Foranationofpetlovers,Britainconductsasurprisingnumberofexperimentsonanimals,some3mayear.Americaappearstousefeweranimals—just1.1mayear,accordingtoofficialstatistics—butthatisanillusion.UnlikeBritain’sernment,America’sdoesnotthinkratsandmiceworthcounting.JapanandChinahaveevenlesscomprehensivedatathanAmerica,andanimalsusedinresearchinthosetwocountriesarenotprotectedtothesameextentthattheyintheWest. Inandidealworld,therewouldbenoanimaltesting.Itisexpensiveandcanbeofdubiousscientificvalue,sinedifferentspeciesoftenreactdifferentlytothesameprocedure.Thatiswhymanyresearchersareworkingonwaysofreducingthenumberofanimalexperimentsneededandofmakingthosethatstillhappenmoreeffective.2) Themostimportantmessagefromthecongresswasthatthingsaregoingintherightdirection.Thenumberofanimalsusedinexperimentshasfallenbyhalfinthepast30years,aleastinthosecountriesthatrecordsuchthings.Therehasalsobeenashiftinthesortofanimalused.Mostofthoseemployedtodayarerodentsratherthandogs,cats,rabbitsandmonkeys.3) .Ofthe11manimalsinvolvedeachyearinexperimentsthathavetobereportedtotheEuropeanCommission,about45%areusedformedicalandveterinarypurposesandanother35%forbasicbiomedicalresearch.RestrictionofChemicalSubstancesregulationsbecamelawinJune.Theyrequiretestsonnewchemicalsweremademandatory.Theresultislikelytobeabout4mtoxicologyexperimentsthatwouldnototherwisehavehappened..Thisundesirableresultwouldbeadirectconsequenceofdifferencesamongspecies.Experimentalanimals,inotherwords,mayreactbadlytothingsthatwouldnotharmahuman.Inaddition,someharmfulchemicalsmaybepronouncedsafeforhumanuse,becausetheyproducenoilleffectsinanimals.Thatsaid,manyofthesewillalreadyhavebeenspotted—theireverydayuseis,ineffect,anunplannedexperimentonhumans—andwithdrawn.Also,oftheexperimentsthatarestillconducted,themajorityarenowconcernedwithdeveloandtestingmedicineratherthancheckinghowtoxiccosmeticsare.Theexperiencesandpracticesofwomenwhosimplydietarenotradicallydifferentfromthosewhoarediagnosedwitheatingdisorders.Thisextratestingmayormaynotbegoodinprinciple,butitislikelytoleadtochaosinpractice.Notonlywillmoreanimalsbeusedbut,accordingtoThomasoftheEuropeanCentrefortheValidationofAlternativeMethods,itcouldresultinthewithdrawalofalotofchemicalsthatareinfactsafe.However,thetransitionisprovingeasierforsometypesofexperimentthanforothers,asagroupofresearchersinthefielddiscussedatthesixthWorldCongressonAlternativesandAnimalUseintheLifeSciences,heldlastweekinEvenso,academiccentressupportingalternativestoanimaltestinghaveemergedinbothplacesinrecentyears.InJulyChinaissuedits setofguidelineserningtheuseofanimalsin etrends,however,areatriskasaresultofalawthatbeganlifeinthecommissionitself.Withchemicaltesting,knowingwhichgenestomodifyishard.However,thisrouteisalreadybeingpursuedformedicaltests.A“southern”campheadedbyFrenchwantssomethingdifferent:”European ernment”withinaninnercoreofeuro-zonemembers.Translated,thatmeanspoliticiansinterveninginmonetarypolicyandasystemofredistributionfromrichertopoorermembers,viacheaperborrowingfor ernmentsthroughcommonEurobondsorcompletefiscaltransfers.Finally,figuresclosetotheFranceernmenthavemurmured,curo-zonemembersshouldagreetosomefiscalandsocialharmonization:e.g.,curbingcompetitionincorporate-taxratesorGermanythinkstheeuromustbesavedbystricterrulesonborrowspending notobey.ThesemightincludethreatstofreezeEUfundsforpoorerregionsandEUmega-projectsandeventhesuspensionofacountry’svotingrightsinEUministerialcouncils.Itinsiststhateconomicco-ordinationshouldinvolveall27membersoftheEUclub,amongwhomthereisasmallmajorityforfree-marketliberalismandeconomicrigour;intheinnercorealone,Germanyfears,asmallmajorityfavourFrenchinterference.WilltheEuropeanUnionmakeit?Thequestionwouldhavesoundedstrangenotlongago.Noweventheproject’sgreatestcheerleaderstalkofacontinentfacinga“Bermudatriangle”ofdebt,populationdeclineandlowergrowth.YetthedebateabouthowtosaveEurope’ssinglecurrencyfromdisintegrationisstuck.Itisstuckbecausetheeurozone’sdominantpowers,GermanyandFrance,agreeontheneedforgreaterharmonizationwithintheeurozone,butdisagreeaboutwhattoharmonies.Aswellasthosechronicproblems,theEUfaceanacutecrisisinitseconomiccore,the16countriesthatusethesinglecurrency.Marketshavelostfaiththattheeurozone’seconomies,weakerorstronger,willonedayconvergethankstothedisciplineofsharingasinglecurrency,whichdenies petitivemembersthequickfixofdevaluation.ItistoosoontowriteofftheEU.Itremainstheworld’slargesttradingAtitsbest,theEuropeanprojectisremarkablyliberal:builtaroundasinglemarketof27richandpoorcountries,itsinternalbordersarefarmoreopentogoods,capitalandlabourthananycomparabletradingarea.Itisanambitiousattempttobluntthesharpestedgesofglobalization,andmakecapitalismbenign. GetFollowyourExploreotherForgetAllowformoreBecreativityisnoexception.Thetypeofexercisedoesn’tmatter,andtheboostlastsforatleasttwohoursafterward.However,thisisthecaseonlyforthephysicallyfit.Forthosewhorarelyexercise,thefatiguefromactivitycounteractstheshort-termThosewhostudymulti-taskingreportthatyoucan’tworkontwoprojectssimultaneously,butthedynamicisdifferentwhenyouhavemorethanonecreativeprojecttocomplete.Inthatsituation,moreprojectsgetcompletedontimewhenyouallowyourselftoswitchbetweenthemifsolutionsdon’tcomeimmediay.Thiscorroboratessurveysshowingthatprofessorswhosetpapersasidetobrewultimaypublishmorepapers.Similarly,preeminentmathematiciansusuallyworkonmorethanoneproofatatime.AccordingtoUniversityofTexasprofessorVandewater,foreveryhourakidregularlywatchesevision,hisoveralltimeincreativeactivities–fromfantasyplaytoartsprojects–dropsasmuchas11percent.Withkidsspendingaboutthreehoursinfrontofevisionseachday,thatcouldbeaone-thirdreductionincreativetime–lesstimetodevelopasenseofcreativeself-efficacythroughplay.FiveexperimentsbyGalinskyshowedthatthosewhohavelivedabroadoutperformothersoncreativitytasks.Creativityisalsohigheroagefor-orsecond-generationimmigrantsandbilinguals.Thetheoryisthatcross-culturalexperiencesforcepeopletoadaptandbemoreflexible.Juststudyinganotherculturecanhelp.InGalinsky’slab,peopleweremorecreativeafterwatchingaslideshowaboutChina:a45-minutesessionincreasedcreativityscoresforaweek.Subotnik,aresearcherwiththeAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,hasstudiedchildren’sprogressionintoadultcreativecareers.Kidsdobestwhentheyareallowedtodevelopdeeppassionsandpursuethemwholeheartedly–attheexpenseofwell-roundedness.“Kidswhohavedeepidentificationwithafieldhavebetterdisciplineandhandlesetbacksbetter,”shenoted.Bycontrast,kidsgivensuperficialexposuretomanyactivitiesdon’thavethesameabilityto periodsofdifficulty.CustomandThroughouttheworld’shistory,themostcommonformofauthorityhasbeentraditional.Traditionalauthority,whichisbasedoncustom,isthehallmarkofpreliterategroups.Inthesesocieties,customdictatesbasicrelationships.Genderrelationsinpreliterategroupsarealsobasedontraditionalauthority.Thedivisionsbetweenmenandwomenarebasedonthepast,withcustomdeterminingthatagulfshouldbemaintainedbetweenthem.Customalsodictatesthespecifiesoftheirrelationships.ChangeofWhentraditionalsocietychanges,traditionalauthorityisEveninindustrialandpostindustrialsocieties,however,traditionalauthoritynevertotallydiesout.ChallengestoThistraditionalauthority,unquestionedinmostplacesintheworld,hasnotgonecompleychallenged,however.JustasforthewidowofSpainandPortugal,mattersarenolongerasclear-cutastheyoncewere,andsomeWesternsocietiesdebatetherightofparentstohittheirkids.Inademocracy,forexample,the’sauthoritycomesfromtheoffice,asspecifiedinthewrittenconstitution,notformhisorherreputationor AgoodcaseinpointisSweden:ithasevenpassedlawsthatforbidspanking,andSwedenauthoritiesarrestparentswholayahandontheirchildren.Forexample,insmallvillagesinsouthernSpainandinalargepartofPortugal,widowsareexpectedtowearonlyblackuntiltheyremarry---whichgenerallymeansthattheywearblackfortherestoftheirlives.Theforceofatraditionissostrongthatifawidowweretoviol