Watching the World

“Before computers, it was nearly impossible [for botanists] to exhaustively search the literature before naming a new species, so duplicates started to pile up.” It has now been determined that of the million or so names listed, at least 477,601 are synonyms.​—SCIENCE, U.S.A.

“Only 6 percent of Chinese people see themselves as happy.” In a survey, some 39 percent of respondents believe that “the principal factor affecting happiness” is “wealth.”​—CHINA DAILY, CHINA.

“A probe . . . into the authenticity of Russia’s crime statistics found ‘mass falsification’ of figures across the country.” Law enforcement agencies stand accused of seeking to “embellish the real crime picture” and of presenting inflated resolution rates.​—RIA NOVOSTI, RUSSIA.

“One in three university students in the German capital [Berlin] would consider sex work [which includes prostitution and erotic dancing] as a means to finance their education.”​—REUTERS NEWS SERVICE, GERMANY.

Primping for Childbirth

Social media are affecting how mothers announce that they have given birth. While their grandmothers sent telegrams, “new moms are sharing the happy news over the Internet,” says a report by the American TV channel ABC. The announcement often includes photographs of mother and child soon after childbirth. The new generation of appearance-conscious women are thus having prenatal beauty treatments, including facials, manicures, and pedicures. “Some will even arrange to have a hairdresser accompany them to the hospital,” says the report. Why? To look good for their delivery, explains Toni Golen, medical director of labor and delivery at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Stay Active, Stay Healthy

Prolonged physical inactivity at work, at school, or in front of the TV is linked to chronic disease, say researchers. “As you sit, the activity of lipoprotein lipase, the enzyme that allows muscles to draw fat circulating in the blood and burn it off, drops precipitously,” says the Vancouver Sun. According to that newspaper, “we need more than heart-pounding bouts” of cardiovascular exercise to stay healthy. “We need regular, constant light to moderate activity in order to keep the metabolism functioning.”