Findings : By JOHN TIERNEY
Suppose you’re preparing to travel by air. Which of these precautions do you think is most likely to prevent your plane from crashing?
A) Sacrificing a gilt-horned bull on an altar.
B) Sacrificing two goats on the tarmac.
C) Buying flight insurance.
I’m guessing you didn’t go for the bull sacrifice. Although this preboarding procedure […]
Posted on May 6th, 2008 by admin
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By CORNELIA DEAN : In 1945, when Stalin ruled the Soviet Union, Mikhail M. Kozhov began keeping track of what was happening under the surface of Lake Baikal, the ancient Siberian lake that is the deepest and largest body of fresh water on earth.
Every week to 10 days, by boat in summer and over the […]
Posted on May 6th, 2008 by admin
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By MIGUEL HELFT : Microsoft and Yahoo were pushed to the brink of a multibillion-dollar marriage and then to a sudden breakup this weekend by the same player.
It was Google, in the odd dual role of both unwitting matchmaker and self-interested spoiler.
Google’s phenomenal rise, after all, prodded Microsoft, the dominant technology company for more than […]
Posted on May 6th, 2008 by admin
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By DOUGLAS ROBSON : When humans engage in highly strenuous exercise day after day, they start to metabolize the body’s reserves, depleting glycogen and fat stores. When cells run out of energy, a result is fatigue, and exercise grinds to a halt until those sources are replenished.
Dogs are different, in particular the sled dogs that […]
Posted on May 6th, 2008 by admin
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By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, M.D. : For people with early cancer of the larynx, the standard treatment can be grueling: a biopsy in an operating room followed by a six-week course of radiation that may lead to permanent hoarseness or speech impairment.
But a team of Harvard doctors is reporting that a new outpatient laser procedure […]
Posted on May 6th, 2008 by admin
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Essay : By HOWARD MARKEL, M.D.
Like most patients assigned to my substance abuse clinic these days, John, a stylish 22-year-old cosmetology student, did not arrive voluntarily.
After two drunken driving violations, one in which another motorist was injured, a judge ordered John to attend a weekly recovery group I conduct for young adults facing similar legal […]
Posted on May 6th, 2008 by admin
Filed under: Health | No Comments »