Host: And Helen Fisher is the author of Why We Love and studied relationships for years. Hey, Helen nice to see you. So it's a little bit like ok when, when people get(s) together, initially they say ah, there is such chemistry (Right.)between me and her. That's true, but unfortunately it seems like the chemistry changes after a year. You buy it?
H: Uh, it... probably not after a year. I mean, actually this study they said it was one to two years. But they also were studying only people who were um said that they were not in love after that period of time. So they weren't studying people who re... remained in love, which is possible you know.
Host: When we talk .... Before we talk about the concept, then let's just talk about the study. (Right.) If it was a good sampling, do you think it was an accurate study?
H: Well, it's hard to know. I mean they had 39 people and would have been great if they had 1039. But 39 is better than nothing, then. You know you would expect, I mean, this is one of the most powerful experiences on earth when men make love and it's much more powerful than the sex drive. And you would expect all kinds of bodily chemicals to be involved in it. What they've done is they found just another.
Host: Have we heard about these nerve growth factors before? I mean that did, did they apply in other situations?
H: Yeah absolutely. They help with the nourishment of the cells of the body. And some people think that they are associated also with anxiety, and feelings of dependence and euphoria, which are associated with romantic love.
Host: What about age? Does that apply in here? I mean do you , do you tend to have more fluctuation in the levels of these things when you are younger or when you are older?
H: We don't know about nerve growth factor. But I studied 430 Americans and actually 420 Japanese and my sample of people over 45 show just as mush as that sweaty palms syndrome as those who are under 25, so...
Host: So you don't lose that puppy love feeling just because you are 45 years old.
H: No, you know what, I have had an 8-year-old boy, perfectly described to me his infatuation for an 8-year-old girl. And I certainly know people in their 70s who are mad in love. I think this is a brain system a lot like the fear system. It can be triggered at anytime in life.
Host: If there is in fact a decrease in certain body chemicals(Right.) and the euphoria starts to wane. Is there anything people can do to keep it going?
H: Yes, very definitely. First of all, you gotta pick the right person so that there is real chemical continuing reaction between the two of you. And second you can do novel things together. Novelty drives the levels of the dopamine in the brain, and I and my colleagues have found that dopamine in the brain is associated with romantic love so that's why vacations are so exciting. You know you do something novel, you do something exciting. It changes those chemicals and you can feel that feeling again.
Host: By the way, you don't think it's a bad idea if the euphoria goes at the end of the year because if you stay in the relationship, you will find out if you really truly love that person or you are just having a chemical reaction?
H: Absolutely, absolutely, as a matter of fact I mean, you know, I've often recommended to people that, you know, waiting till that intense passion wears off then you know what you've got.
Host: Call me in a year, right. Helen Fisher, thanks so much.
2008年10月6日星期一
2008年10月3日星期五
Watermelon: The new Viagra?
"The chemicals that are in the watermelon rind work much like Viagra.
Oh, rollick!
Give me two more. "
Just a week after the annual Watermelon Thump celebration in Luling, there's something new that watermelon growers can hang their hat on.
The rind on watermelons has some of the same effects as Viagra.
Really?
Yes.
Really?
Ha ha ha
Well give me another one.
I'll get some more.
Hah……
The director of Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center has discovered that watermelons have an ingredient that delivers Viagra-like effects and may even increase libido.
Maybe you need to raise the price.
I don't get used to it.
Ha ha ha
There is a catch. The phyto-nutrient called citrulline that relaxes the blood vessels is found in the highest concentrations in the part you generally don't eat, the watermelon rind.
Would it take like a whole watermelon rind to eat to do any good, I mean you might get yourself sick before you get yourself any help.
Have you ever eaten the rind?
No, but I must start right now.
Rinds are used in watermelon pickles and they are Kelly Allen's specialty.
My husband loves these, I don't know if it's because he eats these or not, but he dosen't have a problem.
Neither does Hoyt Alford, according to his girl friend, Lois.
I don't know that you need them.
Oh, thank you. That's a compliment, isn't it?
Scientists are working to breed watermelons with higher concentrations of citrulline in the flesh, which may change Luling's image from being known for watermelons to something else.
It might be a new aspect to our watermelon growing, I can tell you that, No pun intended, but, you know, but...
Oh, rollick!
Give me two more. "
Just a week after the annual Watermelon Thump celebration in Luling, there's something new that watermelon growers can hang their hat on.
The rind on watermelons has some of the same effects as Viagra.
Really?
Yes.
Really?
Ha ha ha
Well give me another one.
I'll get some more.
Hah……
The director of Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center has discovered that watermelons have an ingredient that delivers Viagra-like effects and may even increase libido.
Maybe you need to raise the price.
I don't get used to it.
Ha ha ha
There is a catch. The phyto-nutrient called citrulline that relaxes the blood vessels is found in the highest concentrations in the part you generally don't eat, the watermelon rind.
Would it take like a whole watermelon rind to eat to do any good, I mean you might get yourself sick before you get yourself any help.
Have you ever eaten the rind?
No, but I must start right now.
Rinds are used in watermelon pickles and they are Kelly Allen's specialty.
My husband loves these, I don't know if it's because he eats these or not, but he dosen't have a problem.
Neither does Hoyt Alford, according to his girl friend, Lois.
I don't know that you need them.
Oh, thank you. That's a compliment, isn't it?
Scientists are working to breed watermelons with higher concentrations of citrulline in the flesh, which may change Luling's image from being known for watermelons to something else.
It might be a new aspect to our watermelon growing, I can tell you that, No pun intended, but, you know, but...
2008年10月1日星期三
Man calls himself Jesus Christ
Well a man who says he is Jesus Christ, and the Antichrist, held a conference for his ministry in Stafford tonight. Soofia Aleem lives at the Stafford Civic Center, with the man who claims he is God just finished talking. Soofia. Allan, Jose Luis spoke here to about 350 people. His followers say he is spreading a positive message, but others we talked with say he is controversial.
All preachers around the world, they have been lying. This man has started the following, in which his worshippers view him as God. A short interview like this is kind of difficulties. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda's ministry is called the Government of God on Earth. His followers say they believe in the Bible but they also believe there is no devil, nor sin, and that this man is the second coming of Jesus. I just believe because I just know.
Well, I believe in it because I understand that the foundation that, ah, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, the man, Christ Jesus is edifying his church with, its, the epistles. He is basing it on the epistles of the Apostle Paul. But an Internet search of Luis Miranda's name shows controversy brewing over his preachings. Critics say he is a cult leader and a liar. One website claims he is funding his million-dollar home and lavish lifestyle with his followers' money.
Today we saw his ministry collecting donations. But Jesus Miranda says that money won't go to him but he would not give specifics. You know how news are, sometimes, they say the truth, sometimes they don't say the truth. People we talked with today say they disagree with Luis Miranda's preachings. Because nobody knows the coming of Christ. I don't think he is, you know. If he really was, he will do some spectacular. We also tried to contact several churches and the local Catholic diocese, but no one was able to be reached for a comment.
All preachers around the world, they have been lying. This man has started the following, in which his worshippers view him as God. A short interview like this is kind of difficulties. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda's ministry is called the Government of God on Earth. His followers say they believe in the Bible but they also believe there is no devil, nor sin, and that this man is the second coming of Jesus. I just believe because I just know.
Well, I believe in it because I understand that the foundation that, ah, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, the man, Christ Jesus is edifying his church with, its, the epistles. He is basing it on the epistles of the Apostle Paul. But an Internet search of Luis Miranda's name shows controversy brewing over his preachings. Critics say he is a cult leader and a liar. One website claims he is funding his million-dollar home and lavish lifestyle with his followers' money.
Today we saw his ministry collecting donations. But Jesus Miranda says that money won't go to him but he would not give specifics. You know how news are, sometimes, they say the truth, sometimes they don't say the truth. People we talked with today say they disagree with Luis Miranda's preachings. Because nobody knows the coming of Christ. I don't think he is, you know. If he really was, he will do some spectacular. We also tried to contact several churches and the local Catholic diocese, but no one was able to be reached for a comment.
2008年9月29日星期一
Scientists: Avian Flu in Migratory Birds Raises Fears of Virus Spread
The sick and dying waterfowl can be easily spotted at the Lake Qinghai nature reserve. If not paralyzed, they stagger and have tilted necks, classic symptoms of avian flu in such birds.
The outbreak was first detected on April 30 and within three weeks; it killed about 1,500 birds, mostly geese, but also two gull varieties. Now, the World Health Organization estimates that about 6,000 have died.
In a new paper in the journal Nature, Chinese scientists say this is the first evidence that avian flu transmission has spread beyond domesticated poultry into wild bird populations far away from farms. Hong Kong University researcher Yi Guan says the expansion could signal an even further spread of the disease once the flocks begin migrating from the Chinese lake.
Yi Guan: You already know we have a big problem in Southeast Asia. Now this has become a new challenge for us.
Mr. Yi and colleagues say the infected bar-headed geese at the lake are capable of flying over the Himalayas at a range of 16 hundred kilometers a day.
That migration will not be long in coming. Microbiologist George Gao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing says the birds breed at the lake from the end of April only until the end of July.
George Gao: So they are flying out, soon. The problem is if there is any carrier, they might carry this to Tibet, India, and Southeast Asia. So that is something we're worried [about]. But whether or not some survivors will carry the virus, we don't know yet.
Mr. Gao's team reports in the journal "Science" that they isolated several viruses from the birds and found that each shows the genetic hallmarks of a highly virulent strain. According to the "Nature" article by Yi Guan's group in Hong Kong, it is closely related to the strain that has infected poultry and people in Thailand and Vietnam.
Public health experts fear that it will merge with human influenza in a patient and create a strain that more easily circulates among people and causes a global pandemic that kills millions.
World Health Organization spokesman Dick Thompson says the birds at the Chinese nature reserve should be watched closely.
Dick Thompson: There's an urgent need to sample and tag and track as many of these species as feasible, especially considering the narrow time frame that we've got available to do it. We need more information on the migratory routes regarding these birds.
The World Health Organization has urged China to increase its testing of the wild geese and gulls.
David McAlary, VOA news, Washington.
The outbreak was first detected on April 30 and within three weeks; it killed about 1,500 birds, mostly geese, but also two gull varieties. Now, the World Health Organization estimates that about 6,000 have died.
In a new paper in the journal Nature, Chinese scientists say this is the first evidence that avian flu transmission has spread beyond domesticated poultry into wild bird populations far away from farms. Hong Kong University researcher Yi Guan says the expansion could signal an even further spread of the disease once the flocks begin migrating from the Chinese lake.
Yi Guan: You already know we have a big problem in Southeast Asia. Now this has become a new challenge for us.
Mr. Yi and colleagues say the infected bar-headed geese at the lake are capable of flying over the Himalayas at a range of 16 hundred kilometers a day.
That migration will not be long in coming. Microbiologist George Gao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing says the birds breed at the lake from the end of April only until the end of July.
George Gao: So they are flying out, soon. The problem is if there is any carrier, they might carry this to Tibet, India, and Southeast Asia. So that is something we're worried [about]. But whether or not some survivors will carry the virus, we don't know yet.
Mr. Gao's team reports in the journal "Science" that they isolated several viruses from the birds and found that each shows the genetic hallmarks of a highly virulent strain. According to the "Nature" article by Yi Guan's group in Hong Kong, it is closely related to the strain that has infected poultry and people in Thailand and Vietnam.
Public health experts fear that it will merge with human influenza in a patient and create a strain that more easily circulates among people and causes a global pandemic that kills millions.
World Health Organization spokesman Dick Thompson says the birds at the Chinese nature reserve should be watched closely.
Dick Thompson: There's an urgent need to sample and tag and track as many of these species as feasible, especially considering the narrow time frame that we've got available to do it. We need more information on the migratory routes regarding these birds.
The World Health Organization has urged China to increase its testing of the wild geese and gulls.
David McAlary, VOA news, Washington.
Science Editors Take a Closer Look at 125 Great Unsolved Mysteries
Science Magazine is celebrating its 125th birthday with a special issue that takes stock of some of the fundamental and still unsolved mysteries of our time. The magazine's editors compiled 125 questions that point out the gaps in our scientific understanding of the universe we live in.
Inventor Thomas Edison founded Science Magazine in 1880. Today, as the weekly publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, it boasts the largest circulation of any scientific journal in the world.
News editor Colin Norman says instead of looking back at papers published over the last 125 years, the magazine decided to tap the expertise of more than 100 reviewing editors to help it compile a list of 125 questions that focus on the limits of our knowledge -- questions such as, 'What is the universe made of?'
Mr. Norman: We now know that the fraction of the universe that you can actually see - the stars and galaxies, is just a very very tiny fraction of what's there. There is a lot of dark matter that we know is there that is holding the galaxies together. Some of this is just regular matter, but a lot of it (is) particles that we don't know what they are yet.
Editor Colin Norman says other questions are much more specific, 'Can we produce an HIV vaccine that is effective? A big problem that has tremendous social consequences.
Editors found that questions are not so simple and one leads to the next. Take, for example, the human genome, the hereditary DNA sequence first mapped 5 years ago. Scientists were puzzled when they discovered humans have just 25,000 genes, much less than the 100,000 they had expected.
Mr. Norman: Having answered the question 'How many genes do we have?' We now have to answer the question, 'How can we be so complicated with so few genes?' And it has to do with how the genes are expressed, the way the genome is controlled, and so there are a whole series of really interesting questions that are opened up by that discovery that we really have very few genes.
Even though the magazine came up with a symbolic number of questions on the occasion of its 125th year, Colin Norman admits they are only a small fraction of the puzzles that scientists are actually struggling to solve. Mr. Norman invites listeners to take a look at the list online at sciencemag.org and let him know if there's an unsolved scientific mystery the editors might have missed.
I’m Rosanne Skirble.
Inventor Thomas Edison founded Science Magazine in 1880. Today, as the weekly publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, it boasts the largest circulation of any scientific journal in the world.
News editor Colin Norman says instead of looking back at papers published over the last 125 years, the magazine decided to tap the expertise of more than 100 reviewing editors to help it compile a list of 125 questions that focus on the limits of our knowledge -- questions such as, 'What is the universe made of?'
Mr. Norman: We now know that the fraction of the universe that you can actually see - the stars and galaxies, is just a very very tiny fraction of what's there. There is a lot of dark matter that we know is there that is holding the galaxies together. Some of this is just regular matter, but a lot of it (is) particles that we don't know what they are yet.
Editor Colin Norman says other questions are much more specific, 'Can we produce an HIV vaccine that is effective? A big problem that has tremendous social consequences.
Editors found that questions are not so simple and one leads to the next. Take, for example, the human genome, the hereditary DNA sequence first mapped 5 years ago. Scientists were puzzled when they discovered humans have just 25,000 genes, much less than the 100,000 they had expected.
Mr. Norman: Having answered the question 'How many genes do we have?' We now have to answer the question, 'How can we be so complicated with so few genes?' And it has to do with how the genes are expressed, the way the genome is controlled, and so there are a whole series of really interesting questions that are opened up by that discovery that we really have very few genes.
Even though the magazine came up with a symbolic number of questions on the occasion of its 125th year, Colin Norman admits they are only a small fraction of the puzzles that scientists are actually struggling to solve. Mr. Norman invites listeners to take a look at the list online at sciencemag.org and let him know if there's an unsolved scientific mystery the editors might have missed.
I’m Rosanne Skirble.
Extreme Weather Having Effects Worldwide
We expect uncomfortably hot temperatures in midsummer, even violent weather in certain areas. But this year, North America has been hit by some unusually wild, record-setting storms.
Matthew Lopez is Chief of Emergency Management in Escambia County, Florida.
Matthew Lopez: This is the most active tropical storm season and hurricane season we've seen in the history of North America.
This is Florida resident Shannon Bartell.
Shannon Bartell: So it's been scary today. I've never been this scared in my whole life.
Recently, Hurricane Dennis roared through the U.S. southern state of Florida, with 193-kilometer winds. Tropical Storm Emily is expected to hit U.S. shores in the next few days. Emily is a record-setting fifth named-storm this season.
Some hurricanes affecting North America's East Coast typically originate in the Atlantic Ocean near the African coast. Strong winds from Africa mixing with the warm ocean air can destabilize the air sufficiently to cause thunderstorms, and later, hurricanes.
Hurricanes and floods aren't the only weather concerns. Drought conditions are also prevalent in some parts of the world, causing some, like Illinois farmer Mark Yonkers, to worry.
Mark Yonkers: Normally, the leaves will all be opened up, and a lot fuller looking than what it is.
The U.S. corn crop is in its key pollination stage, and needs rain. But Illinois, the second largest corn-producing U.S. state, is experiencing its worst drought in 20 years.
France, too, is in the midst of a drought, leading authorities to call for water restrictions.
Deputy Director of French weather forecast center Meteo-France Alain Ratier:
Alain Ratier: The main part which is severely affected is the western part of France, the southwestern part in fact where we have a lot of difficulties with agriculture...
Severe weather has hit Europe hard this summer. Fires from hot, dry weather in some regions, and heavy floods in others have killed dozens.
Extreme weather also hurts the global economy. Hurricane Dennis caused significant damage to an oil platform on the Gulf Coast, and extended periods of drought will cause produce prices to rise.
But the main concern is the immediate damage, injury and even death severe weather can bring, driving some to despair:
One hurricane victim: I think we're cursed. I think someone doesn't want us to live here.
Ernest Leong, VOA news.
Matthew Lopez is Chief of Emergency Management in Escambia County, Florida.
Matthew Lopez: This is the most active tropical storm season and hurricane season we've seen in the history of North America.
This is Florida resident Shannon Bartell.
Shannon Bartell: So it's been scary today. I've never been this scared in my whole life.
Recently, Hurricane Dennis roared through the U.S. southern state of Florida, with 193-kilometer winds. Tropical Storm Emily is expected to hit U.S. shores in the next few days. Emily is a record-setting fifth named-storm this season.
Some hurricanes affecting North America's East Coast typically originate in the Atlantic Ocean near the African coast. Strong winds from Africa mixing with the warm ocean air can destabilize the air sufficiently to cause thunderstorms, and later, hurricanes.
Hurricanes and floods aren't the only weather concerns. Drought conditions are also prevalent in some parts of the world, causing some, like Illinois farmer Mark Yonkers, to worry.
Mark Yonkers: Normally, the leaves will all be opened up, and a lot fuller looking than what it is.
The U.S. corn crop is in its key pollination stage, and needs rain. But Illinois, the second largest corn-producing U.S. state, is experiencing its worst drought in 20 years.
France, too, is in the midst of a drought, leading authorities to call for water restrictions.
Deputy Director of French weather forecast center Meteo-France Alain Ratier:
Alain Ratier: The main part which is severely affected is the western part of France, the southwestern part in fact where we have a lot of difficulties with agriculture...
Severe weather has hit Europe hard this summer. Fires from hot, dry weather in some regions, and heavy floods in others have killed dozens.
Extreme weather also hurts the global economy. Hurricane Dennis caused significant damage to an oil platform on the Gulf Coast, and extended periods of drought will cause produce prices to rise.
But the main concern is the immediate damage, injury and even death severe weather can bring, driving some to despair:
One hurricane victim: I think we're cursed. I think someone doesn't want us to live here.
Ernest Leong, VOA news.
Miracle Baby Girl is Born to Brain-Dead Mother
Just three months ago, Susan Torres was a vibrant young mother who was 15 weeks pregnant with what she hoped would be a baby girl. On May 8th, all of that changed when she lost consciousness from a stroke after an aggressive cancer spread to her brain.
Her husband Jason feared the worst.
Jason: The doctor said there was no brain function. But she was young and pregnant and already has a child, so they will give it a shot.
With machines keeping the brain-dead woman's body alive, doctors hoped to allow the child to be born. Jason Torres believes this would have been his wife's final wish.
Jason: Without question, I know that Susan would walk through hell and back just to give her child a chance.
As the fetus developed, the mother's cancer continued to spread. As the weeks went on, doctors worried it could threaten the unborn child.
On Tuesday, doctors gave the child a final chance at survival. They performed a caesarian section and delivered a baby girl, Susan Ann Catherine Torres, weighing in at less than a kilogram.
Dr. Donna Tilden-Archer, Medical Director of the Neonatology unit at the Virginia Hospital Center, says for a child born nearly three months early, Baby Torres is doing quite well.
Donna Tilden-Archer: At the moment she was born she was very vigorous and crying and in very good condition for a baby of her gestational age.
The birth however was bittersweet for Susan Torres' family. On Wednesday morning, with her family by her side, Susan Torres passed away when the machines that had sustained her life for the past 12 weeks were turned off.
Family spokesman Justin Torres reflected on Susan's final days.
Justin Torres: Susan was always the toughest person in that ICU room. Her passing is a testament to the truth that human life is a gift from God and that children are always to be fought for even if life requires, as it did of Susan, the last full measure of devotion.
A mother's final gift to the daughter she'll never know.
Jim Bertel, VOA news.
Her husband Jason feared the worst.
Jason: The doctor said there was no brain function. But she was young and pregnant and already has a child, so they will give it a shot.
With machines keeping the brain-dead woman's body alive, doctors hoped to allow the child to be born. Jason Torres believes this would have been his wife's final wish.
Jason: Without question, I know that Susan would walk through hell and back just to give her child a chance.
As the fetus developed, the mother's cancer continued to spread. As the weeks went on, doctors worried it could threaten the unborn child.
On Tuesday, doctors gave the child a final chance at survival. They performed a caesarian section and delivered a baby girl, Susan Ann Catherine Torres, weighing in at less than a kilogram.
Dr. Donna Tilden-Archer, Medical Director of the Neonatology unit at the Virginia Hospital Center, says for a child born nearly three months early, Baby Torres is doing quite well.
Donna Tilden-Archer: At the moment she was born she was very vigorous and crying and in very good condition for a baby of her gestational age.
The birth however was bittersweet for Susan Torres' family. On Wednesday morning, with her family by her side, Susan Torres passed away when the machines that had sustained her life for the past 12 weeks were turned off.
Family spokesman Justin Torres reflected on Susan's final days.
Justin Torres: Susan was always the toughest person in that ICU room. Her passing is a testament to the truth that human life is a gift from God and that children are always to be fought for even if life requires, as it did of Susan, the last full measure of devotion.
A mother's final gift to the daughter she'll never know.
Jim Bertel, VOA news.
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