Situs Inversus

I learned something new yesterday. So it turns out there is a rare congenital condition called "situs inversus" in which your heart and other internal organs are reversed -- a mirror image of the ordinary body. I had never heard of it, and frankly, it's kind of mind-bending.

Here's the kicker -- a person with this condition usually functions normally! It's kind of crazy. So basically, the portions of the body that are not normally mirrored about the body's center are all transposed, but the body goes about its business anyway. It doesn't know any different. I wonder, would a right-handed person with situs inversus actually originally be left-handed?

The reason I discovered this condition is because it turns out that Minnesota Timberwolves rookie, Randy Foye, has the condition. How unbelievable is the human body that in an instance when everything internally is backwards from the way it's supposed to be, an individual can still perform at the highest level possible athletically?

Quick, what's the most common noun?

If you had to guess the most commonly used noun in the English language, what would it be? See the comments section below for Oxford dictionary's answer.

A Sad Reminder

I don't mean to continue to harp incessantly on the topic, but numbers this stark can serve as a reminder that as we enjoy this holiday season, we must remember and continue to speak for those who will not ever be able to.

As the year ends, many year-end statistics, sometimes from the year prior, are becoming available and this one speaks for itself:

[In 2005] 122,725 babies were born in New York City.

.

The number of reported abortions in the city was ... 88,891 in 2005.

What more can be said? What more could the future of New York City offer with the added influx of human capital provided by nearly 100,000 more residents each year?

By way of comparison, since the war in Iraq began, 2,979 American soldiers and up to 57,368 Iraqis have been killed. These lives lost are just as frustrating and worthwhile as those lost here in the States, but the numbers themselves do pale compared to the grim statistics reported above.

A Double Standard?

So there was a fight in an NBA game over the weekend. Needless to say, the reaction was swift and stern. Involved players were suspended a combined 47 games, including 15 games for Carmelo Anthony, who threw a punch.

Some have pointed out that in light of fighting in other sports like baseball and hockey, where reactions are much more muted, this punishment was too severe.

Might the hubbub even be racist? Bill Simmons points out in his chat on the topic,

Chris, Seattle: The fact that everyone makes such a big deal about an NBA brawl and not so much about a MLB brawl smacks of racism, I don't care what people say.

Bill Simmons: Couldn't agree more. Everyone involved in this fight was black, so the players are now "out of control" and the whole thing is "a disgrace." But when a white baseball player charges a white pitcher, it's all in good fun. It's a little weird.

Do we hold a double standard when it comes to black athletes fighting?

Surprising Truths

Recently, I've been reading a book by Gregg Easterbrook called "The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse". It's filled with facts that challenge our perceptions, and just for that reason, I'd recommend it. Many of us enjoy being a contrarian, but in this case reality backs Mr. Easterbrook up, and so I'm sure I'll be using a few of his points.
Did you know, for instance, that,

Environmental trends for Western Europe are also almost entirely positive, though Europe trails America in most categories of improvement. Despite the common perception that Europe is environmentally advanced compared to the United States, U.S. environmental rules are stricter than European Union rules--Paris has worse smog than Houston [who are the worst in the U.S.], for example, and the Mississippi is far cleaner than the Marne. Generally, Europe lags about ten years behind the United States in ecological cleanup...

Surprised?

Skyscrapers

the proposed Chicago Spire (graphic from the Chicago Tribune)

On the heels of a redesign to the proposed Chicago Spire (I prefer the original), it is worth looking at the state of the world's skyscrapers.
As luck would have it, Wired has done a great job of running it down for us:

The world's cities are getting taller – and fast. Between 2001 and 2012, almost as many skyscrapers will be constructed as were built in the entire 20th century. While vertical metropolises like Hong Kong and New York continue to mint monoliths, the most dramatic changes are happening in lower-profile places. Thanks to globalization and the steady migration of people to urban cores, cities that once had only a few high-rises are morphing into mini-Manhattans. Miami, for example, had only five skyscrapers (buildings more than 150 meters, or 492 feet, tall) in 1999 but will have 71 by 2012. Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, will soar from two in 1999 to 90 by 2012. Here's a snapshot of the world's fastest-changing skylines...

Be sure to check out the pictures showing what will be a progression of world's tallest buildings until 2012.

Link Dropping

Rather than just one link of the day, I'm gonna drop a whole smorgasbord. I hope you enjoy. Let me know which is your favorite.

Without any further ado, here's a look at some of the articles I've been reading online this past week:

Absolute Must-Reads:
What It Takes to Make a Student
Three Things You Don't Know About Aids in Africa

Worth a look-see:
A Free-for-All on Science and Religion
The Leastern Conference
The God Who Lives and Works and Plays in Russia
A man who hated government
The Gospel According to Jim Wallis

Peculiar and interesting:
A Russian skyscraper plan
The last cargo cult

The Way Things Go

In 1987, Peter Fischli and David Weiss made a film called The Way Things Go. In 2003, Honda made a car commercial. Certainly any similarities were purely coincidental. Regardless, both were breathtaking.

This film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes, something, usually very minor, didn't work and they would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. It took three months to complete and cost six million dollars. Everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor, ramp, and complete Honda Accord) is parts from two disassembled Honda Accords.

When the ad was shown to Honda executives, they liked it and commented on how amazing computer graphics have gotten. They were surprised when they found out it was for real.

In 2003, Fischli and Weiss threatened legal action against Honda.

(HT: Arloa)

Why Marry?

That is exactly the question that Europeans seem to be asking themselves as marriage rates decline across Europe. This article notes that it is especially the case in one particular country:

In France, the country that evokes more images of romance than perhaps any other, marriage has increasingly fallen out of favor.

Growing numbers of couples are choosing to raise children, buy homes and build family lives without religious or civil approval of their partnerships. In the past generation, the French marriage rate has plunged more than 30 percent, even as population and birthrates have been rising.

"Marriage doesn't have the same importance as it used to," said France Prioux, who directs research on changing social trends for France's National Institute of Demographic Studies. "It will never become as frequent as it once was."

Marriage is in decline across much of northern Europe, from Scandinavia to France, a pattern some sociologists describe as a "soft revolution" in European society--a generational shift away from Old World traditions and institutions toward a greater emphasis on personal independence.

But French couples are abandoning the formality of marriage faster than most of their European neighbors and far more rapidly than their American counterparts: French marriage rates are 45 percent below U.S. figures.

As noted, many couples are instead opting for civil partnerships or no formal arrangements at all, while still raising children and functioning as a household.

The increase in out-of-wedlock birthrates is even more dramatic: Last year, 59 percent of all first-born French children were born to unwed parents, most by choice, not chance. The numbers were not driven by single mothers, teenage mothers or poor mothers but by couples from all social and economic backgrounds who chose parenthood in the absence of marriage vows.

The question is, what ramifications for society does this trend hold?

Did You Know?

Domesticated turkeys can easily drown when it rains because they tend to look up to see what's hitting them and their tiny, oval-shaped nostrils are "perfect funnels" for falling rain.

I thought you should.

Compassion

A buzz-phrase of six years ago was 'compassionate conservativism'. Is it even possible, though? Many liberals voiced the underlying perception that liberals are more generous to those less fortunate, and thus compassionate, than conservatives. They went so far as saying that there was no such thing as a compassionate conservative.

While it can continue to be debated whether liberal, moderate, or conservative political policies are more 'compassionate' or effective in pursuing social justice, now we are able to see which type of person is more generous.

Arthur C. Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University whose work involves public policy and philanthropy, has written a new book called Who Really Cares: America’s Charity Divide: Who Gives, Who Doesn’t, and Why It Matters. His boldface conclusion? As summarized in this interesting article, Brooks found that “religious conservatives donate far more money than secular liberals to all sorts of charitable activities, irrespective of income.”

Wanted: Man to Save Earth in 2036

Yes, it's true.

Astronomers have for awhile now known that there is the potential for an asteroid to collide with Earth and wreak havoc on our planet. They know it has happened before. Now, a smallish asteroid called Apophis has been identified as a possible threat to Earth in 2036. While it likely will miss Earth, further refinements to the modeling being done are necessary to determine for sure.

This is where science fiction meets science, however.

[NASA] is drawing up plans to land an astronaut on an asteroid hurtling through space at more than 30,000 mph. It wants to know whether humans could master techniques needed to deflect such a doomsday object when it is eventually identified. The proposals are at an early stage, and a spacecraft needed just to send an astronaut that far into space exists only on the drawing board, but they are deadly serious.

Bruce Willis, are you available?

The Game

Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Michigan Wolverines.
Scarlet and Gray. Maize and Blue.
The Horseshoe. The Big House.
Script Ohio. Winged helmets.
Woody and Bo.
Hang on Sloopy. Hail to the Victors.
Are you ready for this?

Getting Bigger

It is estimated that on October 17 of this year, the population of the United States reached 300 million people. That's a lot of people, but our country is geographically big enough that it still makes us only the 172nd most dense country in the world, which is also less dense than the world is.

Still though, it begs the question, where do all these people live? Now we can see:

On being a single-issue voter

John Piper says,

Being a single-issue [voter] does not mean that only one issue matters. It means that some issues may matter enough to [disqualify someone].

For him, being a one issue voter is not an issue. And so it is in my political views. As we watch returns come in on this election eve, I thought it was worth reflecting on my own political viewpoints.

There is no doubt that one issue is by far most important to me when it comes to my personal political position. Abortion. Since 1973, when Roe vs. Wade was decided in our country, 47,282,923 abortions have occurred. Currently, approximately 1.3 million lives are ended via abortion each year in our country. Any issue that costs lives is extremely important. However, when it's an issue that literally is costing millions and millions of lives, it is of utmost vital importance. Can you imagine our country with almost 50 million more children over the last three decades filled with the potential to do great things?

Globally, it is estimated that 1,225,000 abortions occur each month. In about the last 75 years, it is estimated that 945,000,000 total abortions have occurred globally. So in less than four years, we will have reached the point when more than a BILLION babies have been killed on our planet. No other issue comes even close to affecting the same number of lives. It is the genocide of our age, and ending it is the single most important issue facing us today.

With that understood, it is difficult to cast a ballot for any candidate who does not endorse ending this travesty in our country no matter the other issues. This one issue is my litmus test. That being said, I am not beholden to any one party or ignoring other issues. If good candidates who are pro-life run, I will seriously consider their credentials. I cannot in good faith consider pro-abortion candidates in the same way.

It is, therefore, pretty straightforward for me. I, being pro-life, look at the candidates before me and vote for the pro-life candidate. If they both are pro-life, other very important issues such as global poverty and hunger, fair wages, Third World corruption, Darfur, earthly stewardship, and fiscal responsibility must be examined. But for this era, so long as pro-abortion policies continue, I will remain a single-issue voter.

The End of an Era

I remember waking up each morning I stayed at my Grandma's house (as we didn't have our own TV) in the summers and watching The Price Is Right with my siblings. It was a tradition that brings back fond memories. Now the show will be different.

This coming summer, the longtime host of The Price Is Right, Bob Barker, is retiring. He has hosted the show since September 4, 1972, making it the longest-running daytime game show in television history.

Will the show seem the same without Bob?

Twins?

Yep.

Does TV cause autism?

Among the diseases that have increased in the last few decades, autism is one of the most commonly mentioned.

The alarming rise in autism rates in the U.S. and some other developed nations is one of the most anguishing mysteries of modern medicine — and the source of much desperate speculation by parents. In 1970, its incidence was thought to be just 1 in 2,500; today about 1 in 170 kids born in the U.S. fall somewhere on the autism spectrum.

The problem is, nobody can say for sure what has caused that increase. Some say that it is the mercury-based preservative in vaccines and others say it has only increased due to broader definitions and better detection, not actual incidence.

Now, however, a study has been released that seems to show a correlation between TV watching prior to age 3 and autism. Causation seems to be a little trickier to nail down, but the study is certainly intriguing. The hypothesis does seem to make sense. Gregg Easterbrook pondered approximately a month ago (prior to the study's release),

The autism rise began around 1980, about the same time cable television and VCRs became common, allowing children to watch television aimed at them any time. Since the brain is organizing during the first years of life and since human beings evolved responding to three-dimensional stimuli, I wondered if exposing toddlers to lots of colorful two-dimensional stimulation could be harmful to brain development.

Now, he notes,

Cornell University researchers are reporting what appears to be a statistically significant relationship between autism rates and television watching...The Cornell study represents a potential bombshell in the autism debate.

Needless to say, not all reaction to the study has been positive. Further research will tell whether a new piece of evidence has indeed been found in puzzling together the mystery of autism.

But could our proclivity to babysit via video be damaging our children? It is worth wondering.

Hot Zones

I thought this was interesting. Planners here in Chicago have used special satellite images to show which Chicago neighborhoods are the hottest. Literally, the hottest. Urban areas create a 'heat island' effect due to the black tar roofs and asphalt parking lots abundant in the city, which release hot blasts back into the surrounding environment. Vegetation, on the other hand, holds down temps by creating shade and evaporating water.

As it turns out, the study shows that tree cover is linked to lower temps, which makes sense. Those areas with the fewest trees and vegetation also were the most likely to exhibit the 'heat island' effect. The treeless (and hotter) areas were mapped and identified.

Using this, the planners are able to plan tree planting and development of vegetation-covered 'green roofs,' hopefully alleviating some of the heat in these neighborhoods. Pretty cool, I thought.

A Wild Finish in the Chicago Marathon

Whoah, talk about a wild finish to a marathon! Today's winner, Robert Cheruiyot slipped and fell backwards, landing flat on his back and hitting his head, as he crossed the finish line. I was watching the race live as it happened (see video here), and he literally slipped under the finish banner, never touching it. Cheruiyot had just finished holding off Daniel Njenga in a push to the finish, but for a moment there was question as to whether he had officially crossed the finish line. He was ruled the winner, however, as most of his body crossed the line as he slipped. Said official race referee, Pat Savage,

He just slipped. Luckily for him, he slipped...forward. The finish line is right at the beginning of the mat, and he ended up sliding right across it. ... There is no doubt about it; he's the winner.

Undoubtedly feeling somewhat better because he is the winner, Cheruiyot is recovering overnight at a local hospital after suffering some external and internal bleeding in his head.

How ironic that he had just successfully won a 26.2 mile race only to be felled by the finish line.