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The Deadly Toll of Abortion by Amateurs
By DENISE GRADY, The New York Times, June 2, 2009
BEREGA, Tanzania — A handwritten ledger at the hospital tells a grim story. For the month of January, 17 of the 31 minor surgical procedures here were done to repair the results of “incomplete abortions.” A few may have been miscarriages, but most were botched operations by untrained, clumsy hands.
Abortion is illegal in Tanzania (except to save the mother’s life or health), so women and girls turn to amateurs, who may dose them with herbs or other concoctions, pummel their bellies or insert objects vaginally. Infections, bleeding and punctures of the uterus or bowel can result, and can be fatal. Doctors treating women after these bungled attempts sometimes have no choice but to remove the uterus.
Pregnancy and childbirth are among the greatest dangers that women face in Africa, which has the world’s highest rates of maternal mortality — at least 100 times those in developed countries. Abortion accounts for a significant part of the death toll.
( Read More )
Observatory: Evolving Mosquitoes in the Galapágos
By HENRY FOUNTAIN, The New York Times, June 2, 2009
The animals of the Galapágos have been studied extensively since the days of Darwin and his finches. But there’s been less scrutiny of some of the archipelago’s insects, including mosquitoes.
Now, a paper in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by scientists from the University of Leeds, the Zoological Society of London and Galapágos National Park, sheds light on the black salt marsh mosquito, Aedes taerniorhynchus. Since it is the only mosquito found throughout the archipelago, the findings raise concerns about the impact of mosquito-borne diseases.
( Read More )
Well: Better Running Through Walking
By TARA PARKER-POPE, The New York Times, June 2, 2009
I am more couch potato than runner. But not long ago, I decided to get myself into shape to run in the New York City Marathon, on Nov. 1, just 152 days from now. (Not that I’m counting.)
To train for my first marathon, I’m using the “run-walk” method, popularized by the distance coach Jeff Galloway, a member of the 1972 Olympic team. When I mentioned this to a colleague who runs, she snickered — a common reaction among purists.
But after interviewing several people who have used the method, I’m convinced that those of us run-walking the marathon will have the last laugh.
Contrary to what you might think, the technique doesn’t mean walking when you’re tired; it means taking brief walk breaks when you’re not.
( Read More )
Scientist at Work: Viktor Deak
Where Art and Paleontology Intersect, Fossils Become Faces
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr., The New York Times, June 2, 2009
For his first date with a fellow art student, Viktor Deak suggested “Bodies,” the exhibit of flayed and plasticized humans.
She said yes, even though she had already seen it. He thought that was promising. But it was dinner afterward that convinced him this was the real thing.
“Any woman who could go to ‘Bodies’ with me and then eat a steak,” he said, “and still be dainty and fun and all, was a girl I could be with forever.”
Mr. Deak (pronounced DAY-ahk) and Xochitl Gomez were married at the Bronx Zoo, in the gorilla grotto. Which makes sense, given how much time they spend there. He brings the camera, she totes the big looking glass.
“They know it’s a mirror,” he said of the zoo’s gorilla family. “They come up, make faces, check out their teeth. I’ve gotten some really great shots.”
His interest in gorilla grimaces, like his interest in displays of dissected flesh, is professional. Mr. Deak, 32, is one of the world’s leading paleoartists. If you find yourself face to face in a museum with Homo habilis, Australopithecus afarensis or Paranthropus boisei, you may be looking at his work.
( Read More )
Essay: Wisdom in a Cleric’s Garb; Why Not a Lab Coat Too?
By DENNIS OVERBYE, The New York Times, June 2, 2009
There is a warm fuzzy moment near the end of the movie “Angels & Demons,” starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard.
Mr. Hanks as the Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon has just exposed the archvillain who was threatening to blow up the Vatican with antimatter stolen from a particle collider. A Catholic cardinal who has been giving him a hard time all through the movie and has suddenly turned twinkly-eyed says a small prayer thanking God for sending someone to save them.
Mr. Hanks replies that he doesn’t think he was “sent.”
Of course he was, he just doesn’t know it, the priest says gently. Mr. Hanks, taken aback, smiles in his classic sheepish way. Suddenly he is not so sure.
This may seem like a happy ending. Faith and science reconciled or at least holding their fire in the face of mystery. But for me that moment ruined what had otherwise been a pleasant two hours on a rainy afternoon. It crystallized what is wrong with the entire way that popular culture regards science. Scientists and academics are smart, but religious leaders are wise.
( Read More )
By DENISE GRADY, The New York Times, June 2, 2009
BEREGA, Tanzania — A handwritten ledger at the hospital tells a grim story. For the month of January, 17 of the 31 minor surgical procedures here were done to repair the results of “incomplete abortions.” A few may have been miscarriages, but most were botched operations by untrained, clumsy hands.
Abortion is illegal in Tanzania (except to save the mother’s life or health), so women and girls turn to amateurs, who may dose them with herbs or other concoctions, pummel their bellies or insert objects vaginally. Infections, bleeding and punctures of the uterus or bowel can result, and can be fatal. Doctors treating women after these bungled attempts sometimes have no choice but to remove the uterus.
Pregnancy and childbirth are among the greatest dangers that women face in Africa, which has the world’s highest rates of maternal mortality — at least 100 times those in developed countries. Abortion accounts for a significant part of the death toll.
( Read More )
Observatory: Evolving Mosquitoes in the Galapágos
By HENRY FOUNTAIN, The New York Times, June 2, 2009
The animals of the Galapágos have been studied extensively since the days of Darwin and his finches. But there’s been less scrutiny of some of the archipelago’s insects, including mosquitoes.
Now, a paper in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, by scientists from the University of Leeds, the Zoological Society of London and Galapágos National Park, sheds light on the black salt marsh mosquito, Aedes taerniorhynchus. Since it is the only mosquito found throughout the archipelago, the findings raise concerns about the impact of mosquito-borne diseases.
( Read More )
Well: Better Running Through Walking
By TARA PARKER-POPE, The New York Times, June 2, 2009
I am more couch potato than runner. But not long ago, I decided to get myself into shape to run in the New York City Marathon, on Nov. 1, just 152 days from now. (Not that I’m counting.)
To train for my first marathon, I’m using the “run-walk” method, popularized by the distance coach Jeff Galloway, a member of the 1972 Olympic team. When I mentioned this to a colleague who runs, she snickered — a common reaction among purists.
But after interviewing several people who have used the method, I’m convinced that those of us run-walking the marathon will have the last laugh.
Contrary to what you might think, the technique doesn’t mean walking when you’re tired; it means taking brief walk breaks when you’re not.
( Read More )
Scientist at Work: Viktor Deak
Where Art and Paleontology Intersect, Fossils Become Faces
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr., The New York Times, June 2, 2009
For his first date with a fellow art student, Viktor Deak suggested “Bodies,” the exhibit of flayed and plasticized humans.
She said yes, even though she had already seen it. He thought that was promising. But it was dinner afterward that convinced him this was the real thing.
“Any woman who could go to ‘Bodies’ with me and then eat a steak,” he said, “and still be dainty and fun and all, was a girl I could be with forever.”
Mr. Deak (pronounced DAY-ahk) and Xochitl Gomez were married at the Bronx Zoo, in the gorilla grotto. Which makes sense, given how much time they spend there. He brings the camera, she totes the big looking glass.
“They know it’s a mirror,” he said of the zoo’s gorilla family. “They come up, make faces, check out their teeth. I’ve gotten some really great shots.”
His interest in gorilla grimaces, like his interest in displays of dissected flesh, is professional. Mr. Deak, 32, is one of the world’s leading paleoartists. If you find yourself face to face in a museum with Homo habilis, Australopithecus afarensis or Paranthropus boisei, you may be looking at his work.
( Read More )
Essay: Wisdom in a Cleric’s Garb; Why Not a Lab Coat Too?
By DENNIS OVERBYE, The New York Times, June 2, 2009
There is a warm fuzzy moment near the end of the movie “Angels & Demons,” starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard.
Mr. Hanks as the Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon has just exposed the archvillain who was threatening to blow up the Vatican with antimatter stolen from a particle collider. A Catholic cardinal who has been giving him a hard time all through the movie and has suddenly turned twinkly-eyed says a small prayer thanking God for sending someone to save them.
Mr. Hanks replies that he doesn’t think he was “sent.”
Of course he was, he just doesn’t know it, the priest says gently. Mr. Hanks, taken aback, smiles in his classic sheepish way. Suddenly he is not so sure.
This may seem like a happy ending. Faith and science reconciled or at least holding their fire in the face of mystery. But for me that moment ruined what had otherwise been a pleasant two hours on a rainy afternoon. It crystallized what is wrong with the entire way that popular culture regards science. Scientists and academics are smart, but religious leaders are wise.
( Read More )
