Planet of the teenagers
“[B]y one measure we truly are a teenage species at this moment,” Andrew Revkin blogs for The New York Times. “There are currently about 1.2 billion humans between the ages of 10 and 19. Some demographers have recently concluded that this so-called ‘youth bulge' could well constitute the largest single generation that will ever exist (as long as humans are restricted to this planet, at least).”
Who is your friend, really?
“A growing body of experimental evidence suggests that, on the whole, we know significantly less about our friends, colleagues and even spouses than we think we do,” Drake Bennett reports in The Boston Globe. “This lack of knowledge extends far beyond embarrassing game-show fodder – we're often completely wrong about their likes and dislikes, their political beliefs, their tastes, their cherished values. We lowball the ethics of our co-workers; we overestimate how happy our husbands or wives are. ‘Our friends will surprise us much more than we would imagine,' says David Dunning, a psychology professor at Cornell University who has done influential research on how we perceive ourselves and others. … [S]urprisingly, these blind spots might not be a bad thing, and may even strengthen relationships. Many of the benefits that friendship provides don't necessarily depend on perfect familiarity; they stem instead from something closer to reliability. And it may be that a certain ignorance of our friends' weaknesses, or of the realms where we disagree, may even help sustain the deep sense of support that friends are there to provide.”
Didn't want to look, eh?
An obese inmate in Texas has been charged after officials learned he had a gun hidden under flaps of flesh, Associated Press reports. George Vera, 25, was charged with possession of a firearm in a correctional facility after he told a guard at the Harris County Jail about the unloaded 9-mm pistol. The Houston Chronicle reported that Mr. Vera was originally arrested on charges of selling illegal copies of compact discs. The 500-pound man was searched during his arrest and again at a city jail and the county jail, but officers never found the weapon in his rolls of flab.
Killer seaweed
People have been told to stay away from seaweed-covered beaches in northern France after doctors warned the plant could give off lethal fumes when it rots, Adam Sage reports in The Times of London. “A stretch of beach had to be closed after a horse rider lost consciousness as a result of the putrefying algae. His horse was killed. Local residents have also been treated in hospital. The incident was in Brittany, where green seaweed is spreading across the region's beaches as nitrates pollute the water supply as a result of intensive agriculture. Scientists say that as the seaweed – known locally as sea lettuce – decomposes, it forms an impermeable white crust under which hydrogen sulphide accumulates. When the crust is broken, the gas is released. Alain Menesguen, director of research at the French Institute for Sea Research and Exploitation, said: ‘This is a very toxic gas, which smells like rotten eggs. It attacks the respiratory system and can kill a man or an animal in minutes.'”
Attracting bowhead chicks
Bowhead whales sing sophisticated songs that change every year like human pop music, according to Danish research. “The animals were found to use the songs to attract mates in Disko Bay, Greenland, by scientists from the University of Copenhagen. Outi Maria Tervo, the university's scientific leader on Disko Island, said: ‘It turns out that bowhead whales change their songs from year to year and never repeat songs from previous years. The whales have a new repertoire each year – presumably as part of the eternal struggle to obtain a mate. Whale song is not a new phenomenon. But the special thing about the bowhead whale's song is that they sometimes sing with ‘more than one voice.' They produce two different songs or sounds, which are then mixed together.”
Source: The New Zealand Herald
Picking a jury
“The data shows that 80 per cent of jurors make up their minds at the end of opening statements,” says Joseph Hetrick of Philadelphia, a veteran trial lawyer who teaches litigation techniques to first-year associates. “The conclusion that is often drawn is that you win or lose your case based on the opening statements. I think the conclusion is that you win or lose based on the jury you pick.”
Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Thought du jour
“On the other hand, you have different fingers.”
– Steven Wright
