October 17, 2006

Hair Analysis Can Help Detect Eating Disorders

A study by researchers at Brigham Young University found that examining carbon and nitrogen in the proteins of hair could reveal information about a person's day-to-day nutrition. Clinicians could use this as a tool to diagnose eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. These diseases are sometimes hard to diagnose because sufferers often lie about their habits or do not recognize their problems.

insentient

DEFINITION: (adjective) Devoid of sensation or consciousness; inanimate. SYNONYMS: insensate. USAGE: Jim thought he might be losing his mind when he caught himself talking to insentient objects.

Arthur Miller

Miller was an American playwright whose plays are concerned with morality and the pressures exerted on people by family and society. One of his most famous works is The Crucible, a parable about the United States in the McCarthy era. His Death of a Salesman won the Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. From 1956 to 1961, Miller was married to what famous movie star?

Taipei 101 Becomes World’s Tallest Building

Taipei 101, located in Xinyi District, Taiwan, is the tallest building in the world according to three of the four standards designated by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. On this date, a pinnacle was placed on its rooftop, allowing it to surpass the height of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Because five of Taipei 101's stories are underground, it is not the tallest building from ground to pinnacle; what building boasts that distinction?

The Molly Maguires

This clandestine group of Irish-American miners engaged in violent confrontation with east Pennsylvania mining companies in the 19th century in order to alleviate oppressive industrial and living conditions. The group was forced to disband in 1877 when Pinkerton National Detective Agency agents infiltrated the organization and informed on the activities of its members, ten of whom were hanged. Where did the Mollies get their name?