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Pastimes : Laughter is the Best Medicine - Tell us a joke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: j g cordes who wrote (10763)	7/21/1999 5:30:00 PM
From: PMS Witch	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 62549

The brain bit ... Think of brains as a copy of computers. As a hard drive stores more and more, the heads must travel more to retrieve data and the CPU must sort through more keys and larger FATs to find what's wanted. An empty, or near empty, disk is quick. An underloaded CPU responds instantly. But the value of a disk is what's on it, not it's speed. Anyone who's experienced a disk crash will be glad to get their data back, no matter how long it takes. I've never heard of anyone wiping the data off their disk to improve throughput. Don't be concerned about slowing down with age. Who'd trade a full head for an empty one, even if it is faster? Cheerios, PW.

To: j g cordes who wrote (10763)	7/21/1999 7:45:00 PM
From: Feathered Propeller	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 62549

Here may be why you...uh... run short of "storage space" Education shrinks brain timesofindia.com DETROIT:First the bad news: Older people with lots of education show more brain shrinkage than those who spent less time hitting the books. The good news is higher education levels give the elderly more protection from dementia and memory loss, according to a medical study released Monday. ''Our brain cells are dying, but if we have educated ourselves, that provides a buffering effect such that our functioning remains intact,'' said Dr Edward Coffey, chair of the Henry Ford Health System Department of Psychiatry and principal investigator for the study. The research, published in the July issue of the journal Neurology, examined 320 healthy men and women from 66-90 years old. Using magnetic resonance imaging, researchers measured brain size by tracking cerebrospinal fluid surrounding the outside of the brain. The study found that elderly people with 16 years of education had 8-10 per cent more fluid around their brains than did those who had only gone to school for four years. Dr Coffey was quick to point out the study did not conclude that lots of education causes smaller brains. In fact, he said everyone's brain starts shrinking beginning at young adulthood. On average, a person's brain will shrink 2.5 per cent every 10 years. Dr Coffey likened the effect of a high amount of schooling on the brain to exercising a muscle to keep it in shape. ''Everybody has some shrinkage. We're able to tolerate it to different extents. If you have more education, the shrinkage causes less problems for you than those with less education,'' he said. Dr Coffey is the same researcher who published a study in February 1998 that found men's brains shrink faster with age than women's.(Reuters)

To: j g cordes who wrote (10763)	7/22/1999 5:18:00 AM
From: Mad_Mouse	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 62549

I can't remember where I read this (I must have reached my storage threshold already. Doh!), but the idea of implanting memory chips inside a person's head was being discussed. The article pointed out the positives of increased memory and retained memory. However, they didn't discuss any of the negatives. I wonder what kind of subliminal memory will be placed on these chips prior to implantation. You must pay your taxes.... you must not pick your nose in public... I, Bill Gates, am your God! I'm sure someone would figure out how to infect you with a virus. Send this to 5 of your friends in the next 5 minutes and a random corporation will send 5 cents per forward to the "I'm an idiot who believes that this chain letter just might be true" Foundation, which will use the donated money to treat these poor souls inflicted with this strange disorder. This letter has been in existence since the fall of the Roman Empire and has circled the world 1 million times! Do not break this chain, otherwise, your brain will explode. This is absolutely true! Oops! That's chain mail. Disk reading error! It seems that the dreaded Alzheimer virus has scrambled my memory. I knew I should've updated my brain's anti-virus software. Hmmm... I have a strange feeling someone's inside my head. I keep hearing voices. Why am I pissing in my pants?!? Oh no! The Cult of the Dead Cow has gained remote control over my brain using their Back Orifice FU2! I knew I shouldn't have bent over to pick up that penny at the mall. HELP!!!