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Science News – If you’re always worried about how much you eat, you may be producing stress that removes calcium from your bones.Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver observed that women who regulate their food intakeproduce elevated levels of cortisol, caused by stress. Cortisol levels effect menstrual cycles, and elevated levels ofthe hormone can suppress reproductive hormones, which is “generally associated with lower bone mass.”

Their study showed that dieters had roughly 30 percent less calcium in their urine than women who were not watchingtheir weight, suggesting that they were absorbing less calcium from food than normal. This is a common side effect ofhigh cortisol levels.
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A senior Iraqi army general has said that their artillery units could hit targets deep inside Israel if they can bemoved to a site Israel’s border. Lieutenant-General Yassin Taha Mohammed said, “Our artillery forces are ready any timeto hit targets deep inside the Zionist entity whenever we are ordered to do so.”

President Saddam Hussein has asked Arab countries that border on Israel to let him use a piece of their land so he canmove his artillery close enough to attack.

If Iraq attacks Israel and draws another Arab country into the conflict by using its land as a base of operations, thesituation in the Middle East will change from an internal conflict to a wide-spread war, which will undoubtedly involveEurope and the United States.
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Everything that makes us “human” is thought to be contained in a part of our brains the size of a billiard ball.Researchers who study the brain say they think they have found the part of it that sets us apart from other primates.

Putting ourselves in others’ shoes, or understanding what others may be thinking, is what scientists consider to be thebasis of socialization, which is what makes us human. We can feel empathy and sympathy for others. Humans also have asense of humor and can detect when other people are being sarcastic or-at times-deceptive.

Dr. Donald Stuss, one of the world’s experts on the brain, found that these functions are all concentrated inside asmall region within the frontal lobes.
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Volcanoes in the Philippines and Indonesia are threatening to erupt. In the central Philippines, the Mayon volcano puffsout gas and ash, as scientists warn that it may erupt sometime in February. Last year, it drove 68,000 people from their homes. There have also been minor earthquakes around the 8,100 foot mountain.

Its most violent eruption occurred in 1814, when it killed more than 1,200 people and buried an entire town in volcanicmud.
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