Its May and that time honoured tradition of Prom is back. Each year across North America, hundreds of teens are killed or injured in alcohol-related accidents connected with their prom night celebrations. Communities, school officials and parents have stepped up their efforts in recent years to prevent these tragedies from happening. Today New York Times columnist Tara Parker Pope takes a look at a new report from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and why parents should use the power of science to explain why drinking isn’t the right choice.Link to read the article
Below is just one of the comments that this article elicited:

Tara, usually you’re right on the money, but this is sheer drivel.
If not prom night, when is the appropriate time to get ripping drunk and do drugs, away from parents and supervision ?
The only note of sober realism that needs to be injected forcefully is, that no one driving can have any alcohol or drugs.
Teenagers. Sex, drugs and rock and roll. Let’s be realistic.
Don’t forget the condoms.
The tux and dress will never be worn again, so it’s OK to throw up on them.  Marcel Duchamp

 

We’d love to hear some of your experiences and thoughts on this.

Source: New York Times

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we’re not as rational as we think when we make decisions.

Source: TED

I have a confession to make. Whilst not wishing to shatter too many illusions I have to admit that I snore. Don’t laugh! My wife certainly doesn’t see the funny side, and has resorted to sleeping with earplugs! (I haven’t been relegated to the spare room…..yet)! Apparently one in four middle age men suffer this same affliction.

But now I really must pay heed. New research from the University of New South Wales has found that snoring associated with sleep apnoea may impair brain function more than previously thought. Professor Rae and collaborators from Sydney University’s Woolcock Institute used magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study the brains of 13 men with severe, untreated, obstructive sleep apnoea. They found that even a moderate degree of oxygen desaturation during the patients   sleep had significant effects on the brains bioenergetic status.

So people it really is time to stop treating snoring as a laughing matter. Take my poll and let me know that I am not alone in my suffering!

The original new release can be found here