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FarmVille, a Facebook-based multiplayer game, is an amazing story of rapid growth. When Zynga, the game's parent company, launched the game last June, it grew to 25,000 players in 24 hours and to a million a few days later.
The game is based on farming, planting, growing and harvesting imaginary crops. Players hail from all over the globe and can virtually arrange their farms next to each other. Some players feel they are learning to appreciate the toils of their ancestors who lived off the soil. Others think it's just good, clean fun and has little to do with the realities of actual farming (Kelly Jane Torrance, "FarmVille Turning Hipsters Into Farmers," The Washington Times, Oct. 16, 2009).
On a recent episode of his talk show, psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw confronted a mom who was obsessed with the game and neglecting her family, telling her, "You have a ridiculous addiction to a ridiculous computer game that's interfering with your ability to be a mother." His prescription? "Get out of FarmVille—start a garden for real!" (Dr. Phil, Jan. 20, 2010).
Regular sleep time that can lead to depression and thoughts of suicide in teenagers, according to a Columbia University study.
—"Lack of Sleep Might Be Linked to Suicidal Thoughts in Teens," Bloomberg News, Jan. 2, 2010
During difficult economic times, employers streamline their businesses and keep only the most valuable employees. So how do they define what's valuable?
According to an editorial by columnist Thomas Friedman, creativity, better service and added skills are the edge employees will need to keep their jobs. He contends that just being average will no longer be enough as the job market gets tougher. Initiative will win out over complacency, so be willing to go the extra mile ("The New Untouchables," The New York Times, Oct. 20, 2009).
Jesus Christ spoke of this quality in Matthew 5:41: "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two." In the Roman world at that time, anyone could be involuntarily required to carry burdens or messages for the Roman authorities for one mile. Christ directed His followers to go beyond by doubling that mile requirement. This willingness to voluntarily do just a bit more can be a job-saving edge in a tight economy.
Even if the package says "all-natural," is it really good for you?
Necco, a 162-year-old candy brand made by a company in Massachusetts, is going "all-natural" with its sweet wafers. Coloring will be derived from natural sources like beet juice, purple cabbage, cocoa powder and turmeric, but the flavors will stay the same. However, the green, lime-flavored wafer will be gone, as green is too difficult to manufacture naturally. The trend for natural candy and an interest in vintage candy brands are fueling Necco's decision ("Necco Goes All-Natural," Associated Press, Nov. 3, 2009).
However, too much of any sweet is not good, no matter how natural it is. Proverbs 25:16 clarifies this principle: "Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need, lest you be filled with it and vomit." Graphic, but accurate.
Found recently on the Dorset coast of southwestern England was the skull of an enormous, prehistoric seagoing reptile measuring nearly 8 feet long (2.4 meters). Experts estimate that the entire creature could have been more than 52 feet long. A Tyrannosaurus rex would have been tiny in comparison.
Strong neck muscles and enormous jaws allowed the creature, a pliosaur, to crunch and shake its prey to pieces. Four paddlelike limbs propelled it through the water.
The skull, found by a local collector, will be on display at the Dorset County Museum. Similar specimens have been found in the Arctic Ocean and Mexico. Some authorities hope that further portions of the Dorset pliosaur will be found in the same area as the skull (Haroon Siddique and agencies, "Fossilised Skull of 'Sea Monster' Pliosaur Found on Dorset Coast," The Guardian, Oct. 27, 2009).
Around 85 percent of corn grown in America is genetically engineered to resist pests. Much of it has Bacillus thuringiensis (or Bt) embedded in its genes. Bt is also a component of an insecticide considered mild and sprayed on organic crops.
However, growers of genetically modified corn are increasingly flouting regulations designed to keep corn borers and corn rootworms from becoming resistant to the pesticide. "Refuge fields" planted with conventional corn allow the pests to feed on unmodified crops and thus avoid developing resistance. But many farmers are ignoring this federally mandated requirement. This lack of compliance could result in the ineffectiveness of both Bt-modified corn and Bt spray, leaving crops unprotected (Elizabeth Weise, "Farmers Growing Genetically Engineered Corn Break Rules," USA Today, Nov. 5, 2009).
Those who question the ethics of genetically modified crops have predicted such problems, and this disregard of regulations will be added ammunition in the debate. God created some amazing genetic variability that scientists are still learning about. Excessive hybridization and genetic engineering bring with them big risks.
When the concept of computer-to-computer communication was tested in the late 1960s, protocols and rules were based on existing technology—the telegraph, the telephone, etc. As new innovations in Internet science have progressed and users from all parts of the globe participate in growing numbers, a new system of domain names is needed. Domain names, such as www.ucg.org, allow us to use letters rather than numbers to direct our Web browser to the correct site.
However, the Domain Name System (DNS) was designed by Paul Mockapetris in 1983 to be used with languages, such as English, that use Latin letters. Since this leaves out languages that don't use Latin letters, a new system is being created to address this problem. Soon many character systems will be able to be used on the Internet (Bill Thompson, "An Internet That Speaks to You," BBC News, Oct. 30, 2009).
One in three people feels genuine, physical discomfort when he or she sees another person in pain. Researchers at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom found that when they showed a video of an athlete being injured, most people in the study had a sympathetic emotional reaction. However, one third of the participants actually felt pain in their bodies corresponding to the part injured in the video.
The hypersensitive participants repeated the study while undergoing MRI scans. Researchers discovered that the part of the brain that handles pain exhibited greater activity when the injury video was shown (Richard Alleyne, "Some People Really Feel Your Pain," The Daily Telegraph, Dec. 22, 2009).
Is all the fat in our bodies exactly the same?
According to recent research, brown fat is a type of metabolically active lipid that helps the human body burn and use calories. All newborns have this type of fat, which helps them stay warm after leaving the womb.
Scientists have found that adults don't replace all of their brown fat with white fat as they age but keep certain stores of the brown variety that can, as experts hope, be reactivated to stimulate increased metabolism of unused calories. Brown fat is also present at higher levels in healthy people who are not overweight. Researchers have found that it helps the human body cope with cold temperatures (Seda Terzyan, "A Scramble to Harness the Metabolic Power of Brown Fat," Los Angeles Times, Nov. 2, 2009).
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