Watching the World
Nonlethal Weapons
The U. S. government is exploring the possibility of introducing nonlethal weapons for use in combat, according to The Wall Street Journal. Modern technology may enable soldiers of the future to use electromagnetic pulse generators to disable enemy radar, telephones, computers, and other vital equipment without killing people. Laboratories are also working on “‘combustion inhibitors’ that stop the engines of moving vehicles, as well as chemicals that crystallize and destroy certain kinds of tires,” says the Journal. Some of these weapons would pose a serious danger to human life, however. The Journal adds that “powerful lasers designed to destroy an enemy tank’s optics could also explode a soldier’s eyeballs. Portable microwave weapons being field tested by the U.S. Special Forces can quietly cut enemy communications but also can cook internal organs.”
Circumcision and AIDS
The practice of male circumcision appears to be an advantage in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS, says the French magazine La Revue Française du Laboratoire. The magazine cites three independent medical studies that show male circumcision (the removal of the foreskin) to be a factor in curbing the spread of AIDS. Research on laboratory monkeys has shown that the tissues of the male foreskin contain a higher number of cells susceptible to infection by the AIDS virus than other tissues. Furthermore, a Canadian study conducted in 140 different regions of Africa revealed a higher incidence of AIDS among groups not practicing circumcision than among those who do. Another study found fewer cases of the infection among American heterosexual men who were circumcised.
Uneducated Children
Thousands of Bolivian children are not receiving proper education. According to the Bolivian newspaper Presencia, a 1992 census revealed that there were 2,268,605 school-age children in Bolivia. However, the records of the Ministry of Education show that during that same period, only 1,668,791 children were admitted to the nation’s schools. This means that 600,000 children did not receive proper education. Presencia adds that of those who were able to enroll in schools, 102,652 students dropped out that year.
“The Age of Melancholy”?
Were you born after 1955? Then you are three times more likely to suffer a major depression at some point in your life than were your grandparents. This is the conclusion of an international study involving over 39,000 people in nine countries. Reporting on the study, the International Herald Tribune indicates that factors contributing to depression in our day may include the stresses of industrialization, exposure to toxic materials, loss of belief in God or an afterlife, and, for some women, unattainable ideals of feminine beauty. The Tribune suggests that mankind may be witnessing “the dawn of the Age of Melancholy.”
The Mahogany Threat
A quarter million of Brazil’s Indians in the Amazon forest are in danger of losing their traditional homes. According to the head of the government’s Indian service, the “biggest threat” comes from the mahogany trade. Unauthorized felling of mahogany trees has resulted in the building of some 1,900 miles [3,000 km] of illegal roadways through the south of Pará State, reports The Guardian of London. Each time a single mahogany tree is cut, trees from as many as 20 other species suffer damage. As they clear the forest, the greedy traders open the way for settlers and gold miners, as well as thousands of sawmills. With a mere 32 years’ supply left at present consumption rates, mahogany, like the Indian, currently faces an uncertain future.
Exporting Toxic Wastes
Because of the high cost of waste treatment, “the rich countries export their toxic wastes to the poor ones,” says Sebastião Pinheiro of the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources. As reported in Veja magazine, one study showed that “about one million tons of dangerous wastes are exported annually to Third World countries.” What is done with the imported toxic wastes? They may be burned as fuel in new electric power plants. “The developing countries defend the thesis that it is necessary to create jobs here at any cost,” says an adviser to a Brazilian environmental agency. Still, questions are being raised worldwide. The Financial Times of London asks: “Should decisions about the location of factories be determined by estimates of where the cost of human life is lower?” Veja adds ironically: “The answer seems to be yes.”
Vitamin-A Deficiency
Each year, up to half a million preschool children go blind simply because they do not eat enough food containing vitamin A. Two thirds of these children die within a few months after losing their sight. According to the World Health Organization, this occurs primarily in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America where people eat few yellow fruits, yellow vegetables, dark green vegetables, leafy vegetables, and other foods containing vitamin A. Throughout the world, 40 million children are vitamin-A deficient, and of these, 13 million already have some eye damage. A lack of vitamin A can also inhibit physical growth, increase the severity of infections, and raise the likelihood of death in infants and young children.
Inactive Brain Gets Rusty
Are long periods of inactivity beneficial for the brain? Definitely not, said Professor Bernd Fischer at the Medical Trade Fair in Düsseldorf, Germany. His findings indicated that “experiments had shown that a person’s thinking ability was measurably reduced following just a few hours of complete absence of stimulus,” as Der Steigerwald-Bote reported. The professor advised those whose ideal vacation is one of slothful inactivity to think again. “Like an untrained muscle,” commented the newspaper, “after a lengthy vacation of inactivity, under some circumstances the brain needed up to three weeks to attain its former level of performance.” Sports, play, and interesting reading material were said to prevent the brain from getting rusty during vacation.
Bad Air
“Air pollution is posing increasingly serious health problems in some of the world’s biggest cities, and is now an almost inescapable part of urban life everywhere.” So states a recent report published jointly by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Program. The report, based on a scientific study of 20 cities, indicates that motor vehicle traffic is a major cause of air pollution. It also points out that the number of motorized vehicles worldwide, about 630 million at present, will probably double in the next 20 or 30 years. Air pollution adversely affects the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, leading to increased disease, disability, and death.
Missionaries in Africa
According to the American Journal of Tropical Medical Hygiene, the presently leading causes of death among American missionaries in Africa are motor accidents, malignancy, and atherosclerosis. Among infectious diseases, the biggest killer is viral hepatitis, followed by such diseases as malaria, rabies, typhoid, Lassa fever, and retroviral infections. However, a survey covering the years from 1945 to 1985 has shown that the mortality rate of American missionaries in sub-Saharan Africa was only about half that of their fellow Americans in the United States. This is true even though in Africa there is twice the likelihood of death by accident and four times the risk of being murdered.
Wash Your Hands!
Although the technical advances of modern medical science have done much to combat disease, scientists say that washing your hands with simple soap and water is still one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of many infectious diseases. The French newspaper Le Figaro reports that in a recent study of hygienic habits in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, researchers posed as repairmen or cleaning personnel in the public toilets of hotels, restaurants, offices, schools, and factories. They discovered that 1 in 4 persons does not wash his hands after using the toilet and that a fourth of those who do use no soap. Scientists say that worldwide the human hand appears to remain one of the most common means of spreading disease.
Religion in Finland
In Finland, 9 out of 10 of its some five million citizens belong to the Lutheran State Church, noted The European. This large percentage of Finnish Lutherans pay between 1.5 and 2.5 percent of their salaries in taxes to the church, but the church is claiming a severe shortage of money that will prevent the ordaining of a hundred new priests and will force the closing of some churches this year. It is doubtful whether the more than four million Lutherans in Finland will come to the rescue of the church. The European notes that there is “no strong desire among most Finns to take a more active part in Church affairs than attend seasonal Church ceremonies at Christmas and Easter.” The newspaper adds that for “most Finns the paying of taxes is the extent of their contact with organised religion.”