Letters.Old news As an old noncentenarian, I was getting along very well with "Making sense of centenarians Here is a list of well-known centenarians (people who lived to be or are living at 100 years or more of age), with the still living ones bolded and italicized. This list is divided into sub-lists, according to how the centenarian (mostly) became well-known. " (SN: 3/10/01, p. 156) until I reached Thomas Perls' remark: "My hope is that we will actually see the development [from genetic research] of medications...." I will bet your great-grandmother survived very well with the least medication possible. It seems to me that we are in a medicated medicated /med·i·cat·ed/ (med´i-kat?id) imbued with a medicinal substance. medicated contains a medicinal substance. world. Has any researcher noted the type, amount, and frequency of medication in the oldsters? It should be recorded along with weight and height. Thomas Miles Portland, Ore. In fact, as Perls found and we reported, elderly children of centenarians are less likely to be taking multiple medications than are people of similar age whose parents died in their 70s. Likewise, the children of centenarians are less likely to be taking any medications at all. Presumably pre·sum·a·ble adj. That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. this reflects the overall better health of people in long-lived families. While it's certainly possible to debate the wisdom of overreliance on medications to ensure health, modern medicine has made great contributions to helping people lead longer, healthier lives. --D. Christensen How 'bout a bite? In regards to "Dinosaur fossil yields feathery feath·er·y adj. 1. Covered with or consisting of feathers. 2. Resembling or suggestive of a feather, as in form or lightness. feath structures" (SN: 3/10/01, p. 149), the scattered feathery structures may have belonged to an antecedent ANTECEDENT. Something that goes before. In the construction of laws, agreements, and the like, reference is always to be made to the last antecedent; ad proximun antecedens fiat relatio. of Archaeopteryx Archaeopteryx (är'kēŏp`tərĭks) [Gr.,=primitive wing], most primitive known bird, a 150 million-year-old fossil of which was first discovered in 1860 and described the following year in the late Jurassic limestone of Solnhofen, but not necessarily a Sinornithosaurus. Given the context and location of the fossils, it seems more likely they belonged to the raptor's last meal before its untimely demise. Aaron Stough Roanoke, Va. Political science In the March 17 issue, there was an article about arsenic pollution disrupting hormone activity ("Arsenic pollution disrupts hormones," p. 164) and another article concerned with satellite verification of greenhouse-gas effects from increased levels of carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. and methane ("Satellites verify greenhouse-gas effects," p. 165). Ironically, that same week, President Bush recommended that more stringent arsenic standards be set aside and declared that carbon dioxide is of no great concern. William Britton Bayville, N. Y. Up, up, and away As I recall, the Germans tried using diesels to power aircraft, but because diesels were not as responsive as gasoline-powered engines and heavier, they did not progress. That, it seems, was very fortuitous, given this surprising discovery that diesel-exhaust pollution increases with increased altitude ("Diesels: NO rises with altitude," SN: 3/24/01, p. 189). Anibal Jose da Silva Houston, Texas “Houston” redirects here. For other uses, see Houston (disambiguation). Houston (pronounced /'hjuːstən/) is the largest city in the state of Texas and the |
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