The Coffee Dilemma

OVER 1,500,000,000 cups a day! According to a recent estimate, that is how much coffee the world drinks. This vast consumption has persisted despite repeated warnings from scientists over the years that coffee drinkers face a virtual plethora of hazards, ranging from heart disease to diabetes and even various types of cancer. Why is it, then, that so few coffee drinkers have dropped their cups and run from the drink?

Over the past 40 years, scientists have published more than five hundred reports on the effects of coffee drinking. But so far their conclusions have been, well, inconclusive. Why? For one thing, coffee is more complex than it looks. A cup of coffee may contain as many as five hundred naturally occurring chemicals. Yet, most studies focus on just one ingredient, the stimulant caffeine.

The Enigma of Britain’s House Sparrows

The ubiquitous house sparrow, with its familiar chirpings and twitterings, has long been part of the British scene. But it is now disappearing—often suddenly—from urban areas, and nobody knows why. The Independent newspaper of London has offered a £5,000 ($7,200) prize for the first scientific paper from anyone who can solve the mystery. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology will act as judges. The project is expected to take at least two years to complete.

Tormented by Phobias

“Phobias have often been a subject of ridicule. But ‘funny’ is one thing they are not.”—Jerilyn Ross, director of a treatment center for anxiety disorders

THE word “phobia” refers to an intense, unrealistic fear of an object, an event, or a feeling. But a definition alone cannot convey the terror and loneliness that mark this condition. Raeann Dumont, who has treated phobias for more than two decades, notes: “Phobic people may avoid so many situations that they become housebound, or they may live with constant, unrelenting anxiety, or they may relieve their anxiety with alcohol, which may cause additional problems.”

Treatment Obstacles

In time, the large pharmaceutical companies started to offer AIDS drugs at much lower prices to developing countries in need. It was hoped that in this way many more people would be able to make use of the drugs. However, there are major obstacles to overcome to make such drugs readily available in developing lands. One of these is the cost. Even at drastically reduced prices, the drugs are still far too expensive for the majority of the people who need them.

Another problem is that the drugs are not easy to administer. Many pills must be taken daily, at specified times. If they are not taken correctly or if the medication routine is interrupted, this could lead to the development of drug-resistant strains of HIV. It is difficult to ensure adherence to correct dosages in African conditions, where there may be little food, a low supply of clean drinking water, and few medical facilities.

Comet Crash !

For a week in July 1994, the collisions of about 20 fragments of the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into the planet Jupiter captured the attention of stargazers around the world. Comet watchers marveled, since the display turned out to be, as one astronomer put it, “the celestial drama of the century.” Why did this event far exceed expectations?

Those Awesome Baby Brains

They are awesome from their beginning. Three weeks after conception, they start out with 125,000 cells and thereafter increase in spurts of 250,000 cells a minute. Each little brain continues its explosive growth until at birth its cells number some 100,000,000,000—as many as there are stars in the Milky Way!

But months before that, while still in the womb, baby’s brain has gone into operation. It is registering perceptions from its watery environment. It hears, tastes, senses light, reacts to touch, learns, and remembers. The mother’s emotions can affect it. Gentle words or soft music calms it. Angry speech or rock music agitates it. The mother’s rhythmic heartbeat soothes it. But if fear sets her heart racing, soon baby’s heart beats twice as fast. A distressed mother transmits anxiety to the babe in her womb. A tranquil mother carries a peaceful baby. A joyful mother may make the babe in her womb jump for joy. All of this and more keeps baby’s brain busy. Even in the womb it is awesome.