Watching the World
Pricing the Priceless
Thirteen scientists from several countries have compiled a report appraising nature’s bounty in dollars. The scientists worked from over 100 published studies to estimate the replacement cost per hectare of various services provided by the earth. (A hectare equals about 2.5 acres.) For example, one study indicated that for each hectare of wetlands used for development in the United States, “the lost ability to soak up floodwaters increased annual flood damages by $3300 to $11,000,” states Science magazine. Though many take earth’s natural goods and services for granted, the scientists estimate their annual monetary value to be $33,300,000,000,000—almost twice the combined gross national product of the entire world.
The Pope Visits Cuba
On his visit to Cuba last January, Pope John Paul II outlined the Catholic Church’s hopes for an expanded role in Cuban society. According to L’Osservatore Romano, he stated that parents “should be able to choose for their children . . . the ethical and civic content and the religious inspiration which will enable them to receive an integral education.” Although the pope desires to reopen Catholic schools in the country, Cuban officials say that they want to maintain the State monopoly on public education. As for the Cuban government’s view of the pope’s visit, French magazine Le Monde Diplomatique comments: “Fidel Castro regards the visit as a victory over the ostracism to which his regime has been subjected.” Although some of the pope’s statements while in Cuba clearly had political overtones, Jehovah’s Witnesses remain politically neutral in their religious activities.
World’s Longest Hair
Hoo Sateow, an 85-year-old Hmong tribesman in northern Thailand, has not cut his hair for nearly 70 years. “I cut it when I was 18, and I got really ill,” said Hoo. Measured recently at 17 feet 2 inches [520 cm] long by a judge for the Guinness Book of World Records, his hair is now believed to be the world’s longest, reports the Associated Press. Hoo washes his hair once a year and hangs it across a trellis to let it dry. His 87-year-old brother Yi, who last cut his hair in 1957, is Hoo’s closest rival. Yet Yi’s hair is longer than that of the previous record holder, an Indian woman with hair that measures 13 feet 8 inches. Hoo considers having such long locks an advantage, especially high up in Thailand’s cool mountains. “It helps keep me warm,” he says.
Three Views of History
Schoolchildren in Bosnia are being taught three different versions of the region’s history, art, and language. What they hear depends on which of the three major ethnic groups controls their curriculum, reports The New York Times. For instance, students in the Eastern Orthodox Serb-controlled area learn that the man who killed Archduke Ferdinand in 1914 and set off the first world war was “a hero and a poet.” Roman Catholic Croatian students are told that he was an “assassin trained and instructed by the Serbs to commit this act of terrorism.” The Muslim version of the event describes him as “a nationalist whose deed sparked anti-Serbian rioting that was only stopped by the police from all three ethnic groups.” Students are being asked to identify themselves as Serb, Muslim, or Croat for segregation into ethnically distinct classrooms, states the report.
Greener Stadium Grass
A 28,000-seat stadium built for the Dutch football club Vitesse Arnhem boasts a fine grass playing field and also a covered roof. These two features are difficult to reconcile, since grass grows best when it gets good natural light and rain. Without them, grass turns yellow and fades. The problem was solved in the design of the building, reports New Scientist magazine. The playing field sits atop a concrete plate that slides on plastic feet. When not in use, the entire 11,000-ton playing field can be moved out of the stadium and into the open air by four hydraulic rams. An added advantage of this arrangement is that the stadium’s hard floor can then be used for concerts and similar events.
Trampoline Injuries
Trampolines have enjoyed increased popularity in recent years, but that has brought an increase in children’s injuries, states The New York Times. “People have a misconception that trampolines are soft and cushiony,” says Dr. Gary A. Smith, of Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A. Dr. Smith said that children are hurt by falling off the trampoline, landing on the mat in a wrong way, colliding with another child who is jumping at the same time, or hitting an unpadded surface. He added that trampolines equipped with ladders are especially dangerous because they make the trampoline accessible to small children, who are the most vulnerable to injury. Ann Brown, of the Consumer Products Safety Commission, suggests that children under six should not jump on trampolines and that only one child should jump at a time. She noted: “As with a swimming pool, a child on a trampoline requires constant supervision.”
Love Never Fails
“Teenagers who have strong emotional attachments to their parents and teachers are much less likely to use drugs and alcohol, attempt suicide, engage in violence or become sexually active at an early age,” reports The Washington Post. Researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also found that this holds true regardless of whether a child lives in a one- or two-parent household. The important thing is that the child feels loved, appreciated, and understood. Another factor the study emphasized is “the importance of parents remaining intensely involved in their children’s lives through the teenage years, even when they may feel their role is diminishing,” says the Post.
Ideal Conservationists
Britain’s Royal Navy is using goats to help conserve the brickwork of a historic coastal fort, reports The Sunday Telegraph. Roots of brambles, trees, and weeds were damaging the bricks and mortar. The normal methods for removing them included expensive chain saws and herbicides, which can be dangerous. In addition, these methods destroy rare plants, lichens, and insects. However, not only are the agile goats cheap to employ but they also lessen damage to endangered plants and wildlife. Says the scheme’s consultant, Mike Beauchamp: “Within 10 years, most conservation bodies will be using goats for initial scrubland restoration.”
Violent Computer Games
One of the most violent computer games ever created, Quake II, has been updated to include more violence. The program has “attracted a cult following by spattering blood and body parts all over players’ computer screens,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “The feedback we got was that there wasn’t enough blood,” says lead programmer John Carmack, “so we added some more.” Quake II allows players to indulge in a “smorgasbord of slaughter” by battling dozens of other players over the Internet in duels called death matches. A feature allows players to make obscene gestures at their opponents. The programmers and artists who developed the game “work in a game player’s paradise that includes a weight room and a kitchen stocked with junk food. The suite number is 666, a reference . . . in the biblical Book of Revelation.”
A Bible Without God
A Danish physician has published a rewritten version of the Hebrew Scriptures—leaving out all reference to God. Dr. Svend Lings believes that God and faith “are things of the past that can only chain us,” reports the Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad. Lings noted that many people are unhappy and lonesome. “We are living in a Jewish-Christian culture,” says Lings. “Thus the Jewish-Christian culture must be responsible for our lack of happiness.” With his new version of the Bible, Lings’ goal is, according to the newspaper, to “shake the foundations of our culture.” In Lings’ Bible Without God, Genesis 3:12 reads: “Adam thought to himself: ‘The woman by my side gave me fruit from the tree, and then I ate.’” Kristeligt Dagblad asks: “Is this not like trying to take the water out of snow to see what’s left?”