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WE hope with the different activities around the country marking the World No Tobacco Day yesterday, people should really start thinking about their lifestyle. Lifestyle diseases are associated with tobacco use, excessive alcohol consumption, lack of physical exercise and consuming foods and drinks high in sugar, fat and salt.
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ELECTROCONVULSIVE therapy (ECT) is a therapeutic treatment in which an electric current is passed through the brain, inducing seizures and alterations in the brain’s electrical activity. It is used to treat certain mental disorders and is generally employed only after other therapies have proven ineffective. ECT can cause memory loss and bone fractures, and there is much controversy surrounding its use and effectiveness.
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In 1910, the British colonies of Cape Colony, Transvaal, Natal, and Orange River were unified into the new Union of South Africa. Under the Union’s constitution, power was centralised. Elections were held, and Louis Botha became the first prime minister. The Dutch language was given equal status with English, and each province retained its existing franchise qualifications.
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ON May 31, Christian churches in the West commemorate the Virgin Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth. After learning that she was to be the mother of Jesus, Mary went into the mountains of Judea to see her cousin, the wife of Zechariah, who had conceived a son to be known as John the Baptist. According to the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth’s baby “leaped in her womb” (1:41) at the sound of Mary’s voice. It was at this moment, according to the belief of some Roman Catholics, that John the Baptist was cleansed from original sin and filled with heavenly grace.
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A TANTRUM-THROWING baby sun might have triggered the chemical reactions that made life on Earth possible, according to a new model proposed by NASA scientists. For life as we know it to emerge, the planet needed to be warm and wet. Those conditions are evident as the sun beats down on Earth today, but 4 billion years ago the sun was not as strong. In fact, this young sun was so faint – at about 70 percent of today’s brightness – that early Earth should have been more of a snowball than a tropical paradise. And yet, some 3.8 billion years ago, life arose.
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JUNE 1 is the 152nd day of the year (153rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 213 days remaining until the end of the year.
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QUOTE of the day: Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn’t. – Erica Jong
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