Refine Search

Watching the World

More of Saturn’s Moons Discovered

Photos taken by the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed at least two previously unknown moons orbiting Saturn. The pictures were taken during an “Earth-ring crossing,” a rare occasion when Earth has an edge-on view of Saturn’s rings. Under these conditions the rings’ bright reflected light is reduced and the moons are more easily discernible. Astronomers estimate the moons to be between 7 [10 km] and 40 miles [60 km] in diameter. The newly discovered moons orbit Saturn at a distance of 85,000 [140,000 km] to 91,000 miles [150,000 km] from the center of the planet. This is much closer than the 250,000 miles [400,000 km] between Earth and its moon. Saturn is about one billion miles [1.5 billion km] from Earth.

Apology—After 50 Years

“We hereby confess, above all in the presence of God, the sin of the Meiji Gakuin [University] in having a part in the past war and at the same time apologize to the people of foreign countries, especially those of Korea and China,” said the university’s superintendent, Hiromasa Nakayama, in his lecture at the university’s chapel in Tokyo last June. Meiji Gakuin University is a “Christian” mission school. According to the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, it was the first time the school’s representative openly admitted that the school shared in the war effort. During the war the chairman of the university’s board of directors organized the United Church of Christ in Japan to unify the churches for the war effort. The United Church raised funds to produce fighter planes and encouraged Christians to submit themselves unconditionally to their country, Nakayama said.

Mormon Church Did Not Resist Nazis

Faced with reports of violence toward Jews in Nazi Germany, “the Mormon Church did almost nothing,” says The Salt Lake Tribune. Some Mormons, along with members of other churches, “were entranced by Hitler and his message of racial purity, and there were those who thought they were obeying their church’s teaching to honor state leaders.” During the Holocaust the German sector of the Mormons “did what most of the churches did; the leaders went along,” said Professor Franklin Littell of Temple University, Philadelphia. Douglas Tobler, professor of history at Brigham Young University, wants to examine “the church’s failure to take an institutional stand against Nazism,” the paper said. Interestingly, the Tribune observed that historian John S. Conway, of the University of British Columbia, Canada, said that the only religious organization that absolutely refused to follow the Nazis was Jehovah’s Witnesses. He added that for this more than half were sent to concentration camps.

Unattended Children

An Australian national survey revealed that children as young as six years old are being left home alone while both parents are at work or out socializing, reports The Canberra Times. According to Wendy Reid, spokeswoman for Boys Town National Community Projects, “over half the children said they were lonely and missed their parents’ company, while a large percentage of those under 12 were frightened—of the dark, of storms, of intruders, or kidnapping.” Additionally, Reid said that “71 per cent of [the] children had no strategy to follow if trouble arose and that half of the kids under 12 didn’t even know how to make contact with their parents,” the Times reported.

“Power Napping”

“Napping can improve mood, alertness and job performance,” reports The Wall Street Journal. The rejuvenating effects of a good snooze have prompted some industries to seek ways to incorporate naps into the regular workday. This is especially true where safety concerns are tied to the alertness of employees—such as truckers, airline pilots, and nuclear power plant operators. “We’ve found that you get tremendous recovery of alertness—several hours worth—out of a 15-minute nap,” says sleep researcher Claudio Stampi. Napping on the job has a long way to go, though, before it will be embraced by most employers. The Journal says that in order “to make sleeping on the job more palatable, proponents now refer to it as ‘power napping.’”

Garden Chemicals—A Threat?

Lawn and garden chemicals may be endangering your children’s health, reports the French nature magazine Terre Sauvage. It warns that “children under fourteen years of age living in a home where the garden is treated with herbicides or pesticides have a risk four times greater of contracting sarcoma, a form of cancer,” than children not exposed to such chemicals. The report adds that the use of insecticides in a child’s environment increases the risk of developing leukemia by one and a half to three times. Since over half of all French households use garden chemicals, many may inadvertently be creating an environment for their children that is much more toxic than that of a large, polluted city.

Hot Ants

Two researchers in Switzerland have discovered why certain ants in the Sahara Desert can withstand scorching temperatures of 140 degrees Fahrenheit [60° C]. Rüdiger Wehner of the Zoological Institute of the University of Zurich and geneticist Walter Gehring of the University of Basel have found that ants produce “substances known as heat shock proteins (HSPs), which help protect body proteins from heat damage,” reports Science magazine. When subjected to extreme temperatures, “all animals make some HSPs after the damage [from heat shock] begins,” the magazine says, but “ants make a pre-emptive strike.” In what way? The researchers found that the ants mimic heat shock and produce HSPs even before they leave their nest. Adds Gehring: “We were not clever enough to think of this, but the ants were.” Or was it their Creator?

Stop the Noise

“Please Stop That Noise,” pleads a headline in The Toronto Star newspaper. Relentless city noise from gas lawn mowers, leaf blowers, jackhammers, car horns and alarms, boom boxes, barking dogs, crying babies, and late-night parties has antinoise lobbyists campaigning for peace and quiet. Prolonged exposure to such noise “can increase fatigue and anxiety,” says the Star. It adds: “Medical research shows blood pressure can rise, the heart rate can change and the body produces adrenaline and other hormones that affect blood vessels.” According to health authorities, exposure to any sound over 85 decibels, such as a noisy lawn mower or a motorbike, for more than eight hours is dangerous to your hearing.

Fighting Osteoporosis

Physical activity can help to restore bone mass lost to osteoporosis, says the newspaper Jornal do Brasil. Specialists at the Cotrauma Clinic in Rio de Janeiro offer exercise treatments but also teach patients how “to walk properly and adopt correct posture.” After two years of working with a group of women from 45 to 77 years of age, 80 percent of the group had experienced a considerable increase in bone mass. During that time, the women had less rheumatic back pain, and none suffered bone fractures. Dr. Theo Cohen, director of the clinic, also recommends a diet that is rich in calcium and low in fat. Moreover, he encourages finding a purpose in life. “We do not want to see elderly ones sitting and knitting,” observes Dr. Cohen. “Going out to walk around is just as important as doing crossword puzzles to exercise the brain cells.”

Concern Over Blood-Borne Diseases

Better safety strategies are needed to protect the blood supply, according to a report by the Institute of Medicine of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. As evidence, the report points to the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) through blood transfusions in the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Reviewing the report, The New York Times stated: “More than half of the 16,000 hemophiliacs in the United States and more than 12,000 patients who received transfusions of blood and blood products became infected with H.I.V.” The institute’s report expresses concern that unknown, dangerous infectious agents like HIV could again catch the national health system unprepared. It recommended establishing a system to “detect, monitor, and warn of adverse effects in the recipients of blood and blood products.”