Watching the World
Conventional War—Nuclear Threat?
Even a conventional war fought in Europe would “spread radioactivity over wide areas and lead to vast tracts of land remaining uninhabitable for generations,” states New Scientist magazine. The reason, according to a report by Bradford University’s School of Peace Studies, is that attacks would inevitably involve nuclear power plants. “Germany alone contains around 30 nuclear reactors, Britain 38 and Europe as a whole [more than] 120,” says the report. “Many other reactors are planned. These stations are extremely vulnerable to attack.” According to the study, an attack on the Federal Republic of Germany alone would result in a “dozen Chernobyls” as bombs hit and destroy nuclear reactors.
AIDS Complication
The existence of a new AIDS virus that can also cause the disease has been confirmed by researchers from the Pasteur Institute in Paris. In a report, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, they say: “It appears clear the HIV-2, a virus related to but distinct from HIV-1, is the cause of AIDS in some West Africans and that a new AIDS epidemic is possible.” Localized at first in West Africa, the new virus has already been reported in Britain, France, Federal Republic of Germany, and Brazil. As the two viruses are genetically different, standard screening tests that check blood for AIDS are likely to miss the HIV-2 virus. It is feared that the differences between the two will further complicate efforts to find an effective vaccine against the disease.
Smart Birds
Noted for its freakish nests and its adaptability, the Brazilian yellow-throated spinetail has a knack for foiling its predators—both human and animal. The bird customarily builds up to five nests in its tree habitat—one to live in and the rest as decoys. The unkempt-looking nests are usually built with several entrances—some false—on top, underneath, or on the sides. Pieces of discarded snakeskin may be incorporated as part of the building material in an apparent effort to discourage intruders. Brazilian ornithologist Flávio Crispi Araújo reports that as the bird’s predators have increased, so have the number of decoy nests. The bird has recently been observed building as many as 12 nests in one tree!
Too Realistic
Critics claim that the Lazer Tag gun, with its ability to hit a target using a beam of infrared light, may have been designed too realistically. This high-tech toy gun proved deadly for one 19-year-old. While playing a game of combat late one evening with three young friends, Leonard Falcon fired his plastic pistol at a figure he apparently thought to be another youth. It turned out instead to be a police officer who had been called to the scene to investigate a report of prowlers carrying guns. In the darkness, he had mistaken the light from the boy’s laser gun to be real gunfire and, in a split second, fired off two shotgun blasts, killing the youth. Concerned that others may reap similar consequences by using the all too realistic lazer toy, the boy’s father stated: “Something has got to be done to warn people.”
Good Communicators
In a letter that was published in a recent issue of Life and Work, a Church of Scotland publication, high marks were given to The Watchtower and Awake! by Russel Moffat, one of the church’s ministers. Commenting on the growth of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Moffat said that the Witnesses’ success was due, in part, to the “quality of their literature.” He explained regarding The Watchtower and also Awake! that each “is attractively presented (colour photographs), includes articles of topical concern and interest, takes a strong stand on moral issues, giving clear unambiguous teaching and advice, (eg. a recent Watch Tower magazine has an article on ‘Women in the Workplace’ which deals with the problem of sexual harassment and gives practical advice for Christian women) and most important of all, presents the belief of the sect in a simple, easy to understand, biblically based way. In short,” he added, “they communicate very well.”
Preferred Item
For 15 years the Stanford Court Hotel in San Francisco, California, has had Bibles in each of its 402 rooms. Then it was suggested that they also put dictionaries in the rooms. Some $7,000 was spent on the venture. While no Bibles have ever been missing, in just the first month, 41 dictionaries were stolen.
Bricks From Garbage
For many cities in industrial countries, disposing of garbage is an increasing problem. Shanghai, China’s most populous city, is no exception. Each day, refuse in the amount of 10,000 tons or more must be disposed of, much of which is absorbed by a treatment plant the city operates. Some of the treated garbage is used for fertilizer and landfill. Also, the magazine China Reconstructs reports the Chinese have found that by combining ash, stone, and brick fragments with the treated material, they can produce bricks of construction quality. Within the last few years, several million bricks are said to have been produced. The bricks are in great demand due to the current boom in local construction.
Living Up To Their Claims
Do vegetarians really live longer? Apparently so, claims the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. After studying a group of 1,904 vegetarians for five years, the agency noted that only 36 died from cardiovascular problems—a mortality rate 80 percent lower than average in the Federal Republic of Germany. Deaths due to breast, prostate, and intestinal cancers were also rare. “Only the stomach cancer mortality rate was almost equal the national average,” says Asiaweek, “though those who died of it in the group were in their eighties.” The study will continue for another five years “to get more comprehensive results.”
Mud Cooking Stoves
Efforts to save dwindling world forests have prompted researchers in Ethiopia to develop an energy-saving wood-burning stove. According to The New York Times, they have designed a state-of-the-art stove made of mud and straw. Since the stoves are more fuel efficient, much less wood is required to cook a meal. A standard two-pot stove is able to use 24 percent of the energy available in the wood fuel. By comparison, only 5 to 10 percent is used by an open fire. A new model mud stove currently being tested is showing an efficiency rating of 33 percent. It is hoped that use of this mud-and-straw “appliance” will help slow the deforestation experienced by African countries like Ethiopia. Forests there have been reduced from 40 percent of land area to less than 3 percent since the turn of the century.
Humans—Endangered Species?
Present environmental trends threaten to affect the earth so radically that human life is endangered, concludes the World Commission on Environment and Development. During the 900 days since the commission’s first meeting, diseases related to malnutrition and contaminated drinking water killed 60 million children. Drought in Africa terminated the lives of another million people. Industrial accidents, such as those at Bhopal, India, and Chernobyl, U.S.S.R., claimed 3,000 lives and have affected millions more. What is forecast for the next 30 years? According to The Times of London, agricultural land equal in area to Saudi Arabia will become desert, and forest areas about the size of India will be destroyed. The UN established commission says that “decisive international action is urgently required” to ensure human survival.