[ science ]
Protozoan parasites, like giardia and cryptosporidium, which have become a major health concern around the country in the past decade, had been considered immune to ordinary water-cleaning systems until the past few years. Chemical systems like chlorination do not do the job, and so, the federal agency had said, cities would simply have to get better at removing the organisms with filtration plants.

New research, however, has found that ultraviolet light is effective in killing those protozoans, which can cause life-threatening intestinal illness in humans, especially people with weakened immune systems. [ full story, New York Times ]

07 25 2001

[ art ]
Though the creator was absent, the artwork in Williamsburg was indisputably that of Mr. Murakami, a thoroughly original 38-year-old painter of obsessively precise, dazzlingly colored paintings of childlike subjects. His paintings and sculptures are sometimes self-consciously saccharine, sometimes hallucinatory: murals of multicolored mushrooms with eyes and stiletto-like teeth; panels of twisting branches flowering with happy faces; Disneyesque characters that beam mischievously or sport fangs; fantastical variations on traditional images of nature in Japanese art like cherry blossoms and snowflakes.

The work has captured the imagination of dealers, collectors and curators in Europe and the United States, where Mr. Murakami's popularity has exploded in the last year. [ full story, New York Times ]

07 24 2001

[ health ]
A part of Schenk's motivation, he says, comes from having known victims of the degenerative disease of the brain that inexorably attacks nerve cells, causing impairment and loss of memory and mental functions.

"My grandmother wasn't officially diagnosed, but most likely did die of Alzheimer's disease. And two members of my church -- people I knew and liked -- had it. They deteriorated and died. I saw them every week. I was working on the disease and watching them die. I remember conversations with one of them, this guy -- he'd say, 'I feel myself slipping away; what can you do for me?'" [ full story, CNN ]

07 23 2001

[ sports ]
Ralph's body-surfing father, Gus, bought Ralph his first surfboard four decades ago. These days, Ralph is finishing an unusual yearlong drive to honor his dad - and raise thousands of dollars to fight diabetes, the disease that claimed Gus Fatello's life.

And on Thursday, the day Ralph Fatello turns 50, he will complete a year of surfing every day. If that sounds more like fun than fund-raising, think back to a time before the Hampton beaches started drawing their summer crowds. Like March. [ full story, Boston Globe ]

07 22 2001

[ performance art ]
Nilas Martins, Peter's son, is a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet, having followed in the footsteps of his father, whose illustrious performing career spanned almost two decades.

For this commission, however, Nilas broke out of the mold. Drawing on his skills as a composer, he created an original score for violin, piano, cello and saxophone, to which his father has created a pas de deux. The unusual father-son collaboration, titled "Reflections," opens July 30 as part of DanceGalaxy's six- day run at the Joyce Theater. The troupe, which strives to make innovative, professional-quality ballet affordable and accessible, will also present the world premiere of Stanton Welch's "Orange," as well as Choo San Goh's "Beginnings" and Adam Miller's "Flow Bear Waltzes," which DanceGalaxy commissioned last year. [ full story, New York Times ]

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[ environment ]
Yet on one remarkable occasion, Powell took a stand of defiance that would qualify him for lead status in any collection of "The Lives of the Saints" of environmentalism. In 1893, Powell spoke to the second annual Irrigation Congress, a group pushing for federal support for the vast project of irrigating the entire West. The delegates expected Powell to champion their cause and, indeed, they invited him to take the role of their hero.

Powell declined that invitation. When all the water in the West had been put to use, he declared, "there is still not sufficient water to irrigate all this arid region." There was not even enough water to irrigate all the land that was already in private ownership, leading Powell to propose that the federal government simply stop allocating Western land to individual ownership. "What matters it whether I am popular or unpopular?" Powell asked an audience in Los Angeles in 1893. "I tell you, gentlemen, you are piling up a heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights, for there is not sufficient water to supply these lands."

This extraordinary speech is one of the world's most thoroughly vindicated prophecies. That "heritage of conflict and litigation over water rights" is an unmistakable feature of contemporary regional life. Saying such a firm "no" to the dreams of Western boosters, who saw the West as an open door to limitless prosperity, was an act of courage--in its own way, a kind of courage more impressive than the physical daring that took Powell through the rapids of the Colorado River. [ full story, Los Angeles Times ]

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[ technology ]
After studying the use of the software by dyslexic students for 10 years and publishing four joint papers on his findings, Dr. Raskind has concluded that speech recognition not only allows dyslexics to communicate more efficiently but may even help them overcome their condition.

"Children who wrote using speech recognition technology for as little as 10 1/2 hours showed significant improvement in reading, decoding, spelling and comprehension," Dr. Raskind said. "We were blown away by this. The results are preliminary. But it is very encouraging." [ full story, New York Times ]

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[ environment ]
"I've come to the conclusion that there is nothing good that doesn't have bad consequences and nothing bad that doesn't have good consequences," Mr. Seeger said.

Raising his voice both as musician and activist, Mr. Seeger galvanized concern about the polluted Hudson beginning in the 1960's. Alexander Saunders, a friend of Mr. Seeger's from the early days of river activism, calls him "the conscience of the river." [ full story, New York Times ]

07 21 2001

[ languages ]
Deep in study for finals last week, University of Virginia senior Nikki Kissane took a break to check her e-mail.

She expected a note from her father. But what she found was startling: a thank-you from a mother in Soldotna, Alaska; congratulations from an admirer in Carlsbad, Calif., and praise from strangers in Monroe, Mich. None has ever met Kissane, but all went on at length, telling her about their autistic or retarded children and the impact her undergraduate work has had on their lives. [ full story, Washington Post ]

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[ technology ]
Yep. The Atari 2600 ceased production in 1989. But practically speaking it never really went away. The abandoned system has been adopted by online fans, who nurture it with loving care. And they're doing more than just keeping it on life support; the Atari 2600 is actually growing -- new games are being written, and new hardware is being manufactured. Affection for the system and its classic games may be strongest among those who were kids or teenagers during its heyday, but even though the 2600's technology is Neolithic compared with present-day systems, it's still gaining new fans. Some are programmers who want to test their skills against the severe restrictions forced by primitive hardware. Some are attracted to games that emphasize playability over whiz-bang graphics. And some just think the system's hip.

The Atari 2600 certainly used to be the hippest console on the block. Long before the PlayStations and Dreamcasts and GameBoys ruled, the Atari 2600 (also known as the "VCS" for "video computer system") was king of the consoles. During the so-called golden age of console gaming, from 1977, the year when the 2600 first appeared, to 1983-84, when the gaming market crashed thanks to a glut of lousy games and bad marketing decisions, Atari was preeminent. Over its 11-year production life span the 2600 sold more than 30 million units, far surpassing its major competitors, Intellivision and Colecovision. [full story, Salon ]

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[ education ]
Rather than studies being linear and sequential--one page or textbook chapter after another--researching a topic on the World Wide Web can lead students to spontaneous discoveries of related information drawn from more than one academic subject, similar to browsing through open stacks in a library.

The technology-driven changes penetrating schools across the country mean the most adept teachers do less lecturing, and change from classroom know-it-all to learning coach who guides students to what they need to know. [ full story, Washington Post ]

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[ education ]
Nancy White, who supervises math in the Prince William County elementary schools, said teachers there are introducing algebra by drawing students' attention to "patterns within the context of the school curriculum and in their daily lives."

Brandenburg said the effort to make algebra real to students has been aided by new textbooks that explain how equations can help calculate how quickly cars will stop on a slippery road or the speed a baseball needs to clear the fence for a home run.

He said one way to humanize the equations is this question: Given that women's times in Olympic events are improving at a faster rate than men's, is it possible that female athletes will eventually be faster than their male counterparts? [ full story, Washington Post ]