Here's our latest round-up of upward trends, improving prospects, and positive developments. Enjoy.
How will minds expand, once we understand how the brain makes mind?
-- William H. Calvin Neurophysiologist, University of Washington
Item 1
Doctors Put Hope in Thin Wires for a Life in Epilepsy's Clutches
Deep-brain stimulators ("pacemakers for the brain") are at the forefront of research by neuroscientists seeking to treat a variety of difficult conditions such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and other types of tremors and movement disorders.
Conditions may eventually include depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette's syndrome.
The devices inhibit syncronized nerve impulses in parts of the brain that are too active.
The good news:
Deep-brain stimulators promise to eliminate (or drastically reduce) epileptic seizures. They may also help those suffering from Parkinson's disease to stop shaking. It would be difficult to overstate how beneficial this technology will be if it can actually delivery on these promises.
Item 2
In a Reverse Migration, Blacks Head to New South
In what demographers are calling a "full scale reversal" of the Great Migration in the early part of the 20th century, blacks are leaving California, New York, Illinois and New Jersey and retracing steps to a place their families once fled — the South.
This population shift of hundreds of thousands of blacks is nowhere near the millions who left the South from 1910 to 1970. But the flow is sustained and large enough, according to a study released today by the Brookings Institution, that a new map of black America must be drawn.
The good news:
So not only is the South no longer a place from which to flee, it is now a viable alternative — for many who left, it is once again the preferred place to be. This speaks volumes about how far the South has come in the past few decades, both economically and socially. Moreover, this fresh infusion of returning families may help to accelerate both economic and social development.
The demographic shift also suggests a real improvement in the circumstances of African Americans over the past 40 years or so. It would seem that they now have more choices as to where to go, what to do, and who to be than they did in the past. And that's a very good thing, indeed.
The downside:
On that second point, we probably still have a long way to go.
Even so...
It's nice to see evidence of real improvement.
Item 3
Nerve Fibers Regrown in Spines of Rats
A combination of therapies helped damaged spines regrow nerve fibers, researchers report in a study of rats.
Three separate therapies, each of which had shown promise in earlier tests, were combined in the new effort by a team at the University of Miami, according to Sunday's online edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
The combination therapy was designed by Damien D. Pearse and Mary Bartlett Bunge, who were looking for a way to help damaged nerve cells overcome signals that limit their growth after an injury.
"This work opens up new possibilities for treatments for spinal cord-injured humans," Bunge said in a statement.
The good news:
The ability to re-grow nerve fibers in a damaged spinal cord suggests that many cases of "irreversible" paralysis may be treatable, possibly even curable. Interestingly, there is no mention of stem cells in the linked article. Apparently these results were achieved by grafting adult nerve cells.
Item 4
Sudan's Darfur crisis prompts calls for world to act
More than a year after the seeds of its current humanitarian catastrophe were sown, calls for robust international action in the war-ravaged Sudanese region of Darfur and pressure on Khartoum are finally mounting.
The good news:
Reporting on a terrible humanitarian crisis such as the situation in Sudan is a little bit outside of what we usually do at Better All The Time. But after months of watching this situation worsen, it is a great relief to see that Darfur is now getting some of the attention it deserves.
The downside:
What took so long?
Anyway...
Here's hoping that this attention is translated into immediate and effective action.
Item 5
Abductee Families Begin New Life in Japan
One of the first things Kaoru Hasuike did after meeting his children at the airport in Tokyo was tell them their new names. His 22-year-old daughter — called Yong Hwa back in North Korea (news - web sites) — would be Shigeyo. His 19-year-old son, Ki Hyok, would be Katsuya. From now on, they would be Japanese.
Closing a chapter in a bizarre tale of political intrigue, the Hasuikes and another couple abducted by spies in the 1970s and taken to North Korea have been reunited with their children, forced to stay behind in the North when their parents were allowed to return to Japan two years ago.
The good news:
It's wonderful that the families are finally free and reunited.
The downside:
Such a bizarre story. If you didn't know it really happened, you would swear it was a plot line from Alias.
Anyway...
Here's hoping that the adjustment isn't too tough for the kids, who have only just learned that they're not Korean. And who (apparently) don't yet realize that they were living in Korea because their parents were abducated.
Item 6
Airship groomed for flight to edge of space
Next month, a V-shaped airship bigger than a baseball diamond is due to rise from the West Texas desert to an altitude of 100,000 feet (30.5 kilometers), navigate by remote control, linger above the clouds and drift back to earth.
For the U.S. Air Force, the feat will demonstrate the feasibility of a new kind of semi-autonomous craft that could hover in "near space," to do reconnaissance and relay battlefield communications.
That vision is ambitious enough. But for JP Aerospace, the California-based company that built the airship for the military, the flight would represent just one more small step toward an even bigger conceptual leap: a system of floating platforms that gossamer spaceships could use as high-altitude way stations.
The good news:
Next to the space elevator, high-flying airships have got to be our favorite proposed method of "cheating" one's way into space — that is, getting there without the use of rockets. Airships might just open up the high frontier in ways that rockets never could. (Plus, they have many other potentioal applications.)
The downside:
The first proposed ship will "only" go up to 65,000 feet. Moreover, according to the linked article, the orbital airship is still a long way off. If it's even possible.
Prediction:
The world's first space hotel will not be an orbiting satellite; it will be built on a platform similar to the Dark Sky Station described in the linked article.
Item 7
Purebred dogs could be doctor's best friend
A study of 414 pedigree dogs from 85 breeds has uncovered some genetic surprises which could boost efforts to track down human disease genes for illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
Each breed was also defined by a surprisingly precise genetic signature. By studying a few pieces of DNA from a purebred dog, the researchers were able to assign its breed with 99 per cent accuracy.
Because owners lavish veterinary care on their pets, knowledge of natural dog disease rivals that of human diseases. The dog genome is also expected to be published in the summer of 2004, which will make comparisons between dog and human genes far easier.
However, for a disease such as cancer, genes are only thought to be half of the puzzle - environment also plays a role. And being the close companion of humans for millennia has exposed dogs to many of the same chemicals, foods, and lifestyles.
The good news:
They give us so much. Friendhsip. Loyalty. Love. Now they're helping us to understand ourselves better so that we can make ourselves healthier.
Dogs rule.
Better All The Time is compiled by Phil Bowermaster and Stephen Gordon. Live to see it!
These "better all the time" articles are killing my mousewheel (and index finger). Why aren't you treating them like your other long articles (eg, "Stillness")? DO that, then I'll agree that things are getting better all the time. ;-)
Posted by: Karl Hallowell at May 25, 2004 10:02 AMYes indeedy. Things are getting better! :)
Posted by: Karl Hallowell at May 27, 2004 11:57 AMKarl:
In an effort to save mouse wheels, Phil decided to collapse the old BATT posts.
The new BATT posts will be presented in all their carpal tunnel syndrome producing glory!
Posted by: Stephen Gordon at May 27, 2004 12:32 PMI have two wrists to give! :)
Posted by: Karl Hallowell at May 28, 2004 11:49 AMPhentermine
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