May 3, 2007

Alcohol makes you dumber
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/alcohol-may-shrink-brain-scans-show/2007/05/02/1177788225202.html

Using magnetic resonance imaging scans, the study found that people who had more than 14 drinks a week had an average 1.6 per cent reduction in the ratio of brain volume to skull size compared with non-drinkers. Study author Carol Ann Paul, of Wellesley College in the US, said the effect was slightly larger in women than men, and drinking large amounts of alcohol seemed to have the greatest impact on brain volume among women aged in their 70s. Several years ago, US researchers found moderate drinkers had smaller brains than those who abstained, while a separate study of 79 alcoholics showed females were losing almost twice as much grey matter as men. In the 1990s, Professor Clive Harper, of the University of Sydney, examined the brains of dead people and found that even moderate or social drinking could reduce brain size. Emeritus professor Jim McLeod, consulting neurologist at the University of Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, said the latest study provided another layer of information. He said other studies had shown some of the pathological changes were reversible if people stopped drinking.

neckties are a health hazard http://www.stuff.co.nz/thepress/4044585a4560.html

Malaysian doctors have declared neckties a health hazard and called on the heath ministry to stop insisting that physicians wear them. Citing studies that show ties are unhygienic and can spread infection, the Malaysian Medical Association says they are not often washed and carry germs that can cause pneumonia and blood infections, the Star newspaper said on Tuesday. "And when doctors are doing their clinical rounds, they dangle all over the place," the paper quoted association president Dr Teoh Siang Chin as saying. But the Star quoted a ministry official as saying it needed more proof that neckties were a danger before it relaxed the dress code for doctors in hospitals.

Bee swarm blocks traffic signal http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200705030080.html

Honeybees swarmed a traffic signal at the Shijo-Karasuma zebra crossing in Kyoto's Shimogyo Ward on Wednesday. Police received complaints that the green light was hard to see due to the swarm. The crossing was blocked from around 11 a.m. and a contractor hired by the city health center finally removed the bees with a vacuum cleaner. Nobody was stung, police said.


Urban striders shift into fast lane
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/urban-striders-shift-into-fast-lane/2007/05/02/1177788225111.html

Psychologists have measured the speed at which people walk and discovered a 10 per cent increase in the past decade. The findings, from 32 countries, reflect the increasing numbers of people living in the fast lane. The original research showed that people in fast-moving cities were less likely to help others, and had more heart disease than those in slower places.

Ass Candy
http://www.dlisted.com/node/9440