If you receive gifts of e-books in your virtual Christmas stocking this year, you might want to avoid reading them before bedtime. Worldwide research shows that exposure to electronic light in the hour before bedtime can impair sleep and alertness the next day, and may have a long-term impact on health, performance and safety. The cause may be short-wavelength–enriched light emitted by electronic devices, German and American researchers report in a study published today. Exposure to the artificial light has been shown to raise alertness, suppress the hormone melatonin, and phase-shift the circadian rhythm, our natural biological clock. Dim light, on
FEATURES: Newfoundland’s Offshore Account. Photo-essay by Greg Locke/F&O (subscription*) The few oilfields off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in the Northwest Atlantic, are small compared to the hundreds of producing wells in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico, but the royalties not only kept Canada’s historically-impoverished and remote eastern province from bankruptcy, but propelled it into a Canadian economic hot spot. That is, until oil prices plummeted in the fall of 2014. Now, Newfoundland is learning the reality of having more than thirty percent of its revenue dependent on oil royalties. The Animal “Kingdom of the Dead.” By Deborah Jones/F&O All
Facts and Opinions’ Seeking Orenda columnist Tom Regan is a fan of Pope Francis. Regan is an atheist. He explains in his column, My atheist fan letter to Pope Francis. An excerpt: When you’re an atheist you don’t spend much time thinking about “important” religious figures. Most of them are just too silly to care about. Pat Robertson is an example. He’s a former Baptist preacher, and Republican presidential hopeful, and a media mogul who hosts the Christian conservative show The 700 Club where he makes pronouncements like gays were responsible for the damage in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. I’m not one of
Michael Nesmith achieved fame as a member of the Monkees during the 1960s. But as Arts columnist Brian Brennan reports, he left a more lasting impact as the technological genius who developed the concept of music videos. An excerpt of Brennan’s Brief Encounters column, Hey, Hey We’re the Monkees: Michael Nesmith: According to the gossip of the day, the Monkees couldn’t play their own instruments. They were a band made to order for American television: Artificially manufactured to appeal to teenagers who had flocked to see the Beatles’s movies A Hard Day’s Night and Help! Michael Nesmith lent credence to the non-playing rumours
