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HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis together are a deadly concoction and both have today made intractable inroads into PNG society. These statistics are frightening. Tuberculosis, left untreated, is a wasting and most fatal disease. Even more frightening is the fact that the TB germ, unlike HIV, is airborne.
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The way children sniff different aromas could form the basis of a test to accurately detect autism, a new study has found.  Researchers have found that autistic children go right on sniffing in the same way, no matter how pleasant or awful the scent is.  The findings suggest that non-verbal tests related to smell might serve as useful early indicators of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the researchers said.
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DURING World War I, shell shock was considered a psychiatric illness resulting from injury to the nerves during combat. The condition is now known as combat stress reaction, a military term used to categorise a range of behaviours resulting from the stresses of battle. Symptoms include fatigue, slowed reaction time, indecision, disconnection from one’s surroundings, and the inability to prioritise.
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PIPER Alpha was a North Sea oil production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum that sank into the sea after a series of explosions and a massive fire, killing 167 men. Only 59 of the workers survived. The initial blast is believed to have resulted from the activation of a pump that was missing a safety valve.
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ANNETTE Kellerman was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville and film star, and writer. Her 1907 performance of “water ballet” is often credited with popularizing the sport of synchronized swimming. Kellerman was also known for advocating the right of women to wear one-piece bathing suits and was once famously arrested for indecency for doing so herself.
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RATH Yatra is an outpouring of tens of thousands of pilgrims to honour Jagannath, Lord of the Universe, in Puri in the state of Orissa, India. During the festival, wooden images of Jagannath, his brother, Balbhadra, and his sister, Subhadra, are taken in procession in three huge chariots or carts that look like temples and are called raths. They go from the Jagannath Temple to be bathed at Gundicha Mandir, a temple about a mile away. This is such a popular festival because all castes are considered equal, and everyone has to eat the food prepared by low caste men at the shrine.
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QUOTE of the day: Churchmen in peace and quiet pray to Heaven for the welfare of the world, but we soldiers and knights carry into effect what they pray for…Thus are we God’s ministers on earth and the arms by which his justice is done therein.  – Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
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