Watching the World
Lonely Hearts
Finding a bride in Japan is becoming more difficult. The reason? Young men outnumber young women. Additionally, Japan’s “liberated” young women are in no haste to get married, nor are they anxious to fit into traditional molds when they do get married. Country boys are hardest hit. Unable to find Japanese girls willing to work alongside them, sons of farmers have recently discovered that girls from other Asian countries make delightful partners. City boys, however, are trying a different approach to win girls’ hearts. According to Asahi Evening News, Tokyo’s fashionable young men are spending an average of a hundred dollars (14,200 yen) a month on personal cosmetics to impress their girlfriends. Such efforts, however, may not always meet with success. A 22-year-old university student in Tokyo complained of the irritation she and her friends feel when they “have to wait . . . for the men, as they apply such things as facial scrubs, milky lotions and hair mousses.”
Record Suicides
Twice as many people die each year in Finland by suicide as by traffic accidents. According to the latest available statistics, 1984 proved to be a record year for suicides, with a total of 1,231 persons taking their life. Of that number, some 80 percent were men. What is even more serious is the increase in the number of youngsters committing suicide. About 45 percent of all deaths of those between the ages of 20 and 24 are found to be suicides. A ten-year-old was reported as Finland’s youngest suicide victim during 1984.
Fortune-Tellers Debunked
Astrologers who claim they can analyze a person’s character and predict that person’s life course just by reading the stars are fooling the public and themselves, says Shawn Carlson, a researcher at University of California’s Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. In a carefully controlled study, designed specifically to test what astrologers say they can do, the scientist found that astrologers had no special ability to interpret personality purely from astrological readings. “It is more likely that when sitting face-to-face with a client, astrologers read clients’ needs, hopes and doubts from their body language,” said Carlson.
High-Tech Cheating
Cheating on examinations is nothing new, but high-tech cheating is now possible because of a new wristwatch capable of storing in its memory up to 500 words. According to the newspaper The Australian, one teacher said: “The watch could be very worrying. If teachers were not aware of its existence or if invigilators [examination supervisors] were lax it would definitely compromise an exam.” The Japanese-made watches sell for $230 (Australian) and were designed to help busy people remember important engagements, and so forth. How do students feel about them? Said one 16-year-old: “It would be great if teachers didn’t know about it.”
Grim Statistics
Some 350,000 Americans will die this year because of cigarette smoking, says the American Lung Association—exceeding the combined death tolls from traffic accidents, suicide, homicide, alcohol, and illegal drugs. According to a writeup in the New York Post, cigarettes cause 17.2 percent of the deaths in the United States each year, “more than the combined American battle deaths in World War II and Vietnam.” The costs are also high: $23.3 billion a year for medical treatment and about $30.4 billion a year in lost work and productivity. The report shows 31 percent of the adult population to be cigarette smokers.
Magnet Stitching
Soviet surgeons have performed over a hundred operations using magnets instead of stitches, reports Sputnik magazine. Intestines have been joined by use of “two thin magnetic rings with a diameter matching that of the intestinal tube.” One is inserted into each of the separated ends. “The magnets safely ‘glue’ the intestines together, forming an hermetic seal which heals much faster than a stitched one,” says Sputnik. The new method was devised to reduce postsurgical complications caused by stitching that does not seal well and the additional tissue injuries inflicted by the needle. The magnetic rings are left in and are said to cause no obstruction or damage.
Cancer’s Common Thread
After reviewing the findings presented in last year’s 14th International Cancer Congress in Budapest, Hungary, Voice magazine’s science writer Laszlo Dosa notes: “The single common thread in the global cancer picture is the undeniable fact that tobacco is the largest preventable cause of cancer everywhere.” According to the World Health Organization, smoking causes 90 percent of all lung cancers. In addition, about half of all kidney-cancer sufferers are longtime heavy smokers. Some countries have already taken steps to control smoking. The Egyptian government, notes Voice, now urges religious leaders, doctors, teachers, and armed forces personnel to quit smoking and thus “set an example for the rest of the population.” Similar efforts to control smoking are under way in other Middle Eastern countries. Are people responding? Reports indicate that cigarette consumption has increased!
Homeless Everywhere
Every fourth person in the world either is homeless or lives under “wretched and unhealthy conditions.” An investigation by the United Nations revealed that at least 100 million people have to sleep in the streets, under bridges, in gateways, or on deserted property. Twenty percent of such persons are adolescents in Latin America. In African cities, up to 80 percent of all citizens live in slums. The United States has 2.5 million homeless people, and in Great Britain the number is about 250,000.
Computer Vandals
“A new breed of vandals, working within a vast network of computer ‘bulletin boards,’ are devising sophisticated software programs that erase and scramble the computer files of unsuspecting users,” says The New York Times. “I guess the people who devise these things take pleasure in destroying other people’s work,” says computer consultant Ross M. Greenberg. Some of the programs are so sophisticated that they can operate as legitimate programs for months, then suddenly do their destructive work.
Too Descriptive
Brandon Brooks, a TV anchorman, allowed police to use his home so viewers could see anti-burglary devices that could foil thieves. The following week, while he was anchoring his nighttime newscast, burglars entered his home and made off with a number of things, including furniture, TV, and video tape recorder. The investigators believe that the thieves used the telecast to map out his home and bypass the devices.
Not Gourmet
Is that gourmet Colombian coffee for which you paid about $10 a pound measuring up to your taste expectations? If not, you may be the victim of price gouging. In a Canadian survey, 85 gourmet coffee samples were randomly tested for quality in seven different cities. Many of the samples tested were selling at premium prices even though they were found to contain exclusively inferior-quality beans or were mixed with them. Some distributors have been quick to take advantage of the fact that the average customer is not able to distinguish between low-grade and truly gourmet coffees. Experts claim that “gourmet coffee should be uniform in size, shape, and color,” notes The Globe and Mail, and “every bean should look the same.” Retailers claim that last year’s drought in Brazil is one reason for the dumping of substandard coffee in bins marked “Gourmet.”