Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Data Trends Suggest Women Will Outrun Men in 2156: "Andrew J. Tatem of the University of Oxford and his colleagues collected the finishing times in the men's 100-meter dash run in 1900 and from 1928 (when the women's race was first run) to 2004. The winning times for both genders have been steadily decreasing, with female competitors improving at a slightly faster clip than the males. By plotting the results against the year of competition and extrapolating the results, the team determined that the fastest human on the planet could be a woman after the 2156 games. In today's issue of the journal Nature, they report with a 5 percent margin of error that the event could take place as soon as 2064 or as late as 2788, however."

CNN.com - Device to save hospitals billions - Sep 28, 2004: "Shaw told Case that current methods of assessing pain and agitation in patients were very subjective and often resulted in over-sedation.
The two main consequences of this were extended stays in intensive care units and increased drug use -- both of which were costly.
Rudge, along with a group of other students, set to work on seeing if automatic detection would be possible, using complex mathematic formulas.
Once he established the science behind the idea was possible, he built a prototype, which involved a sensor that detects what level of agitation a patient is experiencing, using a digital video camera."

The New York Times > New York Region > A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl: "After a local newspaper's feature on her, about 2,000 people came for opening night - everyone from serious collectors to the artist's preschool teacher. She earned more money than she could comprehend. The gallery owner said it was his most successful show ever and scheduled a second one for October.
So celebrate, the artist did. During a recent visit, she climbed on a big bouncing ball shaped like a frog, grabbed the handles and bounced around the house with laughter pealing and pigtails flying.
The artist is Marla Olmstead. She is 4.
In all, Marla has sold 24 paintings totaling nearly $40,000, with the prices going up. Her latest paintings are selling for $6,000. Some customers are on a waiting list.
Laura Olmstead still gets teary-eyed when her daughter's work sells. She would rather keep it herself.
'It's beautiful whatever your child does,' she said."

The New York Times > Science > Solving a Riddle Written in Silver: "n archaeological discovery in 1979 revealed that the Priestly Benediction, as the verse from Numbers 6:24-26 is called, appeared to be the earliest biblical passage ever found in ancient artifacts. Two tiny strips of silver, each wound tightly like a miniature scroll and bearing the inscribed words, were uncovered in a tomb outside Jerusalem and initially dated from the late seventh or early sixth century B.C. - some 400 years before the famous Dead Sea Scrolls.
In a scholarly report published this month, the research team concluded that the improved reading of the inscriptions confirmed their greater antiquity. The script, the team wrote, is indeed from the period just before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar and the subsequent exile of Israelites in Babylonia.
The researchers further reaffirmed that the scrolls 'preserve the earliest known citations of texts also found in the Hebrew Bible and that they provide us with the earliest examples of confessional statements concerning Yahweh.'"

The New York Times > Health > The Consumer: How Young Is Too Young to Have a Nose Job and Breast Implants?: "The number of cosmetic surgeries performed on people 18 and under reached 74,233 in 2003, a 14 percent increase from 2000, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Girls and boys as young as 6 get plastic surgery to flatten protruding ears. Adolescents of 13 or 14 have nose jobs. And nearly 3,700 breast augmentation surgeries were performed on teenage girls last year, according to the society. Almost as many teenage boys - 3,300 - had overly developed breasts reduced."

The New York Times > Education > N.Y.U. Begins Hiring Effort to Lift Its Liberal Arts Standing: "N.Y.U. is trying to compete with the likes of Harvard, Princeton and Yale, but without their endowments. Harvard, the endowment king, had nearly $23 billion in June. N.Y.U., which has a much larger student body - nearly 40,000 students, about twice that of Harvard - has about $1.3 billion."

Article: Crying wolf over predator attacks�| New ScientistWolves were nearly wiped out in the US in the last century, leaving just 4000 today. Norway has considered culling up to a quarter of the 80 or so wolves in southern Scandinavia to appease farmers who claim they are killing their sheep.
And numbers of Africa’s great predators, notably lions, cheetahs and hunting dogs, are in free fall as they are shot, poisoned and snared by people with whom they come into conflict (New Scientist print edition, 20 September 2003).
Yet the slaughter may be unnecessary. The first worldwide review of the effect of predators has found little evidence that they have a significant impact on livestock. “There’s this cultural hangover that says predators are bad and killing them is the only way to deal with the problem,” says lead author Kate Graham of the University of Stirling, UK.

FDA Backgrounder: FDA and Monosodium Glutamate: "Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used as a flavor enhancer in a variety of foods prepared at home, in restaurants, and by food processors. Its use has become controversial in the past 30 years because of reports of adverse reactions in people who've eaten foods that contain MSG. Research on the role of glutamate--a group of chemicals that includes MSG--in the nervous system also has raised questions about the chemical's safety."

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: In Nicaragua, a Language Is Born: "Since 1977, deaf children in Nicaragua have been creating an increasingly sophisticated system of hand signals to communicate. Successive generations of children have, on their own, introduced new features that are found only in true languages, according to a report published today in Science. 'They're creating language out of gesture,' says lead author Ann Senghas of Barnard College.
Many linguists regard Nicaraguan Sign Language, or NSL, as an important test case, because the language developed almost in isolation, and the first 'speakers' are still alive. Until the government opened a school for the deaf in 1977, deaf children in Nicaragua had been socially isolated. The students had little exposure to written language, and the school did not teach signing. Instead, the children invented the language largely on their own, with each generation building on what they learned from preceding students."

Boston.com / Business / Technology / Software enables nurses to bid for extra shifts: "Under this system, the hospital posts shift openings and the highest hourly rate it is willing to pay. Nurses willing to work at least four shifts a month then may bid on the work and pay, as long as their bids do not exceed the maximum pay offered. Successful bidders are notified by e-mail. 'More than 50 percent of our nurses are now using this software,' he added, noting that the 41-bed hospital has 130 full-and part-time nurses, most of whom work on medical and surgical floors."

Ananova - Cavemen started bling-bling culture: "The New Scientist report says the earliest nomadic hunters were far more civilised than thought previously. And the lust for bling led to an early pecking-order in which people with the right gear seemed more important.
The report said: 'Mass consumerism may be a 20th century invention but its roots go back to the dawn of humanity.
'Prestige goods could be the first step on the road to modern civilisation, paving the way for agriculture and urbanisation. 'No one believes the guy who spends $670,000 on a Bugatti Veyron does so because he needs to travel at 250mph.
'We all know he is buying an exclusive status symbol. But don't knock it - he is just being civilised.'"

BBC NEWS | Health | Cheek tissue to restore eyesight: "The researchers harvested 3mm (0.12 inch)-wide squares of mouth tissue from inside the cheeks and grew them into thin layers in the lab.
They used a special low-temperature technique to separate a very thin sheet off each batch and laid it on to the eyes of the patients.
The cell layers stuck on to the eye without stitching and developed into tissue that looked and acted like healthy corneas.
Writing in the journal, the researchers, led by Dr Kohji Nishida, said: 'Corneal transparency was restored and postoperative visual acuity improved remarkably in all four eyes."

The New York Times > Washington > Price Comparison for Drugs Is Put on Federal Web Site: "WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 - Over objections from some drug companies, the Bush administration unveiled a new feature of a federal Web site on Wednesday comparing prices for similar brand-name drugs that can be used to treat conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis and allergies."

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: In High-Risk Patients, MRI Detects Breast Cancers That Mammograms Miss: "Findings published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that for some women, the best tool for finding breast cancer early may not be a mammogram. The study results indicate that women who have mutations in the so-called breast cancer susceptibility genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) may be better off getting MRIs."

Article: Jacuzzi users risk Legionnaire's bug�| New Scientist"Deadly Legionella bacteria lurk in a quarter of all jacuzzis, suggests a UK study.
If inhaled, the bacteria can cause Legionnaire’s disease, a potentially fatal pneumonia-like condition especially hazardous in infants, the elderly and those with weakened immunity.
Jacuzzis pose a risk because the hot, swirling waters generate vapours and aerosols which carry the bacteria into bathers’ lungs.
But the sheer number of contaminated spas has alarmed investigators from the UK’s Health Protection Agency (HPA). They want testing for the bacteria made compulsory.
Susanne Surman-Lee and her colleagues at the HPA found that, of the 108 pools they examined in 88 premises, 23 individual pools were contaminated with the bacteria."

The New York Times > Health > The Consumer: Don't Play a Numbers Game, Experts Say, Just Eat Your Vegetables: "Dr. Ludwig and Dr. Jenkins say that for the average person wishing to eat a lower index diet, it is best to ignore the index numbers and simply aim to eat less refined starches. 'Just eat abundant quantities of fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts, and reduce your consumption of white bread, prepared breakfast cereals, white rice and potato products,' Dr. Ludwig said.
'Think of eating the traditional foods that many of us are no longer eating, like barley stew or lentil soup,' Dr. Jenkins said. The glycemic index concept has been criticized because it does not account for the way people typically eat several different foods at each meal. Fat or protein in a meal slow digestion, decreasing any carbohydrate's effect on blood sugar."

The New York Times > Business > Your Money > Spending: The Sleep of Forgetfulness (and the Bed Remembers): "The mattresses are used widely in hospitals and geriatric-care centers, because they relieve pressure and reduce bed sores. And memory foam mattresses do not have to be turned regularly and do not harbor dust mites.
...
Most manufacturers offer a trial period, and most companies offer warranties. Tempur-Pedic's covers 20 years, for example, while Dormia's is 25."

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: Mummy's Face Revealed with CT Scans: "A team of Italian researchers used multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) for the first time to create a 3-D model of a mummy from the Egyptian Museum in Torino, Italy. With 355 separate scans, the collaborators identified bone and dried tissues, and determined where skin ended and bandages began. 'The only other way to have gotten the information we got from MDCT would have been to unwrap, destroy and otherwise alter the conservation of the bandages and the mummy,' says lead author Federico Cesarani of the Struttura Operativa Complessa di Radiodiagnostica in Asti, Italy. A forensic artist combined the data into a plasticine and nylon sculpture."

Wired News: Permanent Lenses in Sight: "A permanent, implantable contact lens that can dramatically improve vision in patients with severe nearsightedness is expected to receive FDA approval by the end of this year."