David Thyberg
Wildlife losses hurt kids
"The loss of access to wildlife for food is linked to nutritional deficiencies in children living in subsistence rain forest communities, U.S. researchers say," United Press International reports. "A study of the rain forests of Madagascar by researchers with the University of California-Berkeley, Harvard Centre for the Environment and Harvard School of Public Health found reductions in wildlife populations impact the health and livelihoods of subsistence communities that depend on them. In parts of the world where common foods are not fortified and people do not receive supplements, animal-source foods offer critical micronutrients such as iron, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin B12 that cannot be obtained in sufficient quantities from non-meat sources, researchers said Tuesday in a release from the Wildlife Conservation Society."
Sleepy? Try exercise
"Researchers have found people sleep significantly better and feel more alert during the day if they get at least 150 minutes of exercise a week," says Psych Central. "Investigators reviewed a sample of more than 2,000 men and women, ages 18 to 85. They discovered 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity a week … provided a 65-per-cent improvement in sleep quality. The physically active also reported less drowsiness during the day, compared to individuals with less physical activity."
See-through ear lobes?
"Stretched ear lobes are becoming an increasingly common sight in the street," BBC News magazine reports. "But why has creating a large hole in the ear lobe started to appeal to more and more people? … Statistics are not easy to come by but, as with tattoos, there is extensive anecdotal evidence that ear stretching is on the rise. More people are wearing them, DIY kits are more widely available and there is a much greater choice of jewellery. … People who are obsessed with getting the largest stretch possible are known in the business as a 'gauge queen' or 'gauge king.' "
Creativity unappreciated
"Two inmates who tried to sweeten their love letters, quite literally, by adding a sprinkling of sugar to the envelopes accidentally touched off a hazardous-materials scare at a prison in upstate New York," says Associated Press. "The Watertown Daily Times reports that authorities noticed something leaking out of the envelopes Friday at the Watertown Correctional Facility, and state police and firefighters were brought in. In one case it turned out to be sugar. The other was lemonade mix. The Department of Corrections says one inmate, Jafar Torkpour of Broome County, had added sugar to a note telling a woman he was still 'sweet' for her. Another inmate, Desmond McNeil of Queens, did the same thing, telling a woman his love for her was 'sweet enough.' Authorities say both men could be disciplined."
Encore entrepreneurs
"[America's]sputtering economy needs workers with more of that entrepreneurial spirit," says The Christian Science Monitor. "Think-tank Civic Ventures suggests they might come from an unexpected demographic: workers who are approaching middle age or their retirement years. The group found that one in four Americans between ages 44 and 70 wants to build an enterprise – and nearly half of them want it to be a business with a strong social impact. … These so-called 'encore entrepreneurs' are challenging the convention that the second half of life should be spent playing endless rounds of golf, jokes Randall Charlton, a 71-year-old entrepreneur … 'Not all entrepreneurs are kids in college dorms, eating Ramen noodles, working through the night,' Charlton says. 'There's a generation of baby boomers who want to start businesses, too.' "
Virgules and snarks
"The story of punctuation is one of comings and goings," Henry Hitchings writes for The Wall Street Journal. "Early manuscripts had no punctuation at all, and those from the medieval period suggest haphazard innovation, with more than 30 different marks. The modern repertoire of punctuation emerged as printers in the 15th and 16th centuries strove to limit this miscellany. Many punctuation marks are less venerable than we might imagine. Parenthesis were first used around 1500, having been observed by English writers and printers in Italian books. Commas were not employed until the 16th century; in early printed books in English one sees a virgule (a slash like this /). … Another mark, now obscure, is the point d'ironie, sometimes known as a 'snark.' A back-to-front question mark, it was deployed by the 16th-century printer Henry Denham to signal rhetorical questions. … More recently, the difficulty of detecting irony and sarcasm in electronic communication has prompted fresh calls for a revival of the point d'ironie."
Thought du jour
"A pessimist is a person who has not had enough experience to be a cynic."
- Mary Pettibone Poole, U.S. author