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Dr. David J. Demko, gerontologist and editor, AgeVenture News Service, Boca Raton, Florida 08-21-07 |
The September 2007 issue of "Scientific American" puts diet, health, and the world's food supply under the proverbial microscope.
What readers will find is enlightened reading guaranteed to spark debate about the global paradox of obesity and famine. Wealthy nations are dieting. Poor nations are starving. Here's a run-down of the topical reading you will find in this special issue. Eating Made Simple How do you cope with a mountain of conflicting diet advice? What Fuels Fat The human body's ability to store energy as fat seems haywire in a world full of food. Understanding how our complex energy-regulating systems can falter and lead to obesity is revealing new ways to fight excess weight. This is Your Brain on Food Neuroimaging reveals a shared basis for chocoholia and drug addiction. Can Fat Be Fit? A well-publicized study and a spate of popular books raise questions about the ill effects of being overweight. Their conclusions are probably wrong. Sowing a Gene Revolution A new green revolution based on genetically modified crops can help reduce poverty and hungerbut only if formidable institutional challenges are met. A Question of Sustenance Globalization ushered in a world in which more than a billion are overfed. Yet hundreds of millions still suffer from hunger's persistent scourge. Still Hungry One eighth of the world's people do not have enough to eat. The World Is Fat More people in the developing world are now overweight than hungry. How can the poorest countries fight obesity? FOOTNOTE: Gerontologists may also be interested in a news item on molecular biology ("Prions against Alzheimer's") which reports on the work of Nigel Hooper at the University of Leeds (UK). Hooper's findings are reported in further detail in the June 26, 2007 "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA). FOOTNOTE: Philosophers will find a review on "Rational Atheism" by Michael Shermer insightful and thought-provoking. Shermer claims three threats to science and freedom, citing authors such as Dawkins who invests so much energy and ink denying God that it makes me wonder if Dawkins is, in reality, a closet Cleric. Why else the pre-occupation with the existence of God? Scientific American (SA), September 2007 issue. Visit SA online at: www.SciAm.com |
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