LOCKED IN THE STUDY...

SUNFUN Studies Strange Studies

Greetings Fellow Seekers of Truth,
     One of the most amazing - and amusing - things about we
humans is that we have never quite evolved an appropriate
response to surprise.  We have spent the last million years or so
in desperate attempts to pierce the invisible curtain of the
future and find out what's going to happen next before it does. 
Whether by shaman or science, there is an almost religious belief
that somehow life would all make perfect sense, if we only had
the right key facts.  Of course, lots of this really involves
money  - at least in current times - and has to do with knowing
that we should have dumped that WorldCom stock before it tanked.
     There are those who already claim that they do know the
future of course: experts, scientists, psychics, and, of course,
Martha Stewart, who has advance knowledge when a stock is about
to go bad, developed after years of dealing with fresh oysters
and cut flowers.  So she claims.  Some may call that deal insider
trading, but we'll let the courts decide if Ms. Martha will be
doing her next big decorating remake on a gray concrete room with
striped sunlight.
     But if her crystal ball work turns out to be a little on the
cloudy side, she'll certainly have lots of company.  Loads of
bogus future predictions have come and gone, including the coming
ice age scientists were predicting in the 1980's, the Renault
Alliance as Motor Trend Car of the Year in 1980, the whole Y2K
thing and the idea that the Federal government would be capable
of dealing with any kind of budget surplus.  Yet we go on drawing
lines from the past through the present and into the future
hoping against hope that all this study means something.
     Author G. K. Chesterton addressed this notion in his
`Introductory Remarks on the Art of Prophecy' in his novel "The
Napoleon of Notting Hill" (1904), calling it humanity's favorite
game, also known as Keep Tomorrow Dark, or Cheat the Prophet.
     "The players listen very carefully and respectfully to
     all that the clever men have to say about what is to
     happen in the next generation.  The players then wait
     until all the clever men are dead, and bury them
     nicely.  They then go and do something else.  That is
     all.  For a race of simple tastes, however, it is great
     fun."
     Folks who we find fun, and who have shared some of their
predictions are:  Bernie & Donna Becwar, Bob Martens, Carol J.
Becwar, Yasmin Leischer, Kenn Venit, Bruce Gonzo, Jeanne
Hesselink, R.J. Tully, Mark Becwar, Judy McCallum, Junji & Miki
Taniguchi, Jerry Taff, Charles Beckman, Jan Michalski, Tim
McChain, Susan Will and Joshua Brink.  Thanks to one and all for
your ideas, research and predictions.  I was going to make a
prediction here myself, but I won't, because it would probably be
wrong.  Which actually is a prediction of sorts, I guess.  See
how tough it is to avoid?
     Have A Studious Week,


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ROUND AND ROUND WE GO...
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     In the distant past, back when science was little more than
refined superstition, doctors would often treat arthritis by
bleeding the patient with leeches.  This was later shown to be
bunk, and aspirin, cortisone and other modern painkillers were
often used.  Even recombinant gene therapy has been suggested as
a possible treatment for this all-too-common disease.
     Now, according to a Russian study, a cheap and apparently
effective natural treatment has finally been discovered in this
highly scientific age.
     Bleeding the patient with leeches.
     As western drug-makers waxed lyrical about their latest
blockbusters at a meeting in Stockholm, a Russian team told how
they had successfully used the blood-sucking creatures to treat
both rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. 
     "We found in all patients clinical improvement after leech
therapy," said I.G. Salikhov and colleagues at Kazan State
Medical University.
     Actually, there is a scientific basis for the use of the
little bloodsuckers, sine the saliva of leeches contains
analgesic and anesthetic compounds, as well as hirudin, an anti-
blood clotting agent.
     The Russian researchers evaluated leech therapy in 105
patients with symptoms of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis - a
complication that affects muscular tissue and impairs quality of
life.
     "We did hirudotherapy from one to five times to each patient
using leeches on the area of painful trigger zones in the muscles
surrounding the joints," they wrote in an abstract presented at
the annual European Congress of Rheumatology.
     The resulting clinical improvements included decrease or
disappearance of muscle pain and less early-morning stiffness. 
In addition, the range of movements in joints increased.
     There were no significant side effects after treatment,
leading the scientists to conclude the use of leeches was both
effective and safe, if a little on the gross side.  (Reuters)


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READY, START, RESUME'...
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     More and more, in this modern world, employers rely on
resumes when looking for qualified job applicants.  But a British
study shows that this may not be such a hot idea.
     According to a 2001 study done by the MORI Group, one in
three Britons lied on their job applications.  The lies vary from
relatively harmless claims about leisure activities to lying
about career histories and criminal records, the poll showed.
     It said 18 percent of those who admitted lying on their
resumes said they thought it was necessary to exaggerate because
employers expected them to do so.
     And many of them get away with it, as the same study also
found that one-third of managers admitted to relying on gut
instinct rather than going through the time-consuming procedure
of checking applicants' backgrounds.
     The survey found that men and those aged under 34 were most
likely to be untruthful when applying for work.  More than one-
third of male workers said they had lied, compared with a quarter
of women workers.  (Reuters)


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WORKING FOR HAPPINESS...
---------------------
     The pursuit of happiness is a Constitutional right in the
U.S., but farmers in England are taking it to new heights.  About
150 miles, to be precise.
     That's where the spy satellite belt is located.  The one
that is being tuned to follow Briton's sheep in an effort to
track grazing habits.
     The ultimate goal is to redesign farms to make the sheep
happier.
     The Food Animal Initiative combines scientists from Oxford
University and farmers funded by British food industry giants
supermarket Tesco and burger chain McDonalds UK.
     "Animals are every farmer's first priority, so it is
important that they're given the best care," rural affairs
television presenter John Craven said, launching the project.
     Apart from tracking sheep to help redesign fields, the
initial phase of the project will encourage pigs to indulge in
rooting and to help create shady, secluded spots for cows to have
their calves in natural comfort.  (Reuters)
     [ And to really make the animals happy, be sure not to
     tell them that the sponsors of the happiness study are
     Tesco's and McDonald's. ]


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TAKES A LICKIN' AND KEEPS ON TICKIN' - SOMETIMES...
------------------------------------------------
     Now that we have entered the computer age so completely, it
is getting harder and harder to get away - for both workers and
the computers they use.
     People who can't bear to be parted from their laptops are
taking them on holiday and they come back suffering from sunburn,
water ingestion and excessive alcohol, according to PC retailer
Computer World.  The laptops are often damaged, too, and in the
same ways.
     "September and October is when a lot of laptops come in for
repair after being taken on holiday and being damaged," said
Colin Middlemiss of Computer World.  "Some have been left too
long in the sun, some have been dropped in swimming pools and
others have had booze spilled on them."
     He said the retailer's repair technicians recently found
sand, stones and several tiny hermit crabs in one laptop sent in
by its worried owner.  In the study, nearly 40 laptop repairs in
September were caused by such environmental factors.
     "We were pretty amazed that of our 1,000 respondents 35
percent said they went away with their laptop.  But then surfing
the net and Emailing can be addictive," he said.  (Reuters)


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CARD TRICKS...
-----------
     And you though they were just Christmas Cards.  Nope, those
bland Christmas greetings contain more message than you bargained
for, according to new research.
     A University of Leicester study showed that people are far
more likely to choose cards designed by their own sex, even
though they did not know who had made the cards.  The research
also showed clear differences in the way men and women design
cards.
     Professor Andrew Colman said his findings cast light on what
makes up masculinity and femininity.
     "There's some suggestion that this is just sex roles people
are brought up with, but there's an increasing belief in
psychology that that doesn't tell the whole story," said Colman.
     He also said the study had implications for the greeting
card industry.  They might be missing out because most of their
designers are men, but most card consumers are women - who could
be subtlety put off by the masculine designs.
     But Colman had to admit that he didn't have much choice in
the design of the cards he sent last Christmas - they were the
only ones left in the shop by the time he went looking. 
(Reuters)


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GETTING YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT...
--------------------------------
     Now that sending a letter in the US will cost 3 cents more -
as of today - it's time to figure out what we get for 37 cents
for a first-class letter.
     Reasonably decent service, according to one study.
     Just don't pay the extra $3 to have mail sent "Priority." 
The Wall Street Journal study determined that the extra class
postage didn't buy you much at all, as the latest post office
figures show the typical Priority Mail shipment now takes more
than half a day longer to reach its destination than first-class
deliveries.
     The Journal says Priority Mail service has been slowing
dramatically over the past year and that the average piece now
takes more than two and a half days to arrive.
     Postal officials blame new security measures required for
cargo carried on passenger planes used to screen for explosives. 
(AP)


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THIS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN REALLY SMELLS...
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     In a study by scientists at the University of Quebec in
Canada, women and men both said they felt better when they
sniffed pleasant fragrances while foul smells put them in a bad
mood.
     But only the women said the pain from holding their hand in
very hot water lessened while smelling a sweet aroma and
intensified when they sniffed vinegar or other foul smells.
     Women are usually more sensitive to scents than men but New
Scientist magazine said that doesn't explain why sweet scents are
a pain relief for women and not men, because both sexes rated the
intensity of the pain the same.
     "Pleasant sensations of touch are known to activate an area
of the brain's frontal cortex used for taste and smell.  So it's
possible that smells could be altering the sensory processing of
touch, pain and temperature by affecting this part of the brain
in women," the magazine said.  (Reuters)
     [ Or maybe, it explains why so few men have been sold
     on the whole aromatherapy silliness... ]


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SOUNDS BROWN TO ME...
------------------
     It is time to move on to bigger questions.
     Much bigger.
     Like, "What color is the universe?"
     Believe it or not, cosmologists have actually spent
considerable time trying to work out this astronomical fashion-
sense question.  First they said it was green.  Then they
admitted a mistake and called it beige.  Now the astronomers who
figured out the color of the universe have a proper name for the
shade: Cosmic Latte.
     Johns Hopkins University astronomers Karl Glazebrook and
Ivan Baldry picked the fashionable name from numerous Email
entries that included Cosmic Cream, Astronomical Almond and even
Primordial Clam Chowder.
     The scientists said Cosmic Latte was an "interesting
suggestion because 'latteo' means 'Milky Way' in Galileo's native
Italian."  (Reuters)
     [ I would have held out for Cosmic Khaki, myself... ]


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COULD HAVE PREDICTED THAT...
-------------------------
     Sometimes, in order to research a particular scientific
question, you have to locate a cross-section of people who have
the medical problem you are studying.
     Recently, a Stanford Medical research group advertised for
participants in a study of obsessive-compulsive disorder.  They
were looking for therapy clients who had been diagnosed with this
problem.  The response was gratifying; they got 300 responses the
day after the ad came out.
     The only problem was, they were all from the same person.


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