FREELOVER Science Report
(Top Posts - Science - 072701)

}}} Nightmare of 4,200 Years Ago

Fascinating tale of scientific investigation revealing
a horrendous climactic event, occurring across the
globe, leading to disaster in the first great kingdom
of Egypt ...

Thursday, 26 July, 2001, 12:12 GMT 13:12 UK
Disaster that struck the ancients
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1458000/1458327.stm

Excerpt:

"Four thousand two hundred years ago, the first great
civilisation in Egypt collapsed.

The pharaohs of the Egyptian Old Kingdom had built
the mightiest legacy of the ancient world - the pyramids
at Giza. But after nearly a thousand years of stability,
central authority disintegrated and the country collapsed
into chaos for more than a 100 years. ...

"All of Upper Egypt was dying of hunger to such a degree
that everyone had come to eating their children"
-Hieroglyphs in Ankhtifi tomb ..."

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}}} Life In Callisto's Underground Ocean?

Callisto's watery secret
One of Jupiter's moons may hold an underground ocean.
26 July 2001 [link no longer available]
-http://www.nature.com/nsu/010726/010726-12.html-

Excerpt:

"One of Jupiter's largest moons, Callisto, may hold
watery secrets beneath its surface, suggests a new
analysis. The satellite's icy crust may be the planetary
equivalent of a blanket, insulating an underground
ocean. ...

Whether such oceans could provide a home for hardy
forms of life is now up for debate. Suggestions of life
on icy Callisto have previously seemed incredible, says
Kargel. But in recent years, researchers have found
bacteria thriving in hostile environments on Earth, he
points out, such as toxic thermal vents on the ocean
floor.

"Where we've found liquid water on Earth, we've found
life," he says. ..."

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}}} Planet Loaded With Water Discovered !!!

Well, not really discovered, but as for the vast amount
of water, yep, that is a new discovery (not yet confirmed)
with profound implications for the near-term future of
space exploration -and- for the possibility of the discovery
of life "in the neighborhood", as it were ...

Wednesday, 25 July, 2001, 19:48 GMT 20:48 UK
Water reserves found on Mars
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1456000/1456708.stm

Excerpt:

"There could still be vast quantities of water on the
planet Mars.

A new analysis of images returned by the Mars Global
Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft provides "observational
evidence for near-surface water-ice," say scientists.

At mid-latitudes in both the northern and southern
hemispheres "unique, young terrain" has been seen
that appears to be made of layers of dust cemented
together with water-ice.

The total amount of water-ice may be about 40,000
cubic km (almost 10,000 cubic miles), or enough to
cover the entire planet to a depth of about 25 centi-
metres (10 inches).

If confirmed, this finding, along with other evidence
of recently flowing water on Mars, will make life on
the Red Planet more likely and provide an invaluable
resource for future colonists. ..."

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}}} Anger (Complex Causality of Irrational Emotional
Outbursts)

The evil you see demonstrated by any man or woman
is the evil that lurks within each of us. No man or woman
is free of it, we must all control and subdue it, and we
should all act in a manner to reduce its likelihood, but ...

We are a common species, and the behavior exhibited
by each of us is a direct result of our genes, memes, and
life experiences ...

Why We Get Mad
Psychiatrists Say Rage Is a Matter of Accumulation
[link no longer available]
-http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DyeHard/dyehard010718.html-

By Lee Dye
Special to ABCNEWS.com

Excerpt:

"July 18 — A good friend with a mellow personality was
in an elevator awhile back when the door opened and a
burly chap stepped inside.

"Good morning," my friend said, smiling broadly.

The other guy belted my friend in the face, shattering his jaw.

It turned out that it hadn't been such a good morning for the
assailant. He had just been fired. My friend just happened to
be in the wrong place at the wrong time, falling victim to
anger that pushed a stranger over the edge.

Why do these things happen? Why do we see frequent out-
bursts ranging from an impolite gesture from another motorist
to road rage that can lead, quite literally, to death?

It's easier to see why a jealous spouse might take a shot at
a mate found in a compromising position than it is to under-
stand why road rage would compel someone to yank a small
dog from another motorist's car and fling it into the path of
oncoming traffic.

Why do we get so mad over things that don't really matter,
like getting cut off in traffic by someone who's in too much
of a hurry?

To find out I turned to Redford B. Williams, a psychiatrist
at Duke University Medical Center, who has spent years
studying anger and what we can do about it. It's a pressing
issue these days because more and more research shows
that if you can't keep your anger under control, it can kill
you. Heart disease and strokes have been repeatedly linked
to anger.

Anger results from our inability to deal with stress.

"It's more apt to happen in the world we live in today"
because there are so many opportunities for conflict in an
increasingly complex, crowded, and busy society, he says.

But why do we spend so much of our time angry over minor
incidents?

Two reasons. Some people are just more hostile than others,
and anger is often the result of cumulative insults, not a single
event.

More People, More Conflict

What's intriguing about so many cases of uncontrolled anger
is that they often result from such trivial encounters.

It's doubtful the kind of road rage that drives one person to
the brink of killing another human being is the direct result
of getting cut off in traffic, Williams says. More likely, it
resulted from a whole series of events that, taken together,
pushed someone just a bit too far. The traffic incident
served as a trigger, releasing hostility that had been building
up for some time.

In other words, someone reached a threshold and flipped
out.

The Anger Sack

It's as though each of us carries a burlap bag around, storing
the insults that have been hurled at us.

"You keep stuffing things into that gunny sack you've got on
your back," and you get home and find that your mate didn't
carry out an assigned chore, Williams says. "You try to put
that in the gunny sack, metaphorically speaking, and the damn
thing just completely bursts open and it all comes spilling out.
It's not that particular thing, but the built up load of all the
stuff you've been trying to get out from under."

Maybe the mate will understand, bring you your slippers, prop
your feet up and tell you everything is OK. But it's quite likely
he or she will react unpleasantly because these days, both mar-
riage partners usually work, blurring the roles each is to play
and introducing additional stresses.

And chances are one of you is more hostile than the other.

... Taking Control

... If you feel yourself getting angry, count to 10."

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