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Journalism of Courage
Fergie column quot;too boringquot;
LONDON: American and Canadian newspapers are queuing up to drop a syndicated column written by Britain8217;s Duchess of York, or quot;Fergiequot;, the Times newspaper has reported. The 100,000-a-year diary of anecdotes and homespun wisdom, which was one the main planks in Fergie8217;s plan to fight reported debts of four million pounds, was first published last April. But the Times said in Canada the Duchess8217; musings had been dumped by newspapers, such as the Toronto Sun, with a combined circulation of 420,000.
Knee-body clock
WASHINGTON: US researchers have discovered that the back of the knee, of all places, can be used to help control the biological clock of human beings. By applying light to the backs of the knees of 15 human guinea pigs for several hours at a time, and at different times of the day or night, scientists were able to adjust their need to sleep and wake either forwards or backwards. This would mean, for example, that jet lag would beeasier to overcome than had previously been thought.
The experiment is detailed by scientists Scott Campbell and Patricia Murphy of the Cornell University Laboratory for Chronobiology in White Plains, New York in the US Professional Journal Science. Measurements of body temperature and the level of the sleep hormone melatonin in the body confirmed that the backs of the knees can alter biological rhythm just as effectively as the eyes, and independently of the eyes. Beams of light were played on the backs of the knees for three hours at a time, while the test subjects were asleep.
Apes birth control
LONDON: The famous Rock Apes of Gibraltar are to be fed contraceptives to curb a population that threatens to grow beyond control, the Independent daily newspaper has said. The paper said the contraceptives would be hidden in the monkeys8217; food and some of the females would be given anti-fertilisation implants. The population has grown four-fold in the past five years since it was made illegal to killthem. Thirty monkeys are born each mating season. The monkeys were thought to be guilty of vandalising British soldiers8217; equipment and throwing stones at passers-by. The Macacque monkeys originated in the Atlas mountains of North Africa and it is believed they came to Gibraltar during the Moorish occupation from 700 to 1500 AD.
