KNIGHT WATCH

WHO PUTS THE INTEREST IN INTERESTING?

John Dreves is known as the "Can Man". In the small town of Paradise, Michigan the retired postal worker has turned can collecting into a moneymaker for the local school. A bumper sticker on his car warns "This Suburban brakes for cans" and it does. Dreves began collecting 4 years ago when he helped Whitefish Township School raise $400 in a can drive. Now he, himself, raises nearly $400 a month. The more than 162,000 cans and bottles he has collected have enabled him to donate more than $16,000 to the school's sports program. Obviously, this is the work of a can-do man.

Richard Bernstein is also a can-do man. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan before getting his law degree from Northwestern University. He now works pro bono for disabled rights, as well as being an adjunct professor of political and social activism at the University of Michigan. Bernstein has run 10 marathons and on June 22, 2008 he finished his first Ironman triathlon – running 26.2 miles, biking 112 miles and swimming 2.4 miles in 14 hours and 36 minutes. These are admirable accomplishments for any 34-year-old man. Bernstein, however, was born blind; but he has never lost sight of his goals.

Eric Anderson's original goal as an aerospace engineer was to go into space. Instead, as CEO of Space Adventures, he went into business with Russia's Federal Space Agency to carry customers into space. On October 12, 2008 his 6th customer paid $30 million to spend a week onboard the International Space Station. Now Anderson is commissioning construction of Space Adventure's own Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft. Once completed, the souped-up Soyuz will carry 2 passengers at a time on a trip around the moon. Considering that trip will cost $100 million per person, Anderson may have to wait for the economy to be souped-up too.

Tony Gemignani, chef/owner of Pyzanos Pizza in Castro Valley, California, waited until he had won the 2007 World Pizza Championship in Naples, Italy before opening his own pizza school in Manteca, California. The school's teachers include a master chef, the world's highest pizza tosser and the world's fastest pizza maker. Gemignani attributes his winning the championship to deseeding his tomatoes to prevent his pizza from being bitter. Nevertheless, because Gemignani is the first American to ever win the World Pizza Championship, there may be some Italians who are still bitter.

WHO PUT THE IF IN SCIENTIFIC?

DNA fingerprinting was invented in 1984 at England's Leicester University. Twenty-four years later scientists at the same university did a study of 2,500 men. By analyzing DNA in the Y chromosome – the chromosome that determines maleness and is passed from father to son – the scientists discovered there's a 24% chance two men with the same surname are genetically linked. The chance increases to 50% if the surname is rare. The ability for forensic scientists to use DNA fingerprinting to identify surnames of victims and suspects would be progress not in name only.

In 2008 the Nobel Prize for chemistry was awarded to three scientists who also worked with genetics. In the 1960's Osamu Shimomura isolated the "green fluorescent protein" from a species of jellyfish – a protein that glows bright green when exposed to ultraviolet light. Thirty years later Martin Chalfie inserted the GFP gene into cells of living creatures for use as a visual marker. Roger Tsien then expanded the technique by creating GFP's that glow cyan, blue and yellow, enabling researchers to mark different cell proteins and observe their interaction. Obviously, the GFP gene is the work of three "gene-iuses".

David Savage is the 3rd American to receive a hand transplant from a cadaver, but his is the 1st transplant to reveal a unique genius of the human brain. Magnetic resonance scanning of his brain revealed that the same part of Savage's brain that was responsible for sensation in his original hand is creating sensation in his new hand. Because similar results haven't been seen in other patients, the scientists theorize that intensive physical therapy enabled Savage's brain to remap itself. This discovery could lead to prostheses that function more normally and have a sense of touch. Because 44 hand transplants have been done worldwide, there's great opportunity for more hands-on research.

Research done by scientists at the Oregon Research Institute discovered one reason why it's hard for obese people not to overeat. Because chocolate excites the brain, 77 women were asked to drink chocolate milkshakes while having their brains scanned. After tracking the brain's blood flow, the scientists discovered the obese women experienced less dopamine response in the brain's reward center. Because the chemical dopamine is necessary for a pleasure response, the scientists surmised that obese people overeat to compensate for food not tasting as good as they'd expected. They don't get a fair shake from a milkshake.

IS LIVING DANGEROUS TO YOUR HEALTH?

Responding to a court order, the Environmental Protection Agency is requiring industries to reduce lead in the air by 90%. That's the good news. The bad news is the EPA's plan for 236 new or relocated monitors represents only half as many as it used to have and not enough to detect thousands of lead polluters nationwide. The plan also allows companies to average lead exposure over a 3-month period, which could result in dangerous spikes of lead emissions from smelters, metal mines, waste incinerators and other polluters. Based on data collected between 2005 and 2007, 18 counties in 12 states presently fail to meet the new standard and have until October 2011 to comply. Obviously, the EPA needs to get the lead out of its pants too.

Then there's drinking water. Tests on 10 leading brands of bottled water showed they contained many of the same contaminants as tap water. In spite of being 1,900 times more expensive, bottled water isn't held to higher federal standards. Environmental Working Group – an organization advocating stricter standards – tested bottled water in California, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia and found an average of 8 contaminants in each brand. Although the contaminants were below federal limits, we don't expect coliform bacteria, fertilizer, solvents, plastic-making chemicals and radioactive strontium in bottled water – unless we expect the bottles to have carbon filters.

As for drinking alcohol, it shrinks the brain. According to a study in the Archives of Neurology, the brain decreases in size by 2% per decade as a natural part of aging; but consuming alcohol can increase that by 1.5%. Men who drank more than 14 drinks a week and women who drank 8-14 drinks per week experienced brain shrinkage. Scientists theorize the shrinkage occurs because alcohol dehydrates brain tissue. The good news is smaller brains don't have impaired memory or mental function – but if they did, maybe we wouldn't remember.

According to the British Association of Dermatologists, excess mobile phone use is dangerous too. It causes Mobile Phone Dermatitis. MPD is an allergic reaction to nickel surfaces on mobile phones and it causes a red, itchy rash on body parts that contact those surfaces. Although cheeks and ears are most often affected, too much text messaging can also cause a rash on fingers. Considering 10 of the 22 phones tested had nickel surfaces, dermatologists can expect to see a rash of rashes.

HOW DO YOU DEFINE COURAGE?

When Tim Haney was twelve years old, he and two friends stole a historical plaque from a tree at the Vrooman Mansion in Bloomington, Illinois. The 12"x 15" plaque noted that both Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas had given speeches under that tree. Tim is 62 now. Having felt guilty about the Halloween prank for 50 years, he recently returned the plaque to the mansion. Although the mansion is now an inn, Tim has returned to normal – Normal, Illinois that is.

In 2005 J.T. Nesbitt was a famous motorcycle designer. Then hurricane Katrina destroyed everything he owned. Now Nesbitt is a New Orleans bartender by day and a race car builder by night. His race car is a 1998 Lincoln Mark VIII, dubbed the "Stinkin Linkin" because of how it smelled when he found it filled with flood waters. To try to break a land speed record, Nesbitt drove the Lincoln to Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. After the disastrous 2,000 mile trip – documented in the movie "Salt Dreams" – the car made it to 162 mph before spinning out of control. In 2008 Nesbitt's goal is to break 200 mph, which would make the Stinkin Linkin the world's fastest Lincoln – and would be one Katrina victim's attempt at a speedy recovery.

On September 26, 2008 Swiss daredevil Yves Rossy jumped from a plane at 8,800 feet and crossed the English Channel strapped to a homemade wing. The 22-mile trip took 10 minutes and traced the route of French aviator Louis Bleriot, who 99 years before had been the first person to cross the Channel by plane. Four kerosene-burning jet turbines kept Rossy and his 121-pound, carbon-composite wing aloft. As Rossy steered with body movements, a heat-resistant suit protected him from the hot turbines – preventing this from becoming just another hot-shot stunt.

On the same day – September 26, 2008 – Florida Keys carpenter Greg LeNoir displayed a different kind of courage. When he took his 14-pound terrier Jake for his daily swim at the marina, a 5-foot shark surfaced and grabbed almost the entire dog in its mouth. LeNoir balled up his fists and dove off the pier. He beat the shark on the back until it let go of his dog. Jake received bite wounds, but wasn't critically injured. As for LeNoir, he said his dog deserved whatever he could do. What he did was show that man can be dog's best friend.