Key-chain attachment has emergency aspirin
A little red key-chain attachment could mean life or death if someone is suffering a heart attack. The plastic container, called At Heart, holds two 325-milligram aspirins in a blister pack. It hooks onto a key chain or can go into a pocket.
The American Heart Association recommends calling 911 and chewing an aspirin at the onset of heart attack symptoms, and taking time to find an aspirin might make a difference. The At Heart is available at Amazon and elsewhere online for about $5.
Warning signs of a heart attack often include discomfort at the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or comes and goes; also possible are pain or discomfort in the arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach; a cold sweat; and shortness of breath.
— Mary MacVean
Los Angeles Times
Hints from Heloise:
Adjust car seats, belts for pregnant travelers
Dear Readers: If you are pregnant or know someone who is, what’s the best and safest way to wear a seat belt? Here are recommendations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:
• Put the seat as far back as it can go while still being able to reach the pedals.
• Leave at least 10 inches between your chest and the steering wheel.
• Place the lap belt below your belly so that it fits tightly across your hips.
• The shoulder belt should fit across your chest between your breasts.
• Leave air bags turned on.
• Sit in the back seat, when possible, if you are pregnant.
— King Features
Researchers report link between music, language
Music and language are closely related — some might even say forms of one another.
It is known that a musical background can enhance one’s ability to learn a second language. But now scientists have shown that the relationship can work in reverse.
People who speak languages that use tones to convey meaning appear to have a better ear for learning music, according to research published in the journal PLoS One. The findings further highlight the overlap of music and language in the brain, and they suggest that tonal languages may prime the brain for the development of musical skills.
In the study, scientists recruited a group of musicians as well as two groups of non-musicians, composed of English and Cantonese speakers. Understanding Cantonese requires mastering six different tones, which can change the meanings of words.
When the scientists gave the subjects a set of complex musical and cognitive tests, like discriminating pitch and melodies, they found that the Cantonese speakers performed about as well as the musicians. Overall, they scored about 20 percent higher than the English-speaking nonmusicians on the various tests.
One author of the study, Gavin M. Bidelman, an assistant professor at the University of Memphis, said the findings most likely apply to other tonal languages as well — but not all of them. Previous research has not shown much musical benefit to knowing Mandarin, for example. In Cantonese, as with languages like Thai and Zulu, the pitches more closely resemble music.
— Anahad O’Connor
New York Times