Thriving Norway Provides an Economics Lesson

OSLO – The global financial crisis has brought low the economies of just about every country on earth. But not Norway.
In the midst of the worst global downturn since the Depression, Norway’s economy grew last year by just under 3 percent. The government enjoys a budget surplus of 11 percent and its ledger is entirely [...]

Cutting calories ‘boosts memory’

Reducing what you eat by nearly a third may improve memory, according to German researchers.
They introduced the diet to 50 elderly volunteers, then gave them a memory test three months later. However, a dietician said the reduction could harm health unless care was taken.
There is growing interest in the potential benefits of calorie restricted diets, [...]

Chemicals ‘may reduce fertility’

Chemicals commonly found in food packaging, upholstery and carpets may be damaging women’s fertility, say US scientists.
A study published in the journal Human Reproduction measured levels of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) in the blood of 1,240 women. Those with higher levels were more likely to take longer to become pregnant.
PFCs are useful in industry because they [...]

Study Sees an Obama Effect as Lifting Black Test-Takers

Researchers have documented what they call an Obama effect, showing that a performance gap between African-Americans and whites on a 20-question test administered before Mr. Obama’s nomination all but disappeared when the exam was administered after his acceptance speech and again after the presidential election.
The inspiring role model that Mr. Obama projected helped blacks overcome [...]

‘Viagra lure’ for Afghan warlords

America’s CIA has found a novel way to gain information from fickle Afghan warlords – supplying sex-enhancing drug Viagra, a US media report says. The Washington Post said it was one of a number of enticements being used.
In one case, a 60-year-old warlord with four wives was given four pills and four days later detailed [...]

Artistic clues to coastal change

Nineteenth Century artwork is a useful tool for studying coastal erosion, according to a retired coastal engineer.
Robin McInnes assessed the accuracy of geological and topological features in more than 400 paintings of the Isle of Wight and Hampshire coastline. Dr McInnes said such old masters gave engineers the chance to see coastal features before they [...]

Fat kids found to have arteries of 45-year-olds

Obese children as young as 10 had the arteries of 45-year-olds and other heart abnormalities that greatly raise their risk of heart disease, say doctors who used ultrasound tests to take a peek inside. “As the old saying goes, you’re as old as your arteries are,” said Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of Children’s Hospital in Kansas [...]

Black and white TV generation have monochrome dreams

New research suggests that the type of television you watched as a child has a profound effect on the colour of your dreams. While almost all under 25s dream in colour, thousands of over 55s, all of whom were brought up with black and white sets, often dream in monchrome – even now.
Eva Murzyn, a [...]

‘Sex pest’ seal attacks penguin

An Antarctic fur seal has been observed trying to have sex with a king penguin.
The bizarre event took place on a beach on Marion Island, a sub-Antarctic island that is home to both fur seals and king penguins. Why the seal attempted to have sex with the penguin is unclear. But the scientists who photographed [...]

Chinese Students in U.S. Fight View of Their Home

LOS ANGELES — When the time came for the smiling Tibetan monk at the front of the University of Southern California lecture hall to answer questions, the Chinese students who packed the audience for the talk last Tuesday had plenty to lob at their guest:
If Tibet was not part of China, why had the Chinese [...]