Nexus - 0227 - New Times Magazine-pages

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... GLOBAL NEWS ... NEWS BREAST-FED BABIES STILL BRAINIER Meanwhile in Utrecht in the Netherlands, researchers have dug a little deeper into history and discovered no major change in the really big picture. According to Gerard Versteegh of the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, the main factors influencing the world's cli- mate have not changed significantly for the past 2.5 million years. : This does not mean that nothing has changed in all those years, but rather that the same changes have been happening all the time. (Source: The Sunday Mail, 9 July 1995) timing and magnitude of each earthquake to 29 seismological institutes worldwide. While European 'experts' are arguing about the validity of his theory, the Japanese are investing in the VAN tech- nique. The Japan Meteorological Agency has announced that it will spend almost US$3 million to set up 20 detecting stations in the Kobe area to measure electric cur- rents in the Earth near active faults, with another seven stations for observing mag- netic fields. (Source: Nature, vol. 375, 22 June 1995) Brain development and performance in formula-fed babies is enhanced when their diet is supplemented with fish oil, accord- ing to a new Australian study. Researchers at Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, conducted clinical trials on babies fed with formula supplemented with DHA, a chief component of breast-milk and a key fatty acid that accumulates in the brain. The babies underwent brain-wave tests using visual stimuli, and performed just as well as breast-fed babies. Previous studies by the team had already established that breast-fed infants have increased brain- wave development and lower incidence of infection and cot death compared with non- breast-fed babies. The team had been trying to isolate the factors in breast-milk which may affect brain performance, also with a view to improving infant formulas—a cause for concern considering 30% of Australian babies are formula-fed from birth. Only 25% of mothers still breast-feed at six months, and 10% at 12 months—alarming figures when evidence of the benefits of breast-feeding is growing worldwide. However, a formula to match breast-milk is a long way off. According to chief sci- entist Dr Bob Gibson, "Just adding DHA won't make it breast-milk." Researchers still have to find a way to add DHA to make it more stable and affordable. (Source: The Weekend Australian, 22-23 April 1995) EUROPOL'S SECRET PLANS Fears are growing that Europol, the new European police force, is beginning to resemble a secret intelligence agency. The public is not to be informed about their plans, and is to be discouraged from specu- lation about them. A report in the respected German news- paper, Siiddeutsche Zeitung, reveals that although Europol was officially founded in February 1995, there still exists no legal ground, let alone valid justification, for their plans. All discussion on the subject is held behind closed doors. The article goes on to mention that Europol will gather detailed information on every European citizen, and that Europol is to be independent of any control by law. (Source: Siiddeutsche Zeitung, 22 June 1995) “ BBC CREW CAUGHT FAKING A BBC documentary crew has been recalled from Italy by senior managers to answer charges that it faked scenes of urban decay for a television documentary. The team's behaviour caused outrage in the southern city of Reggio di Calabria, where BBC World Service Television was filming a feature about drugs, dispossessed youth, and the Mafia. Reggio, where one in five is unemployed and the crime rate is high, seemed an ideal location. But when its city fountains, bou- tiques and litter-free pavements proved a poor representation of urban hell, the TV team reportedly decided to manufacture its own. Professor Silvio Mavilla, who watched the crew in action, said the "evidence" of drugs consisted of an empty syringe pulled from a cameraman's pocket, and the urban decay was a collection of newspapers which, he said, were also provided by the crew. (Source: The Guardian Weekly, 14-20 June 1995) HOSPITAL ERRORS KILLING make it more stable and affordable. THOUSANDS PER YEAR (Source: The Weekend Australian, 22-23 As many as 14,000 people die in April 1995) Australian hospitals every year through preventable mistakes, ranging from misdi- EARTH WARMING OR agnosis to being given the wrong drugs, a COOLING? new study has revealed. The world's temperatures continued to Not only that, between 25,000 and fall on a ten-year average, 30,000 patients are left with some degree according to monitors at of serious and permanent disability as a the University of Alabama result of such mistakes, according to _ in the United States. researchers from the University of In an apparent contra- Adelaide and the University of Newcastle. diction of "global warm- The Australian Hospital Care Study, due ing", latest figures for release this August, examined the med- released last month ical records of 14,179 patients who attend- showed the global temper- ed 28 public and private hospitals in NSW ature trend for the month and South Australia, and extrapolated the of May since 1979 Australia-wide death toll from the data. amounted to minus 0.06 With 2.83 million hospital admissions in degrees per decade. 1992, 16% had suffered an adverse event, But April was still the disability or death caused by the health- warmest month (seasonal- care worker, not the patient's disease. This ly adjusted) since June makes hospitals the third-largest killer in 1991, when the eruption Australia after heart disease and cancer! of Mount Pinatubo in the (Source: The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 June Philippines caused a 30- 1995; New Scientist, 10 June 1995) month global ‘chill’. =~ It's NO SKIN OFF MY \ Nose D NEXUS ¢ 7 $< ee AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1995