths is the large number of people gathered in one place to pray for long hours. The weaker ones, he explained, collapse and the chances of getting medical aid to collapsed ones is remote because of the number of people and the “sitting arrangement.” But, said Dr. Atta, the matter of deaths at Mecca was not peculiar to Nigerians alone.

Smoking and Memory

◆ A team of researchers in California recently tested a number of smokers, giving some of them cigarettes containing nicotine, whereas others were given cigarettes without nicotine. The tests revealed that the nicotine in cigarette smoke impairs one’s ability to learn and remember. Said Dr. John P. Houston, professor of psychology at the University of California in Los Angeles: “Short-term memory for verbal materials was significantly hindered by the smoking of cigarettes containing nicotine.”

Where TV Sets Abound

◆ Which country has the most television sets per capita? According to the latest edition of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization Statistical Yearbook, it is Monaco. This land has 640 sets for every 1,000 persons. Next was the United States, with 571 sets. Then came Canada with 411, Sweden with 352, England with 320, Denmark with 308 and the German Democratic Republic with 307. The Federal Republic of Germany and Finland had 306 each.

“Tubing” Tragedies

◆ A Seattle bone surgeon, Dr. Theodore A. Wagner, has spoken out against the sport of “tubing”​—sliding down snow-covered hills on inflated inner tubes. He says serious injuries have resulted from this sport. Adding to the tragedy is the fact that most of those disabled are quite young. The oldest patient he has seen as a result of a “tubing accident” is a 20-year-old woman who is “now in an electric wheelchair, paralyzed from the neck down and without bowel or bladder control.” Such serious injuries can result, he said, because “a tube amplifies bumps. It squashes down, then recoils. A person can be pitched as much as 15 feet [4.5 meters] in the air.” However, the doctor is not against sledding because sleds can be slowed and steered. But, he points out, “you can’t do those things on an inner tube, and the price of one serious accident is dreadful.”

Need for Nature

◆ A nuclear submarine may be one of the least likely places a person might expect to find a garden. But a number of Soviet nuclear submarines each have one now, and for a good reason. In order to remain undetected, their vessels do not surface even on the high seas. Thus crews suffer psychological stress on long voyages. To counteract this, Soviet experts have installed the garden in one of the missile storage areas, where a mural shows a running stream “that actually seems to be in a forest.” However, real grass and flowers also decorate the scene. Small birds such as canaries and tits chatter and fly about freely. Here crew members can also see fish in an aquarium. The garden’s value was recently demonstrated when a submarine was stuck on the seabed for several days in a vertical position. Extreme stress among the crew resulted but was alleviated considerably by visits to the garden.

Young People and Faith in God

◆ A survey was made among young people in Italy regarding their faith in God. Of 1,076 between the ages of 15 and 24 who were interviewed, only 7 percent declared that they did not believe in the existence of a Creator. Those having doubts were 17 percent and those not replying to the question 1 percent. The largest group, 75 percent, said that they believed in God’s existence.

Danger Even for the Experienced!

◆ A two-year study of hang-gliding accidents in California has been completed. It analyzed 144 injuries and 37 deaths associated with the sport. The result? The more experienced the pilots, the more the accidents. Said Dr. John R. Tongue, orthopedist and sports medicine expert, to the American College of Surgeons: “The paradox of the sport is that the greater skills leads to greater dangers, as the flier tries to accomplish more and more with his increased technical capacities. If you hang-glide for about three years, your chances of having a serious injury are about one in five. Minute for minute, hang-gliding is about as dangerous a sport as any I can think of.” The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 1,500 injuries from hang-gliding in 1976 and 1977, and 71 deaths since 1973.

A Rare Elephant Birth

◆ Recently, a zoo in Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.A., reported the birth of the first African elephant in captivity in the western hemisphere. (There have been two elephant births in Europe.) Such births are extremely rare. One reason for this is that few male elephants have been kept in zoos because of their ill-temperedness. But because elephants in the wild are decreasing in number, more and more zoos are accepting male elephants. Born to a 16-year-old female, the baby elephant weighs 200 pounds (90 kilograms). His father is a 28-year-old veteran of circus experience, donated to the zoo 18 years ago.

Forced Attendance

◆ The pastor of St. Patrick’s Church in Garryowen, Iowa, recently noted that a number of parishioners were leaving the church before the end of evening Mass. To prevent them from leaving early, the pastor installed an electronic door lock. Then, at a Saturday evening Mass, he tripped a switch at the altar, electronically locking the door. Those trying to leave that evening were obliged to return to their pews. Apparently not all were happy about being “locked in church,” as one of them told a fire marshal about the matter. Iowa state fire officials ordered the immediate disconnection of the church’s electronic door lock.

Swedish Birthrate Down

◆ Last year Sweden reported 96,000 births​—an all-time low in birthrate since the country began keeping records back in 1749. The main reason for the low birth level is the increase in abortions. About one fourth of all pregnancies are now so terminated.

Cat Walk

◆ A cat named “Tiger” was lost this past summer in Wausau, Wisconsin, while his owners were on vacation. When they returned to Dubuque, Iowa, they did not expect to see their cat again. But eight months later, after having walked some 250 miles (400 kilometers), Tiger showed up in good health, even a little heavier. The owners, glad to have Tiger back, have been wondering how he crossed the wide Mississippi River. The cat is keeping the secret.

Runaways in Italy

◆ According to L’Espresso, in Italy the number of runaways under the age of 18 is increasing. In 1976, over 6,000 young persons ran away​—an increase of 53.8 percent over last year. Unlike previous years, more girls than boys were runaways.