30 June 2005, 12:06 AM

A tribute to laziness

In this month's Discover magazine, there's a short entry in the Flash column of the R&D section on a study that was done on problem-solving skills vs. position. Apparently, you can solve problems faster when you're lying down; even the minor effort involved in sitting or standing triggers the release of norephinephrine, a stress hormone. I'm assuming this means you'd be better at other cognitive skills, too. So I'm feeling a little more justified in my recent purchase of a laptop--since apparently it isn't just my imagination that I write better prone. :>

Of course, I'm also a little puzzled at the entry two down from that blurb, which states that researchers say overweight people have a lower risk of death than average-weight people. That's the literal phrase. "Lower risk of death." What, immortals are more likely to be obese? (Insert your own joke about Buddha figurines here.) I suddenly want to write a story on that. "Well, I'm never going to die, so I might as well indulge in my vices...mmm, chocolate!" Usually when I've seen this done it's smoking. Or alternately, "Scientist proves death-defying power of Popsicles!"

Also, further to yesterday's bit on LHoD, has anyone noticed the similarity between Estraven and estrange? (This is probably because I pronounce "Estraven" as ess-TRAY-ven, rather than ESS-truh-ven, like everybody else I know.) However, Ursula Le Guin has said before that the similarity between Ged and God came as a complete surprise to her when someone mentioned it years later; this, I think, would be the same.

Thus wrote Melanie in the categories: Reading , Writing