More Happiness in
Giving
“Money makes you happy—if you give it away,”
reads a headline in The Globe and Mail of Canada. Although most people
surveyed predicted that spending on themselves would make them happier, those
who used their money to help others—regardless of the amount spent—actually
reported greater happiness. “Wealth is not a predictor of happiness, study
after study has shown,” says the newspaper. “Once people have enough money to
meet their basic needs, getting more of it doesn’t give them much of a boost.”
You Can Get It on the
Web!
U.S. government officials decided to check
whether it would be possible for their potential enemies to “obtain sensitive
items of military equipment” through the Internet, says New Scientist
magazine. “They were astonished to discover how easy it was.” Using well-known
online trading sites, they had no difficulty purchasing “pieces of US military
body armour,” a “used nuclear-biological-chemical protective suit,” parts for
jet fighter planes, and “several other sensitive items.” It is unknown how the
sellers obtained such equipment, but several “now face criminal investigations,”
says the magazine.
Ancient Superglue
In antiquity, decorative silver laurel leaves
were attached to a Roman official’s parade helmet with an adhesive that has
superglue properties. Frank Willer, chief restorer at the Rhineland Museum in
Bonn, Germany, made the discovery accidentally. Using a fine saw, he was
removing a small metal sample from a first-century-B.C.E. iron helmet that had
lain on the bed of the Rhine River for at least 1,500 years. “The heat from the
tool caused the silver laurel leaves on the helmet to peel off, leaving
thread-like traces of the glue behind,” he explains. Analysis revealed that the
tenacious adhesive was made of bitumen, bark pitch, and beef fat.
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