Your Mobile Phone: Reassessing Radio Frequency Exposure
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has advised that the FCC should formally reassess and, if appropriate, change its current RF energy exposure limit and mobile phone testing requirements related to likely usage configurations, particularly when phones are held against the body. By not formally reassessing its current limit, FCC cannot ensure it is using a limit that reflects the latest research on RF energy exposure.
Gauguin, Cézanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia
The dream of Arcadia, a mythic place of beauty and repose where humankind lives in harmony with nature, has held an enduring appeal for artists since antiquity. With its promise of calm, simplicity, and order, it has served as both an inspiration and as an image of refuge, a place that is distant and seemingly protected from the vicissitudes of life.
Apply for Martian Citizenship While You Wait for 'Seven Minutes of Terror'
Curiosity's main assignment is to investigate whether its study area ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. By designing the aeroshell enclosing Curiosity to create lift and be steerable, engineers were able to build a system that lands much more precisely instead of dropping like a rock. Watch a video explaining the '7 minutes of terror'.
Even with Dyed Hair, “Grey Power” Has Taken Root
Doris O'Brien writes: There’s an odd assumption that people tend to become invisible as they grow old ... women, in particular. I figure I could rob a bank and nobody would even notice who done it. But, in reality,seniors are the least likely to break the law, and maybe even the most reluctant to publicly express their opinions on controversial subjects, for fear of refutation, ridicule, or even recrimination.
National Archives Nationwide Network and Attachments: Faces and Stories from America’s Gates
The exhibit draws from the millions of immigration case files in the Archives to tell a few of these stories from the 1880s through World War II. It also explores the attachment of immigrants to family and community and the attachment of government organizations to immigration laws that reflected certain beliefs about immigrants and citizenship. These are dramatic tales of joy and disappointment, opportunity and discrimination, deceit and honesty.
Those Revealing Social Security Cards: Protecting You From Identity Theft
More than 48 million Medicare cards display the SSN (Social Security Number), which increases Medicare beneficiaries’ vulnerability to identity theft. GAO was asked to review the options and associated costs for removing SSNs from the Medicare card.
Every man for himself: Gender, Norms and Survival in Maritime Disasters
Our results provide a new picture of maritime disasters. Women have a distinct survival disadvantage compared to men. Captains and crew survive at a significantly higher rate than passengers. We also find that the captain has the power to enforce normative behavior, that the gender gap in survival rates has declined.
First, Do No Harm: A Hearing About Enhancing Women's Retirement Security
Statistics illustrate the discrepancy between men’s and women’s retirement funds: “The median 401(k) account balance for men age 60 and older is $82,000 and only $46,000 for women age 60 and older. Clearly more needs to be done to help women. For those with low account balances, solutions that merely annuitize retirement accounts will not be sufficient.”
State Efforts to Reject Contraceptive Coverage Laws on Religious Grounds; A Proposed House Bill Banning Funds to Planned Parenthood
Conservative efforts to undermine the Obamacare provision to guarantee no-cost contraception have been happening at the state level. Nine states have considered legislation or ballot measures that would either reject the federal regulation or undermine contraceptive coverage in state law.
Where Nature Can Flourish; Habitat-Friendly Backyards, Tribal and Private Lands, Schools
Ferida Wolff and Tam Gray write: A wildlife habitat can be in a backyard, on a roof, in a park or a school — wherever we can put together what is needed to make a nature-friendly environment. The NWF has certified over 150,000 sites across the US. Some states have a WHIP program encouraging homeowners by incentives to create a more elaborate habitat.
John Irving and Suspension of Disbelief
Joan L. Cannon writes: John Irving has attracted plenty of attention throughout his career with his explosive originality and his fearlessness when it comes to convention — from The World According to Garp to the most recent In One Person. Not all his work is created equal, of course, but when I ran across A Widow for One Year, I didn’t expect to be as intrigued as I was.
Pew Polls: Little Voter Discomfort with Romney’s Mormon Religion
Along religious lines, white evangelical Protestants and black Protestants and atheists and agnostics on the other, are the most likely to say they are uncomfortable with Romney’s faith. Republicans and white evangelicals overwhelmingly back Romney irrespective of their views of his faith, and Democrats and seculars overwhelmingly oppose him regardless of their impression.
The Beauty of Flight: A survey of those who flew early and often
"Suddenly that little wedge of sky above Hickam Field and Pearl Harbor was the busiest, fullest piece of sky I ever saw. We counted anxiously as our little civilian planes came flying home to roost. Two never came back. They were washed ashore weeks later on the windward side of the island, bullet-riddled. Not a pretty way for the brave little yellow Cubs and their pilots to go down to death."
Invisible Wounds: Examining the Disability Compensation Benefits Process for Victims of Military Sexual Trauma
"The Department of Defense estimates that one in four women who join the armed services will be raped or assaulted, but that only about 10% of such incidents are ever reported,” stated Rep. Jon Runyan, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs. “Even more alarming is that of those few who did report incidents of military sexual trauma, over 75 percent stated that they would not make the same decision about reporting the incident again, due to the consequences it had on their military career.”
Before the Games Begin: Is it Discriminatory for There Not to Be Women's Olympic Canoe Events?
“Ms Rippington does not seek to use this claim to change the 2012 Olympic sports programme. She wants the organisers of these Olympics, who are in the UK bound by equalities rules, to conduct an in-depth examination of the gender bias in the canoeing programme, and, she hopes, in the Olympic sports programme in general."
Gold, Jasper, and Carnelian: Johann Christian Neuber, Master Craftsman and Court Jeweler
Val Castronovo writes: "The one-of-a-kind exhibit of one-of-a-kind objects showcases some 35 gold and bejeweled snuffboxes (steinkabinetts), candy boxes (bonbonnieres), chains, buttons and other accessories decorated with colorful, Saxon gemstones (agate, carnelian, jasper, lapis lazuli), each rimmed in gold and numbered."
Museum Shopping: Noctural and Tide Computer, a Shakespeare Toy Duck, a Mrs. Delaney Pink Botanical Mug,
Since London will be the focus for the Summer Olympics, we thought we'd explore the British Museum Shop's offerings and, yes, there's no end of the intriguing and unusual.
Were You Considering Testing Your Genetic Makeup for Disease Prediction? "The road to efficient genetic risk prediction is likely to be long.”
The Harvard team examined whether disease risk prediction would improve for breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis if they included the effect of synergy in their statistical models. They found no significant effect by doing so. “Statistical models of synergy among genetic markers are not ‘game changers’ in terms of risk prediction in the general population.”
The Marketing of the American Beauty
Advertisers turned to images of feminine mystique to which consumers could aspire (and hopefully emulate) through the purchase of goods and services. Men were also charmed by these images and magazine publishers used the attraction of pretty faces on their covers to boost impulse buying for their all-important newsstand sales.
MADE IN THE USA (from now on): Waiting For the 2014 Olympics
Julia Sneden writes: For me, the problem with the Olympic jackets and shirts boils down to this: Couldn’t our athletes just be resplendent young folk in well-designed red, white and blue outfits? Must they be walking billboards for Ralph Lauren’s company? They are supposed to be representing all of America, not just a single corporation.
Elaine Soloway's Caregiving Series: Four Times Around
Elaine Soloway writes: Just a few months after our first hellos and a sweet romance, little by little, Tommy moved in with me. Dozens of T-shirts, imprinted with running event logos, scooted my Gap T’s along the closet rod. I relinquished one dresser drawer, then two and when his well-worn running shoes jumbled onto the closet floor, my high heels and sandals adjusted.
Fireflies And Summer Rain
Julia Sneden writes: I have never stopped loving fireflies. On evenings after a rain, or when the grass has been freshly cut, we can count on a large number of winking lights, and the woods in the hollow behind our house are often like a fairyland of tiny stars moving lazily about among the trees. I've gotten over being afraid when I hear the first rumbles of thunder, although I still don't enjoy it when there are strikes so near that you can hear the fizz-snap simultaneously with the bang.
CultureWatch Books: Black Gotham and Gods Without Men, Judge John Deed DVD
Jill Norgren and Julia Sneden Reviews: If you respect well-researched history, and crave an account of the footwork, persistent digging, and serendipity required, Carla Peterson's Black Gotham should be one of the next books that you read. Trying to keep up with the characters and periods in Gods Without Men is more than a little daunting, but the pure quality of Kunzru’s writing is brilliant. Judge John Deed, another addictive BBC series continues on DVD.
Realities: Upcoming Tax Changes and the Health Care Reform Act
The Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act argues for a refresher on some of the bill's key tax provisions. We've included the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit planned to help small businesses and small tax-exempt organizations afford the cost of covering their employees.
Losing It: Where Is That Electronic Gadget Hiding?
Rose Mula writes: I just tried dialing a telephone number and couldn’t understand why the call wasn’t connecting, and the channels on my TV kept changing. I finally figured out it was because I was trying to dial a phone number on my TV remote. Doesn’t work. Neither does using the phone to try to change TV channels, which I also do often.
