CNN has an interesting article on social isolation in the US. Despite being a modern country of nearly 300 million that prides itself on its technological connectivity, this nation has an increasing number of lonely people. Chronic loneliness can be a serious condition, and is a major risk factor for depression, high blood pressure, herat diseases, obesity and stroke.
Loneliness is the anxiety that you do not matter at all.
~ Joyce Huggest
Technorati Tags: loneliness, social isolation
Scientists at the National University of Singapore have discovered that curry eating enhances cognitive performance in the elderly. [Via] The compound curcurin found in turmeric (a staple ingredient of curry), is an antioxidant that may inhibit buildup of plaques in people with Alzheimer’s. Hmmm. I have two questions:
Has it been shown Alzheimer’s occurs less frequently in Asian populations ?
Could the boosted brain power in elders have something to do with the traditional respect that these elders elicit in Asian populations ?
Technorati Tags: curry, brain power, elderly, Alzheimer’s
Instinct is a strong word, poorly defined. Personally, it manifests as a strong sense of one set of choices being right. It’s also usually accompanied by a racing heart, sweaty palms and my brain groaning against what it thinks is a ’stupid’ decision. There is an overwhelming sense of something feeling like the right thing to do, but no logical rasons to back it up.
Scientists say that intution actually functions as a survival mechanism, and scientists have even found the part of the brain involved, and even perhaps the specific cells.
“Intuition is fast, based on pattern matching,” explains John Allman,
Ph.D., head of a laboratory at the California Institute of Technology
that focuses on brain evolution. “Our brains are constantly comparing
current experience with the past, trying to find a fit so that we can
make a quick decision. When we find a match, often in a fraction of a
second, our intuition boils down a lot of experience into a simple,
visceral metric: I feel good about this or not,“
Hmmm. So that means some part of my brain does actually process the information to come to a satisfactory decision; but too quick for the rest of my brain to register it logically. So it has nothing to do with the heart or the gut. Interesting.
The article also lists some of the “lies that intuition tells you“.
People love to tell stories about their inner wisdom, but most are
pretty quiet about all the times they’ve been bamboozled by intuition.
Everyday, millions of us buy lousy stocks, hire careless baby sitters,
and marry Mr. Wrong — all because our gut told us it “felt right.”
Bottomline ?
… if you’re deciding if you should marry or whether to take that job
in Boston, use your gut. Buying real estate or deciding whether to go
through with that knee surgery? Check your intuition at the door, and
listen to the numbers.
Technorati Tags: intuition, gut feeling, instinct
The School of Nursing at the UT Health Science Center here in Houston is a wonderful example of green architecture, and has been selected as one of the top 10 green projects for 2006.
The building happens to be adjacent to my school, and one of my first public health courses was taught there. It was during this class that we had the distinct pleasure of being given a detailed tour of the building by Brian Yeoman of the Houston Advanced Research Center, who was involved with its conception and construction.
Not only is the building aesthetically pleasing, every aspect of it is built on the principles of sustainable design. Check out these fast facts on the ‘green‘ aspects of the building. Interesting points include the fact that 77% of the materials used in the building were recycled or reused, and that because of energy performance optimization the building uses 80% less energy on a square foot basis than the adjacent School of Public Health. Because of tremendous energy savings, such eco-friendly designs are now getting increasingly popular.
PBS ran a 6-part tv series called Design:E2 in June, which introduced the ” inventive leaders and technologies driving sustainable practices in the buildings where we live, work and play.” [via]
I missed out on the series, but intend catching the concluding episode which focuses on architects, and airs on Wednesday August 16, at 11 pm. There’s also some exclusive web content with audio and video podcasts that delve deeper into the concepts of green design. [An added incentive: the series is narrated by Brad Pitt.]
Technorati Tags: School of Nursing Houston, Green Building, Sustainable Architecture, Design:E2, sustainable design, eco-friendly design
There are two remarkable facts regarding drinking water that I have observed as a newcomer to the US.
One is that tap water is perfectly drinkable. This may seem unremarkable to all Americans, but it is an abolute marvel to folks from developing countries where safe drinking water is a precious commodity. Certainly, all Indian households have some sort of water purifying apparatus – those who can’t afford an aquaguard or a simple filter, fall back on the time-tested tradition of boiling water.
The second remarkable fact is that most Americans like to buy water – bottled water. I think its pretty ironic, but I’ve chalked it up to their obsession with superior quality. So, it was with considerable interest that I read about bottled water not necessarily being better than tap water. Apparently,
… with the exception of a few isolated pockets of truly bad drinking water, most municipal systems and most bottled water sources are fairly equal in terms of contaminants and other health and safety issues.
[Image courtesy Carpe Icthus]
However, bottled water may in fact be better for you if you belong to a vulnerable population.
“Pregnant women, babies, the elderly, people who are
immune-compromised, cancer patients, or those on long-term steroidal use may benefit from choosing certain bottled waters over their particular tap water“
Bottled water also gives you a choice about the ingredients in the H20 you’re chugging down – like fluorides and magnesium, .
And then there’s the taste of bottled water. Why would you want the metallic taste of Houston water, when you could be having the coconut-ty flavor of mineral water. (Is it just me, or do all kinds of bottled water have that coconut flavour ?)
[Image courtesy Tsjeu]
But a major drawback of bottled water is the bottled part. Water is bottled in plastic, which is manufactured in an energy-expensive and polluting manner, could contain toxic chemicals, and often releases toxic chemicals when burnt. Troubling factors when you consider that,
… American’s demand for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil a year — enough to power 100,000 cars … … 86% of plastic water bottles in the United States end up in landfills…
Bottomline ? Think again before reaching for that bottle of water. If you aren’t in a ‘vulnerable’ population group, it may be a better idea to invest in a water purifier for your home, and carry water in a bottle when you’re out.
Technorati Tags: bottled water, tap water, plastic, drinking water
As a Houston resident who had a traumatising evacuation when Rita came around last year, I was immediately freaked out by the possibility of ‘Hurricane’ Chris. I started tracking her (or is it his ? Chris is a pretty gender neutral name …) progress immediately, watching the weather news any chance I got, and refreshing the National Hurricane Center’s website a dozen time a day.
Chris started out as a mediocre tropical depression, but the weathermen at Houston went a little crazy predicting its terrifying potential once it hit the hot Gulf waters. I watched in heart-thumping horror as the tropical depression slowly gathered strength and morphed into a tropical storm. And then I heaved a huge sigh of relief when it slowly dissipated. Evacuation plans, supplies, routes etc have been currently stashed away for another day. For I am certain that day will surely come in the next few months.
Forecasters had already predicted that this year’s hurricane season would be ‘very active’, though not as destructive as 2005. Recently, they reduced their prediction due to “a general erosion of a number of factors” – a major one being that the Gulf waters are not as warm as last year (4 F/ 0.5 C above normal compared to last year’s 1 F/ 2.2 C above normal).
I was scared enough last year that I’ve vowed to get the hell out of Houston the minute a hurricane makes it to the Gulf ; which just makes me wonder how scared and paranoid the real victims of previous hurricanes must feel.
Technorati Tags: hurricanes, Houston, Chris
