Dreamways

"When babies sleep less, they may gain too much weight. A new Harvard study finds that babies and toddlers who sleep less than 12 hours daily are at greater risk for being overweight in preschool, startling evidence that the link between sleep and obesity may affect even very young children.“ This interesting finding is reported in a new article by Carla K. Johnson ("Less sleep raises tots‘ obesity risk, study says,“ The Denver Post, 08 Apr 08).

"Moundville, Ala. After residents of the Riverbend Farms subdivision noticed that an oily, fetid substance had begun fouling the Black Warrior River, which runs through their backyards, Mark Storey, a retired petroleum plant workers, hopped into his boat to follow the plume upstream to its source. It turned out to be an old chemical factory that had been converted into Alabama’s first bio-diesel plant, a refinery that intended to turn soybean oil into earth-friendly fuel.“ Earth-friendly fuel polluting waterways? Is this science fiction?  read more »

"Self-discipline is a form of freedom. Freedom from laziness and lethargy, freedom from expectations and demands of others, freedom from weakness and fear – and doubts.“ These rousing words by sports psychologist H.A. Dorfman are quoted by David Brooks in his essay about Dorman’s book, The Mental ABC’s of Pitching ("Pitching with Purpose,“ The New York Times, 01 Apr 08). This is apparently no run-of-the-mill how-to book, according to Brooks: "Dorfman offers to liberate people from what you might call the tyranny of the scattered mind.  read more »

"In marketing as in medicine, perception can be everything,“ Benedict Carey infroms us in his news article "$2.50 Placebo Gives More Relief Than a 10 Cent One“ (The New York Times, 05 March 08). "A higher price can create the impression of higher value, just as a placebo pill can reduce pain. Now researchers have combined the two effects. A $2.50 placebo, they have found, works better than one that costs 10 cents.“ In waking life, not only can sugar pills make us feel better, but the more expensive we think they are, the more curative!

"The Asian carp, which has been working its way north from the Mississippi Delta since the 1990s, is now on the verge of reaching the Great Lakes. This voracious invader, which weighs up to 100 pounds and eats half its body weight in food in a day, has gained notoriety for vaulting over boats and breaking the arms and noses of recreational anglers. Having outcompeted all native species, it now represents 95 percent of the biomass of fish in the Illinois River and has been sighted within 25 miles of Lake Michigan.  read more »

"India’s newest talk show host, billed as the local Oprah Winfrey, hitched up her sari and looked for her stylist’s approval. 'Very feminine. You look gorgeous, like a goddess,‘ he said, smiling reassuringly, as he braided a garland of fresh jasmine into her hair. 'The sari is the most flattering garment,‘ he added, as he touched up her makeup minutes before the cameras started rolling. 'It disguises manly shoulders, take attention away from a masculine neck.‘ “ Manly shoulders? A masculine neck?  read more »

"Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain. This was the opening of an article … summarizing research presented last week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. As the article explained, neuroscientists have found that many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural development.  read more »

"The language was soaring, the racial elements muted, the mood upbeat even though the road ahead remained unclear. But the end of the speech was all about the political power of belief – belief that the cynics would not triumph, that dreams can come true, that the human spirit is indomitable. Through war, he said, they believed. Through depression and segregation, they believed.  read more »

In his essay about American science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick (1928 – 1982) ("Blows Against the Empire,“ The New Yorker, 20 Aug 07), Adam Gopnik explores the life and writings of this "genre-hack-to-hidden-genius“ writer, perhaps best know for providing the adaptation source for Ridley Scott’s classic movie „Blade Runner.“

"Ajinbayo Akinsiku wants the world to know Jesus Christ, just not the gentle, blue-eyed Christ of old Hollywood movies and illustrated Bibles. Mr. Akinsiku says his Son of God is 'a samurai stranger who’s come to town, in silhouette,‘ here to shake things up in a new, much-abridged version of the Bible rooted in manga, the Japanese form of graphic novels.“ A Nigerian selling the Bible in a Japanese format?  read more »