KNIGHT WATCH

DO YOU HEAR OPPORTUNITY KNOCKING?

The opportunity to save money is literally in your hands. Washing clothes in cold water could save up to 90% of the energy needed to heat the water. At 400 loads per year, you could save $30-$40. Running the dryer 15 minutes less per load could save another $34. Then there’s electronics – like televisions, computers and iPod docks. They’re constantly using electricity. Unplugging them at night could save $100-$200 a year. Finally, checking your cell phone account mid-month could save you overtime charges as high as 45 cents per minute. They say money saved is money earned – and it’s untaxed.

The opportunity to save money is also as close as your thermostat. Reducing the temperature 1degree could save 3% on heating costs Reducing the temperature 10-15 degrees when you’re at work could save 10% and keeping the temperature down when you’re asleep could save another 10%. Then there’s insulation. Adequate attic insulation could save 20% and fixing leaks around doors and windows could save another 20%. Finally, lowering hot water temperature from 140 degrees to a still-comfortable 120 degrees could save 6%. Besides, when it comes to saving money, it’s best to stay out of “hot water”.

The opportunity to lose weight is as close as your thermostat too. A report published in Obesity Review showed American households have turned up their thermostats over the past few decades. In the late 1980’s American bedrooms were heated to an average of 66.7 degrees versus 68.4 in 2005. Studies have shown we expend more energy when our bodies have to work harder to stay warm. Even slightly cooler temperatures cause us to burn more calories. Supposedly this is true even when we bundle up – which is a “cool” thought.

Another cool thought is the opportunity for more attractive skin is in your refrigerator. Fruits and vegetables provide a better glow to skin than tanning. The glow comes from carotenoids, a pigment found in many fruits and vegetables – not just carrots. In one experiment white undergraduates used a specially designed computer program that allowed them to manipulate the skin color of 51 computerized white faces to make them look healthier. Most of the students slightly increased melanin (suntan), but the amount they increased carotenoids (veggie tan) was equal to 5 extra servings of fruits or vegetables daily. The same experiment was done by black undergrads using black faces – with the same “tan-gible” results.

 

MORE FOR PARENTS TO WORRY ABOUT?

Rice cereal has been the first solid food fed to babies for 50 years and it may be one of the first worries for parents. Alan Greene, a Stanford University pediatrician/nutrition researcher, recommends pureed fruits and vegetables mixed with whole grains instead. According to Greene, white rice is 94% starch. Brown rice is 25% protein, essential fats and minerals. Because white rice cereal is high in calories and made of processed white flour, he thinks it’s like feeding babies a spoonful of sugar and predisposes them to childhood obesity. However, Gerber, the biggest seller of white rice cereal in the U.S., disagrees. To Gerber this is a “white lie”.

Children not getting enough sleep is something else for parents to worry about. In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers monitored the sleep of 308 children ages 4-10. They found children who slept the least had 4 times the risk of being obese and having blood markers indicating the beginning of conditions like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. However, sleep-deprived children who caught up on their sleep on weekends had only 3 times the risk. Sleep recommendations are 10-12 hours for preschoolers and 9+ for school-age children – sleep most parents only dream about.

Children who have tonsillectomies tend to gain weight after the surgery and are likelier to become overweight compared to children who don’t have their tonsils removed. In research published in Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, scientists analyzed data from 9 studies spanning 40 years. They looked at the weight of 795 children ages 0-18 before tonsillectomy and up to 8 years after. In an analysis of 249 children 50%-75% gained weight after surgery. Because tonsillectomy is the most common, major operation in childhood – 500,000 yearly in the U.S. – tonsillectomy is another worry for 1,000,000 U.S. parents yearly.

However, there seems to be one thing parents don’t have to worry about. Texting abbreviations won’t ruin their children’s spelling. Studies done at the University of Alberta in Canada and at Coventry University in the United Kingdom found texting didn’t interfere with language development. In fact, a study published in the British Journal of Psychology showed texting contributed to spelling ability. It seems new forms of communication have always been criticized. When postcards were new in the early 1900’s, critics thought letter writing was doomed. The critics didn’t know they’d have e-mail to worry about in the early 1980’s.

 

SHOULD WE EAT IT OR NOT?

There are foods we can eat to reduce risk of heart disease. A study published in the European Health Journal included over 300,000 participants from 8 European countries. Instead of the previously recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, the researchers found participants who ate 8 or more servings were 22% less likely to die from heart disease than those who ate 3 or fewer servings. In fact, each serving above 2 per day reduced risk of heart disease death 4%. That’s good news; however, ketchup and French fries still don’t count as fruits and vegetables.

There are also foods we can eat to reduce risk of cancer. For example, orange juice is high in folate, which helps to prevent DNA mutations. Then there are blackberries and strawberries, which contain ellagic acid, a powerful cancer fighter. Finally, broccoli contains high levels of indole-3 carbinol, which slows the rapid cell growth that fuels tumors. In fact, as of 2011 researchers at the University of California/Berkeley were conducting clinical, human trials to find out if broccoli can stop cancer from spreading. Because this and other studies have shown we are what we eat, we should eat healthy.

Now there’s another reason we shouldn’t eat salt. Salt prevents blood vessels from widening. Eight healthy volunteers were given tomato soup and 8 were given tomato soup with 10 times more salt. The volunteers then put on blood pressure cuffs. When the cuffs were deflating, an ultrasound machine measured how much arteries widened as blood rushed through. The arteries of the high-salt volunteers widened only half as much – a condition that lasted about 2 hours. It seems salt prevents nitric oxide from relaxing artery walls. Eventually, this could cause cholesterol to stick to arteries. Better to “stick it to” salt first.

And there are lots of things pets shouldn’t eat. Household toxins and outdoor toxins – like antifreeze and fertilizers – are obvious problems. However, in 2011 – for the third year running – human medicines topped the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ list of most frequently ingested no-no’s. Other toxins listed included chocolate. An ounce of milk chocolate or an eighth ounce of dark chocolate per pound of dog can be deadly. Grapes and raisins are also toxic to dogs. Chewing marijuana plants will raise the blood pressure of pets, but lilies are deadly to cats. Obviously, protecting pets from toxins takes “pet-icular” attention.

 

WHAT DO OTHER PEOPLE DO WITH SPARE TIME?

In January 2011 someone put a grand piano on a sandbar in Miami’s Biscayne Bay, about 200 yards from the condominiums along the shore. The piano, weighing at least 650 pounds, was placed on the sandbar’s highest point and thus doesn’t get wet during high tide. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said that it wasn’t responsible for moving the piano and the Coast Guard won’t move it unless it becomes a navigational hazard. It seems that the piano was left for the seagulls. After all, a piano on a sandbar is “for the birds”.

Inmates at Moscow’s Butyrskaya Prison – a centuries-old prison notorious for its primitive conditions  - will be spending some of their spare time in tanning beds. The beds are being installed as part of the 2011 observance of the prison’s 240^th anniversary and are meant to compensate for inadequate sunlight in the cells. However, the federal prison service wants to be compensated for the use of the tanning beds at a rate of 10 rubles (33 cents) per minute. Considering the average monthly salary in Russia is less than $1,000, the fee is “tan-tamount” to cruel and unusual punishment.

Paul Janssen, a 42-year-old state researcher from Ohio, used some of his spare time to build an 8’ by 6’ replica of Ohio State’s football stadium using only Lego bricks. The challenging horseshoe-shaped stadium can hold 6,000 Lego people and even the decorated archway and scoreboard are made with the special bricks. The project required about 1 million pieces – some bought, some traded for and some improvised. For example, the restroom pipes are made with chrome parts from a Lego truck. Janssen spent 1,000 hours over a 2-year period making the stadium – in spite of doubters thinking that he didn’t have “a Lego to stand on”.

And then there’s Laura Bell, a home health aid from Michigan. She spent 1,000 hours creating a 14’ by 4’ reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper using dryer lint. She bought towels that were the colors she wanted and washed them to get the right shades of lint. She needed 800 hours of laundry time to accumulate enough lint and 200 hours to recreate the mural. Bell had hoped to win $250,000 in an art contest. Unfortunately, she came in second. However, the lint mural is now in the collection of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not – because Ripley believed.

 

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THESE DISORDERS?

Asthma is a chronic disease that involves attacks of impaired breathing and can be fatal. Symptoms include coughing, wheezing and chest pain. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 million Americans had asthma in 2009. The good news is treatment is improving. Fifty-two percent of the asthma patients in the 2009 survey suffered an attack in 2008 – that’s down 8% since 2000. Asthma is more common in children than adults and more common in women than men. Just realizing there are more than 3,000 asthma deaths a year in the U.S. can “take your breath away”.

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that involves repeated, spontaneous seizures of any kind. It strikes 1 in 26 – or 3.85% - of Americans. These numbers were the result of research done by Columbia University, which analyzed 2 decades of data from Rochester, Minnesota. Epilepsy is fairly common in infants – 100 per 100,000 – but the number decreases as children get older. For adults epilepsy risk increases after age 50. Also, more men are affected than women. According to the research, about 12 million Americans alive in 2010 will develop epilepsy – or perhaps more aptly put, will be seized by the disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a debilitating illness that’s characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts and repetitive behaviors and affects more than 2 million Americans. Treatment consists primarily of cognitive behavioral therapy, which includes talk therapy and exposure and response prevention. A partial list of OCD’s many symptoms includes intense distress with things out of order, repeatedly checking that the stove is off or that the doors are locked, excessive hand washing, counting in certain patterns and doing the same thing over and over. Of course, if you clean the kitchen over and over, you might not have OCD. You might have children.

Stuttering is thought to be a neurological problem. Stutterers tend to have decreased white matter in an area of the brain’s left hemisphere that involves motor speech. One’s mouth structure, tongue and vocal cords have nothing to do with it. There’s also a genetic link. About 60% of children who stutter have family histories of stuttering. However, 70%-80% of children recover spontaneously. Others will need therapy. More than 3 million Americans stutter – more men than women; but Tiger Woods overcame childhood stuttering. So did Marilyn Monroe and Charles Darwin. And because experts say parents can’t cause stuttering, parents can overcome guilt.

 

ISN'T THERE AN EASIER WAY?

Who knew there was an easier way to wash baseball caps? Washing them in the dishwasher lets them keep their shape. Shin guards, kneepads and mouth guards can be washed in the top rack. Plastic hairbrushes and combs can be washed the same way, as long as all drain-clogging hair is removed from them first. Even tools with metal or plastic handles can be washed in the dishwasher if they’re towel dried afterward to prevent rusting. Considering the National Restaurant Association says Americans eat out 4-5 times a week, the traditional use of dishwashers could be “washed-up”.

There are simple things we can do to make losing weight easier. According to Cynthia Sass – registered dietician, health educator and author – sautéing in extra virgin olive oil instead of butter is better for our heart and for the same number of calories it’s more filling. Putting down the fork between bites prevents us from being speedy eaters, who are 3 times more likely to be overweight. Finally, we can wear a pedometer on our belt to measure our speed. A speed of 100 steps per minute qualifies as moderately intense exercise. These are tips for “weighters”.

Chess is an easy way to teach students not to give up. “First Move” is the award-winning program presented to second- and third-graders by America’s Foundation for Chess. In 2010 First Move celebrated its 10^th anniversary by having reached more than 50,000 students in almost 2,000 classrooms across 27 states. Chess teaches critical thinking, as well as building self-esteem and confidence. According to a 2009 study by Education Northwest, more than 50% of First Move parents said chess improved their child’s grades and 62% said it improved their child’s attitude about school. Chess is a board game – not a bored game.

There’s also an easy way to improve test scores – reduce anxiety. In a study published in the journal Science, 20 college students were told the highest scorers on a math test would win a monetary prize. They were also told they’d be video taped during the test and their teachers and peers would be watching. Some students were told to sit quietly for 10 minutes before the test. The others were told to use that time to write how they felt about the test. The writing students scored 5% higher on the test. It seems expressive writing can be the “write” way to handle anxiety.

 

IS THIS A GOOD TIME FOR GOOD IDEAS?

Laws against unrestrained dogs in cars – that’s an idea that’s growing. As of 2010 Hawaii was the only state that forbid drivers from operating a vehicle with a pet on their lap; but Oregon was considering such a law and some cities - like Troy, Michigan – have passed such a law. In 2009 5,474 people were killed and 448,000 were injured in crashes caused by distracted drivers; and pets are believed to have caused tens of thousands of those crashes. A dog weighing 50 pounds in a 35 mph collision would become a projectile with 1,500 pounds of force. The result? “Doggone” and probably whatever it hit would be gone too.

Nutrition labels for alcoholic beverages – that’s a proposal before the federal Tax and Trade Bureau, the agency with authority over alcohol labeling. Alcohol is the only consumable product sold in the U.S. without a label listing what’s inside – such as calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein and ingredients, as well as listing serving size and amount of alcohol per serving. However, the Beer Institute is against defining serving size by ounces of pure alcohol, the Distilled Spirits Council supports serving information and the Wine Institute wants labeling to be voluntary. It seems in 2011 bottle labeling is “bottlenecked”.

Gleaning – that’s an idea experiencing a resurgence. In the Old Testament farmers are told not to pick all their crops, to leave the edges for orphans, widows and travelers. Today the Society of St. Andrew, a Christian hunger ministry, has built a network in the Southeast and West that uses volunteers to collect produce that doesn’t make it to market and gets it to agencies feeding the hungry. It’s estimated 96 billion pounds of produce are left in fields every year. Gleaning means to collect what is left – and the farmers collect a tax deduction.

Solar-powered highways – that’s the idea of 53-year-old Scott Brusaw, an electrical engineer from Idaho. Solar cells inside a super-strong glass surface would act as a giant solar-powered generator, fueling embedded heating elements, which would make snow removal equipment unnecessary. The highway-generated electricity could also be used for recharging electric vehicles and powering lights and LED warning signs along the highway. Brusaw estimates solar-powered highways would cost $4.4 million a mile. However, if they didn’t pay for themselves in energy production, snow removal, preventing weather damage to highways and reducing global warming, solar-powered highways could turn into “highway robbery”.

 

SHOULDN'T WE HAVE EXPECTED THIS?

Police aren’t buckling up. A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration analyzed 733 crashes from 1980 through 2008 and found 42% of police killed in crashes weren’t wearing seatbelts. Another report showed fatal traffic accidents were the leading cause of officer deaths in 2010 for the 13^th straight year – 73 deaths. Some officers say the restraints slow them down when they are getting in and out of their cars. Others say the straps interfere with their utility and gun belts. Nevertheless, police officers are encouraged to report colleagues who don’t use seatbelts. They are encouraged “to police” themselves.

As of January 2011 there were casinos in 38 of the 50 states and slot machines were the main attraction. There were approximately 850,000 slot machines in the U.S. – that was twice the number of ATM’s. With the help of ATM’s located in casinos, Americans spent more money on slots than on movies, baseball and theme parks combined. However, a negative consequence of slot machines is that more people are addicted to them than to any other type of gambling. “Penny slots” were the most popular machines, but giving someone a “penny for your thoughts” may be more rewarding.

Supersized ambulances shouldn’t be a surprise. In fact, in 2011 they were a reality in Boston, Kansas City, Las Vegas and Omaha. Between 2000 and 2005 America’s obese population increased 75%; and according to a 2009 Gallop poll, over 25% of Americans were obese - that’s having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or higher. This explains why Boston rescue crews reported transporting 2-4 patients a week who weighed at least 450 pounds. Retrofitting ambulances with hydraulic lifts costs $12,000 and stretchers capable of carrying 850 pounds cost $8,000. These are necessary expenses because rescue crews have to be “weight lifters” too.

Los Angeles is America’s rudest city – that’s according to Travel + Leisure magazine’s 2011 survey of America’s Favorite Cities. The magazine’s readers were asked to rank 35 cities on 54 highly subjective qualities such as great restaurants, romance potential and overall personality of the locals. Filling out the top five rudest were 3 congested cities in the northeast: New York City (2nd), Philadelphia (3rd) and Washington (5th). Miami ranked 4^th – although locals rank themselves as the unfriendliest people in America. Most surprisingly, Anchorage ranked 20^th for rudeness – in spite of it being the land of the “cold shoulder”.

 

HOW IS PARENTING CHANGING WITH THE TIMES?

Mothers who don’t breastfeed have something new to worry about. In a study published in the journal Pediatrics, 32 mothers gave their babies a cows-milk-based formula and 24 mothers gave a formula with smaller, pre-digested proteins. After 2.5 months the cows-milk-formula babies had significantly higher weight per length. By 3.5 months they had significantly higher weight per age. Although both groups started to eat solid food at about the same time, the cows-milk-formula babies continued to add to their early weight gains. It seems that the special-formula babies wanted to drink less – at least that was the “formulated” explanation.

As children get older, parents are meant to limit screen time – television, computer and Smartphone. According to a survey of 2,200 mothers commissioned by software maker AVG Technologies, 14% of children aged 4-5 could tie their shoes; but 21% could use a Smartphone application. Among children 2-5, 52% knew how to ride a bike; but 56% could play a computer game and 69% could operate a computer mouse. Twenty percent knew how to swim, but 25% could open a Web browser. The American Academy of Pediatricians says to limit elementary schoolers to 1 hr of screen time daily and high schoolers to 2 hours. However, that may be a case of adults saying do what I say - not what I do.

A study published by the AAP specifically recommended that parents limit their children’s video game time. The study found excessive gaming could lead to depression, anxiety and poor grades. Researchers who looked at more than 3,000 Singapore elementary and middle schoolers found almost 9% were excessive gamers. Excessive gamers played more than 31 hours a week. Boys were likelier to play excessively, as were more impulsive or socially awkward children. For parents of gamers the AAP’s screen time recommendations could be a “game plan”.

Finally, researchers at Brigham Young University surveyed 5,000 7^th-12^th graders about their alcohol use and their parents. Teenagers raised by indulgent parents who praised but seldom punished their children were 3 times likelier to binge drink. Teens raised by strict parents who did all the decision-making were 2 times likelier to binge drink. The parenting style that led to the lowest levels of problem drinking coupled warmth and support with consequences for bad behavior. According to the experts, parents should start talking to their children about alcohol when they’re in 4^th grade – a “sobering” thought.

 

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT AMERICANS?

Students in American colleges aren’t learning as much as we thought. The findings in the book “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses” were based on transcripts and surveys of more than 3,000 students on 29 campuses nationwide and on a standardized test measuring critical thinking, analytic reasoning and writing skills. After 2 years 45% of students showed no significant gains in learning; after 4 years it was 36%. Fifty percent didn’t take a course where they wrote more than 20 pages and 32% didn’t take a course where they read more than 40 pages a week. It seems the learning curve has gone straight – to hell.

American Internet users are likelier to be involved in volunteer organizations than non-users. The Pew Research Center surveyed 2,303 adults in late 2010 and found 80% of Internet users participated in volunteer groups versus 56% of non-users. On social networks the percentage was slightly higher and on Twitter it was 85%. Of the Internet users who were active in volunteering, 48% had a page on a social network site, 30% had a blog and 16% communicated via Twitter. Considering Internet users were also more active in volunteer groups than other adults, they could be considered Internet “groupies”.

Americans who live in Omaha, Nebraska live in America’s most affordable city. That’s according to Forbes Magazine. Its 2011 list ranked the 50 largest U.S. cities by home prices, salaries of workers with bachelor’s degrees or higher, cost of living and unemployment. Omaha ranked #1 because of being the home of several major corporations, inexpensive real estate, low cost of living and an unemployment rate about half the national average. Buffalo, New York ranked #2; and with the belief that the auto industry is making a comeback, it was no surprise that Detroit, Michigan ranked as high as #3 in “af-Ford-ability”.

Finally, 20% of Americans are heroes. This conclusion was based on a nationally representative sample of 4,000 adults supported by Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. Fifty-five percent had helped someone during an emergency, 14% had defied an unjust authority, 8% had confronted an injustice and 5% had sacrificed for a stranger. The study also found people were more likely to be heroes if they’d experienced a personal trauma or disaster or if they’d volunteered in non-threatening settings, such as a soup kitchen – perhaps qualifying them to be future “souper heroes”.