Watching the World
‘CLOSE CALL’ FOR EARTH
An asteroid half a mile [0.8 km] or more in diameter almost collided with Earth last March 23. No one noticed until an astronomer discovered the object in photographs taken through a telescope eight days later. If the large asteroid had hit Earth, the impact would have been equivalent to the explosion of 20,000 one-megaton nuclear bombs. If it had landed in the ocean, gigantic waves hundreds of feet [scores of meters] high might have swept destructively across coastal areas. The asteroid, traveling at 46,000 miles per hour [74,000 km/hr], passed within half a million miles [800,000 km] of Earth—a close call by astronomical measurements!
MALARIA MORE RESISTANT TO DRUGS
After decades of research seeking ways to cure or control malaria, the disease appears to be on the increase in southern Africa. Moreover, it is becoming more and more resistant to drugs. “The malaria parasite knows all the tricks of the trade to confuse the body’s immune system,” said Dr. Phillip van Heerden, president of the Medical Research Council in South Africa. Even if a vaccine currently being developed proved to be effective, “it would be too expensive to help the Third World,” he said. According to the World Health Organization, malaria kills more than a million children each year in Africa.
THE TAINTED NORTH
Human pollution has left no faraway corner of our planet unscathed, it seems. In northern Canada, nursing Eskimo women are passing on to their babies the most PCB-laden mother’s milk in the world. PCBs—polychlorinated biphenyls—have been linked to various diseases, cancer among them. The Eskimo eat a great deal of fish and animal fat, which absorb the chemicals that man dumps into rivers and waterways. Even farther north, scientists have found surprisingly high concentrations of man-made chemicals in the snow of the remote North American Arctic. The chemicals—PCBs again among them—are thought to be blown to the north as fine dust or as vapors.
OFFICE THIEVES
The Federal Republic of Germany is plagued by an increase of stealing in the workplace. Within one year, over 130,000 thefts in offices and other workplaces were reported to the police. The main problem: Strangers have unrestricted access to many government offices and firms, where unlocked desks and closets become an open invitation to thieves. The solution? Keep your money and valuables under lock and key at the workplace, advise the police.
JESUITS CAUTIONED
“When the Pope does that which is not part of his office, he cannot demand obedience in the name of Catholicism,” read the bold declaration issued by 170 Roman Catholic theology professors last January. “He must expect dissent.” Several prominent Jesuits added their signature to that group statement, which criticized the pope’s selection of new bishops and his staunch position on certain theological issues. Apparently, this prompted the superior general of the Jesuits to caution members of the influential religious order not to endorse controversial public statements. Ever since becoming pope, John Paul II has been a dampening force on the independence of the Jesuits. No doubt the Jesuit leader does not want a resurgence of tensions between the pope and the order.
OZONE PROTECTION
Out of concern for the protective ozone layer in the atmosphere, 80 nations favored banning production of certain harmful chemicals by the year 2000. Meeting in Helsinki, Finland, last May, they adopted a declaration to end the use of chlorofluorocarbons by the end of the century. Chlorofluorocarbons are long-lasting chemicals used in refrigerators and air conditioners and as foaming agents in insulation. In the upper atmosphere, they destroy ozone, a gas that is beneficial because it absorbs dangerous solar radiation that can cause skin cancer.
CHINA’S POPULATION GROWING
As of April 14, 1989, the population of China officially rose to 1,100 million. Experts acknowledge, though, that the exact population figure cannot be ascertained within millions. Nevertheless, this increase worries the Chinese authorities for two reasons. First, the policy of one child per family has so far failed in rural areas. Second, agricultural production “has stagnated at around 400 million tons” of cereals per year for the past four years. This is insufficient to feed the growing population.
BLESSING ON JUMBO JET
Amid the hustle and bustle of Tokyo’s Narita Airport stood a Shinto priest chanting before a temporary altar. White-robed and waving a “sacred” evergreen branch over vegetables, seaweed, and dried squid, he was blessing the maiden voyage of a new-generation aircraft. Mainichi Daily News explained the ceremony as being for “the safety of the first high-technology Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet to enter commercial service” and for “the prosperity of its owner,” an American airline.
SHARK BIONICS
Scientists in England are trying to imitate another ingenious design found in creation: the skin of the shark. It is covered with microscopic parallel grooves running along the shark’s body. These grooves, called riblets, reduce the drag on the shark as it swims, thus saving energy. Initial tests using computer-designed riblets on an experimental vehicle indicated possible drag reduction of up to 3 percent. Similar application to aircraft could produce considerable savings in an industry where an efficiency improvement of 0.5 percent is vital. British Maritime Technology is now seeking ways to apply the findings to propellers, turbine blades, submarines, and aircraft, reports Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
INFORMATION CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT CANCER
During 1989 the countries of the European Common Market hope to fight the spread of cancer by conducting a widespread informational campaign. “Each year in Europe, 750,000 people die from cancer,” says the head of the office of the Common Market Commission in Bonn, West Germany. “If the increase in cancer is not stopped, by the year 2000 every third European will suffer from cancer at some time during his lifetime.” The publicity campaign will be based on the “negative effects of smoking, alcohol consumption, wrong nutrition, and environmental pollution,” reports the German newspaper Main Post.
MICRO WONDERS
While investigating the digestive system of the white rhinoceros, researchers discovered a group of protozoans previously unknown to science. Unlike most protozoans, which are single-celled organisms and relatively simple in structure, this newly discovered type has appendages. The magazine South African Panorama called it an exceptional find. These newfound protozoans are “extremely sophisticated” and make good use of their tentacles and fingerlike projections.